Cohesion and Performance in Groups - Essay Example

March How to Maintain Group Cohesiveness In everyday life, we are find ourselves at the middle of different societies, as small as a home, a classroom, a team or any other group of people that play a given role in our lives. After going through the education system, one will most likely work in an environment where he is interacting with other team players towards the achievement of a common objective. It is therefore important to learn on how to maintain group cohesion and make sure that there are no internal conflicts that can ruin the relationships there in. This expository essay will therefore wade around different scenarios where group cohesion is important and give the possible strategies that can be put in place to ensure that the members of that specific society/group are living in harmony. On top of that, the essay will point at the main reasons that promote disharmony in a given group leading to splitting or internal conflicts that translate to poor performance in the specific niche. So group cohesion is that force that draws the different members of a group together, making them compromise their individual interests as they look forward to achieving the interests of the group. Any group will have a common course that is drawing them closer. For instance in a class, the individuals have a common goal which is to achieve academic excellence as well as other disciplines aligned to the main objective. In such a scenario, it is good to enhance good and respectful communication. No member of the group should be allowed to despise the other on any basis, e.g. performance race, religion etc. This is built by appreciating each other’s uniqueness and accepting that everyone cannot be the same. That diversity should be used to increase the scope through which the members see things and learn more about each other. While serving as a students’ leader, it’s a challenging task to ensure that classroom cohesion or the whole school is in harmony. Having different types of people, some of whom feel that they are not in the same class with others, or some who are selfish and not ready to share their ideas with the rest, it can be a daunting task to bring all those together. Encouraging interaction among the students is among the key measures that can achieve cohesion among them. This can be promoted by encouraging group discussions where students come together and share ideas. It’s in these discussions that everyone appreciates the role of the other as everyone benefits through the discussions topics that are brought up. When the students get used and learn to work together, it is very difficult to find them quarrelling or being up in unreasonable arguments. Once a student becomes a student leader, the tutors expect that they manage the students on their behalf, therefore, the student should come up with such strategies where the students can interact more. In this age where most people have embraced the developments in technology, social apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook have forums where one can create a group and the members can discuss on various issues. Therefore, to ensure the group is in harmony, such groups would be important where people share their ideas, not necessarily academic, but also about life. Giving everyone a chance to air their views is considered one of the best ways to create harmony in a group. Everyone have their say, even the dullest. If one is constantly being discouraged, condemned or brought down whenever he airs his view, this can with time create resentment and withdrawal from the group. It is therefore the role of a group leader to create a forum where one’s idea whether wrong is accommodated and then the correct idea brought forward without making it a laughing matter. Such a person will therefore feel accommodated and will still participate in the future. Team development is another way of ensuring there is group cohesion. If you choose fifty students and take them to an isolated for a week, you will find that they form smaller sub groups among themselves. This is what happens in any natural environment. Therefore, in formation of groups, it is important for people who share similar views or who have things in common to come together. Some people will understand each other better and so in the formation of groups, that should be a predominant factor. The interests that one has, for instance when it comes to games such as soccer may be a definitive factor in choosing group members. This is because such members will have more things to share and a common interest to pursue. Such should therefore be drawn to a primary group that can interact with others at various levels. Lastly, it’s good to focus on a bigger picture such as a work environment as the ultimate goal one has is to serve in a given environment after school. According to Beal, Robin, Michael, and Christy, (2003), it’s important to note that there is a direct and indirect relationship between team cohesion and its performance (p. 989-1004). Highly cohesive teams increase the esteem of the members as they feel at ease with everyone and know their roles are being appreciated. This leads to increased morale. Once the morale of the team players is increased, they will be ready to give more to the group than what is expected of them. This plays a major role in improving the performance of such group. As a leader, one should therefore work towards ensuring that the employees, or the staff are in unity. This is done by ensuring there are communication channels, internal and external, everyone and their decisions are respected therefore promoting emotional intelligence. Always appreciate one’s skills or something they do in a special way. This will increase their esteem and feel appreciated. Such an individual will try to maintain the same in future. Celebrating success together also serves to bring the members of the team or group together therefore increasing cohesion. As earlier indicated, a group that is cohesive will deliver more than one which is not. Cited Work Beal, Daniel, Robin Cohen, Michael Burke, and Christy McLendon. Cohesion and Performance in Groups: A Meta-Analytic Clarification of Construct Relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (6), 2003. 989-1004. Read More