Essay - Group Dynamics Group Issues Usually Revolve Around Conflicts, Disagreements, Personality...

group dynamics

Group issues usually revolve around conflicts, disagreements, personality clashes and different values of the members. It is important to understand what a group is before we can focus on group ***** in an educational sett*****g. A group consists of two or more people who freely interact with each other and have chosen to be part of a group largely out ***** their own free will.

***** to Oxford American Dictionary (2001, p. 752) a group is "***** number of people who work together or share certain beliefs." Similarly other thinkers maintain that a group ***** any number of ***** who have come together with a shared goal ***** makes them interdependent to some extent. In these definitions ***** notice that a group needs ***** have a common goal or interest or anything that makes them want to ***** together.

********** ***** ***** interest, a ***** becomes a refugee camp as Mike Freeman of Hewlett Packard's Electronic Division felt when his group developed *****: "We were like a ***** camp. We worked for the same company but spoke different languages. Shock resulting from a downturn in our industry permeated everyone. ***** were confused ***** *****out organizational homes. Survival meant creating a new way of life." [5]

Bruce Tuckman is considered the pioneer in ***** field of study of group dynamics. In 1965, he ***** h***** Forming-storming-Norming-performing model of team development t*****at focused of better understanding ***** ***** dynamics. This model w***** similar to some other team development models that emerged around the same time including Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum ***** Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership model.

***** maintained ***** groups pass through four ***** stages as they gain maturity and establish important connections with ***** *****. The leader is the one who plays a crucial role in team ***** as he moves ***** coach*****g ***** participating to delegating and later detac*****s himself from the group. ***** progression of ***** leader is critical for the understanding of group dynamics. ***** ***** ***** forming, storming, norming and performing help us understand the role of other team members.

In the first stage, a group ***** highly depended on the leader who directs and guides them since ***** are not familiar with ***** *****s. There is usually low agreement ***** what the team should achieve and how. Roles are ambiguously defined and thus chances of conflicts ***** bright. In the second stage ***** *****, ***** members fight for their place in the group. Each tries to vie for the best position or ***** authority as they ease *****to ***** new roles as team members. In this stage, power struggles are common.

The group then moves on to the third ***** of norming. This is an import*****t stage since this determines the success of the task undertaken by the group. At ***** point, members have a cle*****rer idea ***** their role in the team, they mostly agree on bigger ***** while minor decisi*****s rest with individual or sub-*****s. Leader is seen as the head