Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd What makes a Group o A collection of people can be viewed as a working group or a TEAM when it has many of the following features: Two or more people who are regularly part of the group A Group Consciousness - the people think of themselves as a group A shared sense of purpose - the members of the group have the same task/goals or interests The group is Interdependent - the people in the group need each other if they are to achieve the task/goal The group Interacts - the people in the group communicate with one another, influence one other and react to one other The group can act as a whole - it is a unified collection of people

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd Participation Matters! o Disfunctional Group: o Functioning Group:

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd Developing the Group o “Forming” The anxious stage - people getting to know each other, worrying about what’s expected of them and how they should behave. An uncertain time. o “Storming” Familiarity sets in and maybe conflict emerges between sub-groups. The leader may be challenged as individuals react against his/her attempts to direct them. A tricky time! o “Norming” The group settles down - it begins to harmonize. Group cohesion is evident and norms emerge. Mutual support develops and it’s clear that this is a functioning group - a Team. o “Performing” The group becomes flexible in the way individuals perform tasks - the team is capable of dealing with complex problems.

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd People and teams - completing the Task o Initiator - Contributor: Suggests things and tries to see new ways forward. o Information Seeker: Checks things out and tries to verify peoples ideas by getting facts. o Information Giver: Offers facts or words of wisdom based on his/her past experiences o Elaborator: Develops points further - clears things up. Tries to make things clearer to the team. o Co-ordinator: Pulls things together - illustrates the links between different ideas discussed by the team. o Energiser: Gets the team going again when things slow down. Stimulates the team o Recorder: Keeps a record of team decisions - acts as the team’s memory

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd People and teams - helping the Group o Encourager: Praises, agrees with and accepts the contribution of others. o Harmoniser: Acts as go-between in disputes between team members - tries to reconcile. o Compromiser: In a situation of conflict, this person attempts to relieve things by compromising. o Gatekeeper - Expediter: Keeps communication going - in a meeting this is the chairperson. o Standard Setter: A “watch dog” who checks that the team is “playing by the book” or who sets standards for the team. o Observer: Has a watching brief for the whole group - reports back on group performance o Follower: Goes along with the team, serving it loyally and never questioning.

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd People and teams - Individuals who “mess up” o Aggressor: Spoilt child who acts like a bully - defies authority and is envious. o Blocker: Always looking on the negative side - disagrees without reason. Every group of teachers has one! o Recognition-Seeker: ME...ME...ME - tries to manufacture situations to show him/her in a good light. Ego problem! o Playboy: The teams not for him/her - he/she is far too busy doing something else of much greater importance. Ego problem again! o Dominator: The “big-head” of the group - always trying to have control. Ego problem - needs reducing! o Help-seeker: Seeks attention by continuously claiming he/she can’t cope when this is obviously not true. Ego problem

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd The needs of Groups o Every group has three overlapping needs and the leader of a group must balance these needs: The needs of the TASK The needs of the GROUP The needs of the INDIVIDUAL o Each need is important to the functioning of the team: Task Group Indivi- dual

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd What is Leadership? o The broad functions of leadership might be seen as: Initiating - keeping/getting things going Regulating - monitoring the pace of the group’s efforts Informing - feeding back information to the group Supporting - being responsive to the needs of the group and being open to suggestions Evaluating - helping the group to review progress, qualify success and assess how well it works as a team o The importance of each function will vary according to the “age” of the team. o Leadership involves getting the group to work together as a team so as to achieve a common goal. A leader needs to direct but also needs to ask. o Leaders need to be Democratic.

Advanced VCE Business – AQA Unit 9 Copyright TecEd A Leader’s main Responsibilities o A Leader must remember that his/her main duties are to: Firstly define the Task Secondly build the Team Thirdly look after the Individual o The Leader must work towards: Achieving the Task Building and maintaining the Team Developing the Individual