Superteams Communication Ethics and Group Work

¶ … group characteristics I have previously encountered include: a willingness to listen, an ability to define objectives, the ability to delegate work, a willingness to help others, a commitment to communication, the ability to stay on task, and respect for the other members of the group. The work group characteristics I have previously encountered include: a refusal to listen to others, arguing, failure to stay on task, and lack of respect for other group members.

The most beneficial group skill I have encountered is the willingness to listen to other group members; this fundamental skill enables communication and makes it more likely that all group members will be able to contribute to the group dynamic (Lumsden et al., 2010). The willingness to listen is also related to the ability to ask additional questions for information gathering, which not only improves the transactional processes of the group, but also helps define the group's task and keep members on-task.

On the flip-side, groups with members who are unwilling to listen to one another are, in my experience, the least constructive of all groups; even groups where members argue can be more productive than groups where people fail to listen. Employing active listening skills can always improve group processes. As a result, when forming groups in the future I will be very cognizant of what type of listening skills the potential members demonstrate prior to becoming group members.

Discussion Questions Unit Two The ethical issues raised by the examples provided are significant, but manageable. For example, Karl and Tamara's desire to add additional money to the budget violate Clarissa's moral code, and her failure to discuss it means that she will almost certainly end up in a group that she feels is behaving in an immoral manner.

However, had she engaged in the type of active listening I suggested in a prior discussion and questioned Karl and Tamara about that desire, she may have found that Karl and Tamara were not suggesting they engage in any type of subterfuge, but that they include an incidentals line-item on the proposed budget, which would eliminate the potential ethical conflict. It is difficult to determine whether there is an ethical issue surrounding Ron's silence.

It the team members are behaving in a way that makes Ron feel as if they look down upon him, then a broader ethical issue, discrimination, may exist. However, Ron may believe they have those feelings without them actually feeling that way. Absent productive communication, it is not only impossible to tell if an ethical conflict exists, but also the nature of that conflict.

Sarah's conflict may not be an ethical one; she could tell the group that they need additional information, why she believes that they need it, and ask them to delegate fact-finding responsibility to different members, which would turn the meeting into a productive use of time. Discussion Questions Unit Three The superteam model characteristics that seem most evident in the case study are that they are analytical, tenacious, and inventive (Lumsden et al., 2010). In fact, she emphasized the important role that analysis played in the group structure.

The group was also a virtual group, which is compatible with the superteam model for group dynamics. However, a virtual group means that meeting times are very critical, especially when dealing with people in different time zones. I feel like this lack of flexibility probably kept the described group from aligning with the superteam model, because the different time zones forced them to adhere to some rigidity in their meetings.

The group discussed in the case study emphasized analysis before action, which not only reflects the group dynamics, but also hints at an overarching global structure that enforces the idea of acting only once there is sufficient knowledge to take an action. The global strategy was good for a virtual team because the virtual environment is well-suited to the sharing of information and analysis. However, a virtual environment can also become over-reliant on information gathering and make it difficult for group members to transition from information-gathering to action.

The company gathered and evaluated their data into meaningful information by using fieldworkers to gather the data and then using a variety of different scientists across a number of different disciplines to evaluate the data. While it might be difficult to determine if the scientists used concrete, scientific norms for the critical analysis, one of the most interesting factors is that BLT discussed publishing its findings in various peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The desire to subject their findings to peer review means that other experts in those fields can evaluate the material, which might be more relevant for non-scientists than the simple presentation of their data when evaluating the evidence that the group used concrete, scientific norms for critical analysis. Discussion Questions Unit Five While the cause of the Mt. Everest disaster may never be fully known, it is clear that the group leaders became overwhelmed when trying to balance competing interests.

This failure to address the competing interests does not eliminate those interests, but can quash dissent (Penn, 2016). In a circumstance like this one, dissent can be critical because the climbers who were injured were either overconfident or were unable to sufficiently express their concerns about continuing the climb in a constructive manner. The pressure to reach the goal and the physical dangers of being anywhere on Everest may have.