How to Motivate the Members to Work for the Attainment of the Goals - Assignment Example

The Newly Staff Project Groups are made for better management of tasks that are difficult for an individual to complete by self by giving support, expertise and knowledge. Even if a person can complete the task by oneself, the time cuts offered by group work are detrimental in assigning groups rather than individual tasks. Some people thrive in group tasks, yet others feel threatened by having others in their groups. The group/team leader is responsible for creating a conducive environment in the group for accomplishment of tasks in an effective and timely fashion. The group leader decides who gets to be in the group, what activities should be performed by which member, etc. Even with a proper supervision plan, conflicts are bound to occur because people have different values, cultures, thinking and ideas. In cases of conflict, the group leader must intervene to solve the issues and motivate the members to work for the attainment of the goals. (Accel-Team, 1999) Question 1: What kind of work group is the project staff team - task force, command group, or friendship group? A project staff team is a task force that has been recently formed to improve the processes at the organization. In such a task force, many people are brought together who work to achieve a common task/objective within a specified time period. The goals and objectives to be accomplished are set by the organization which is also responsible for appointing the group members. (McMillan, 2005) 2. What characteristics of the team are likely to contribute to the goal of process gains within the next three months? For a team to realize process gains in this very short time, some of the characteristics must be present in the team. Unity The team should be closely knit so that a bond or a unity exists inside the team Understanding The team members should understand and appreciate other’s judgments and ideas Respect for Each Another The differences, skills and knowledge of the team members must be respected Motivated The team should be well motivated and should be target oriented Communicative The team members should be involved in two-way communication with each other at all times. 3. What are some sources of potential process losses? The factors described below (Nunamaker, 1991) are threatening to the organization and to the solidarity of the group. These cause process losses, and they must be minimized for better achievement of goals. Production Blocking This occurs when members of a group forget, suppress, think of old ideas or cannot generate new ideas due to constant speech or interruptions by others. Group Think This occurs when members of a group fail to criticize comments of others due to politeness or fear of reprisals. Social Loafing Instead of working, members of the group spend their time socializing by taking advantage of having many members in the group. Cognitive Inertia Members of a group refrain from thinking ‘out of the box’ as their thoughts are not directly related to the current discussion. Domination If a member of a group is more dominant than others, the decisions taken would be influenced by the dominant’s person thinking and ideology. Information Overload This occurs when too much information is presented to the group members before they can process and understand it. Question 4: How did the discussion change, alter or enhance your conception of effective work groups? During the discussion about group work, several important points were discovered that either changed or enhanced my point of view regarding effective group work. Prior to the discussion, I thought group leaders to be a power head who have authoritative control and the power to do anything he/she wants. Practically this was very naïve of me, especially when I found out that group work is about cooperation and trust of all group members, including the group leader. An effective group works under sufficiently long periods of time and develop well-established, relaxed working relationship among all its members. Loyalty, trust and confidence go hand in hand – both from the member’s and the leader’s side. The anxieties, fears, and emotional stresses produced by direct pressure for high performance from a boss in a hierarchical situation are not present. Groups seem capable of setting high performance goals for the group as a whole and for each member. In an effective group, each person can exert sufficient influence on the decisions of the group to prevent the group from setting unattainable goals for any member while setting high goals for all. (Likert, 1961) Another flaw in my thought was that I thought group members to work mechanically in the system to achieve the group’s goals and objectives. In reality, groups are interlinked relationships that undergo friendships, likes and dislikes, attachments and conflicts. For effective group member, all of these must be a feature of the group. The emphasis on dislikes and conflicts seem strange, however without these in a team, there would be no support, no reasons for arguments, therefore no creativity and no competition within the group members. Conflicts create an opportunity to enhance relationships. An individual getting a good idea is beaten by the other member who gets an even better idea thus competitiveness is promoted inside effective groups. However the conflicts and competition must be kept in check and to a certain limit because once the limit is crossed, there can be no end to conflict can end with in-fights and rivalry up to dangerous levels. The sprit of helping rather than fighting must be placed in the groups. All the interaction, problem-solving, decision-making activities of the group occur in a supportive atmosphere where respect is shown for the point of view of others both in the way contributions are made and in the way they are received. Mutual help is a characteristic of highly effective groups. (Cunningham, 2000) (Likert, 1961) In groups the objectives are set as a whole and each member recognizes his/her role that has to be played. The values and goals of the group integrate the group as they have helped shape these values and goals and are satisfied with them. In effective groups, more important a value seems to the group, the greater the likelihood that the individual members will accept it. So a group-leader emphasizes on certain values, objectives or goals more if they are in priority. The leader exerts a major influence in establishing the tone and atmosphere of that work group by his or her leadership principles and practices thus creating a respect and becoming a role-model for the others for them to accept willingly and without