The Art of Group Learning - Book Report/Review Example

Group Reflection The group reflection exercise particularly helped me to focus on my communication skill, team building capacity and the interpersonal skill of individuals. As I belonged to a group that included people of diverse background, I encountered difficulties in some cases as well as I found the task easier at some point. While evaluating my position within the group, it is necessary to become self-aware that would help me to point out my strengths and weaknesses in relation to the group activity. My strengths included my efficient communication as well as interpersonal skill. I am very good at writing as well as speaking to people. However I think that listening to what people says is also a vital part of the communication activity. I have patience to listen to the points presented by others. Moreover I can exactly point out what the other person wishes to express even if his/her communication skill is not good enough. The activity came up with new ideas and suggestions regarding employability, personal development and the significance of the business management degree. I learnt a number of ways towards improving the employability factor within a graduate, from other groups. When it was our turn I realized that though I am good at speaking, still I lack the basic skill of working in a team. Throughout the activity I and my group faced several instances that exhibited the lack of synchronization and co-operation among the group members. I learnt a vital lesson from this. This taught me that applying the communication skill on a one-to-one basis is completely a different thing than applying it on a group (Avery and et. al., 2001). It requires necessary leadership skills while interacting within a group since all the people doesn’t have the patience to hear what others are saying. Therefore while presenting a speech/ written report, it is necessary to make it appealing to the audience. This vital lesson would help me a lot towards my studies as well as in the professional field. I also realized that organizing the group is also an essential factor of team building since conflicts are likely to arise often within a team. I was lucky to have a diverse mix of people in my team. Some of my team members were good at analyzing while some are good at creating a motivated ambience within the group. However my team members tended to mix up their personal interests within their work which was not really acceptable as I believe that while working in a group, the group should be considered as a single entity and the personal interests, liking or hatred should not get any entry within this activity. I have also learnt that developing the analytic skills and problem solving skills within an individual especially while working with a team is extremely necessary as it recognizing the problem creating factor and removing/ amending depends on all the group members. Another vital factor of a team is creativity within their performance since it is expected that when several people work together innovative ideas are likely to appear (Boller, 2005). Group Work A group is defined as a cluster or combination of two or more individuals, who share a connection in the form of a social or a work related relationship. It is very important to state that the group is often dependent on a variety of characteristics. The general characteristics of a group comprises of goal orientation, interdependence of the group members, occurrence of interpersonal interaction, perception of membership, individual motivation as well as mutual influence (Levi, 2011, p. 3). The term “group dynamics” represents a combination of influential actions, changes as well as process that develop and happen within the members and elements of the group over the course of time (Forsyth, 2010, p. 2). Now as highlighted in the event of defining a group, it is very natural to say that a group will be propelled forward towards future functioning on the lines of group dynamics, which normally occurs as a result of interaction and communication of the group members. The concept of group dynamics originated right from formation of the group and continues to linger in varying degree throughout the course of existence of the group. It is very important to mention that any group dynamics always undergoes a significant amount change in the form of stage wise development. The first stage is the phase of forming. In this particular stage of group dynamics, the members of the group focus on knowing each other. The next phase is related to storming where the member of the concerned group tries to negotiate a way out in regards to the conflict of roles, responsibilities and procedures. The third phase is termed as norming where standard rules as well as social relationships start to originate and take shape within the group members. The fourth phase is performing where members of the group try to work in perfect collaboration so as to deliver the objectives with which the group was formed. The last stage is related to adjourning or termination where the group gets dissolved after the completion of the task related objectives (Haynes, 2012, p. 9). What I have learnt In several cases groups encounter conflicts that obstruct their smooth functioning. Group conflict is the term which represents breaking down of a standard decision making process so that the group members finds it difficult to attain a decision (Rahim, 2011, p. 15). Conflicts can be intergroup or intra group in nature. Talking in details about the various kinds of conflicts, it can be said that in an intergroup conflict, problems occur between two teams mostly in regards to resource sharing or shared decision making processes. On the other hand, the intra group conflicts