Development of Groups and Effectiveness - Essay Example

?Development of Groups and Effectiveness Man is a social being and his tendency to associate with others is the secret behind the existence of groups. Further, the complex challenges that globalization and competitive environment pose to an organization cannot be tackled by a single individual, but demand the capabilities of a group or a team. It requires assortment of skills of various individuals and collaboration of their abilities to offer novel solutions. Here comes the importance of groups. Group results from an interaction of two or more people who try to influence each other. Being a part of Johnson & Johnson has given me a chance to closely investigate the group productivity and thereby identify the underlying influences. Understanding Groups Group is a collection of 2 or more individuals, who interact regularly, exert mutual influence and work in collusion with each other to achieve a common goal (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). Purpose of a group forms its background and the process through which this is achieved makes it operational. Team is structured, requires coordinated interaction to reach the set goal and all the members stand responsible for its activities. A congregation of individuals qualifies to be called a group based on Kurt Lewin’s parameters, which specify that the members should interact, are interdependent, influence each other, the members feel belongingness, have a structure, work towards a common goal and are recognised as a group by others. Task and relationship-based interactions develop in groups, through which people connect and affect each other. Group Development Bruce Tuckman suggested 4 stages of group development, which consist of forming, storming, norming and performing. Adjourning has been appended later (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). a. Forming During this phase, individuals mingle with each other and communicate, in an attempt to arrive at their purpose of association. They assess their respective comfort zones. Leaders play a vital role in facilitating this understanding and walking them towards the next stage (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). In this phase, as we have come from different departments and educational backgrounds, we questioned each other on the relevant details. We have also discussed the past work experience and project records of each of the members. This has helped us in gaining an understanding on the capabilities of every individual of the teams. As a leader, I saw that the team discussions at this phase are directed towards exploring each other, being polite, keeping the communication alive and coordinating them. These conversations created an idea on what would be the ideal roles for each of them within the team and we decided on them towards the end of the formation meeting. b. Storming Here, the members share their views, assemble with others sharing similar thoughts and socialise. Leader persuades them to open up and streamlines their ideas, differences etc towards the group goals (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). This phase has been the challenging one, as the group members started to interact, the differences started to surface. The resource sharing and competition led to substantial friction. However, as a trained and experienced leader, I created the clarity on the jobs and responsibilities; the scope of every person in the team is highlighted. Thus, the importance of every member and his role is clearly understood even by the others and thus, the decision making powers and necessity of the resources to each of them is discussed. Further, the common goals of the team and the focus on productivity of the team, which is only possible through the concerted efforts of all the teammates is stressed. I had to support the views of some of the members of the team during such communication, which has planted a doubt in them that I am favoring those members, which was cleared in the due course as the actual work proved my support right. As the team members appreciate the roles and responsibilities better now, they started discussing on better coordination and improvement of team performance through these efforts. The clarity created by the open discussion has subsided the conflict to an extent. c. Norming Members affiliate themselves to the goals, norms, culture and goal achievement. Participation itself becomes the main source of motivation for the members. Commitment arises at this stage of development. Leadership skills lie in clarifying the roles, goals and strategies to conceive them (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). The aggressive and submissive attitudes, the acceptance levels, the orientations and competitive spirit of each of the team members were brought out in the discussions. However, we have created certain norms to ease the flow of meetings and the work. There would be a meeting every day at the start and another at the end of the day, of which during the former meeting, the requirements for the present days and during the latter, the tasks accomplished would be discussed. The problems faced by each of them are also discussed. The members are urged to raise their hand, not their voice during the meetings. The points that each of them needs to be respected in the course and every one would be given a chance were emphasized. As the meetings progressed, the members started to trust each other and also the leader. This has resulted in each of them having healthy arguments, bringing the issues to the open for resolution and thus, strengthening of group ties, working towards staying cohesive and taking pride in being a team. d. Performing This is the action step towards assigned goals, where members are central and leader’s role is to assist members in registering their experiences and learning from