resentment the goals and expectations established. Also in an effective group, all members knows the value of "constructive" conformity and understand when to use it and for what purposes. All members and the leader adhere to the rules and regulations of the workplace and rarely deviate from them. (Likert, 1961) Communication is one of the strongest members in the groups. There is strong motivation on the part of each member to communicate fully and frankly to the group all the information which is relevant and of value to the groups activity. There is high motivation in the group to use the communication process so that it best serves the interests and goals of the group. Just as there is high motivation to communicate, there is correspondingly strong motivation to receive communications. The group efforts of the highly effective group enable the members to exert more influence on the leader and to communicate far more information to him or her, including suggestions as to what needs to be done and how the leader could do a better job, than is possible in one-to-one relationship. By "tossing the ball" back and forth among the members, a group can communicate information to the leader which no single person on a one-to-one basis dare do. (Likert, 1961) Question 5: Identify elements of group effectiveness that you may be able to influence Changing the characteristics of a group is not an easy job. The group members who are working together for a long period of time, develops certain norms and values. These norms and values would be difficult to change and may cause conflicts within the group. With me being in the group, I can try to influence a few of the elements of effective groups inside the newly formed staff-team. By the research work and discussion I learnt that these elements should be there for an effective working group. Since communication is the backbone of any project or operation’s success, I will try to increase the level of communication by asking relevant questions from the group members, will listen to what other have to say and try to participate in discussions with extra knowledge learnt from research work. (Johnson & Holubec, 1990) By opening up the communication channels, I will try to befriend the members of the staff-team and influence others to be in talking terms with all others, at least initially. Also through the communication channels, collaboration on certain tasks can be built. (PolyU, 2000) I’ll give respect to the senior members of the group and hope that others learn from my example. By listening and believing in others, I’ll build the trust so that a friendly and supportive environment in the group is created. Creativity is an inborn trait; however by creating a relaxed and supportive environment, I will try to stimulate creativity that will be beneficial for the organization. (PolyU, 2000) Lastly I can influence the motivational levels of the members in the team. Through support, friendship, cooperation and collaboration, the team members will themselves feel motivated to give their best for the organization. Question 6: Think about how you would increase the probability of process gains within your project staff team Process gains will increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Using group communication techniques such as Brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique, Delphi Technique, Dialectical plans, playing Devil’s Advocate and conducting Focus Groups etc., will help in reducing tensions and conflicts within a group, hence the group will better deliver its goals. However none of these techniques will help in the group members in getting to know, understand and trust others which are critical for effective group work. Therefore to achieve process gains, some of these points below will be enacted. (Turoff, 2000) Focusing on the Problem The problems and ideas will be clearly discussed and communicated to all group members. They will be objectively evaluated since groups are better at catching errors than individuals. (Nunamaker, 1991) (UTS, 1997) Better Mission Orientation All of the group members will be working to achieve the same goal. This will result in less unnecessary work done and less wastage of time and resources. (UTS, 1997) A Wider Pool of Knowledge Since people with a variety of skills and knowledge are in a group, the group will be more knowledgeable in an area leading to higher quality solutions (UTS, 1997) Better Group Memory Through documentation and memory of most members regarding a previous experience is easily accessible hence the same mistakes would not be committed again and best practices will be applied for newer decisions. (UTS, 1997) Synergy Through communication and collaboration, group synergy will increase that will be beneficial for the organization since the combined effort is greater than an individual effort. (Nunamaker, 1991) Learning By creating respect, trust and loyalty, members would be able to learn from and imitate more skilled members to improve performance. (Nunamaker, 1991) Works Cited 1. Accel-Team. (1999). Team Building. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from Accel Team: http://www.accel-team.com/team_building/team_ex_01.html 2. Cunningham, R. (2000). Some Characteristics of Effective Work Groups. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from University of Alberta - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: http://www.ualberta.ca/~rcunning/teams.htm 3. Johnson, D., & Holubec, E. J. (1990). Cooperation in the Classroom ( rev. ed.). Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company. 4. Likert, R. (1961). New Patterns of Management. McGraw-Hill . 5. McMillan, A. (2005). GROUP DYNAMICS. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from Reference For Business: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Dynamics.html 6. Nunamaker, J. F. (1991). Sources of Group Process Gains and Losses. In Electronic Meeting Systems To Support Group Work (46). 7. PolyU. (2000). Basic Elements of effective group work. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from The Hong Kong Polytecnic University: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/learn-to-learn/student/html/GroupProject/basicElements.htm 8. Turoff, M. (2000). Structures that have been designed to minimize process losses. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from New Jersey Institute of Technology: http://web.njit.edu/~turoff/coursenotes/IS679/679newset2/tsld133.htm 9. UTS. (1997). PROCESS GAINS AND LOSSES. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from University of Technology, Sydney: http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~igorh/cscw/tools/orgs/pgains.htm Read More