Managing a group...

Managing a group can be very interesting sometimes. It can be a positive experience, or a disaster. It really depends on how well your team gels with each others. Attitudes and personalities can be difficult to adjust to, especially if there is a breakdown in communication!

Focus: We did in fact have a group of individuals, with different personalities, working together to accomplish one task, make eggs. When Beth split us up into our sub groups, making us in charge of different "projects" inside that task, it was easy. Then she started switching those groups up, making it a little more difficult to manage the task at hand. 

Clarification: Clarification is one thing that we were trying to accomplish in our groups, to assist the chef in making our dish (hopefully edible!) Three people were trying to guide the chef, with just their voices. I think that we did a decent job of guiding the chef(s) towards the goal. Only there were some issues with clarification between the three main people assisting the chef(s). Sometimes they would talk over each other, confusing the chef(s), making it more difficult for the chef(s) to accomplish this task in a timely manner. I did notice that when the stove was actually on, only one person would guide the chef(s) towards the pan and away from the burners. 

Mouse: There is always one or more people that tend to be quieter than the rest of the group. Some were better at this than others. I know that when it was my turn to shut up, I still was trying to give directions to the guides or the chef(s). Obviously I was not the mouse! I really couldn't point out just one mouse, I know that Chewy was pretty quiet, until it was his turn to help guide the chef(s). 

Loudmouth: It turns out... that I was the loud mouth of the group. I had to have my hands and mouth into the whole project. It actually took Beth telling me to be quite when I wasn't a guide, for me to hush up a bit. When I saw something I though should be changed or added, I usually just whispered into a guides ear. Because I can't NOT have a say so in everything apparently... 

Written Record:  There was no real written record of this event (at least not until we all had to write our blogs,) but a couple of people did record and take pictures via cell phones. Probably just in case someone caught the faculty kitchen on fire, or burnt themselves. 

Feedback  (negative):  I think that we all could tell there were a couple of things that we could have done differently, but its to late to change it now. We did finish under the time limit, but who really knows if the eggs were really cooked all the way. I know I burped that little bit of egg, all day! 

Feedback (positive): Overall, I think we did a great job. Maybe we could have gagged and bound Beth so she wouldn't have moved people around so much, but hey, groups change all the time. 

Handling failure: The tasks inside of the group were done, then redone, the redone again. The group sent to handle place settings went and set it all up in the break room, but didn't account for us actually having to dish it out and transport it to the break room. 

Handling Deadlock: The only deadlock we had was towards the end when Beth "promoted" Cabana to efficiency expert, and Alec to quality control. At some time, the decision to turn off the stove, that set us back a little bit. We ended up adding two more eggs, to help soak up that crazy amount of butter, and I think that that might have set us back and make us a little scared to eat the product at the end. (It could have been way worse!)

Sign Posting:  This is were some of the communication breakdown occurred. But I know it would have taken longer to accomplish. Beth did tell us along the way that certain things could and could not be done to assist the chef(s) in accomplishing the cooking of the eggs. 

Active Communications: I am sure we all could say that there were many breakdowns in communication, as we progressed with guiding the chef(s) to the overall goal, as well as communicating with each other. I know that I had a good time with being blind folded and guided. I had the job of breaking the first two eggs into the hot pan. I have to say, that it was pretty intense. You really have to take your guides instructions to the tee, or you might literally get burned. I have to say that I broke both eggs WITHOUT leaving shells in the pan (something I can't do when I am looking at everything I am doing.)

Single Solutions: We did become a little foggy on the overall goal. I don't know if it was the fact that Beth kept switching people out, or the communication in the group trying to accomplish the task. Had she left people in certain roles, it might have been better to the outcome of the project. 

I really liked every part of the experiment except for when I wasn't in control! I think that our whole group, in general, have enough in common to make this experiment, successful. There are always things we could approve on, and given the chance, I'm sure the eggs would have at least been cooked all the way!

Group Dynamics

If you have to work with someone... you might as well get to know a little bit about them! The way group members interact with one another can vastly sway the outcome of the groups project. Will ice breakers increase the effectiveness of the group? No matter what you do, someone will most likely become, in some form or another, the leader of the group. What can the leader do to make the group successful.
I agree with Tuckman and his stages of group development, but even he knew there are always changes, which is why it took him 10 years to update his Dr Seuss-styled stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and the last one, Adjourning. Of course this article was last updated on 8-15-04, so I wonder if Tuckman ever thinks about changing any of them?

