For this group presentation, there were three stages that were involved. First stage is the conceptualization and building. Second is the implementation. Third is the assessment stage. Since the first two stages are finished, we are left to discuss the last. And in discussing the assessment stage, we will also be able to reflect on what happened during the planning and implementation of this project. This reflective essay will rely heavily on the ideologies forwarded by Joseph A. Raelin in his management papers.
Introduction
My involvement in this group presentation is in researching for the data that the group will use in preparing for the visual aids. But before I am able to research for data, my group mates and I must first be able to analyze the problem carefully in order to seek for the right answers. At this point, we adopted the Standard Agenda procedure (Rothwell, 1998) in order to identify the problems that need to be answered in our group activity.
I am also tasked to analyze the information in our annotated bibliography and find out which of these reseources will be used for the soecific tasks we want to accomplish in our presentation. The theories that will be used in this reflective essay would be those that were mentioned in Raelins management books, particularly Work-based learning The new frontier of management development.
Work-Based Learning
Raelin lists the identifying factors of WBL
1. views learning as acquired in the midst of action and dedicated to the task at hand
2. sees knowledge creation and utilization as collective activities wherein learning becomes everyones job
3. demonstrates a learning-to-learn orientation that frees learners to question underlying assumptions of practice. (Raelin, 2000)
This type of learning strategy gives emphasis on the practical approach. It is centred around reflection on work practices. (Gray, 1999) This group presentation is a good example of the WBL. Since the instructor of the course gave us the task of creating a presentation, we are made to practice WBL as we acquire knowledge while doing this presentation.
It also fulfills the second factor of the WBL which is to make the learning process a collective activitiy. In contrast with activities that promote individual tasks, group activities become a more efficient and more desirable means of harboring knowledge. Why is this so We have witnessed and experienced first hand how people in groups try to arrive at a consensus after hearing dissenting opinions about an issue. More likely, youll be weighing the difference in opinions before coming to a decision. (Tan) Unlike in an individualist setting wherein no dissenting voices will be present to offer you a perspective undermined by the position you want to adopt, group activities will be able to give you a more holistic perception about a particular matter.
And since the learning process is a first-hand experience, they are in the best position to question the principle of practice. Like for us in this presentation, it has become imperative for us to observe the relationship of this reflective essay with the literature at hand. But if we see that some of the theories are going against practical knowledge gained from operationalizing it then we can argue against it under the WBL model.
Part 1 Conflict Resolution The Upside and Downside of the Group
The first thought that came to my mind when the task was given is about time management. Considering that this is not the only subject I am taking for this term, I knew there will be a need to budget my time carefully so as not to cram my output contribution for the group. I started by looking at my groupmates and by thinking of their previous dealing with group activities. I realized as well that it will be very difficult to deal with people who are not my type. At first I didnt know what to do with this kind of grouping since I am more used to individual tasks. Later on, I learned that it is a fulfilling and experience to work in a group.
There will be always something positive or negative about staying with a group. Management experts will always warn people who are in groups to beware of group thinking (Consensus-seeking tendency in groups, 2010) too often. This is a term coined by Irving Janis who developed the concept of groupthink as a way to explain the way in which groups try to strike a consensus when there are differing opinions within the working circle. This became a downside during our group discussions especially since many different opinions aer being voiced out during conferences. Conflict management thus became an invaluable skill to avoid possible conflicts with groupmates.
On the other extreme side of this consensus-seeking tendency is the Spiral of Silence theory (Littlejohn, 2008). Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann proposed this theory saying that some of the views that a person wants to express doesnt get voiced out after all because their ideas are undermined by prevailing ideologies. Neumann says that the spiral of silence occurs when individuals who perceive that their opinions are popular express them, whereas those who do not think their opinions are popular remain quiet. (Littlejohn, 2008) It becomes self serving to only the ruling ideology of the majority while the minority continues to keep their ideas to themselves.
Since these things are already known to us right now (honestly, groupthinking and spiral of silence was present during our convening dates for this assignment but we were not able to resolve), I am confident that it will be easier for us to detect the signs of these theoretical phenomemnon and of they are present in a group activity. Next time around, it will be easier for us to resolve it as well.
Part 2 Development
In William Goldings movie entitled Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys find themselves stranded in an island after a plane crash. While all of them want to survive, they have not assigned to each person a specific task in order to get what they wanted. (Hare, 1996) Being aware of this, we were able to preempt the necessity of assigning specific tasks to each member in order to achieve our common goal to finish this activity with flying colors.
People have always been wary of groups because there is a sense of balance that must be achieved in the output given by the members. If one members works harder than another then the former might feel cheated by the latter who might be called a free loader. For our group, there are also existing issues such as this one but we did not let it cloud our vision. Instead, we had to work it out as we try to communicate the issues raised such as unbalanced division of labor.
As for the theory, group work success is always dependent on the team work among members. Personally, I felt that team work is present in our group and that paved the way for the success of this activity. It is possibly brought about by the Result Oriented Management (Result Oriented Management) that the group has adopted. We have visualized how we would want to accomplish this task not only successful but with flying colors, specifically attractive to our target audience, and within the time frame allotted for the project. Operating with this kind of apporach, we have achieved two goals first is that we have a clearly defined concept of success and second, we identified what should be done in order to reach that end point.
Part 3 Reflection on SuccessFailure
Studentscome to us with differing expectations and needs, differing orientations toward education, differing baseline skills on which to build, and differing ways of processing information. (Gorham, 1999) We know that we came from different perspectives and we used that to our advantaged rather than making it a source of conflict.
All in all, I and my groupmates consider this task as a successful one. We have been able to reach our goal. Communication transactions are dependent on listening. (Harris, 1993) Listening became both a skill and a virtue in our group discussions. Nevertheless, with the proper allotment of time perhaps we could have finished this activity faster and allotted more time in assessing how it can be further improved. The new insights that I got from this group presentation is that it feels even better if one savors the journey rather than focus on the end goal. And when you enjoy each others company, it is easier to focus on what you want to achieve.
Conclusion
We are born into a social group (the family) and, as we grow, come to play a more active part in an increasing number and range of others. (Hargie, 2003) We were made to live as part of a group and it will always be the case from time to time.
In the end, there will always be a name for a groups failure or a successwhichever is more appropriate. But it is up to the members to try to use it to their advatage or allow it to discourage them and dismantle the groups output. No matter if the theories say that something is good or bad for your group, the members (and the leader of the group, specifically) should stick to what they hold int heir hearts to be right. For our group, we believe that being ignorant of these existing theories helped rather than deter us from being successful. It is so because we did not try to fit the mold of the successful groups who have made it way before we did.
The improvement of this group output will be measured not by analysing our success rate and simply giving more time and effort to make our craft better. It will be even better if the groups weaknesses and shortcomings are the ones that will be noted. And from these shortcomings, the group will be able to reflect on how to get rid of it.
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