Abstract
This paper attempts to examine the group relationship of five Master’s level students who were randomly selected to work together on research paper that covered a topic that relates to organizational behavior. The five students are all part of an interactive learning program that provides distance learning in order to achieve a Master’s level degree. The course, Managing organizational Behavior, studies how organizations can effectively manage employees, and how organizations can achieve success by effectively implementing organizational practices that increase productivity and teamwork. The group examined in this paper chose to research the topic of Cultural Diversity in Organizations. The research included the history of cultural diversity, the implications, the benefits, and the organizational practices that lead to creating effective culturally diverse groups. The first major obstacle the group had to overcome was the distance that physically separated each member. In order to develop a plan and accomplish the end goal, the group had to develop a main source of communication in order to effectively communicate with each other. Having never met each other, the group was also challenged with learning about each other, and developing a plan that everyone could adjust to given everyone’s differences in schedules and access to communication tools. This paper will examine how the group overcame obstacles in group development, interactive communication, and group conflict in order to successfully complete the research paper within the expected timeframe. The plan that was developed by the group in order to be successful will also be covered. The goal of this paper is to study how the interactive group created a structure for completing the objective, evolved over the course of the project, and handled intra-group conflict. We will examine what the led to the group’s success and what the group could have done differently in order to avoid time delays and communication errors. This paper will use the Five Stage Model to examine and explore how the group evolved over the course of the project.
Introduction
According to the Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (2003), a group is a number of individuals assembled together or having some unifying relationship. There are many reasons people form groups, but the usual reason is to achieve a common goal. According to Gibson (2012), behavioral scientists and managers are interested in how groups develop. One model for how groups develop and organize to accomplish the task at hand is the Five Stage Model. The five stage model attempts to explain the stages a group goes through when organizing to complete a task. The five stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The forming stage is the initial contact stage, during this stage; a group becomes acquainted with each other and establishes ground rules for the project or task. The second stage, storming, refers to the period of time when conflict arises within the group over how the tasks should be delegated, and what plan of action should be taken to complete the task. The norming stage is when the group begins to work more effectively with each other and there becomes a sense that everyone is on the same page. During the performing stage, the groups has taken the plan of action created in the forming stage and began to accomplish the tasks at hand, this is the stage where the levels of efficiency become greater and the focus on the objective becomes very clear. The last stage is group adjourning. During the adjourning phase the group has completed the task or objective and begins to disband, if the group was successful in accomplishing their tasks, this stage is usually accompanied by feelings of sadness.
The Five Stage Model is a good outline for how groups develop and accomplish their given tasks, but there are many more intricacies that develop within a group that determine how the group will work to accomplish the tasks. In the life of a group there will be agreements, disagreements, conflict, structural issues, group dynamics that develop, and an evolution of the group. The conflict that arises within a group can hinder the group’s performance, enhance the group’s performance, or ultimately force the group to disband. A group that can handle difficult intra-group conflict and get passed the distractions will ultimately be successful.
The Objective
The objective of the group was to write a fifteen to twenty five page research paper that explored the history, benefits, implications, and effectiveness of cultural diversity in organizations. The group had the responsibility of developing a cohesive work group that could effectively communicate each other’s feelings, thoughts, and ideas through phone and email. Because the group consisted of five members spread out across the country, we faced the initial challenges of developing effective and timely communication methods. Once we were able to effectively communicate with each other, we had to develop a plan of action, choose a group leader, set goals, and produce a research paper that would accomplish the requirements set by our professor.
The Evolution of the Group
Forming
The forming of the group was assigned randomly to the students of the class. Five students, including myself were selected by our professor to participate in a group assignment. After being assigned to the group, each member reported to the group’s web page so that we could all introduce ourselves and discuss how we could contact and communicate with each other. Each member provided a brief introduction as well as contact information. All members agreed that email and telephone would be our primary sources of communication, with email being the main form of communication for the group. We did discuss the possibility of conference calls and online chat sessions if needed, but with different work schedules and different time zones, email was the preferred method of communication for the group.
Storming
We had to a two week time period in which we had to select a topic to research and develop a paper on, and select a team leader who would be responsible in leading the group. In order for the group o all settle on a specific topic that each of us would enjoy researching and exploring, ideas needed to be submitted by each team member so that we could all find a common thread of subjects that we could all agree to research. In finding a topic that would relate to the field of organizational management, we established a process that closely resembled the decision making process described by Gibson (2012). According to Gibson (2012), the decision making process consist of seven steps that require effective decision making. First, we established specific goals that we wanted to achieve in writing our paper. The common goals we found through each of our topic selections were the benefits and implications of cultural diversity in organizations. After we narrowed our research topic down to three viable subjects, each team member agree that it would be best to complete individual research on each of the topics to make sure there was enough available information that could be accessed in order for us to perform our assigned roles. After emailing back and forth for a period of two days, the team settled on the topic of Cultural Diversity in Organizations. The group decision making process in deciding what topic to choose was our first challenge as a team. At the time of deciding on our preferred topic, we blindly set out goals and all showed a strong desire to work together in order to choose a topic. The interesting aspect of our decision making process is that it closely resembled the decision making process outlined by Gibson. Gibson (2012), outlines the seven steps of effective decision making to be establishing goals, identifying problems, developing alternatives, evaluating alternatives, choosing alternatives, implementing the decision, and controlling and evaluating the decision. Although we didn’t follow the seven steps exactly, we did identify common goals, developed alternative topics, evaluated our chosen topic, and implemented a group decision. The achievement of our first group goal was exciting for us and it provided a real sense of satisfaction that we could effectively work together as team. The fact that five people scattered around the country could effectively communicate with each other as an interactive team was a positive force behind our ability to believe that we could actually be successful in achieving our goals. Although I have worked on interactive teams prior to this project, for a majority of the group, this was the first interactive project they had ever worked on, and it was a bit scary for some. There was certainly worry from many in the group, and work related stress that was attributed towards the issues of informal communication, and lack of knowledge about each other. According to Dean & Sharfman (2003), in order for the decision making process to result in effective results, the decisions a group makes have to be partly based on appreciation and understanding of environmental constraints. This respect for our group restraints, which included physical distance between all of us, limited forms of communication, and a lack of knowledge about each other’s work habits, helped us reach our first group decision, if we had not respected each other’s differences, we might not have been successful in agreeing on a group topic. The second goal of our newly formed group was to elect a team leader. The first assignment for the project required that a team leader be elected amongst the group. The group had two weeks from first contact to reach an agreement on who should lead the team. Sometimes when a team leader is to be elected many people volunteer or hope to get elected for the position, other times people weigh the pros and cons of being a leader, and if there isn’t much in it for them, they elect to not lead the team. The group is made up of five professional students who all carry large workloads between academics and there professional careers. Taking on a team leader position only adds to the requirements of your role, and can also lead to increased stress for the individual. According to Gibson (2012), leaders are individuals who influence other individuals to do what they might not do in the absence of the leader’s influence. The requirements for the group leader were just that, a person who could create a schedule, delegate tasks, and set deadlines for the group. Being the leader of the group didn’t necessarily mean you were going to be required to do more work, it just meant that the group needed someone to take charge in certain situations and dictate when the work should be finished. The selection of a group leader was the first intra-group conflict that our group experienced.