happen when it becomes difficult for members of a particular to work in perfect harmony as well as collaboration. Conflicts tend to reduce the efficiency of the group. There are several ways to resolve the group conflicts like brainstorming, fishbone diagram and the 5Y method. It is of utmost importance for groups to deal with conflicts carefully and approaching towards the solution in a detailed manner so that future conflicts can be avoided. Curriculum Vitae A curriculum vita is a marketing tool and might be one of the most vital documents written in an individual’s professional life. It is the substance and sum of the education and work history and points towards a certain career track. It should be interesting and exhibit credibility. Since a CV is kind of self advertisement, it should persuade a prospective employer that the candidate is an exceptional choice for the profession and that they will add value to the organization. A CV has the motive of selling an individual in short order (McGee, 1997). In Latin, CV means “the course of my life”. A CV provides opportunity to the job seeker to create an impression about him/her in front of the employer at the first instance. The key purpose of a CV is to go through an interview successfully. It is necessary for the candidate to look promising on paper to be able to proceed towards the next phases of recruitment. A CV provides the opportunity to an organisation to measure the employability of a candidate in relation to the prerequisite of the firm. A candidate must tailor their CV according to the job for which they are applying, for instance, when a candidate is applying for a sales job, he/she must focus on their communication skill part in the CV which is necessary while communicating with the clients, however when the same candidate applies for a backend position, he/she must concentrate on their computer skills to show how proficient they are with data handling (McGee, 1997). An effectual CV can be prepared by the usage of ample number of phrases and power words. Documents supporting the skills necessary for the job must be presented along with the CV. It’s necessary on the part of the candidate to find out the requirements of the employer by going through the job description and the job specification. The CV must concentrate on all these fundamentals so that the candidate can get an opportunity to appear for the interview. The candidate’s CV must come alive by the application of a dynamic style of writing. The CV must be segmented under different heads. The “Experience” head must include phrases like, “Demonstrated skills in…”, “Extensive academic/practical background in…”, “Experienced in all aspects of…”, “Knowledge of/experienced as/proficient in…”, “Provided technical assistance to…” In a similar way the “Ability” head must contain, “Trained in…”, “Proficient in/competent at…”, “Initially employed to…”, “Expert at…”, “Working knowledge of…”, “Organised…”. What I have learnt Since a CV can play a vital role in convincing the employer about the suitability of a candidate, therefore it necessary that the candidate arranges and organizes the skills, experience, abilities etc. in proper order according to the nature of the job. The format of the CV also plays a major role in creating a certain impression in the employer’s mind and thus the look, arrangement, font, style etc. must be given proper importance and most importantly the CV should be free from grammatical and spelling errors. The cover letter forms a major part of the CV as it stimulates the employer’s interest in the candidate. In order to get access to the most suitable job, it is necessary on the part of the student to research the job market in an extensive manner that would make them aware of the types of job available in the market and the criteria for those jobs. This would help them to highlight the required skills in the CV according to the market demand. Decision Making The process of making a decision can be hard, especially if it is a multifaceted, life changing situation. Decision can be of two types, one is Programmed Decision where specific circumstances take place frequently and an individual can create rules for it. This type of decision is based on certain and estimated occurrences. The other type of decision is Non-programmed Decision where the situations that take place are distinctive, unstructured or poorly defined. This type of decisions is made when the occurrences are unpredicted and uncertain. While making complicated decisions, an individual must break down the decision into smaller and simpler tasks (Slotegraaf & Atuahene-Gima, 2011). A decision should be planned in advance so that the deadlines related to it are met efficiently. The process of decision making should be efficient enough to meet the deadlines and the decision should be made after considering all the possible options or solutions. While making the decision, the decision maker should be aware of the people who are responsible for the resultant decision and there should be a specific time frame within which the specific decision should be made. Information gathering is a vital factor of the decision making process since until and unless all the relevant information are collected, analyzed and evaluated, the opinion remains partial and hence the decisions give rise to biased judgements (Slotegraaf & Atuahene-Gima, 2011). While making the decision it is necessary to weigh the risks involved in a particular alternative. Priorities should be indicated in advance that would allocate proper weightage on the values of the factors involved in the entire decision making process. Decisions should not be based on a favourable or unfavourable circumstance since it might distract the decision maker from their actual objectives. Whatever