I feel our group could have benefitted from a wider skills mix, and maybe this did contribute to us having a few weaknesses within our group. However, it also brought out the strengths of peer A and myself as we had to take on the direction of the presentation. This was due to sickness and work commitments of peer B and C. Belbin (2010) explains that the allowable characteristic /weakness of the category team worker which peer A and myself scored high in is, indecision at moments of crisis and failure to provide clear leadership. Perhaps this theory would have applied to peer A and myself if we had all been working together on this project and didn’t need to take a lead role in it. He also states that in small groups people may have to take on dual roles to help that group succeed.
According to Hogg and Vaughan (2008, p.283-284) one of the most important and most basic characteristics of a group is its cohesiveness. He argues that if a group has cohesiveness then they will act positively towards one another and stay motivated. Pennington (2002, p. 83-84) regarded cohesiveness as the “glue that holds the group together”. He states that without this factor being present the group may not be able to function properly. I feel that we lacked cohesiveness in our group. This may have been down to the lack of time we spent together because of a break in our course and that we were unable to form a strong bond together.
Tuckman (1965) identifies that there are four stages of development in group work, these are, forming, storming, norming and performing. These distinct stages are worked through to achieve maximum potential. His theory is relevant to team building exercises and the model explains how a team develops through working process, group development, maturity and ability. Relationships are developed and a common goal established which should enable success for that group. Communication is a vital component for the group to move on through the stages.
(Pennington, 2002, p.12-13) states that communications within a group can be misheard and a misinterpreted. This can be down to a number of reasons such as “emotion, selective perception or even language”. For a group to be effective good communication skills are essential. Communication skills between us were very poor at times. Except for a few text messages between peer B and myself, the only people who actively communicated were peer A and myself.
I believe there are many advantages of working in a group as it can help facilitate learning to a degree that is not available to you as an individual. Group cohesiveness and good communication skills are paramount for the successes of a group’s project. Utilizing group philosophy such as Belbin or Tuckmans can prove to be advantageous. Although in our group not all of us were true to the characteristic of our chosen team role.
Word count
898
References
Belbin, M., (2010) Team roles. Available at: (Accessed on: 1 November 2012).
Businessballs, (2009) Bruce Tuckman's 1965 Forming Storming Norming Performing
Team-development model. Available at:
(Accessed on 1 November).
Hogg, M., and Vaughan, G. (2008) Social Psychology 5th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Lewin, K., (1948) Resolving Social Conflicts Selected Papers on Group Dynamics. New York: Harper and Brothers.
Pennington, D., (2002) The Social Psychology of Behaviour in Small Groups.Hove: Psychology Press limited.
Zander, A., (1982) Making groups Effective. London: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Group Log
21st May 2012
We are given the task which is a presentation on Healthcare in the 21st century. We discussed who was to be in our group and thought it would be a good idea to keep it to the four of us who sit together.
22nd May 2012
Peer A and myself discuss subjects at work that we could use for our presentation. I suggest diabetes as we had to write about it in an exam earlier in the year and from the research we had conducted, knew that this would be an ideal subject.
28th May 2012
Peer A and myself put forward the proposal of Diabetes as a presentation subject. Peer C felt that Obesity would also be a strong candidate. We discussed all the pros and cons for each subject and we all felt that Diabetes was the best one. Peer A said they would start typing the presentation and I started doing the research.
10th September 2012
Unfortunately we had been unable to meet up in the summer due to work commitments and holidays. On our first day back peer C was absent due to sickness. However, the remainder of the group discussed what parts of the presentation they were going to cover. Peer A and myself stay behind after college to work on the presentation.
14th September 2012
Peer A and myself go to the college and work on the presentation. Peer A types the presentation and we both have an equal input of what is to go on the slides.
17th September 2012
Peer A, B and I spend our lunch break going over the slides and also discuss about what we’re going to say. Peer B thought that peer A had too many slides and they did seem to be a little stressed about it. I tried to reassure them about the situation and that we could change the number of slides they had.
24th September 2012
This was the first time we were all back together again. We all discuss with peer C if they should do the group presentation with us or one on their own. We all decide that he will join in with us. We discuss what sections of the presentation he will have. I show him some of the information that I had gathered on the subject, which I hope will help as we haven’t got long till the presentation.
1st October 2012
We meet up in the library and go through the slides and listen to what each other has written for the presentation. I felt that the information source that peer C has used is not ideal and point this out to them. I did suggest another source but they thought this one was ok. Peer A did agree with me and we hoped that they would change it. Peer A typed the references up.
8th October 2012
We meet up in the library again and have a final check of slides and references. We rehearse our presentation a couple of times all together. I felt it went well.
15th October 2012
It’s the day of the presentation so we meet up early so that we can rehearse and also print off the slides. Rehearsals go well and so does our presentation. We all felt a relief that it was over and happy with the outcome.
by
annabella63 (student)
