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SELF CHECK 1:
1. Four stages in the development of groups and teams
2. A Stage w o r k gActivities
r o u p w i
1. Forming Clarification of goals
Commitment to group’s purpose
Establishment of relationships
Making tentative contributions
Communication between members
2. Storming Critique of group’s performance
Presentation of alternative points of view
Emergence of conflict over power or leadership
Provision of negative and positive feedback
Discussion of problems or concerns
Resolution of conflict
3. Norming Offering support to other members
Problem-solving and decision-making
Improvement of plans
Verification of goals Development or extension of skills
4. Performing Improvement in ways of doing things
Development of interpersonal relationships
Acceptance of delegated tasks
Involvement in decision-making
Achievement of performance
the following ways:
 explaining and clarifying work tasks
 helping one another with tasks when required
 solving problems together
 providing encouragement for new members of the group
 providing feedback to all group members
 undertaking extra tasks if necessary.

3. Group Work Activities and enabling strategies

 Group Tasks or Assignments
 Discussion
 Role play
 Problem Based Learning
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4. Group work is a form of cooperative learning which aims to develop student’s

knowledge, generic skills, (e.g. communication skills, collaborative skills, critical
thinking skills) and attitudes.
Group work can be a means for acknowledging and utilizing an individual
learner’s additional strengths and expertise.

5. Skills required for Group Work:

• Teamwork
• Communication
• Problem solving
• Time management
• Negotiation
• Delegation
• Co-operation
• Leadership

6. A job description is a list that a person might use for general tasks, or functions,
and responsibilities of a position. It may often include to whom the position
reports, specifications such as the qualifications or skills needed by the person in
the job, or a salary range.

7. Explain the following:

 Vision: Defines the desired or intended future state of an organization or
enterprise in terms of its fundamental objective and/or strategic direction.
Vision is a long-term view, sometimes describing how the organization
would like the world to be in which it operates.
 Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or an
enterprise, succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve
its Vision. It is sometimes used to set out a "picture" of the organization in
the future. A mission statement provides details of what is done and
answers the question: "What do we do?"
 Values: Beliefs that are shared among the stakeholders of an
organization. Values drive an organization's culture and priorities and
provide a framework in which decisions are made. For example,
"Knowledge and skills are the keys to success" or "give a man bread and
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feed him for a day, but teach him to farm and feed him for life". These
example values may set the priorities of self sufficiency over shelter.
 Strategy: Strategy, narrowly defined, means "the art of the general" (from
Greek stratigos). A combination of the ends (goals) for which the firm is
striving and the means (policies) by which it is seeking to get there.
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SELF CHECK 2:
1. Effective interpersonal communication within a group or team has two
components: spoken and unspoken.

 Spoken communication skills. Good spoken communication skills allow all

members actively to participate in the interaction process. Members share
ideas and their knowledge. In formal situations (e.g. meetings) members
should be given the opportunity to speak and to share their ideas,
qualifications and experience.

 Non-verbal communication is a message sent by any other means other

than words or graphics. This can be by facial expressions, gestures, posture
or how you dress. Or by how you speak on the telephone or face-to-face.
Non-verbal communication can, in some instances, be more important than
verbal communication.

2. Constructive Feedback: is obtained from formal/informal performance appraisals,

from supervisors and other team members, and from clients. This shared
information improves work practices and behavior and service to customers.

3. The advantages and disadvantages of teams

 Advantages of Teams
 The advantage that working as a team has over people working alone will
depend on the qualifications and competencies, and effectiveness, of the
people in the team, and whether the synergy of a team is either positive or
negative. Usually, if a group is involved in making a decision it will be more
likely to deliver a successful outcome than an individual, but if the synergy
is negative the meeting can become bogged down with irrelevancies and
no decisions are made.

 Working in a team is also better for the morale and motivation of the
workforce. People usually experience greater job satisfaction working in
groups than working alone. Although success can depend on the specific
problem, difficult problems have been found to be more effectively handled
by a group, whereas relatively simple problems may be handled more
effectively and quickly by one person working alone.
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 Disadvantages of Teams

 While many groups or teams are successful, they can also have
disadvantages. Groups take a lot longer than one person to make a
decision and to take action. Teams take time to develop a structure and
are more effective over a longer period of time, and in some situations
speed will be essential.

