What Is Group Behavior - Coursework Example

Your full full October 28, Group Behavior What is Group Behavior? Group behavior refers to theway people within a group behave with each other while performing group activities. Group behavior includes the ways people interact and perform project activities from the stage of formation to dissolution (Smith 2011). Different people possess different behaviors that they reveal during communication. Some people are courteous by nature and behave in a decent way with other people. On the other hand, some people have rude nature, which makes them behave in a discourteous way with other people. Moreover, a large number of people possess a variety of behaviors that they reveal in different situations. All types of behaviors, whether they are good or bad, play a vital role in success/failure of a person in his/her personal and professional life. A person dealing with others in a decent manner has more vivid chances of success as compared to a person who does not deal with others in a fair manner. It will be correct if we say that good behaviors play the role of a ladder in the success of a person. If we talk about the importance of behaviors from the context of groups, we can say that demonstration of good behaviors is extremely important for the success of a group because bad behaviors lead to wasted group efforts towards completion of tasks. In this paper, I will discuss different types of behaviors that people within a group show while interacting with each other. I will use Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning as the base for assessing different behaviors. I will consider the case of our own group that we created for the completion of our course project. I will discuss the behaviors of all people included in the group that they showed while doing the group project. Our Topic Our topic was ‘organizational Culture of Starbucks’. My part was about shared value assumption of Starbucks, organizational dimension, and organizational characteristics. I also had to apply relevant theories to observation and research to provide theoretical support to research findings. Name of Group Members The names of the group members were Ryan, Rami, Karl, and Karma. We worked as a group to complete the project. Karl was the leader of the group. He showed good leadership skills while working as a team leader. Ryan was the type of person who always seemed to be anxious about everything. For example, he always wanted from us to show him the logic behind each step towards project completion. He always got good ideas that really helped all of us in completing our project tasks. Karma also had good ideas to share with us. He was very cooperative and seemed to be okay with every group decision. I was the last person in the group. I used to help all of my group members whenever they needed some sort of help from me in performing their tasks. Incident 1: As Rampur (2010, p. 1) states, “In the corporate world, leadership is undoubtedly the most important action that has to be considered if you want to get the work done collectively”. The first incident happened right at the beginning of the project when the role of leadership was given from me to Karl. Initially, all of us thought that I was the leader of the group. However, when the group roles were announced, all of us were shocked to see that the leadership was given to Karl instead of me. The incident was big enough to disturb the mindset of all of us. The reason is that when someone gets an idea about the role that he/she has to play in the project, he/she develops a mindset about that role and when that role suddenly changes into some other role, the approach towards work is disturbed as a result which also affects the results of the project in some cases. Although the same situation happened in our case, but the result was not as bad as I mentioned in the example. Let me now describe my behavior and the influence of my behavior on other group members. My Behavior Operant principles imply that one must change and control his/her behavior in accordance with the changes in the environment. My behavior in reaction to the news of changed leadership role was shocking. I had developed my mindset about the role that I had to play in the group. I have a good knowledge of organizational behavior that would have helped me lead the group in an effective manner. Knowledge of organizational behavior helps leaders understand their own behaviors and aims in order to use them in various decision-making processes and workplace communications (Luthans 2002). I had chosen a suitable leadership style to guide and motivate other group members. However, when I listened to that news, I realized that I would have to work under supervision of Karl who was chosen as the group leader. Anyways, my behavior was welcoming as I respected Karl as the group leader throughout the project and provided my full support to Karl. Even the best and the most qualified professionals need to have support of others to achieve success (Brodie 2007). I never made Karl realize that I was supposed to be the group leader at the start of the project. I listened to him, assisted him in decision-making, and did exactly what he told me to do in the project. Behavior of Ryan Operant principles imply that changes influence the behaviors and work approaches. Ryan was also shocked when he heard the news about the shift of leadership role. As mentioned earlier, Ryan had an inquiring nature. He always seemed to be inquiring the ways things were being done in the project. After this incident, he showed the similar behavior as he started asking Karl and me about the reasons behind the shift of the leadership role. Initially, he did not seem to be satisfied with the decision, but when he saw me accepting the decision, he changed his inquiring approach and started taking interest in the project. He even looked towards me whenever he needed some help and provided help to me very sincerely. I think my approach of respect towards Karl affected positively the behaviors of both Ryan and Karma. Behavior of Karl As far as Karl’s reaction upon hearing the news about leadership is concerned, I would say that his reaction was very normal. It seemed to be as if he already knew that it was going to happen with us. He looked at me and gave a winning gesture. However, it does not mean that he had some issues with me. He showed normal behavior as a leader and did not seem to be putting any kind of pressure on any one. It is a fact that a leaders’ moral foundation reflects his/her personality to other people. Karl acted like a real leader and provided required support to all of us wherever we required it. He even managed to extend the deadline of the project successfully for us as we met certain hard blocks during project completion, which delayed the completion of some of the project tasks. Another considerable thing regarding Karl was that he always took all of us in confidence while taking decisions. As Rasing (2010, p. 1) states, “In a team a single persons decision is