Group Formation Exercise



Team Formation Exercise[1]

Introduction[2]

You have just become a member of an autonomous work team that will have a significant impact on both your learning experience and your final grade in this course. Research on group dynamics has demonstrated that team effectiveness is largely determined by group process, (i.e., by the manner in which group members relate to each other). William Dyer (1977), a noted expert on team building, argues that members of any new team need to do five basic things immediately after their group is formed. They are:

Become acquainted with each other as individuals

Develop an understanding of each others' priority levels for the teams' activities

Share expectations regarding what the group should be like

Clarify and agree upon the groups' mission

Formulate operating guidelines

This exercise is designed to help your group achieve these objectives. It is strongly recommended that the discussion portion of this exercise be completed within a single 60 - 75 minute group meeting. Prior to the discussion portion, members should individually review this exercise and complete the individual assignments as described below.

Becoming Acquainted

Form your desks into a circle and take turns introducing yourselves to the group. Relevant information that should be shared includes: name and preferred nickname, age, hometown, personal interests, special skills, major/minor, year in school, career objective, full and part time work experience, current employment status, and any other campus, community, or family commitments that might impact on your ability to work in the group. This information should be summarized in the Team Formation Paper as described below.

Sharing Priority Levels

Identify three to five high priority activities that run across your total school, work, and social lives. In this context, rank the priority of this organizational behavior work team in comparison to your other priorities using the 1-10 scale provided below (where "1" is the lowest and "10" is the highest). For example, you may feel that your current workload is so great that the team activity must be assigned a lower priority (e.g., 2). On the other hand, you may see the team activity as a unique opportunity to develop your leadership and communication skills, and feel that a high priority (e.g., 9) is appropriate in spite of other commitments.

Priority of OB team activity among all personal commitments:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The time requirements for your group activities will be variable, depending upon when your assignments are due. Some weeks you may not have to meet at all, while other weeks may demand a substantial commitment of time if high quality output is to be produced. In the space provided below, write the average number of hours that you would expect to have available per week for group activities:

Average number of hours available per week: ______

One final item is important to discuss here. It seems logical to assume that the higher the grade a person desires, the harder they will be willing to work. Review the requirements and opportunities for extra credit outlined in the syllabus and identify the final grade that you would hope to earn in this course. Write that grade in the space provided below:

Desired Final Course Grade ______

During your groups' discussion of this activity, everyone should share their priority rankings, average number of hours available, and desired final course grade with everyone else. Be sure to explain the reasons behind these items.

In the written report, you should include a summary diagram indicating the relative rankings, average number of hours available, and desired final course grade for each group member. Also include the group mean scores on each of these dimensions, and comment on the implications of this data. For example, if some members indicated a much lower priority ranking, number of hours available, and desired final grade than the group mean, how might this impact on group process and productivity?

Sharing Expectations

Take a few minutes individually to answer the following questions in the space provided:

What worries you most about working on this team?

In an ideal sense, how would this team function?

What would this team be like if everything went wrong?

What actions need to be taken to insure the most positive outcomes?

During your group discussion, each member should share their responses to the above questions with everyone else. Explore each others' feelings carefully and be sure to express yourself honestly and clearly. During the discussion, develop a list of concerns that are shared by group members, and a list of actions that should be taken to ensure the most positive outcomes. Summarize these two lists in the written report.

Creating the Mission Statement

Take a few minutes to think about this group and its potential impact on your learning experience in Organizational Behavior. What do you think the core mission, or "reason for being" of this group should be? While the group activity is a requirement of the course, what potential benefits for you and your team members might accrue from the experience? In the space below, write a mission statement that you feel would be appropriate for your team:

During the discussion period, share this mission statement with your team members.

Discuss the possible benefits of the group experience for all of you, and prepare a single mission statement that everyone in your group feels a sense of ownership in. This mission statement should be something that everyone is willing to pull together for and work towards. Be sure to write down the mission statement for inclusion in the paper.

