GROUP DEVELOPMENT AND THE GROUP STRUCTURE - Essay Example

?INTRODUCTION This assignment is conducted with the purpose of showing the ability of research and analysis of an organization’s culture, structure, culture and approach to the management and leadership. This reflective essay is derived from my experience and this essay evaluates leadership management and its impact on the group performance. The role of leadership is highly considerable in resolving the conflicts within the groups. The organization’s culture and structure have a significant role in the group development and group structure of the company. The group structure is derived on the basis of company’s policies and procedures that are followed by all the employees of the company. As a new joined member of the group project, I was liable to fully follow the group structured guidelines that are already been designed by the leader and the other members of the group. But initially I was informed with the fact that the group has not started working on the project. When I joined the group the work gets started, and responsibilities and authorities were divided among all the group members. The management of activities and conflicts among the members of the group is the responsibility of a leader. The group leader was an impressive personality and he motivated the team in all stages of the project. The only thing that I found is needs to be improved to make more effective team structure that is the role of leader of the group. The leader used a centralized approach throughout the project. Every thing was compulsory to inform the leader at all stages. It is the responsibility to inform the leader at every stage of the work. However, in my opinion leadership could be more effective if it follows the charismatic approach of leadership. Group structure has a considerable impact on the performance of the group members. While working in a centralized structure, I had realized that centralized structure has a significant influence on the performance of our team. Decentralized structure could have been a better choice than centralized structure for the group practices, but it was not the perception of other group members. GROUP DEVELOPMENT AND THE GROUP STRUCTURE For understanding the behavior of the teams, it is extremely beneficial to analyze the model defined specifically for explaining the steps required for the development of a team. The group development model is the source to identify the behavior of team members at four stages of the development phase of the group. I have explained the detailed analysis that is what I have experienced while working with a team. GROUP DEVELOPMENT MODEL (Johnson et al., 2002) There are four stages are defined in group development model of Tuckman’s in 1965 as defined by Johnson et al., (2002), and on the basis of which I have shared my experience in working with a group. Forming When I had attended the first group meeting, all of the other members of the group were familiar with each other because I had joined the group lately. The group was based on 9 members including leader. In the first meeting, I came to know that the working on the project has not been started so far, and I was surprised with this notification. I got introduced with the team members and met with the team leader as well. The leader played a decisive role as he was encouraging and influencing the team members. But what I felt is coordination among the team members was not satisfactory. Because of this reason the project did not start by the team in time. The proper coordination of team members is one of the basic responsibilities of group leader. For the realization of value of time management for the development of an effective team, I tried to let them understand the value of time in the project. Time management in the project increases the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of the working procedures of the projects (Driscoll, 2013). Storming After good interaction with all the team members and a group leader, I precede to the next step of in the light of Tuckman’s group development model, the group leader assigned me the responsibilities and authorities regarding the project. The leader of the team clarified and explained me the goals and objectives of the team. I was initially asked to write the introductory part of the project. But with the passage of time I realized that all the typical tasks were assigned to me by the leader. It was extremely challenging for me to make the strategy to tackle with all the typical issues of the project. In the end, I came to realize that the management of typical tasks was the best learning experience throughout the project. Norming After experiencing the storming stage, I realized that all the team members are working in an effective manner. The collaboration among the team members was quite good. No one was interfering in the other responsibilities. The group leader was extremely encouraging and at all the stages the leader motivated the team members for increasing their confidence along with their efficiency in the project. One thing that was not satisfactory for me was the centralized structure of the team. The centralized structure up to some extent was annoying me to inform the leader at every single progress of the project. Usually, some group members do not want to report on each, and every step that they take or they are assigned while working in a team and I am one of them. That is why I was not satisfied with the centralized approach in the working structure of the group. Because centralized structure is time consuming, inflexible, and it is extremely limited perception. Centralized structure also increases dependency on some individuals. These disadvantages of centralized structure have a significant negative impact on the performance of the organization (Heeks, 1998). Performing The group leader was immensely encouraging for the team members, and he was rewarding the members in return of good performances. Every employee was getting motivated with rewards and making his contribution effective in the project. I was assigned with all the difficult tasks and I realized that I was treating as the father of the group. The centralized approach was the only reason that I felt needs some improvement. I was continuously encouraged by my group leader and received a strong support from the leader side. He was like a charismatic leader. Charismatic leader is the one who has potential to influence its employees and motivate for increasing their efficiency in the organization (Hackman, & Johnson, 2004). APPROACH TO ORGANIZATION OR GROUP STRUCTURE I think the centralized group structure was the only reason that was decreasing the effectiveness of the team and especially my contribution. I always want to work in the decentralized structure where team members are not supposed to provide feedback at every step of progress. Every individual in a team has his own way of working, and he follows his own working standards. So it is difficult for individuals to give feedback on every progressive step to the leader. The decentralized