course of action is implemented in the process of decision making, determining their pros and cons are always essential. It is of utmost importance to maintain proper records of the decision made and the alternatives evaluated in the process. The record can prove to be useful while making similar kind of decisions in the future. When the decisions are related to the functioning or operations of an organization it is always essential for the decision maker to keep the objectives clear and precise. If necessary, several complex objectives can be broken down in parts and accordingly the decision can be made. What I have learnt The kind of decision made exhibits a stronger and mentally capable side of an individual and therefore in big organizations, decisions are always made by the higher level officials who are rich in knowledge, expertise and experience. Uncertain and ambiguous objectives can result into a wrong decision and therefore it is always recommended to the decision maker that before making the decision, he/she must know what exactly the organization wants him/her to achieve (Slotegraaf & Atuahene-Gima, 2011). For instance if the management wants a senior employee to guide his/her juniors, the employee should know exactly how much guidance should be offered since deciding to help the junior by doing their job might result in the inefficiency of the junior and they might get dependant on their seniors. Thus this kind of support is highly discouraged by the management and hence should be avoided by the senior employee. Employability Two of the best definitions of the term “Employability” could be, “A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy (ESECT based on Yorke 2006)” (Pegg and et.al, 2006). “Employability is not just about getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is on a vocational course does not mean that somehow employability is automatic. Employability is more than about developing attributes, techniques or experience just to enable a student to get a job, or to progress within a current career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less on ‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In essence, the emphasis is on developing critical, reflective abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner. (Harvey 2003)” (Pegg and et.al, 2006) From the above definitions it is clear that employability is making an individual job ready and making them learn the ways towards achieving their desired job. Thus employability can be simply considered as a way out that provides career opportunity, the prospective towards growth and a chance to explore and evaluate options.In the context of the modern corporate era, employability simply indicates possessing a set of skills, understanding, personal attributes and knowledge that makes an individual more likely to pick and enter into jobs in which they can be satisfied and successful. In other words, employability is all about being competent of reaching and maintaining a satisfying job (Pegg and et.al, 2006). If we consider the term employability in a more methodical way, we can conclude that it is the ability to move independently within the labour market to recognize the probabilities through sustainable job opportunities. Employability makes a graduate accustomed with the requirements of the job market and enhances their knowledge and skills so that they become acceptable as a promising employee by the organizations offering jobs. According to Hillage & Pollar employability consists of four elements namely the Employability assets that include knowledge, attitudes and skills, Deployment factor that includes job searching skills and career management skills, Presentation skills involve the job acquiring abilities which might include skills like interview cracking techniques and CV writing and finally Personal circumstances involving external factors and family responsibilities for instance exploring the opportunities in the present labour market. What I have learnt The employability skills in an individual must include the traits like initiative, self motivation, desire to learn, self-management, efficient communication techniques, teamwork, planning and organising abilities, technological know-how and problem solving skills (Pegg and et.al, 2006). Quantitative and logical reasoning forms a major part of the employability factor since working in an organization often involves calculations and critical thinking activities and these skills are not domain specific. These should be present more or less in every individual. Thus employability makes an individual competent enough to fight the battle of entering the most wanted positions by the means of learning and enhancing their skills. The career development process is highly associated with the employability factor within a graduate. The career development process makes an individual aware of themselves, helps them to assess their strengths and weaknesses, makes them aware of the available career opportunities, supports them while making a decision related to their career and finally helps them to get placed in the right job. Kolb’s Learning Cycle David Kolb, the adult learning expert has defined the process of learning as a four stage series within which the learner is expected to do something solid or to gain experience that offers a foundation for the learner’s reflection and observation on the occurrence and his or her personal reaction towards it. This study is then integrated into a theoretical structure or a concept related to the past experiences and proficiency of the learner from which inferences for activities can be derived that are tested and implemented in various circumstances (Illeris, 2007). Experiencing or engaging oneself in the performance of a