Group Observation of Community Group free essay sample

Assessment 5: Group Observation Introduction This essay will analyse and observe the group of my family household. Through reflective questions the essay will answer what the goals of the group are, communication within the group, the different roles, the cohesion of the group, the differences, and the leadership within the group. We interact and communicate either in groups or with groups in all area of our lives, whether it is at work or in a household. This usually means you are communicating with a broad range of people, and don’t always interact with these groups in a conscious manner. Some group aspects will be outlined beneath the topic headings and these not only relate to my family household group, but they relate to all groups. 1. Group goals Note the goals and agendas of each of the group members (why they are a member of the group – what they would like to achieve). I chose to observe and analyse my family household group. The relationships of the group members are as follows: Marion is the mother, and Andrew is the father. Ben is the younger brother – 17 years, I am the middle child (Philippa) – 19 years, and Joseph is the older brother – 21 years. Joseph has moved out to university in Canberra, but comes home most holidays. The family lives together on the family farm. The underlying goal of the household group is to live in harmony with each other, with minimum conflicts, and positive emotional connections between one-another (Peterson Green, 2009). There are extra goals held by the members such as Marion and Andrew who are to provide income for the family to eat healthy food, prepare this food for meals, provide a comfortable house to live in, clothe the family, and provide enough income for day-to-day expenses. Andrew’s goal is to run the family farming business as a successful enterprise. He also may hope that the future generation might like to pursue a farming career. Joseph’s goal is to enjoy home-life when he visits the family. Philippa’s goal is to achieve at University and Ben’s goals are to achieve at school and in his football at a State level. All members are part of the group because they are part of the family and live together (although Joseph is not always present in the household). The members of the group did not get a choice whether or not to join, because they are automatically part of the family once they are born into it. What impact do these different goals have on the way the group functions? Often there are farm jobs that need doing that requires family members to help and this impacts on achieving their own goals if it takes up time. Ben’s football playing and training impacts on Marion and Andrew not having any spare time as they are always driving Ben to and from football events during the week, and on weekends. Some members of the group care about the group goals more than others. As the parents, Marion and Andrew are the main instigators when it comes to how positive the household is, and they also are the ones that are focused on the goals to provide income for the family to live. Related to building a harmonious household, Marion and Andrew make it known to the house when they are unhappy and why they feel this way. Usually they figure out how they can solve the problem that is making them feel negative. The emotional state of one person can impact on the emotions of the people around them. This is called emotional leakage. Emotional leakage is an occurrence where an individual transmits signals that can alter hormone levels, sleep rhythms and cardiovascular functions, of another person. The transmitting of signals is done through nonverbal communication and the individual cannot control it. Signs of an individual’s emotions can be noticed through their body language, and this is also what transfers the emotional signal from one person to another (Boone Buck, 2003). If Marion and Andrew remain in negative moods, it highly impacts the rest of the family by making the whole household feel irritated and angry. As parents, Marion and Andrew have the most influence on the rest of the household (Peterson Green, 2009). If they are unaware of their emotions it can have a negative impact on the rest of the family. To stop any negative impacts they need to monitor their emotions and make corrections to these emotions when needed (Goleman, 1996). 2. Communication What patterns of communication do you see operating within this group? (who is talking to who? Who does most of the talking? What mediums get used? Are both formal and informal channels used? ) Ben communicates mostly with Philippa, and Joseph when he’s home. This is because Ben relates to his siblings more than he relates to his parents. He has more in common with his siblings and there is more interesting things he can talk about with his siblings. Joseph and Philippa communicate with all members of the group on a fairly equal level. Marion and Andrew mostly communicate with each other, Philippa, and Joseph when he is home. Marion and Andrew try to communicate with Ben, and he usually communicates back, but when asked a question he rarely elaborates on his answers to make for a good conversation. Not communicating with parents is common in many teenagers (Nelson Lott, 1994). When communicating, 60-70% of the message is communicated through body language (Davidson, 2011). This is through facial expressions, body movements, gestures, eye contact, touch, voice, and the physical space between individuals. For successful nonverbal communication, an individual needs to be emotionally self-aware and understand the cues you’re sending, along with having the ability to accurately pick up on any cues others are sending you (Segal, 2010). For example in this household group, if a member is not saying much, it is usually easy to tell how they are feeling through their body language. If someone is happy or excited then they may be singing for dancing around the house, but if they were stressed they might not be talking very much and ‘snap’ at someone when asked a question. All communication channels are ‘informal’ in the household group. Informal channels are based on social connections and do not follow lines of authority, for example in a workplace group (formal channels). Informal connections depend on individual needs of the group members (Johnson, Donohue, Atkin, Johnson, 1994). Informal communication is verbal and may be expressed