structure helps all the group members to work with the assigned authorities and responsibilities to achieve the outcomes. The merits of decentralized structure are the justification of success of the huge multinationals. For example, Google has a decentralized structure; it is believed that the authority should be spread throughout the enterprise (Verizon, 2011). The delegation of authority creates the leadership skills among the employees of the organization. When I had analyzed the decentralized structure of Google, I was cleared with my intentions that I am working with the right perception. Decentralization is more effective for those employees who want to create leadership skills among them. The liberty to work with one own ideas is itself a leadership skill. The sense of responsibility along with the delegated authority creates the decision-making power among the employees. A sample decentralized structure of an organization has been presented below: (Management Mania, 2013) The advantages of decentralized structure highlight that effectiveness and efficiency in the decision making of an organization at all levels is the result of decentralized structure. (Lewis, 2005) The above figure is representing that decentralized structure is highly beneficial for the employees (Lewis, 2005). There are a number of things absent in the centralized structure that can contribute in the employees development. From the other perspective, decentralized structure is more beneficial for the company as well. The importance of decentralized structure is thoroughly analyzed by the multinationals, and almost all the multinationals are working with the decentralized structure. Centralized structure is usually followed by the SMEs than by multinationals. The main reason is that the wide network requires a wide distribution or delegation of authorities along with more people for making decisions and thus, MNCs follow decentralized structure. Decentralized structure develops more leaders in the company. The managerial thinking is extremely beneficial in the organizations; therefore it is crucial for organizations to have a proper delegation of authority to create effective managers in the company. The delegation of authority among all levels of the organization led the employees to perform their task under the proper supervision of their supervisor or manager. Managerial guidance is extremely beneficial while confronting with uncertain situations. Usually, employees in the organization face uncertain situations while giving good performance to the company. From the reference of whole discussion, I can develop a perception that decentralized structure could have been much better approach to work effectively and comprehensively. LEADERSHIP IN DECENTRALIZED STRUCTURE As the above discussion decentralized structure has got a great importance. The effectiveness of decentralized structure is partially based on the role and characteristics of all leaders and managers of the company. Employees initially learn from their group or department leaders then form the other leaders of the hierarchy. Therefore, it is extremely crucial that the role and character of each leader of the company should motivate the benefits of decentralized structures. Two roles of leadership that are best suited in the decentralized structure that is Laissez-Faire Leadership and Visionary Leadership. 1- LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP LAISSEZ-FAIRE leadership approach refers to the approach that promotes delegation of authorities in the company. This approach tells that the delegation of authority enhances the decision making capability of all the employees in the company that has a positive impact on the overall decision making process of the company. In this way this leadership approach supports the decentralized structure. 1- VISIONARY LEADERSHIP Visionary leaders give a significant level of authority to the followers or employees. The leaders define a vision to the employees but not the clear direction. This practice is conducted to create innovative skills among the employees. The experiments for finding the right direction led the employees towards the inventions and innovations. This approach is used by the decentralized organizations for the proper utilization of its employees’ potentials (Hackman, & Johnson, 2004). CONCLUSION I have discussed my experience as a group member of the project in this report. It was a enjoyable learning experience, but I realized that the issue of centralized structure of the group made me unsatisfactory with the working procedure. It is extremely crucial for the development of every group that it should follow and pass through the four stages of Tuckman’s model of group development. The appropriate collaboration is the result of the application of Tuckman’s model into the group formation. With the support of this model, I became successful in realizing that centralized structure is creating constraints in the skills development. Decentralized structure found more impressive to me for applying it on the group members than centralized structure. Another thing that I have learned from this context that is the role of manager or leader is crucial in the decentralized structure. The main individuals that encourage or execute a decentralized structure in the organization are the leaders and managers of the organization. This experience is truly a learning experience, and I found that I have done a comprehensive analysis of the situation that I have faced while working in a team under the supervision of a leader. References Driscoll, T. (2013). The Importance Of Time Management. Construction Advisory Report, Available from http://www.constructionadvisoryreport.com/home/blog/2013/09/11/managing-the-time-factor/ [Accessed 7 December, 2013] Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2004). Leadership: A communication perspective. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. Heeks, R. (1998). Information systems for public sector management. Manchester, UK: Institute for Development Policy and Management. Available from http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/research/publications/wp/igovernment/documents/igov_wp07.pdf [Accessed 7 December, 2013] Johnson, S. D., Suriya, C., Won Yoon, S., Berrett, J. V., & La Fleur, J. (2002). Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams. Computers & Education, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 379-393. Lewis, B. (2005). Considering knowledge management in outsourcing decisions. Knowledge Management Systems, Available from https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~blewis/i385q/outsourcingKM.pdf [Accessed 7 December, 2013] Management Mania. (2013). Typology of Organizational Structure. Available from https://managementmania.com/en/typology-of-organizational-structure.pdf [Accessed 7 December, 2013] Verizon. (2011). Decentralization: Matching Strategy to Opportunity. Available from http://www.verizonenterprise.com/resources/pointofview/pv_decentralization-matching-strategy-to-opportunity_en-xg.pdf [Accessed 7 December, 2013] Read More