4. What is groupthink? Groupthink is when a team or group make decisions without

weighing all the pros and cons, and agree for the sake of agreeing. Teams
suffering from groupthink fail to consider problems objectively or to research
adequately. They do not consider alternatives and may take unnecessary risks.
Groupthink may even lead members to look after their own interests rather than
those of the organization employing them.

5. Teams that suffer from groupthink?

 fail to express doubt because of social pressure from other members
 appear to be invulnerable
 stereotype outsiders unfavorably
 are ready to ridicule critics

 have a false impression of internal harmony by avoiding disagreements

6. When a team has a common commitment to a task and is considering a problem

objectively, the climate is positive. If there is a lack of unity in a team, and
dissatisfaction and low morale, the climate is negative and the team will be less
effective.
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SELF CHECK 3:
1. Solving problems in a group has four major advantages:
• Greater knowledge and information (synergy).
• More approaches to the problem.
• Increased acceptance of solutions.
• Better comprehension of the decision.

2. Brainstorming is a process where all members of the group express any ideas or
solutions that occur to them without logic or deep thought—quickly and at
random. Often an illogical, random thought from one person will lead to a logical
thought from another, merely through the association of ideas.

All members of the group should be allowed a chance to put forward ideas
through effective communication and effective listening.

3. Group Cohesiveness: is when members are attracted to and motivated to

remain part of the group. Group cohesion happens when members are of the
same socioeconomic background, have the same attitudes, values and needs,
and respect and hold one another’s competencies in high regard. Some other
factors which enhance group cohesion are agreement on group goals; small size;
tasks requiring interdependence; and physical isolation from other groups,
performance needs, or performance failure or crises.

4. A poor physical environment can influence team performance. Make sure any
group or team you work in has the following:
• Quiet environment: Any group of people meeting to create new ideas, make
decisions and achieve results needs a quiet location with few distractions and
interruptions in order to perform effectively.
• Good seating arrangement: In any group situation, whether informal or
formal, a good seating arrangement can have a positive outcome, as people
can then communicate more effectively.

5. To build an effective team out of a group of people, there are several

preconditions that exist.
• Group size
• Group matched to task.
• Group cohesion
• Leadership
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6. Some people are born leaders, others have to learn; but it is widely recognized
that leaders have some common characteristics:
• intelligence
• social maturity
• motivation and achievement orientation
• self-confidence and enthusiasm
• good communication skills
• commitment to the job.

7. The best decision is one that would not have been taken by an individual alone;
is a sound solution to the problem; is based on unbiased input from each team
member; and addresses the team’s goals. Below are different kinds of decision-
making processes:

Method 1: Decision made by authority without group discussion

The leader in the group makes the decision. This is used for simple,
routine, administrative decisions when little time is available.

Method 2: Decision made by authority after group discussion

The members of the team create and discuss ideas, but the leader
makes the final decision.

Method 3: Decision by expert

An expert is selected from the group and makes the decision.

Method 4: Decisions by averaging individuals’ opinions

Each team member is separately asked their opinion and the
results are averaged.

Method 5: Decision by majority vote

This is the most commonly used method often by a ‘show of hands’
until 51 percent or more of the team members make the decision.

Method 6: Decision by consensus

A collective decision is arrived at through an effective and fair
communication process. All team members express their thoughts
and feelings. Active and effective listening and questioning
techniques are used to reach an effective and fair decision.
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8. There are a number of benefits of team work. Among them are:

• distributing the workload
• reinforcing individual capabilities
• creating participation and involvement
• making better decisions
• feeling we play a part in the work being done
• generating a diversity of ideas.

9. Margerison and McCann identified eight basic types of work functions that
group/team members need to perform in order to work effectively:
1. Advising: Gathering information and providing it to others.
2. Innovating: Coming up with new ideas and new procedures.
3. Promoting: Making people aware of new ideas and procedures.
4. Developing: Taking the ideas and developing them so that they will work in
practice.
5. Organizing: Making plans, obtaining approvals, working out budgets,
developing schedules.
6. Producing: Carrying out the work to implement the ideas or produce the
products, ensuring that this is done in an effective way.
7. Inspecting: Ensuring that the work carried out meets the standards and
policies and procedures of the organization.
8. Maintaining: Supporting the other activities to maintain standards.

10. Linking skills ensure that team members work together in carrying out the above
functions: These skills include:
• active listening
• communication
• problem-solving
• team development
• work allocation and delegation
• building team relationships
• setting quality standards
• setting objectives
• interface management
• participative decision-making
• conflict resolution.