even by a simple glance, small indication, or even silence. Informal communication is an unstructured channel, with various ways of expression, and the individual communicating usually communicates at impulsively on their own will (Johnson, Donohue, Atkin, Johnson, 1994). The family group communicates informally because they don’t have delegated positions in the group and are free to say what they want, when they want, and how they want. What one thing might be done to improve communication in this group? The only main communication difficulty in the group is that Ben doesn’t usually start a conversation with his parents or offer them much information about the events of his day; although he will do this with his siblings. To improve this, Ben needs to become self aware of how he expresses himself, through gaining emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1996). Ben also needs to realise the importance of communication in not only a family relationship, but how it is vital in any personal relationship. But this will happen over time as he grows out of his teenage years (Nelson Lott, 1994) and becomes more mature. 3. Group roles What formal or informal roles have been adopted in the group? Formal, task-oriented roles and informal social roles both play a part in the family household group. The roles and definitions used for this question were found in the research of Benne Sheats (1948) about functional roles of group members. Task-oriented roles relate to the completion of the group’s task. Each person in this household was found to have one or more task-orientated roles. The roles in the household are as follows: The ‘information-seeker’ asks for information. Marion holds this role. The ‘opinion-giver’ states their beliefs about a group issue. Marion and Andrew both hold this role. The ‘opinion-seeker’ asks for input from the group about its values. Marion is the main one who plays this role. The ‘orienter’ shifts the direction of the groups discussion. Ben holds this role. The ‘energizer’ stimulates the group to a higher level of activity. Joseph plays this role. The ‘initiator-contributor’ generates new ideas. This is Philippa’s role. Although the task-oriented roles are a type of formal role, the roles of each household member wasn’t ‘assigned’ to them, as if they were in a formal workplace, but each member has acquired these roles over time as they often relate to their personality type. Informal social roles play a part in the emotional connection of the household group (Benne Sheats, 1948). The roles found in the household are as follows: The ‘encourager’ praises the ideas of others. Andrew and Marion are the main ones who do this. The ‘group observer’ keeps records of group activities and uses this information to give feedback to the group. Ben and Philippa hold this role. The ‘follower’ goes along with the group and accepts the groups ideas. Joseph plays this role as he is not always home. Other roles within the family are practical roles, which mostly Marion and Andrew complete such as cooking, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and chopping wood. Ben, Philippa, and Joseph when he’s home also help out and do these jobs during the week, but the majority is done by the parents. What impact do these roles have on the group’s effectiveness? Because all members have different roles, this enables a balance to be achieved within the family unit. It is important to have stability within the family with all members contributing different roles to minimise conflict and build a positive family atmosphere. 4. Cohesion Would you describe this group as cohesive? Explain and explore the impact on the group’s functioning. Getting along well with one another, being comfortable around each other, and resolving any conflicts or issues by talking openly are some of the factors that lead to a highly cohesive group (Johnson Johnson, 2006). The household group in this essay is a cohesive one. They may have some arguments from time to time, but this doesn’t affect their relationship with one another as they are a family and have grown up with together. For example an issue that arises in the group is the fact that there is often work to be done on the farm that needs all family members to help out. This may impact on family members giving up their leisure time, however they understand that contributing to the farm work is an important aspect of living on an agricultural property. The impact on the group being cohesive is that it makes everyday living a lot easier, than if the group wasn’t cohesive. There are two aspects of group cohesiveness which are the ‘emotional’ aspect and ‘task-related’ aspect (Barsade Gibson, 1998). The emotional aspect is the more researched side of cohesion and is based on the connection group members feel towards the other group members and the group as a whole. Also included is how much time they want to spend with other group members as this shows how much they like the other members and whether they enjoy each other’s company. For example Philippa and Marion enjoy spending time together gardening and this builds a more cohesive group as they enjoy spending time together. The task-related aspect is based on the scale in which group members share the same goals and how well they work together to meet these goals (Barsade Gibson, 1998). This household group is more cohesive in the emotional aspect, compared to the task-related aspect. Group members don’t always have the same amount of focus on the group goals as one another. But on an emotional level the group is generally connected and enjoy each other’s company. 