Stages for Group Development - Essay Example

Gersick proposed a “punctuated equilibrium” model for group development in which a group’s progress is marked by two phases of stability—Phase I and Phase II—emphasized by abrupt changes at the project center point that occurs halfway to the deadline.

Answer # 2

Several factors can positively or negatively affect cohesiveness; a few of these are several employees, duration of time for task achievement and duration of time the group spent together, organization, external pressures, location and reputation of the group, the closeness of supervision, and internal competitive behavior. For example, large groups (with a size of more than 25 to 30 employees) may reduce the development of cohesiveness. The longer the duration for group development, the larger the cohesiveness. Outside pressures (of close supervision) could speed up the development of cohesion. The higher the reputation, the more potential cohesiveness will evolve.

Answer # 3

The distinguishing characteristic of a well-functioning group includes:

• A clear intention and mission.
• Well-understood standards and norms of conduct.
• A high degree of group cohesion.
• A flexible condition structure.

Expressing the purpose in terms of a specific goal increases productivity over and above any performance benefits achieved through individual goal setting. A behavioral norm for high productivity and performance set over organizational norms qualifies high-performing work groups. For example, business revenues can be influenced by many factors such as market position, advertisement, and price. Through advertisement, a businessman expresses his purpose of increasing revenues, and mostly advertisement increases productivity (Daft & Marcic, 2010).

Answer # 4

The group would be most useful for this decision. Advantages of the decision of a group include (1) More information and knowledge through the sharing of group member resources, (2) increased commitment and acceptance to the decision, and (3) Better apprehension of the decision. The time for a group to make a decision might however be longer. Given the uncertain and unstructured nature of this conclusion, a group would be more efficient.

Answer # 5

Advantages in a group decision-making situation are complete information and knowledge are offered, better solution acceptance, assurance to success is likely and decision quality would be greater. Disadvantages in the decision-making of a group include internal competitive pressures that may reduce member contribution, spending extra time on presenting a solution to the problem, and a strong personality that ay dictates the group and discourage input. For example, you must be aware of the parliament of any country around the world. There consists of elected members in the parliament who are making decisions. Although each member has their own choices and ideas, all the elected members have to be members of the group. An individual member is not allowed to implement the law without consulting every group member specially created for this particular law. This is one of the generally practiced examples of decision-making in groups.