Name some advantages and disadvantages of working in groups.
Recognize the characteristics of an effective working group.
Form and participate in successful study groups.
Explain the process of group development.
Recall the characteristics of each stage of group development.
Identify positive and negative behaviors and roles that influence a group’s relationships and ability to meet its goals.
Recognize types of conflict that occur in small groups.
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of conflict in small groups.
Explain ways to manage conflict in small groups.
Describe strategies for forming and participating in study groups.
Working in Groups
Working in groups is a necessary and important skill, particularly in the nursing profession. You will find yourself having to work in groups in various situations—at home, at work, at play, and at school. When we work in groups—whether in a formal or informal situation—certain things tend to happen. Often the natural leaders will emerge to provide guidance and direction, and those who are natural followers will act accordingly. Conflicts will inevitably occur, as people have different visions for the outcome.
Working in groups in educational settings is a common occurrence. Instructors often require group work because it is such an important skill, particularly moving forward into the workplace. Working on labs together, group project work, group assignments—even online group work with classmates who are all over the world—are all standard situations. Getting along is important, but working effectively together can make a better project when each team member contributes according to their strengths, resulting in a better project than each could have done on their own.
Working in groups has advantages and disadvantages. It works better in some situations than others. Here are some reasons why you might choose to work alone or in a group:
Working alone versus working in groups
Working Alone
Working in Groups
Free to make all the decisions
Can collaborate
Can use your own methods
Can share responsibility
Can be creative
Can share ideas and talents
Can do things on own time schedule
Can spread the workload
No disagreements
A more sociable way to work
No compromising – can do everything your way
Able to do something bigger and better
Can take all the credit
Can demonstrate an ability to work in teams
Effective Working Groups
Groups that work effectively have the following characteristics:
The atmosphere is relaxed, engaged, open, comfortable, and non-threatening.
Group members share a sense of purpose or common goals that each member is willing to work toward. The tasks or objectives are understood and accepted by everyone. There is free discussion leading to group commitment and no hidden agendas.
The group is concerned not only with the task, but also with its own processes and operating procedures. The group periodically evaluates its performance.
The group members use one another as a resource. Roles are balanced and shared to ensure that the tasks are accomplished and that group cohesion and morale are enhanced. The group determines and assigns clear tasks for people in the group.
Communication is clear, direct, open, and honest. Group members continually try to listen to and clarify what is being said, and show interest in what others say and feel. They feel freedom to build on each other’s ideas. Differences of opinion are encouraged and freely expressed.
The group focuses on problem-solving rather than expending energy on competitive struggles or interpersonal issues. The group is willing to deal with conflict, and focus on it until it is resolved or managed in a way that does not reduce the effectiveness of the group and its members. Confrontation is accepted as a challenge to examine one’s behavior or ideas. It is not viewed as an uncaring personal attack.
Mistakes are seen as sources of learning rather than reasons for punishment. This encourages creativity and risk-taking.
Conflict is seen as natural, even helpful. People work through problems together.
The group has a clear set of expectations and standards for the behavior of group members.
The group that understands developing a climate of trust is important. In order to trust one another, individuals in a group must understand and get to know one another.
Activity: Reflect on Your Groups
Think about some of the groups that you are involved in. What qualities do you have that helps in the group process? Is the group effective? What qualities of an effective team does your group have? Write a reflection answering each of these questions.
Activity: Effective Study Groups
Read the article How to Form a Study Group and take notes on the following topics, titling your notes, “Effective Study Groups”:
8 Steps:
Tips:
Warnings:
Things You Will Need:
NOTE: from your own experience with study groups, add anything else you have found to be effective.
Book a study room on campus to work in a group. Study rooms often come equipped with monitors so that you can review class slides, and whiteboards so that you can put up important formulas or definitions.
Study groups are a great idea—as long as they are thoughtfully managed. A study group can give you new perspectives on course material and help you to fill in gaps in your notes. Discussing course content will sharpen your critical thinking related to the subject, and being part of a group to which you are accountable will help you study consistently. Ideally, you will end up “teaching” each other the material, which is a powerful way to retain new material.
Here are some tips for creating and managing effective study groups:
Think small. Limit your study group to no more than three or four people. A larger group would limit each student’s participation and make scheduling of regular study sessions a real problem.
Go for quality. Look for students who are doing well in the course, who ask questions, and who participate in class discussions. Don’t make friendship the primary consideration for who should be in your group.
Look for complementary skills. Counter your weaknesses with another student’s strengths. When a subject requires a combination of various skills, strengths in each of those skills are helpful (e.g., a group with one student who is strong with statistics and another with creativity would be perfect for some marketing class projects).