not final, you will be having a range of opinions and take every opinion into consideration and select the best one”. Behavior of Karma Karma showed a normal reaction when he heard the news. He has a very stable personality and possesses a set of normal behaviors. He seemed to be okay with the decision and behaved normally throughout the project. He performed every task in a well-coordinated manner, which showed his decent approach towards work. Incident 2: The second incident occurred due to nervousness of Ryan. Last Thursday, we met at university to finish our presentation about the project. All of us came to the university with our plans and work that each of us had done regarding the project. However, there was some problem with Ryan, as he seemed a little nervous about the presentation. Although he had done a great job in the project and Karl was satisfied with him, but he was showing nervousness and signs of anxiety. To our surprise, he started inquiring each of us regarding our project tasks to know whether we had done everything right or we needed some improvement. The impact of this behavior of Ryan was not good on the rest of the group members as all of us became somewhat worried about our works. Let me now describe my behavior after this incident and the affect of my behavior on other group members. My Behavior Operant principles imply that a person becomes extra conscious upon observing some out of routine behavior (Jablonsky & DeVries 1972, p. 343). My behavior after observing Ryan’s approach towards presentation was not very normal as I became confused about my own work. Although I double-checked my work before preparing for the presentation, I became nervous and started reviewing the work again in order to make it free of any type of error. I checked the report and performed all analyses again. I think that behavior was right because I managed to pick out a couple of mistakes from the data analysis part. I thanked Ryan for making me check my work once again before presenting it. Behavior of Ryan Ryan was the cause of this incident. He seemed to be okay with the way all other members became confused about their works. He remained conscious throughout the week and continued giving suggestions for bringing improvements in the works of other group members. He provided help to all of us in reviewing our parts of the project. Behavior of Karl A good leader is one who performs well and helps others in doing well in their assigned tasks (Cherry 2010). Karl showed a stable approach towards the incident being the leader of the group. He backed Ryan’s advice to review the work once again before presentation. Karl also thought that the presentation was going to be the core of the project. Therefore, he supported Ryan and provided instructions to all of us to review our individual works. Individuals within a group learn from each other (Tajfel 1979, p. 185). Seeing me picking errors in analysis, Karl also became conscious about the works of others and that of his own. Behavior of Karma As usual, Karma displayed no out of routine behavior and followed the instructions of Karl to review the work before presentation. However, one more thing that I observed in Karma was the level of nervousness. Karma became a little extra nervous when he saw me picking errors and correcting them upon review. Incident 3: Another incident occurred when I got ill right at the middle of the project and could not work for almost three days. I had to visit the management committee of Starbucks to gather information about organizational philosophy and characteristics. This was an imperative part of the project, as it had to deal with the overall organizational culture. However, I became ill due to which some delay occurred in the completion of the project. Here, I would like to admit one thing that I was not that much sick that I could not have managed to carryout my activities. I just became a little tired at the middle of the project due to heavy workload and saw sickness as a chance to get some rest. The truth is that I could have managed to continue my work but I preferred rest to work. I think it was not a right behavior of mine. I do not know why I became so much selfish at that time. Anyways, that negative behavior caused an unwanted delay in the completion of the project. Let me now describe the affect of my behavior on other group members. Behavior of Ryan Ryan personally came to my house thrice during the period of my sickness. He offered me to do some work of my part, which I refused because I knew the actual state of my sickness. Although I did not let Ryan help me in the completion of my work, but he offered me help every time he came to my place to see me. My Behavior As stated earlier, I was not as sick as I pretended to be. I just caused delay in the project to get some rest. Problems occur if the elements of dedication and care are taken out of a project group work (Livingstone & Lynch 2010). Today, I regret that approach of mine and think that I should not have dodged my group members. Although there was no negative intention in that, but it revealed a negative aspect of my behavior. Behavior of Karl Karl showed effective leadership skills during this period. I think he had in his mind that I was not in a condition in which I should leave all work and go to bed for rest. However, he did not show that he knew anything and asked me to get well and continue my work in a normal manner. He encouraged my efforts and appreciated me. As Szilagyi (1980, p. 195) states, “perceived performance-contingent rewards given by the leader can be a significant influence on subordinate attitudes and behavior”. Behavior of Karma Karma did not show any signs of anxiety. He continued doing his work in a regular manner to avoid any kind of work overload. He came to my place only once and wished me a quick recovery. References Brodie, D 2007, 6 Key Benefits of Teamwork, viewed 29 October 2012, . Cherry, K 2010, Transformational Leadership, viewed 29 October 2012, . Jablonsky, S & DeVries, D 1972, ‘Operant Conditioning principles extrapolated to the theory of management’, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 340-358. Livingstone, D & Lynch, K 2010, ‘Group Project Work and Student-centred Active Learning: Two different experiences’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 325-345. Luthans, F 2002, ‘The Need for and Meaning of Positive Organizational Behavior’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 695-706. Rasing, M 2010, Advantages of Teamwork, viewed 29 October 2012, . Rampur, S 2010, Types of Leadership Styles, viewed 29 October 2012,. Smith, S 2011, What Is Group Behavior?, viewed 29 October 2012, . Szilagyi, A 1980, ‘Causal inferences between leader reward behaviour and subordinate performance, absenteeism, and work satisfaction’, Journal of Occupational Psychology, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 195-204. Tajfel, H 1979, ‘Individuals and groups in social psychology’, British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 183-190. Read More