I like how one of the group dynamic papers broke down the roles inside the group:

                        Factors which affect members participation.

The content or task of the group- is it of interest, importance and relevance?

The physical atmosphere - is it comfortable physically, socially and psychologically?

The psychological atmosphere - is it accepting, non-threatening?

Member’s personal preoccupations - are there any distracting thoughts in their mind?

The level of interaction and discussions - is adequate information provided for everyone to understand? - is it at a level everyone understands?

Familiarity - between group members- do members know each other from before?

Everyone will fit somewhere in one of those positions, inside the group. During our exercise, what position did you have? We all had more than one position that day. I started out selecting the ingredients, then an observer, then back seat driver, then blind folded chef (I must say my egg cracking skills on the hot pan were superb! Not a single shell out of two eggs!), I helped clean up in the kitchen, while the meal was being distributed around the table.
With our exercise, we already knew who the boss was. Beth is the one who set the rules. Who selected the ingredients; who set the tables; who was in the clean-up crew. No matter how we guided the "chef," Beth always changed the rules, and we had to adapt, no matter what. As the boss, she sets the rules and routines. We just have to abide by them. After she chose an efficiency expert, we had to deal with two bosses, with two separate agendas. Beth wants the product out, Cabana wanted it done efficiently.

Cabana started out great by having everyone wash their hands. That was one thing that we all did at the beginning of our turn as the chef. Beth wanted to know when the product would be done, Cabana gave her specific times that each process would be done, and for the most part, we were able to stick with them. After that point though, I'm not real sure what happened to efficiency. During the exercise, usually only two of the three "guides" would speak at any given time. One person would usually remain quite, especially when it came to actually using the stove. The addition of the heated pan, made the room grow a little more tense. People broke out their phones, whether it was to tape someone burn themselves or watch the team succeed, who knows.

In the end, the eggs were edible, but not by much. If two people could have steered the Chef, I believe that things could have been a little bit better, but Beth had those other plans for us, I think the experiment served its purpose, A project is only as strong as the group. I think that there are always room for improvement? Without diceting the exercise, you wouldn't be able to really understand the true group dynamics and how you could tweak the group and make it stronger.

This was no Kitty Hawk!

When Beth originally assigned this project, I was laughing to myself about how I was getting college credit for building/flying a kite... But of course the assignment wasn't really about the kite now was it? No, it was about whether or not you and your group member(s) got along, and were able to build and fly said kite.

The hardest part for us was the design process. We sat in class and brain stormed over how we could make a kite, fly it, then blow it the fuck up! Then Beth had to ruin it by not allowing our inner rocket scientists, get the better of us. Once we knew we couldn't have any kind of "physical or chemical" explosions... we decided on doing a large paper airplane, nay, a lightweight, aerodynamically, bad-ass, cardboard airplane rather. Once we settled on the design, it was a matter of materials and time.

We chose to meet last Tuesday, in our normal classroom, to make our plane. I brought the large sheets of thin cardboard, Chewy brought the drill, glue gun and glue sticks, and Alec brought decorating ideas. We folded, then hot glued everything together, and gave the "Beautiful Lass" her maiden voyage. Lets face it, it was awesome!!! It did fly in the technical sense, but we built one more with a wider wingspan, just in case. We threw both of them around the room to see which one had a better "flight" pattern, then started the detail process. We talked about what should go on the Lass, and came up with a common theme.

I took the Lass home with me and finished up all the coloring, and gathered some string, preparing for its flight in the courtyard. I must say, that like everyone else, as I walked in, the Lass just wanted to be set free!

I honestly didn't know how well it was flying, because I was to busy trying not to fall on my face as I sprinted around the courtyard, only to be stopped by a tree. I think that the Beautiful Lass, was a great success. Not only did it "fly," but it wasn't even scratched when it took a dive into the tree. I think our group did a great job with every aspect of this assignment. Ours might not have had a Black Power Ranger or a Sky Pirate on it, but she flew her heart (and my legs) out!!!

I know there were a couple of groups who had the typical "group" issues, but I think our group was drama free! I would consider all of the flights a success, and a job well done by all! Some of us are a little more winded now, but that's probably the same feeling the Wright Brothers felt when they took off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.