work is the first phase within which the person, group or institution simply performs the assigned job. The engaged individual does not usually reflect the task with which they are involved rather they are much engaged with the intention of doing the job (Illeris, 2007). Learning originally takes place when an individual encounters a new real experience and tackles it according to the terms of feelings, reactions and observations. Accordingly, the utmost reflective way to encourage learning in the first stage of the cycle is by offering the student with investigative tools for example materials and situations that support concrete experiences. Kolb states that learners must turn out to be aggressively involved in the investigation of the learning practice if they wish to derive the maximum result out of it. It can engage preparing a checklist of matters that the learner must attempt to do like enthusiastically taking note of the happenings in the surrounding, creating a record or log of some kind, and framing suitable questions. The second phase of the model involves the observer’s perceptions that are adjusted on the basis of prior learning process. This process comprises of the reflection of the student on their past experiences and their thoughts about the present experiences in a way that proves to be fitting into prior patterns (Illeris, 2007). This is the most difficult phase of the cycle and is the most important of all. The third phase of the cycle plays its part when the situations experienced by the individual appear to fit a certain pattern. In such a case the individual feels familiar with the nature of the situation since it has got some similarity with his or her past experiences and thus accordingly he/she forms the concept. In this stage the learner should be introduced with relationship diagrams and subject theories. The final stage involves further testing and experimentation and this stage comes into being when the learner realizes that the concepts learnt in the third phase require further investigation. As the learner, with the intention of testing, proposes new results, the learning process is restarted (Illeris, 2007). What I have learnt Thus we can conclude that the learning process is a never ending process and it helps an individual to explore new dimensions of thinking and explore new means of arriving at the desired outcomes. This model can be effectively implemented in the job context since throughout the job life the employees come across new experiences which in turn teach them a new concept every day. Problem Solving The 8D model of problem solving can ensure orderly and systematic answers to the problems and the application of this model can be widely seen in the automobile sector. The model provides logical and easy steps towards the solution and this is a well known model with which almost each and every organization is accustomed. The U.S. Government was the first to standardize “8 Disciplines” procedure at the time of the 2nd World War. Later on the process was made popular by the Ford Car Company during the 1980s. Whilst its origins emphasized on the manufacturing process, it gets implemented across the organization, from blueprint to customer services and anything in between (Langley and et.al, 2009). The 8D Problem Solving Process is widely implemented for identifying, amending and eliminating issues. The method is helpful in the process of improving the making of the product and its development. It establishes a typical practice, with a prominence on information. It puts emphasis on the cause of the issue by determining the root of the problem. The steps used in the model are named as D0, D1 and so on. The D0 step defines preparation for the 8D model that involves activities like gathering the symptoms. The D1 step defines the team formation activity which involves choosing the right members for the team, the next phase namely the D2 phase describes the problem at hand. In this stage the decision maker learns what exactly is the problem how it’s affecting the activities of the associated people. The D3 phase is recognized as the stage when the Interim Containment Action takes place. This phase evaluates the effectiveness of the available alternatives. The D4 stage has been named as the phase of Root Cause Analysis and Escape Point since at this stage the various changes and differences take place and this stage deals with several root cause theories. The D5 stage deals with the permanent corrective actions that involve a certain acceptance criteria, assessment of the risk involved, balanced preferences and authentication of the effectiveness of the actions. The D6 phases are known as the implement and validate stage which involves the corroboration of the improvements and the project plans. The D7 phase deals with the prevention actions that are applied on similar products or processes. The prevention phase gives rise to certain actions that are equally relevant in the field of systems prevention and this phase results in standard work approaches and policy or procedure updates. The D8 phase is the final stage that refers to closure and team celebration that involves the lessons learnt by the team, documentation of relevant information and celebration of success (Langley and et.al, 2009). What I have learnt This model is extremely effective in the problem solving approach since at every stage the model offers the whole new dimension exploring which would prove to be a challenge and fun, at the same time, for the individual. The 8D model is extensively used as a quality management tool since it helps organizations who rectify the errors involved in the production procedure. Kirkpatrick’s Four levels of Evaluation What I have learnt Kirkpatrick’s four level evaluation models are based