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Understanding Group Dynamics

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 There will be situations where an instructor will say something like: “Grab a partner or get with another student…” These are defined as low stakes group work, it’s usually a situation where details about the group members may not be that important to the desired outcome. However for long term group work many other factors are considered such as work experience, age, interests, previous grades…etc. The reasoning here is that “diversity” word again. In most cases the more diverse the group the stronger the outcomes. What unique aspects does a young person bring to a group? What does an older person bring? Differing social or ethnic situations?  Military service? This list of things that make people think differently can go on and on. For example, take the classic example of a group of athletes working together? Do you think that the outcome will be diverse? They are just a bunch of jocks. Well the answer is it depends on many other factors that need to be considered. Instructors develop unique ways to assemble groups-many use a questionnaire so it’s important to answer honestly so you are placed in the appropriate group.
 For those longer term projects, you should have a plan of who is doing what and when it will be done. The best way to approach this is to develop a contract that each member agrees with—and signs. You may also want to develop check points, times when progress will be reviewed, to ensure people are headed in the right direction. The amount of detail is dependent on what the group feels comfortable with but practice and experience has shown that the more detail the better. Some other areas addressed in the contract are meeting times, places, contingency plans for if a member drops out, group meeting with instructor, self-evaluation of progress…etc.
 There will be times when a member of the group is simply not responsive for a number of reasons and the group feels it can be a problem to achieving the goal. The first step is establishing a documented line of communication consisting of the group concerns to the member with a copy to the instructor. Emails should reference the contracts or agreement, the specific problem, and what the rest of the group feels should be done to correct the concern. If after a few attempts to resolve nothing happens, the group should meet with the instructor to decide what to do next. Some possible items include mitigation of the issue or removing the member from the group. What is of vital importance here is timing. Waiting to long can be disastrous for the group so start communicating a problem as early as possible.
 

Potential Dangers
 Your experience with group work in the past may have been disastrous but that does not mean it will be the same again. Be open minded to working with new and possibly very different people. You will quickly learn that one bad experience does not mean that this one will be the same way. Many students state that they are just shy and quiet. Well here is a chance to break out of that shell. If you openly explain that to the other members you may learn that for some of them it’s the same way. Together you can use this learning moment to also work on social skills and developing new friendships as well. However, there are three main types of personalities that can cause issues with a successful group environment that will be discussed further.In that group dynamic we have a few personalities that could be a problem. One of them is called a Hitchhiker. As the names implies, in the group they just want to catch a ride along the way to complete the assignment. They will just go along with what everyone is doing contributing very little in terms of new or original thought. Once identified they can be managed but if there are too many hitchhikers in one group that can turn into a problem pretty quickly. So we want to limit the number and for those that are in the group, a way to deal is through the concept of mirroring the same behavior back at themThe Couch potato is another type of personality that can cause issues. This is the person who sits back hoping that someone who has more of a concern for the grade the group gets will pick up their slack. These personalities literally do very little work because they know that John or Jane cares a lot more about their GPA then they do.  So they sit back on the proverbial couch and watch the world go by. As with the hitchhiker, these too can be managed if there is a limited number in the group. As with the hitchhiker, mirroring or reflecting the same type of behavior at the couch potato can potentially help the problem.  Then we have the opposite type personality that believes that they need (or want) any help from anyone and that believe that they can do it all by themselves. Sometimes referred to as the type “A” personality. These people are loved by hitchhikers and couch potatoes because they give them exactly what they want: an escape from doing any or little work.The first step in avoiding a group that is not as functional as it should be is self-identifying. Your instructor will ask you, probably through a questionnaire of some sort, to self-identify if you fall into any of these categories. The main goal is to ensure that one type of personality does not overpower the group. This self-identification is not designed to punish anyone-it’s a system to ensure that the groups are balanced so they can function as best as they can. So when the form asks you questions, answer them as truthfully as possible. Now, should you end up in a group and after a while it becomes apparent that there are some conflicting personalities it is best to raise the problem to the group so everyone knows and can discuss a potential problem and a solution before things go too far.