Group Dynamics in Organizations

The world is changing in several spheres and poses a huge challenge to the various organizations regarding how to adapt appropriately to all these challenges. The main aspect that brings about the changes in the world is the ever-changing external environment. The internal environment can remain unchanged for a very long time, but the external environment has continued to undergo various trends of dynamism. The organization has to change some aspects of its culture to either accommodate the change or to lead the change process. Also, various organizations have to recognize and appreciate every aspect of change that comes its way and adjust promptly to the changes.

The question, however, is how some organizations are in a position to adapt more easily to change than others, the adaptability depends on the business strategies in the organization. Some scholars and practitioners have posted that all the adaptation of an organization is vested in its ability to learn. The process of change in any organization almost always incorporates the implementation phase of the plan. The document is a business report that describes the key aspects of the implementation process of a new learning and development programme. The report, however, is important as it discusses all the trends and practices that have continued to affect the progress of various organizations. The leadership and development individuals have also been faced with these challenges. They have derived their motivation through learning, and it has given them an opportunity to be autonomous and be more competent.

2.2 Findings

Group dynamics refers to the system of psychological processes and the accompanying behaviors within the social groups. The understanding of these dynamics is important in determining how decisions are made and making follow up for new ideas or ideologies in the society (Forsyth & Donelson, 2018). The study of group dynamics is essential in understanding the aspects of sexism, discrimination, and racism. In building a team programme, all these aspects are core considerations. Some of the factors that affect the cohesion of a group include environmental, leadership and personal factors. All these factors are necessary for an effective group programme (Levi & Daniel, 2015).

Building group dynamics implies that both intragroup and intergroup dynamics need to be put into consideration. To build a programming team first is to ensure that all the members in the group are aware of roles, their norms and the common goals they need to achieve (Nakauchi et al., 2017 pg.769). These are the particular aspects that characterize any social group. Before building a social group, I will ensure that all the group members understand their specific roles and the goals they need to achieve in the organization. When all the group members have understood all their roles and that of others, I will ensure that more interdependence within the group is maximal. The major issues to stress are to create more interdependence in ensuring that the attitudes of all the members are captured, their opinions, and the experiences they have so that through these virtues more interdependence in the group can be developed.

With interdependence, the group members can influence their actions and come up with more efficient ways of coping with various organizational challenges. The critical understanding of the group is to define its boundaries as to establish the culture of your group and how they will undertake their daily routines in the organization. Moreover, interdependence in the group promotes interaction among members hence facilitate easy achievement of learning and personal and professional development. Different individuals think differently when they come together in the group; decision-making skills are improved hence better decisions are made as individual behaviors are coordination towards achieving a common goal.

The most important aspect of any group dynamic is the establishment of the best working formula. To begin with, ensure that the group has the best psychological bond (Drescher et al., 2014 pg. 771). This bond comes out of interpersonal attraction. For example, in the organization, I would ensure that all the individuals have the same perception of the visions and the missions of the organization so that they will have a spirit of attraction amongst themselves. When the individuals have a proper connection for them, they function as a unit towards particular set organizational goals. About the type of group to develop, I would establish a social group. The key characteristics of such groups include being task-oriented, and individuals in these groups are not emotionally involved as those in the primary groups.

To feel more productive or rather as a show of self-management skills, I would organize some special training in the human resource department or look for other external trainers. First and foremost I would acquire more skills in stress management. With this, I would avoid any stressful situations and avoid the major mistakes people do when they are stressed. The other self-management skill is communication. Communication is the most important skill for both career and personal development. The reason is that with the skill I can share information without any distortion and in the most effective and fastest way. Time management is also another important aspect. When results are produced promptly, then success is imminent. Most importantly, to achieve the highest possible level of success, prioritizing of tasks should be done. This is a checklist that I should possess to set the right priorities.

With the self-management skills, it is also imperative that persuasion and influencing skills are integrated altogether (Drescher et al., 2014 pg.771). Achieving the goals of the team require that I am in apposition to influence the direction of the goals and how they are being achieved. To influence my team members, I would, first of all, do reciprocation. I would be something good for them, and with that, they would be more compelled to return the favor. The other skills of persuading include timing, having an organized speech and also to be a true leader for other to follow suit.

To achieve organizational objectives and targets, then politics has a huge part to play. This includes the use of power, authority or social networking within an organization to achieve those targets or changes that bring benefit to an organization or the individuals within the organization. Within my organization, the political behavior would greatly distract people from achieving their targets. This is because it would waste most of their time as they engage in other informal activities. The achievement of organizational objectives would also be hampered as people would concentrate on other activities and come up with other ideas of their own. The programs should be easy to understand. For the program, in particular, political behavior would threaten to derail the power or authority I have seen some of the team members might be discussing other ways of derailing my leadership.

The aspects of politics that influence learning and development positively in an organization encourage productivity and promote the production of quality services which result in customer satisfaction. The most important ones are decision making, motivation, and promotion. Exercising power by supervisors to enable the employee making independent decisions, rewards excellent performers, promoting those who portray improvements in service delivery are crucial political aspects of supervisors. Positive power motivates employees and gives them the confidence to put extra efforts to work leading to respect for others and work and effective upward and downward communication compared. To promote quality of production, a good political culture in the organizations must be developed. Establishment of good policies enables employees to find solutions to day-to-day problems and an ample time to work. A favorable working environment with equal treatment and collaboration prevents conflict hence promotes productivity. On the contrary, organizations with negative political culture suffer conflicts and encourage employees to engage in unethical or dishonest behavior for promotions and another motivator. Here, favoritism undermines the quality of production leading to high turnover rates.