on the information provided by each lower level to its next level. Organizations can measure the effectiveness of its training program by using this four level model established by Donald Kirkpatrick. This model states that evaluation in organization should start from the ground level and after that according to the availability of money and time it should move through the next levels which are level two three and four. Information gathered from the previous level will act as a base for the evaluation of next level. Thus in this way each level has a specific significance in the measurement of efficiency of training program. But it also needs critical and time taking analysis to measure the effectiveness of four levels in the organization. Thus I have learnt that this model can be efficiently used by organizations to measure the effectiveness of a training program and a vital lesson was learnt that is learning takes place on the basis of the initial reaction towards the approach. The various levels of the model are discussed in the subsequent section. Evaluation of Level 1- Reactions:- In this level the organization should focus on the reaction of the trainees towards the training program. It includes many questions about the participation of the trainees like did the participants like the training? Was the training material related to their work? This style of evaluation also known as smile sheet as because organizations will always try to make them feel that the training is valuable for their future work, the instructor is good and materials are updated. According to Kirkpatrick, every organization should evaluate their training programs at least at this level to improve it for the employees. Along with this, the reactions of trainees in this level have a link with the learning process in the second level. Although positive response does not always confirm that they will learn but the negative response surely reduce the chances of learning. Evaluation of level two-Learning:- Organizations can arrange for a test before the training of level two and after the completion of level two to see that how many employees have learnt from the training program. Assessment of this level not only measures the satisfaction level of the trainees but also it tries to measure the advance knowledge, skills and attitude of the students after the training. Thus the measurement process becomes more difficult and time consuming at this level than the level one. It includes various formal and informal methods like self assessment and assessment by the team. It is mandatory for the participants to evaluate themselves before the training program and after the training program to see the changes occurred to themselves. Evaluation of level three- Transfer:- In this level the organization measures the changes in the behavior of trainees after receiving the training program. It also measures the practical implication of the knowledge provided during training program. It also includes several questions like are the new achieved knowledge, skills and attitude can be used in day to day to activity of the participant? Trainers need to be very careful to assess this level. But it has been seen that measuring the behavioral change sometimes becomes impossible to assume thus this level needs to have critical analysis about the time and process to evaluate the trainees. Evaluation of level four- results:- Assessment of this level can be done through the measurement of business results. This level attempts to measure the success of the training program by measuring the understanding level of the managers that how much production level has increased, whether quality has increased and cost has decreased or not, declining in the accidental events, increment in sales , profit and in return on investment. From the viewpoint of an organization this is main aim of the training program thus result of the level four cannot be shown typically because defining the results in financial language is difficult to assess and not easy to link with the training program of the organization (NACAA, 2005). References Avery, C.M. and et. al. 2001. Teamwork is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done when Sharing Responsibility. USA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Levi, D. 2011. Group Dynamics for teams. UK: Sage Publications Ltd. Forsyth, D.R. 2010. Group Dynamics. 5th ed. USA: Cengage Learning. Haynes, N.M. 2012. Group Dynamics: Basics and Pragmatics for Practitioners. USA: University Press of America. Rahim, M. A. 2011. Managing Conflict in Organizations: Fourth Edition. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. McGee, P. 1997. Writing a CV that Works: How to Develop and Use Your Key Marketing Tool. UK : How To Books Ltd. Pegg, A. and et.al, 2006. Pedagogy for employability.[Pdf] Available at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/employability/pedagogy_for_employability_update_2012.pdf [Accessed on 15th January 2014] Langley, G.J. and et.al, 2009. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance. John Wiley & Sons. Illeris, K. 2007. How We Learn: Learning and Non-Learning in School and Beyond. Oxon: Routledge. Slotegraaf, R, & Atuahene-Gima, K 2011, 'Product Development Team Stability and New Product Advantage: The Role of Decision-Making Processes', Journal Of Marketing, 75, 1, pp. 96-108, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 January 2014. Moon, J.A. 2013. Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice. Oxon : Routledge. NACAA. 2005. Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation. [Online]. Available at: http://www.4cleanair.org/Kirkpatrick.pdf. [Accessed on January 15, 2014]. Boller, S. 2005. Teamwork Training. USA: American Society for Training and Development. Read More