Sample essay on group development

Group development entails all the significant stages that a group undergoes from the time of identification of tasks, formation of the group to its full operation and finally its disbandment. Group development mainly involves putting together a group and setting their objectives clear to allow them work and accomplish them over a set period. There are many keys to success and these can only vary from one team to another depending on their strengths and weaknesses (Paranjpey 76). However, it is imperative for the members of the group to understand each other in order for them to enhance cooperation and in turn grow the group to full maturity. This paper analyzes the growth of our group throughout the semester. It also looks at the PowerPoint presentations from the other groups and the main ideas in the presentations.
Throughout the semester, our group has developed through a number of stages. At the formation of the group, it had six members drawn from the entire class. Cooperation and mutual trust mainly brought the group together as no complex selection procedures worked in the formation of the group. The group was formed based on a number of factors of both mutual benefit and cooperative reasons. The group aimed at making the study process easier for the members through academic discussions and sharing of knowledge. However, the group also sought to address the idea-sharing gap. Most of us lacked people to trust with our ideas on business and corporate matters hence the group also came together as a platform for such sharing. While minding the academic and professional benefits, the group also catered for the social needs by providing a platform for the members to share their social issues and even general life experiences.
In terms of communication, the group used different communication channels depending on the urgency of the matters to be handled (Chidambaram et al 18). However, the official communication for the group was through emails. When a matter was urgent, phone calls and text messages also helped to pass the information around. The social media also provided an easy sharing platform in case of the urgent cases. Leadership in the group was rotational with different people taking up the leadership roles to ease learning. The leaders set most of the program periods and dates. The leadership was mainly on a egalitarian basis where all leaders were democratically chosen. Consultative leadership was also encouraged among the members in the group.
The group did not involve only leadership as different issues were shared and discussed among the members. The members talked of academic topics involving the class work, the assignments, and general revision. At the same time, we discussed social and real life issues lie how to handle ourselves in the institution. Whenever a member of the group had personal or emotional issues to resolve, the group came in handy as we discussed the different approaches he/ she could use to approach the issue. In this context, the group undertook peer counseling. These factors helped in the development of the group in a great way. They built trust and a bond among us as members of the group. They also helped us to trust each other by virtue that we could share our ideas, views, and feelings freely among ourselves.
Through the interactions and bond built in the group, the group is still existent because of the long-term goals of the group. Our need for peer support is stronger and the group members respect each other. Through the rotational leadership, every member has learned to take responsibility and focus as this built the major parts of the group dynamics. The group was based on commitment and written agreements on mutual trust. In most cases, some of the members disagreed but the conflicts were amicably solved. It was the responsibility of the leaders to resolve all disputes as the members adjusted to each other and accepted the uniqueness in every character. In a more accommodative setting, sharing of responsibilities formed the core of the group since the establishment of an agreement required joint effort.
The PowerPoint presentations identify various keys that can help a group to succeed and survive to full maturity. The keys include knowing each other in the group, being patient with each other, and respecting each other in the group. These three help the group members to build the rapport among themselves as a group and learn to appreciate each other in the group. Others include cooperation, communication, enthusiasm, flexibility, commitment, and leadership. These keys help the group to move to maturity and start performing their tasks without being worried about any of the members in the group. Without these keys, the group would collapse halfway through the performance of the assigned tasks, as it will lack the credibility, trust, and focus of the members. In order to sustain the high level of commitment, the group needs a clear vision of their goal and ability to tolerate each other when they make mistakes.
Most of the keys to success were similar in all the presentations only that they were presented in different wording. The most notable commonalities in the keys to success know each other, communication, commitment to the team and leadership. These keys lead the team from its formation straight to maturity and confidence in undertaking tasks. I learned the most from group 1. According to the group’s presentation, my top five keys to success of a group include knowing each other, communication within and without the group, patience with each other, leadership and goal setting, and enthusiasm and commitment. These keys are the best because through knowing each other and communication, a group builds a relationship. Moreso, it matures and attains trust and resilience through patience with each other and leadership and goal setting. However, to maintain the high working levels, enthusiasm and commitment are imperative.
Being a leader, I would focus on a number of factors and elements. First, the needs of the members of the group will help me know how to bond them together (Shih Yung and Decima 11). I would consider the psychological needs in order to know what the members expect in terms of competence, relatedness, and their autonomy in the group. I would also consider the preferred communication methods. In reference to the virtual group, the choice of communication channels will be a huge boost for the development of the teams. Owing to the fact that the team is a virtual one, I would prefer communication channels that are faster, reliable and do not call for the physical meeting of the people. The most appropriate will be through emails and the social media.
I will also consider the specific goals of the group. The group will on develop if the goals are clear and reflect the future for the team. Most of the team members will peg their stay in the team to the goals of the team so that the more long term the goals appear, the longer the people are willing to take part. As much as the goals are imperative, leadership in the virtual team will also take a great point in its development. The means of leading and involvement of the members in the leadership matters in the ground will be important. I will ensure that the communication and leadership models merge well to enable the members share their ideas on leadership and management well. Cultural and group differences will also take shape, as I will consider the best ways in solving the differences in the team for the better good of the members.
In terms of moving beyond technology, I would rate myself as good in providing feedback to the group members and excellent in managing performance vs. objectives. However, for our group to perform better this semester, we should have focused on giving verbal recognition to the members of the group and fostering the development of the members. This would permit faster growth in the team and a higher degree of reliability.
The psychological needs are important in the development of a group (Garfield and Alan 59). In our team this semester, we recognized the contribution of every group member as valuable and right. This promoted their feeling of competence recognition in the group. Through collaboration and mutual trust developed in the group, we fostered relatedness in the group. Furthermore, we developed autonomy through understanding and appreciating each other as part of the group. This helped in building the bond and cohesion in the group as we trusted each other more and related closer through observing the needs.
The people with ability to think, learn, solve problems, listen, motivate, and explain have a great impact and future in the 21st century. I agree with this statement because the ability to change the mentality of the world relies on the ability of the people to focus their minds and place them well to think, learn, solve problems, listen, motivate, and explain the reasons for their actions. I would rate myself as one of the people with ability to make impact in the 21st century as I possess most of the traits. However, I need to work on my motivational skills in order to be a complete force of change.
Group development is an essential process in the maturity of any team. In the process of development, a group must ensure that they deal with all the aspects that will see their running easier and better including leadership, communication, understanding each other, setting goals, and conflict resolution.

Works Cited

Chidambaram, Laku, Robert P. Bostrom, and Bayard E. Wynne. ” A Longitudinal Study Of The Impact Of Group Decision Support Systems On Group Development.” Journal Of Management Information Systems 7. 3 (1990): 7-25.
Garfield, Monica J., and Alan R. Dennis. ” Toward an Integrated Model of Group Development: Disruption of Routines by Technology-Induced Change.” Journal of Management Information Systems 29. 3 (2012): 43-86
Paranjpey, Neelima. ” Integrated Model of Group Development through Research and Practice.” Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics 9. 4 (2012): 72-81.
Shih Yung, Chou, and Decima Chris Garcia. ” Group Organizational Citizenship Behavior In The Stages Of Group Development.” International Journal of Business & Management 6. 10 (2011): 3-15.