Individual reflection on teamwork and collaboration in virtual environments

Individual Reflection on Team Experience

Evolution of the group/team over the term

Group/team dynamics

Group structure

Intergroup/intra-group conflict

According to Robert Harris, (2009) decision making is the process or the study of identifying and choosing the best alternatives and best fits the goals, values and the desired outcome. He further adds that it's a process of sufficiently reducing uncertainty and doubt about alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be made from among them.

It is worth noting that groups, be they informal or formal groups, will always be found in each and every organization. It is one of the strongest organizations within organizations that cannot fade away since they give the people involved a sense of security, self-esteem, power, achievement, affiliation and even status to some extent. It is then incumbent upon the management to tap into the group dynamics to use it to the advantage of the organization. The top management must encourage people to work as a team and go beyond just being a group.

The groups that we belong to are all about decision making on daily basis and we are all part of a group in one way or the other and the various group dynamics cross out paths each time we engage ourselves ion one group or the other. In respect to this paper, my college group will be the basis of my approach and will give an in-depth view of the experiences and lessons that I derived from the group that I have been working with for the last one academic year.

1.1 Evolution of the group/team over the term

From the inception of the group at the beginning of the group work engagements, the team had little idea about the personalities of the members of the group, there was a lose relationship that was purely based on the issues to be discussed or the research to be conducted and each person went his way after that.

This changed with time as the group members got more and more acquainted with each others' personality and there was more understanding that grew among the group members. This meant that the group members did not just talk about the real academic issue in the meetings but there was opening and closing issues and comments that had nothing to do with the matter being discussed.

In the process, there grew several contentious sections of disagreements, discontent as well as too much unanimity on an issue that made it uncomfortable for the group members to carry on before such were looked into. Decisions could be delayed and direction of the assignments derailed during such times. However, after the team learnt to tolerate the digressions and distractions, there grew a quick way of fixing problems and overcoming obstacles and the group reached a point, I can say it matured and was beyond distractions that were unnecessary.

1.3 Group/team dynamics

The term group dynamics has been used over many years and in varying disciplines like sociology, communication studies and psychology. A group is defined as two or more people who have a common bond that is based on a social relationship. Since the member of a group interact in regular basis and in the process influence each other, they are bound to develop some dynamic processes that will help separate them from any other random groupings out there who do not qualify to be referred to as a team or group.

The commonly known dynamics that are found in teams are roles, norms, relations, need to belong, development, effects on behavior and the social influence. It is apparent that the members of a group will fulfill something more than just accomplishing the tasks that they are assigned and this is when the group can be said to be undergoing the 'group process' i.e. The understanding of the behavior of the team members who are trying to solve a problem (American City Business Journals, 2009). This is very significant since the allocation of roles in the group purely relies on the personality of each individual and this cannot be possible unless there is understanding of these personalities by each member of the group.

A group that will bear many results is one that there is balance of personalities as well. This is the inclusion of each member of the team in the process of the team work. There must be deliberate effort to include the most silent person in the discussion just as to moderate the very talkative person in the group.

A good group will also recognize the diversity that there is in the group in terms of sex, race, age, culture, religion and many other factors and utilize these traits, or encourage each other to make use of the diversity that exists in the group for the good of the group. It is also significant to note that the management of group dynamics can emerge from any part of the group and that the person selected to be the head of the group may not be necessarily the best person for the job. The group is entirely responsible for their own effectiveness (Ann Marie N. & Joyce S., 2009).

However, James L. Gibson et.al (2011; 389) argues that the overall team effectiveness can be achieved through job design methods which will increase the motivation of the team members at the workplace. He argues that appropriate work team job design can lead the teams and the organization in general to higher levels of productivity, managers' judgment of effectiveness and employee satisfaction.

Since teams exist primarily to solve problems, it is significant to know the various methods that teams can use to reach decisions on problems that they encounter. The following are some of the major ways that team dynamics can be managed towards making decisions on problems or challenges;

Delphi Technique; this method was developed in 1991 by Norman Daley and his associates at the RAND Corporation. Questionnaires are developed and administered to the respondents, their responses analyzed by a group of people normally the experts. Before the decision is arrived at, there must be a consensus between the members of the group. Its sub-component therefore involves expert decision making and consensus decision making processes. This method was rarely used in our group since most of the differences in opinion never went that far as to necessitate the use of questionnaires (The Internet Journal of Health, 2009).

Interacting Group Technique; this involves meeting of face-to-face with the members of the group to exchange ideas and opinions after the development of an agenda. Before an open and interactive discussion kicks off, the problem is identified and recognized. The interactions and the discussions held thereon, actually involves processes like brainstorming and storyboarding. This was a method that was used quite a lot by our discussion team especially in instances where there were differences in understanding one concept that gave rise to variation in opinions.

Nominal Group Technique; this is a more structured method than the interactive one. It was developed in 1968 to eliminate much of the interpersonal exchange of the interactive group teams. It is nominal in the sense that members are not allowed to communicate verbally but put down their communication on a piece of paper (Journal of Management Development, 1989).

Thereafter the active discussion can begin clarifying ideas and finally the outcome of the team discussion is determined by secret voting. So majority votes take the lead hence decision making process is by majority votes (Illinois University Extension, 2011). This was a method that out team used once in awhile especially on the technical subjects or technical topics that involved calculations or figures and the group members never seemed to agree on one answer.