Formulating Operating Guidelines

Prior to the group discussion, take a few minutes to consider the following questions and jot down some notes in the space provided. The goal of this portion of the exercise is to help your group to establish guidelines regarding how it will work for the duration of the semester.

How will we make decisions?

What will be our basic method for work?

How do we ensure that everyone gets the chance to express what is on their mind?

How will we resolve disagreements?

How will we ensure the completion of work?

How will we change things that are not producing results?

How will we use the Critical Incident Inventory to enhance our effectiveness?

During the group discussion, explore the ideas that different members have for each of the above questions. Prepare a single set of responses to these questions that everyone in the group is willing to support and implement. Write down these responses for inclusion in your paper.

Identifying Required Member Roles

Your group is free to organize in any way that you see fit. For example, you may decide to choose a leader, or to simply let leadership "float." However, in order to maximize positive outcomes, there are two roles that must be assigned to individual members. These are:

Record Keeper: Person responsible for keeping copies of all group documents for use in the Team Development Paper; and

Instructor's Liaison: Person responsible for reporting to the instructor the groups' progress as well as any process problems that occur. If significant problems of any sort develop in the group, it is the responsibility of this person to notify the instructor immediately if the groups' attempts at resolution are not successful. This person is also responsible for providing the instructor with a written update on Critical Incidents in the group at two week intervals following the submission of the Team Formation Paper. Both of these roles may be assigned to one person if the group so chooses.

Written Summary: "Team Formation Paper"

At the conclusion of the group discussion period your team needs to summarize the results of the above activities in a formal printed paper. Since the original paper will not be returned, it is important that you keep a xerox copy of it (including all charts and graphics). You will need this information to write the Team Development Paper at the end of the semester.

The information from this exercise should be summarized and compiled in the following format, and submitted by the date denoted in the class schedule:

Cover Page: Including date, section meeting time, group name, and member names

Member Biographies: Summarizing member names and profiles

Member Priorities: Summary diagrams for this section

Member Expectations: Lists of concerns and proposed actions

Mission Statement: Summary of the statement and the reasons for it

Operating Guidelines: Consensus answers to the questions provided

Member Roles: Names of the Record Keeper, Liaison with Instructor, etc.

Critical Incident Inventory[3]

The "critical incident" technique has demonstrated its effectiveness in facilitating the management of peer and subordinate performance over a period of many years. In the context of this course, we will be using the technique as a tool in the management of peer performance, in conjunction with the Peer Performance Appraisal exercises.

The essence of the critical incident technique is quite simple, but very powerful. Over the course of several weeks or months of a working relationship, the supervisor/peer makes written notes on particularly positive or negative aspects of the behavior or contributions of their subordinates or peers. These items should be discussed with the person in question at the time that they are recorded. When the time for a formal performance appraisal arrives, the inventory provides objective documentation for a good or bad appraisal. It also allows the appraisal to be grounded in concrete behavioral and situational instances, rather than the ambiguities of perceptions, recollections, or personalities.

All members of your team are expected to keep an ongoing inventory of critical incidents, reasonably balanced between the positive and the negative. The instructor may request these inventories for review at any time. Their completeness and accurancy will influence the students' class participation grade.

The instructor will periodically review critical incidents with the teams' "Instructors' Liaison." If necessary, meetings involving the whole group will be required. Any team member having concerns in this regard should see the instructor.

Team Member Name ____________________________________________________

Team Name ____________________________________________________________

Date Member Name Description of Incident Impact (+/-)

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Date Member Name Description of Incident Impact (+/-)

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[1]This exercise is based on a discussion by William G. Dyer in Team Building: Issues and Alternatives. Reading, MA.: Addison-Wesley, 1977, pp. 76-81.

[2](1992, David M. Leuser, Ph.D. Plymouth State College of the University System of New Hampshire

[3](1992, David M. Leuser, Ph.D. Plymouth State College of the University System of New Hampshire

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