Personal Reflection Memo: Effective and Ineffective Group Performance Effective and Ineffective Group Performance: Personal Reflection Memo

Groups are becoming increasingly prominent in schools and work settings. A group is termed effective if it is able to realize its intended goals within the stipulated time frame. I have worked in an effective, as well as an ineffective group before. This text presents the specific aspects that made the groups either effective or ineffective.

Personal Reflection Memo: Effective and Ineffective Group Performance

Teams and work groups are becoming increasingly prominent in the work and school setting. Just as is the case with individual work, group work is termed effective if the group is able to realize its intended goals within the stipulated time frame; otherwise, the group is regarded as being ineffective. I have had the pleasure of working as part of both an effective and an ineffective group. The details of each group's operation and the specific aspects that made them either effective or ineffective have been enumerated in the subsequent subsections.

The Effective Group

I have selected the team that I worked with at Winick Realty Group as the most effective group for this memo. The team was composed of only three members -- Jeff (the group leader), Jeff and I, and its main task was to negotiate with prospective promising client to get them to accept the property deals that the company was offering. We were able to achieve this goal rather smoothly and within the expected timelines. I took note of a number of aspects that could have contributed to the group's success and exemplary performance.

Moreover, with only two people to supervise, Jeff, the group leader, had ample time interacting personally with members to ensure that work done was effective, and that members clearly understood their roles. Social loafing and free riding were avoided because the group size was manageable, and each member had their own defined roles. Members interacted closely and it was relatively easy for the group leader to notice when a member was encountering difficulties or was facing challenges in their personal life that interfered with the effective operation of the group. Besides the issue of size, there was also that of composition -- we all had different levels of expertise, and this made it relatively easy for us to not only develop a reporting mechanism, but also grow individually by learning new skills and knowledge from each other.
A second element worth noting was the fact that each member's roles and responsibilities were clearly identified and spelt out. My duties, for instance, as the most inexperienced member, included researching potential clients and cold-calling them to give them information about existing properties. Patty, who was more experienced than me, was responsible for contacting these prospective clients and marketing products to them. With roles so clearly defined, the group was able to avoid overlaps in duties, or delays and conflicts resulting from such. Moreover, members were able to complement each other's efforts and to work collaboratively as…