Collective Decision making; this category of decision-making process is practiced by averaging individuals who cannot agree on a particular tabled agenda. This happens when the group commitment to implement the decision is very low and no lengthy interactions are required. In arriving at the conclusion, the leader gathers opinions from group members and through consultations with them, he makes the decision. This is a viable method of solving problems though it was never used in our group since most of our challenges had to be sorted out through discussion.

Programmed Decision Making; this is a decision aided program based on computers, to assist individuals to make decisions using the decision support system software's like decision support software or decision tree software for either group support, personal support or organizational support. This is a new invention and much more advanced method that was not used by our group since there was not a single situation that arose and called for such a radical method.

Bearing that our team was one that was based on the academic endeavors as an outstanding characteristic, there was a lot of brainstorming that was employed as a group dynamic in order to ensure that each and every member got involved in the team process.

Brainstorming allows the members of the group to actively participate through contribution of ideas. The quality of the ideas does not matter much as the quantity of the ideas. The more the pool of ideas, the better the decision making process and the final decision arrived. It helps to minimize critical evaluations that may hinder creativity.

As a member of an active group discussion at the college, brainstorming has helped us to generate enough and relevant key points to questions which are rather a dilemma when being addressed by a single individual.

Brainstorming in the college group has helped to save and minimize the time spent in private study hours since the topics discussed becomes more lighter and comprehending them becomes more easier. One also becomes more knowledgeable than before.

On the other hand, consensus decision making involves listening to others, paying attention to them when contributing ideas by the team members. With help of communication skills learned at the college, we take time to understand one another.

However the consensus method takes a lot of valuable time because each member is allowed to express their thoughts the best way they know how, thus, agreement on a mutual basis takes effort therefore acting as an obstacle or hindrance to effective decision making.

In consensus decision making, every team member is knowledgeable or skilled in one particular area or another and sometimes yields negativity if members are not understood clearly leading to improper decisions.

2.0 Group structure

This is the pattern of interaction that is found in a group that makes it function together as one and achieve the goals that it is set to achieve. The structures of the groups are usually described in relation to the group roles, group size, group norms and group cohesiveness and are discussed below as noted by Tim Barnet (2011).

Group size; the size of groups can vary from as few as two people to larger numbers. It is presumed that the smaller groups are more effective than those that are bigger than ten people. This is so because each member has ample time to participate. Our group has a membership of eight people hence I can confidently say that it is a highly effective team.

Group roles; in a formal team setting, there will be definite roles that are well cut out for the members of the group, each being peculiar from each other. These roles could be the work roles, informer roles, maintenance roles and even the blocking roles. Our team quite often adopts this approach to its structure especially to enable us run the group efficiently. People volunteer to take up roles and tasks and they are normally balanced among members so as not to burden some members to a breaking point.

Group norms; these are defined as the acceptable levels or manners of behavior that the team can imbibe into the group. There are things that the group classifies as acceptable and those that are unacceptable to the group members. These norms are created to maintain the order and expedite the achievement of the targeted goals of the group as it minimizes interferences and disruptions.

Group cohesiveness; this is another vital group structure aspect that must be carefully looked into. It points to the oneness of the group members and the desire to remain as one. It is evident that the groups whose membership is hard to obtain usually become more cohesive in nature. There is also enhanced cohesiveness when there is stiff competition between one group and another.

The groups that spend more time together and are small in number are also observed to be more cohesive than those that are not. This is evident in our group since we are ever in competitions with other groups so that we can present in class presentations the best possible work.

In any team dynamic setting, be it in the wider corporate world or the smaller groups like out class work discussion groups, there is need to keep in mind that each individual is a significant member of the team and in order for the team to prosper, there is need to keep improving the team dynamics. Some of the actions to improve Group and Team Dynamics Rationale are:

Recognition is one of the most essential aspects in the organization at all levels, this can be organized by setting up a prize giving day where leaders, agents, mechanics, engineers, managers and all other categories of employees who have performed in an outstanding manner are awarded and recognized. It can also be in a small congratulatory word or note from the group members to an individual who does and outstanding accomplishment for the group. This type of reward and recognition fortifies the communication among the employees and across the varying levels and enhances the chances of the company or a group to work as a team.

Motivation; this is the ability to influence the way things are done by the employees and colleagues without necessarily using coercion and the actions lead to positive results for the company. It capitalizes on the employee behavior and can help shape the organizational culture. This can be achieved when the employees see the benefit of their hard works in material form or status. The motivated lot is the best lot to have as part of a team; James L. Gibson et.al (2011: p127). notes that the motivated employees "… want to come to work and be part of the team, they are interested in helping, supporting and encouraging co-workers…" Motivation can therefore be a very vital tool to uphold the group dynamic rationale even in smaller groups like our discussion group.

Appropriate reward system- apart from the cash reward system and the annual appraisal, there needs to be an implementation of intrinsic reward system among the employees. The group could not however afford the monetary remuneration but we ensured that any person who helped the group achieve a goal or volunteered to go an extra mile like to look for books from our library for the coming discussion was showered with the benefit of retaining any remaining cash that the group member had contributed towards seeking for materials for the discussion or project.

3.0 Intergroup/intra-group conflict

In an institution, there is bound to be some conflict within the group between the group members and even to some extent between groups that are in competition. Whenever conflicts arise the first thing that people concerned, directly or otherwise do is a fast way of solving the conflict before it grows to uncontrollable proportions. This is when conflict resolution mechanisms are required. Some of these methods used by people to resolve conflicts include these below as discussed by Wayne Shirley (2011):