them (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). As the goals are clear, the members understand their roles within the team and are willing to work in a coordinated fashion, the leadership became more participative. As each of them carry an expertise in their own way, their experience was given importance and their participation in leadership role was accepted. My role as a leader was that of allocating the required resources and time and keeping the team focused. The problems faced by the team as a unit were openly discussed and the suggestions on the solutions proposed by each member were discussed. At this stage, I could clearly feel that the team was eager and ready to contribute their best to the team. Peace, performance, finding innovative solutions to problems and awakening of the untapped potential of the team as well as the individual members occurred and such a development of the team was clearly reflected on the performance. e. Adjourning While goals stand achieved in this segment, members need to be appreciated for their work (Griffin & Moorehead, 2008). The contributions made by each of the team members were documented clearly in the course of team development and performance. These were pondered in the team closure meeting and they were thanked for the enthusiasm, support and facilitation . After noticing the various phases through which our team has passed through, we have come to the conclusion that observing and clearly identifying the stage of development which a group is going through creates an understanding of the difficulties and helps in devicing strategies necessary to move them to the next phase. A lag phase where interactions and relationships are built or issues are resolved is an essential part of the process too and this fact has to be acknowledged, as performance levels may stand low during this time. 12 Characteristics of Effective Teams Our team could also be analyzed along the 12 characteristics of effective teams 1. Clarity of purpose: First of all, the company’s ‘Credo’ provided the primary focus to the team (Johnson & Johnson, 2011). It links the management’s philosophy of according importance to customer service and organization values, with the employees. Thus, it conveys the vision of J&J to all its employees and the groups and provides direction to their efforts. Further, the team had a clear set of milestones and goals to be achieved. Clear objectives warded off the ambiguity on the expectations of the team members and improved their performance. 2. Informality: In order to make the team members feel comfortable with their roles and also being a part of the team, the fears and apprehensions of each of them were discussed in the formative meetings. Further, an informal relation or personal rapport was facilitated among the members through the lunch meetings and ice-breaking sessions. 3. Participation: As the team members gained clarity on the roles of all of them and everyone got a chance to express themselves, their participation in the meetings and discussions became more lively. 4. Listening: The team members had to listen to whatever the others had to say and each point brought to the table was clearly discussed. This encouraged the members to be active listeners, in order to follow the progress of the meetings. 5. Civilized disagreement: Whenever, one person had a point to be made or want to negate the statements of others, the norm that ‘raise your hand nor your voice’ was stressed. The teammates understood the backgrounds and experience of each of the members and their role in contributing towards the team. So, the disagreements and negation were more respectful and never abusive. 6. Consensus decisions: As already discussed, the various solutions proposed by each of the team members to the problems faced by the team, were discussed. However, the most feasible option was zeroed on after receiving the consensus of all the members. 7. Open communication: Throughout the evolution of the team and its dispersal, the communication channels were kept open. This facilitated the members to express themselves, bring out their ideas and improve the performance of the team. 8. Clear role and work assignments: The roles, responsibilities and dependencies of each member of the team are clearly deliberated in the storming meetings. Thus, they understand their job and work to be completed by each of them. 9. Shared leadership: As the team reached performing phase, the leadership capabilities of every team member is acknowledged, by allowing them to take the reins and discuss their point. 10. External relations: As the members took pride in being a part of the team, we have created an identity among the others in the organization. The cohesion and performance of the team has also accorded respect and recognition. 11. Style diversity: But for the clarity of the purpose and objectives, each of the team members stressed on certain aspects of team. Some were enthusiastic on adding their ideas, while some emphasized on performance and some others worked on discussing the problems. 12. Self-assessment: As the team had clear milestones, the performance and focus of the team were compared regularly with these norms. This has helped in the self-assessment. Thus, as the team passed through the various phases of its development, the value-addition in terms of communication, clarity, cohesion and performance could be felt as well as demonstrated. As the team also stood by the 12 characteristics of effective teams, the results achieved by the team as a unit were superlative. References Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2008). Organisational behavior. (10th edition ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-western Cengage Learning. Johnson & Johnson (2011). Our Company Values. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jnj.com/about-jnj. [Last Accessed 09 November 2013]. Read More