The Forgotten Group Member - Case Study Example

Case Study: The forgotten group member Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Groups help to improve the performance of the organization. Many organizations are changing towards teamwork so that they can achieve their goals and objectives. When individuals work in groups, they can achieve their results better, unlike when the individuals work independently. Teamwork therefore helps to improve the performance of tasks. However, the performance of the group depends on the cooperation of the individuals. Group dynamics are the changes in behaviors of the group members which occur within the groups and which affect the performance of the groups (Brooks 2009). Group dynamics help to understand the thinking of the individuals and this helps to ensure quality decision making. In this case study, group dynamics can help Christine to make quality decision which helps to improve the cooperation of the group members. This essay, therefore will discuss the various concepts of organizational behavior in relation to the forgotten group member case study. Case Summary Christine was elected the coordinator of the group of the five members whose responsibility was to perform the organizational behavior assignment. However, the coordinator experienced a number of issues from the group members. For instance, Mike could not cooperate with other team members simply because he could be late watching a television program while Diane was always quiet but could provide quality ideas when asked. Time elapsed and the due date for submitting the assignment was near and the group members had not performed their group work (Brooks 2009). This became a challenge to Christine as she did not know what to do next. This is because Mike could not cooperate with other group members, although he could provide effective ideas concerning the organization behavior assignment. In this regard, there are a number of ideas and suggestions which could help the coordinator to ensure cooperation from the group members. The most effective way is to understand the group dynamics which could help her to understand the behavior of the group members. How understanding group development stages could help Christine The first stage in group development is the forming stage. This is the stage where the team members are identified. At this stage, the desire to be accepted by the group members is influenced by the behavior of the individual. The group members focus on the objective of the assignment and avoid individual interests and focus on the single objective of achieving the assignment of organizational behavior. At this stage, the members of the group agree on how to meet each other (Brooks 2009). This stage will help Christine to gain commitment from the group members because they will all agree when to meet to do the assignment, hence there will be commitment from all the team members. The next group development stage is storming stage. This is the stage where tolerance is emphasized. The leadership of the team should ensure there is tolerance, so that conflicts can be managed. Patience should be emphasized at this stage so that the group will not fail. This stage is important as it helps to ensure the needs of each group are taken into consideration (Hellriegel & Slocum 2010). Christine will be able to manage conflicts among the group members by tolerating with each member so as to avoid issues in the team. There is also the norming stage. At this stage, the team members take various roles and all the group members should agree on the ideas which will make the team function. The group members take the responsibility of ensuring the group achieves high marks in the organizational behavior assignment (Hellriegel & Slocum 2010). This stage is helpful to Christine because it helps her to achieve commitment from the group members including Mike and Diane. The last stage of group development is the performing stage. This is the final stage of doing the assignment. The members upon agreeing on various issues, they will do the assignment at an agreed date. This is the stage of performing the real task by implementing the different of the group members to do the assignment (Hellriegel & Slocum 2010). In this way, Christine will be able to achieve group cooperation and they will do the assignment within the stipulated time. What to understand about team members to gain support The first thing to understand about team members to build a supportive environment, including the personality of the team members. The coordinator should be able to understand the personality of the team members so that she could build effective teams (Huczynski & Buchanan 2010). This could help the coordinator to build a group environment which will ensure cooperation from the group members. Ina addition, Christine should be able to understand the culture of each team member. For instance, communication will enable her to understand the behavior of each group member so that they agree on the ways they can perform their task (Huczynski & Buchanan 2010). This will help to consider the various issues of the members of the group, hence achieve cooperation from the team members. Moreover, Christine should understand the most appropriate time for each group members and make a consensus with group members on how they can perform the task effectively. Failing to consider the most appropriate time each group member, the group could not achieve its task (Huczynski & Buchanan 2010). This is because there will be conflicts among the group members, hence there will be no cooperation from the team members. In this effect, considering the most appropriate time for each team members hence there will be supportive processes. The interests of each group member should also be considered. This is an important aspect for Christine to consider so that, when discussing on the policies of achieving the assignment (Knights & Wilmott 2007). This will help Christine to guide the group members towards focusing on the same interest of attaining better marks in the assignment. Having common interest will enable the group to achieve high marks in the organizational behavior assignment. Effectiveness of Christine in group leadership Christine is not an effective leader in this group. This is because she has not applied effective leadership skill to manage the issues in the group members (Knights & Wilmott 2007). In the first place, she did not apply effective communication skills. She should have applied effective communication skills to achieve commitment from the group members. This implies that she is not a good communicator. In addition, Christine did not have effective skills for managing the conflicts among the group members. Christine did not apply skills to manage the issues affecting the group which could have otherwise led to conflicts among the group members (Knights & Wilmott 2007). This is why the group members did not cooperate towards doing the assignment within the stipulated time. Moreover, Christine did not apply the innovative skill. Christine was not able to apply the innovative ideas so that the group can cooperate and focus on achieving the task (Knights & Wilmott 2007). A good leader should be able to apply innovative ideas which will help to improve the cooperation of the group members. She should be able to ensure the group members are motivated towards working out the assignment. Conclusion The group members did not cooperate towards working out the assignment because they gave their different issues. Christine was faced with great challenges in coordinating the functions of the group. The group development stages include forming, storming, norming and performing stage. In order to build cooperation from the group members, Christine should understand the culture of the members, the personality of the team members and the interests of the group members. In this effect, Christine is not a good leader because she did not apply effective communication skills, improve innovative ideas References Brooks, I. (2009). Organisational Behaviour, Individuals, Groups and Organisation (4 ed) Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Hellriegel, D & Slocum, J. W. (2010). Organizational Behaviour (11 ed) Mason: South Western Huczynski, A & Buchanan, D. (2010). Organisational Behaviour (7 ed); FT Prentice Hall Knights, D & Wilmott, H. (2007). Introducing Organizational Behaviour and Management. London: Thomson Learning Read More