5. Difference Assess whether your group is homogenous (same) or heterogeneous (different) across these characteristics: †¢ Gender Age †¢ Marital status †¢ Ethnicity †¢ Goals †¢ Values †¢ Personality †¢ Skills The family group is both homogenous and heterogeneous. The ways in which the group is homogenous is that we are genetically related (apart from Marion and Andrew), and live in the same environment which impacts on how we act and react to different situations. For example if there was a sna ke heading for a small child, we would all know how to kill it to save the child’s life, but if someone had grown up in the city they may not know what to do in that situation. The group is also partly homogenous in the fact that the three males are of the same gender, and the two females are of the same gender. They are all of Anglo-Saxon ethnicity. Their values are all fairly similar as the parents have taught the children what they value, and the children have learnt from them through their years of growing up together. The family is also heterogeneous. All members are different ages (apart from the parents) and therefore at a different life stage. There is one main goal of having a harmonious household, but all members have different personal goals. All personalities are different. Everyone has some skills that other members have, but each member has a main area of skills they are good at. For example Marion is good at caring for people and cooking, Andrew has very good practical and mechanical skills for the farm, Joseph has a large knowledge of the natural environment, Philippa is very creative and good with animals, and Ben is very skilful in any sport he is involved with. Identify a strategy that the group might employ to better acknowledge and value the diversity within it? Diversity in any group is important as there is a large range of skills available to contribute to the group. If a group has a diverse range of skills, a wide range of views, is cohesive, and values each other’s views is great when making decisions or trying to solve a problem. Because of the high cohesion in the group each member does not always think their idea is the only option as they want to know what the other group members have to contribute. (Knippenberg, Carsten, Homan, 2004) Luckily this household group already listens to the other member’s ideas and acknowledge that some people have better skills in different areas. 6. Leadership Observe the leader’s application of the behaviours/ attributes below. Based on these observations and notes (and any others you might have) evaluate the leader’s effectiveness in this group. Leadership attributes: †¢ Clarifies the goal, roles and tasks for the group / team †¢ Ability to motivate and inspire the group / team members †¢ Pays attention to the concerns and development needs of group / team members †¢ Approach to decision making (participative / autocratic) †¢ Provides fair feedback Leadership is the process where leaders apply influence on others to help the group achieve its goals and maintain a successful relationship. A good leader is someone who can adapt their behaviour depending on the follower’s competence, confidence and motivation to the task (Davidson, 2011). The group members who lead the most are the parents, Marion and Andrew. They make it known to the other group members what is expected of them in terms of helping out around the house or the farm. For example the children have to contribute by making one meal per week for the family. Marion and Andrew do ask the children to do specific jobs such as feeding the dogs, or hanging out the washing, but they also expect the children to be responsible nd remember that there are jobs needing to be completed all the time, and do the jobs without being told. It is very important to encourage group members to achieve as much as they physically and mentally can (Russell, 2001). Marion and Andrew are very motivating especially relating to sport and school or university work. They encourage the children when they are achieving good results, a nd motivate and suggest alternate ways of success if the children are not achieving the sought-after results. Marion and Andrew pay attention to the needs of the group. Most of the time the needs of the group are not major issues, but small matters such as needing their clothes washed for the next day, having nice food to take to university or work the next day, or writing a cheque for a child to take to school for paying their sports registration. Marion and Andrew also make sure there are no concerns in the group, and if there is an issue, they try to solve it as soon as possible. The decision-making style of Marion and Andrew is mostly participative style, although sometimes if they feel strongly about something they will use an autocratic style of decision-making. Participative decision-making involves the thoughts and ideas of what the whole group wants to decide on, and autocratic decision-making means the leader/s has the responsibility of making the final decision, without any input from other group members (Vroom Yetton, 1973). For example if Ben who is 17 years old wanted to drink alcohol under-age at a party, Marion and Andrew would use an autocratic method of decision-making and end up settling on the fact that Ben would not be allowed to drink alcohol at the party. If Marion and Andrew feel they need to give feedback or suggest something to any family members they always do. They feel that it is their duty to take care of the family and try to guide their children in any decision they are making. Tyson, (1998) believed that if a leader cannot keep their group safe, this is seen as weakness, resulting in group members becoming stressed and it is likely they will also develop lack of confidence. This makes it hard for the leader to motivate the team members towards accomplishing their goals. Tyson outlines here the importance of being able to look up to someone as a leader and how much of an impact that leader has on the rest of the group if something were to go wrong. According to the above attributes this shows that Marion and Andrew are good at leading their family. They show support, encourage others, provide feedback to the children, and make sure everyone is doing their part at helping out in the household. Conclusion In conclusion the family group that was studied is an effective group. They may have individual goals, but they still achieve the goal of maintaining a harmonious family household. They communicate with one another (although Ben will learn to as he grows older), each member has a different role which makes the family diverse, and the family is cohesive which enables a happy household. The family is homogenous in some aspects, but also heterogeneous in their skills which come in handy for everyone to be able to contribute in different aspects, and the parents show good leadership for the children in their goals, and also leading the family as a whole. It is interesting to analyse the range of group processes that occur in a group such as my family household, and investigating these groups processes has made me more aware of their occurrence in everyday life. References| Segal, J. (2010, November). The Power of Nonverbal communication and Body Language.