Assignments Small Group Dynamics and Team Building

Small Group Dynamics and Team Building

How communication works

 

Multiple Choice (2)

1.                  All groups go through these stages in which order?

a.       Forming, storming, conforming, performing

b.      Forming, conforming, storming, performing

c.       Forming, performing, storming, conforming

d.      Forming, storming, performing, conforming

2.                  Which of the following is a type of leadership?

a.      Unofficial

b.      Aggressive

c.       Lazy

d.      All of the above

3.                  Effective managers should help their team

a.       Build trusting relationships

b.      Clarify roles

c.       Develop pride

d.      All of the above

4.                  Starting team building during the hiring stage can do what for the organization?

a.      Improve the work place

b.      Lose money because it is too time consuming

c.       Increase turnover

d.      All of the above

5.                  Helpful, hostile, and ho-hum are all types of                        .

a.       project/programme purposees

b.      Teams

c.       People 

d.      All of the above

6.                  What can a team do to come to a decision?

a.       Impose one

b.      Vote on it

c.       Come to a consensus

d.      All of the above

7.                  What is the biggest problem groups fear when they come together to make decisions?

a.       Disruptive members

b.      Not making a good decision 

c.       Groupthink

d.      All of the above

8.                  Group dynamics can be studied in 

a.       Humans 

b.      Animals 

c.       Robots

d.      All of the above

 

 


Matching the Columns

 


 

 


  1. Proper orientation                               A.        Saves time
  2. Helpful                                    B.        Closed-mindedness
  3. A way to come to a decision               C.        Type of person
  4. A type of internal pressure                   D.        Performing
  5. Helps build teamwork                         E.         Voting
  6. A stage groups go through                   F.         Social functioning

 


 

Answers:

1.)    A 

2.)    C 

3.)    E 

4.)    B 

5.)    F 

6.)    D


Summary

            While every small group has its own unique personality and characteristics, there are some attributes common to all of them.

            A manager must learn how to analyze the group and determine what each person is bringing to it, and how that can be best utilized in achieving the group’s purpose or goal. Managers must also know how to turn the separate individuals who enter their group into a unified team with a common goal and a commitment to reaching it.

            This requires an understanding of leadership skills and team building techniques, as well as group dynamics, and how individual members function within a group.

            Each team is comprised of individuals with different attitudes, not all of them conducive to teamwork or to the project they are working on. A manager’s job entails dealing with these attitudes and finding a way to shape them toward the common goal.

            Managers must also maintain the group’s focus, and make sure that they do not wander off into other areas. However, a manager must also be flexible and realize that individuals have their own ways of working. As a rule, there is nothing wrong with the way anyone works as long as that person can get the job done within the team’s established parameters, and without interfering with how others work. A manager must also realize that the social function of groups are vital to their success and not try to eliminate such social interaction, but to keep it to an appropriate level.


Module Test

1. ______        At any one time we are all part of numerous different groups.

2. ______        All groups go through four stages.

3. ______        Team building starts after an employee has been on the job for at least one year.

4. ______        The nature of a team and the attitudes of its members are often shaped by the way decisions are made.

5. ______        Groupthink happens when the group is weak.

6. ______        People ordered to belong to a group are usually more satisfied with their jobs.

7. ______        The social function of groups is vital to that groups success.

8. ______        A group can perform at a level either less or greater than the sum of all its people.

9. ______        The official is the only leader available to a group.
10.______       Effective managers must know hoe to take people and turn them into

teams and the members into team players.

 

Answers:

1.         T

2.         T

3.         F – After hiring

4.         T

5.         F – confident and cohesive

6.         F -  Only those wanting to be in the group.

7.         T

8.         T

9.         F – 2 types, official and unofficial

10.       T

Bibliography

 

Barker, L., Wahlers, K., Watson, K., & Kibler, R. (1991). Groups in process: An introduction to small group communication (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Brilhart, J., Galanes, G., & Adams, K. (2001). Effective group discussion (10th ed.). NewYork: McGraw-Hill.

Evans, C., & Dion, K. (1991). Group cohesion and performance. Small Group Behavior, 22, 175-186.

Janis, I.L. (1982). Groupthink. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.