3.1 Conclusion

Concisely, leadership and development is a very important programme to undertake. Having the skills and knowledge of group dynamics is necessary to come up with more task-oriented teams that will foster the easy achievement of organizational goals. These group dynamics are important as they promote interdependence in the organization. When interdependence is developed, then the achievement of organizational goals is imminent. For the team to work together, some leadership skills need to be put in place. To be a leader one must possess the skills of influencing and persuading the team members. When applying these influencing skills, one should also consider understanding and play a key role in the organizational, political behavior to learn the new ideas or ways of achieving organizational goals. Organizational politics can derail the achievement of goals and can also lead to some leaders losing their jobs.

3.2 Recommendations

In my recommendations, I would consider revising the different group dynamics to enable the various groups can be more integrated and work together towards achieving the organizational goals. The other recommendation is for all organizations to advise their employees to always undertake professional development plans

Activity 3

A continuous professional development plan

A continuous professional development plan (CPD) is a document which individuals record their goals in their various careers and strategies to attain them. Professional skills are built by a well thought out plan and keep one on track towards achieving individuals and organizational goals (Megginson et al., 2017). The CPD plan is essential as it takes charge of the professional development of an individual. The reason behind this plan is because the professional development of an individual is not a collective rather than personal responsibility. Therefore, having a personal CPD plan is necessary to assist in planning how to meet targets and helps in identifying the inherent knowledge and skills.

Team members in the organization including employees who join the organization should be up-to-date with the tools used to develop the CPD plan and its benefits. A step-wise approach is appropriate in the development of the plan. The use of some tools such as CIPD professional map is incorporated in the development of this plan. These steps include assessing the point or level someone is in. In this consider aspects such as where your career is in the moment and how it is progressing. The key aspects of assessment require critical thinking to identify the appropriate goals to achieve and prioritize when and how to accomplish these goals. Secondly is highlighting the career goals. At this point the individuals should focus on where he or she wants to see him or herself being within some specified time and understanding what success means. The estimation of attainability within a set time and a clear milestone of achieving the goals is essential. The third step is to gather information about the specifics skills required to achieve your goals. The information can be obtained from team member members or gathered from the field to suit the expectation of planned beneficiaries. The fourth step is to evaluate the professional skills that you possess. At this step you identify the strengths you have and so that you can identify what you are missing. The appropriate supplies to use are identified and assembled and personnel to involve in the plan are informed in advance. The fifth strategy is to develop a strategy. At this point you identify how you are going to work on your plan. The needed resources are identified and mobilized early to avoid the last minute rush. The sixth step is to decide on the time-frame of achieving your goals and plan your targets appropriately. The time limits are set or use a schedule to accomplish the set goals within stipulated time. The seventh step is to ensure that you keep records of the professional development plan. Records are essential for referencing to keep one on track. The eight step is to evaluate your plan. This is to ascertain that the goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The final step is to measure the progress. The progress measurement involves assessing and tracking your goals (Komives et al., 2016). 

Developing a plan involves making some key decisions. Such decisions include a need to have to align goals as per one’s priorities. Scheduling activities and prioritization in helpful in making the best use of time. A plan with well managed time is incredibly impressive and helps out with profound productivity. The schedule keeps one focused and priorities ensures that first things are done first. In the plan, you should allow breaks between activities to cushion when activities overlap and allow for flexibility in the accomplishment of expected needs. The other decision made is on how effective the plan is. When the plan is deemed effective in achieving certain goals, then it is necessary (Bolden et al., 2016 pg.150). A plan that is necessary is also cost effective and does not consume a lot of time rather it enables development of strategies for time management. Effective and efficient strategies are essential in minimizing inputs and maximize outputs. The plan should maximize use of available resources that range from technology to budget and time.

A reflective practice refers to studying or analyzing own personal experience to improve the way to undertaking a particular task (Johns & Christopher, 2017). Some of the key elements include self-assessment, critical thinking, and evaluation of oneself. The practice is one way of enabling one to be more proactive and a more qualified professional. The elements of the reflective statement should describe the organization of the portfolio, the contents to review and the relevant material in the portfolio.

References

Bolden, R., 2016. Leadership, management and organizational development. In Gower handbook of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.

Drescher, M.A., Korsgaard, M.A., Welpe, I.M., Picot, A. and Wigand, R.T., 2014. The dynamics of shared leadership: Building trust and enhancing performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(5), p.771.

Forsyth, D.R., 2018. Group dynamics. Cengage Learning.

Johns, C., 2017. Becoming a reflective practitioner. John Wiley & Sons.

Komives, S.R., 2016. Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership development. John Wiley & Sons.

Levi, D., 2015. Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications.                

Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V., 2017. Continuing professional development. Kogan Page Publishers.

Nakauchi, M., Washburn, M. and Klein, K., 2017. Differences between inter-and intra-group dynamics in knowledge transfer processes. Management Decision, 55(4), pp.766-782.