Drawing on personal experience and theories covered in module, prepare Essay

Drawing on personal experience and theories covered in module, prepare a detailed argument to a sceptical audience justifying the advantages and effectiveness of group and team performance - Essay Example A group can be defined as ‘any number of people who interact with each other, are psychologically aware of each other, perceive themselves to be a group, and purposefully interact towards the achievement of particular goals or aim’. (Rollinson & Broadfield, 2008: 305) This is the accepted definition of a group which will be used throughout this paper. From this definition it can be seen, as Rollinson and Broadfield point out, that the group will necessarily be small, it does not include the coincidental gathering of people and the goals of the group are formed within it and may not necessarily correspond with the goals which the organization in which the group functions places upon it. The main advantage to working as part of a team is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each member of a team brings their own unique skills and talents and so there is a large pool of resources from which to draw. If harnessed in the right way, this can be a formidable force and potentially far more successful than the work of an individual alone. A sceptic might argue that these different ideas and approaches can lead to conflict, and this is certainly a risk which must be seriously considered when putting together a team. However, by choosing team members which compliment each other and managing the group successfully, these pit falls can be avoided. Rollinson and Broadfield (2008) argue that the key to the success of a group, and the way to avoid the potential issues mentioned above, is cohesion, so that each member works for the good of the group. They note that cohesion tends to be greater in mature groups. If the group can overcome the initial stages of forming and storming, it is likely that it will achieve long-term cohesion in the norming and performing stages. They note that cohesive groups are more productive, more dedicated and tend to suffer less from issues such as absenteeism. However, they also warn that cohesive groups can in turn