Free Essay Example: Group Experience Reflection

The aptitude to work meritoriously in a group has become an obligation for a productive career. Notably, group work is an effective method to encourage active learning, motivate students, and develop critical thinking, decision making, and excellent communication skills. However, from the experience of the group work, it is imperative to note that a group cannot be successful when some issues such as roles of members, verbal communication, norms, interpersonal interaction, and stages of group development are not considered. According to Levi (2016), the areas as mentioned above are the fundamental pillars of a successful group or team work.

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In our group, people had different roles according to their ability and skills. Some members were reporters; they kept all necessary records such as decisions and discussions. While others took roles such as time keeping and reporting, I was the facilitator of the group. Using the power bestowed on me following this role, I was able to regulate and moderate team discussion, distribute work and keep all the group members on task (Levi, 2016). This role was challenging since there certain cases of conflicts that arose which averted the smooth functioning of the group. However, with prior knowledge of conflict resolution, I managed to resolve such skirmishes successfully.

To effectively communicate to members and make sure everybody has the right information at the correct time, the group used two forms of verbal communication; written communication and oral communication (Levi, 2016). In written communication, the team leader used emails to reach members and informed them of the pending and incoming tasks. However, some individual members could not access the instant emails; hence, we used text messages to ensure the entire group had the information (Kirst-Ashman, 2014). Additionally, oral communication was very critical of this team work and was comprehensively applied. It involved face-to-face communication during the meeting. Others which were successfully used were voice chat and phones. Verbal communication made the process of conveying thoughts easier and faster.

To remain one thing and achieve the aim and goals of the group, there are norms that guide each and every individual. According to Kirst-Ashman (2014) norms are unspoken and frequently an unwritten set of casual rules that govern different behaviors in a group. The standards were assumed, and they included speaking respectfully to each other, listening and considering other opinions relevant without interrupting, avoiding gender-based or ethnic humor, obeying time, and supporting the facilitators ability to regulate discussions. In the end, the norms contributed to the team cohesiveness since everybody felt important in the group. On the same note, several interpersonal interaction and skills were employed to ensure the group achieved its goals. They include verbal and no verbal communication. Specifically, assertiveness, problem solving and decision-making skills enabled us to understand each other to move from stage to another.

My group went through important stages of group development which include forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Specifically, we formed a successful team solved all the conflicts that arose in storming stage, ensure interpersonal relation through cohesion and enacting good norms in the norming stage. Then performance followed every individual successfully worked. Following the progress of the team and its performance following the already received results, the team successfully went through group development stages.

References

Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2014). Human behavior in the macro social environment (4th ed). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.Company.

Levi, D. (2016). Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications.