Week 4 - Blog 4: Ch 8—Decision-Making Process
“Teams” have about a 50/50 chance of being effective and functional. From my experience, success as truly relied on Fisher’s model: Orientation, Conflict, Emergence, and Reinforcement. It always seems like without the first two occurrences of this model, nothing really gets accomplished. That is why group work within a classroom setting it so annoying to me because I if as though I can get a better grade on my own. Ok, wrong attitude, but really, this feeling is also prevalent in the work world because you’re involving a few more factors—a product/solution and money. The latter of the two is what really motivates people to utilize the 8 strategies for dealing with a little known phenomenon called “groupthink.” Groupthink, by all means, is a passive way to accomplish anything and completely obliterates the purpose of any group. I hate it when I am assigned to a group and people look at me funny because I suggest ideas from everyone, not from just that one individual who thinks they have all the answers.
last day to blog
14 years ago
I really like working in teams when you have a good group that is committed to doing the project and getting a good grade, but when there are slackers within a group it is a nightmare. Last semester, I had to work with a group to write at least a 45 page paper on Canada's economy. 4 out of the 5 of us were committed, but getting that fifth person to do anything was way too hard and it made the project miserable. Needless to say, when the evaluations came around his was not good.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally with you on this one... why work in a group if I can do it better, faster, and more efficiently without a group? Although teachers like group assignments because they have less stuff to grade and they want to teach their students how to collaborate, I think it is important to analyze if the situation or project really requires a group to complete. Although I think a really productive group can be beneficial to an organization in many ways, sometimes people are just better off working alone then wasting time and resources on a lazy group.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. However, nothing is more infuriating to me than being forced to do a group assignment and everyone in the group is hoping that there is a "smart-a$$" among them. I don't know why group work has to be so painful in school. I agree with you, money is the key to get a group motivated. Too bad we can't pay students to do a good job.
ReplyDeleteI always dread the group project. I know that when we all look around (or some of us at our shoes) and at each other that first time, we're wondering who's going to "take over." That person somehow always ends up being me. I facilitate the discussion, and when it comes time to choose the group "talker," everyone points at me. I don't really mind, as long as I don't have to be the group notetaker. I'd rather talk than exert myself writing.
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