Meet regularly. When you first set up a study group, agree to a regular meeting schedule and stick to it. Moving study session times around can result in non-participation, lack of preparation, and, eventually, the collapse of the study group. Equally important is keeping your sessions to the allotted times. If you waste time and regularly meet much longer than you agreed to, participants will not feel they are getting study value for their time invested.
Include some of the following items on your agenda:
Review and discuss class and assignment notes since your last meeting.
Discuss assigned readings.
Quiz each other on class material.
“Reteach” aspects of the material team participants are unsure of.
Brainstorm possible test questions and responses.
Review quiz and test results and correct misunderstandings.
Critique each other’s ideas for paper themes and approaches.
Define questions to ask the instructor.
Assign follow-up work. If there is any work that needs to be done between meetings, make sure that all team members know specifically what is expected of them and agree to do the work.
Rotate the role of moderator or discussion leader. This helps ensure that “ownership” of the group is spread equally across all members and ensures active participation and careful preparation.
Stages of Group Development
Small groups have to start somewhere, but their course of development varies after forming based on many factors. Some groups go through each stage of development in a progressive and linear fashion, while other groups may get stuck in a stage, skip a stage, or experience a stage multiple times.
The five stages of group development include:
When a group forms, members engage in socially polite exchanges to help reduce uncertainty and gain familiarity with new members. Even though their early interactions may seem unproductive, they lay the groundwork for cohesion and other group dynamics that will play out more prominently in later stages.
Sometimes, conflict emerges as group members begin to perform their various roles, have their ideas heard, and negotiate where they fit in the group’s structure. Conflict is inevitable and important as a part of group development and can be productive if it is managed properly.
Eventually, the practices and expectations (norms and rules) of the group are solidified, which leads to more stability, productivity, and cohesion within the group.
At times, group members work relatively smoothly toward the completion of a task or the achievement of their purpose, ideally capitalizing on the synergy that comes from the diverse experiences group members bring to the decision-making process.
A group dissolves because its purpose has been met, because membership has declined or the group has lost support, or due to some other internal or external cause. It is important that groups reflect on the life of the group to learn any relevant lessons and celebrate accomplishments.
Group Member Roles
Group members assume, or are given, roles that influence the group. Group roles are related to both the functioning and the relationships within the group, and may be positive or negative (Arnold, 2020).
Group Work: Assignment of Roles
Having a diversity of skills and ideas within a group often enriches the group process and can improve the final product. However, working with others different from ourselves can be a challenge. One way to structure group functioning and benefit from one another’s strengths is to assign roles to each member of the group. These team roles can be assigned based on individuals’ strengths or rotated periodically to increase each member’s understanding of the roles and of themselves as team members. There are four fundamental roles to consider: leader/facilitator, arbitrator/monitor, notetaker/timekeeper, and devil’s advocate. For larger groups, some of these roles can be divided between two students (see notes below).
Leader/Facilitator
Clarifies the aims of the group and helps the group to set sub-goals at the beginning of each meeting. Sub-goals should serve as an agenda of issues that need to be addressed during the meeting.
Makes sure that all group members understand the concepts and the group’s conclusions.
Starts the meetings, introduces each topic, and keeps the group on task and oriented towards its goals.
Ensures that the group completes its tasks before deadlines.
Typical phrases:
“Thanks for your contribution, Jordan. What do you think, Ayesha?”
“From what I’m hearing, it appears that the key issues are A, B, and C. Why don’t we start by discussing A, if that is agreeable to everyone?”
“So, it appears that we are all agreed that …”
Arbitrator/Monitor
Observes group functioning carefully and initiates regular discussions on group climate and process, especially if he or she senses tension or conflict brewing.
During disagreements or conflicts, clarifies the arguments and proposes suggestions for resolving dispute.
Ensures that all group members have a chance to participate and learn; may elicit comments from members if they are not participating.
Acts as a cheerleader for the group whenever possible, praising members for work well done.
Note: For larger groups the role of “encourager” could be done by a different student.
Typical phrases:
“We haven’t heard much during our meeting from you, Alex. Do you have any thoughts?” “It might be helpful if you backed off a bit, Kate, so we can hear what Hannah has to say.”
“I’m sensing a bit of tension among us over this decision; I think we should get our disagreements out into the open.”
“I think we can feel really good about what we’ve accomplished to this point. Especially nice work on the project outline, Ahmed!”
Notetaker/Timekeeper
Takes notes during meetings to keep a record of what has been decided, tasks that have been assigned, when meetings are scheduled, etc.
Summarizes discussions and decisions for the rest of the group. Distributes a summary of each meeting to all group members.
Presents group material to the rest of the class/supervisor.
Keeps track of time during meetings to avoid spending excessive time on one topic. This is best handled by deciding how much time will be allocated to each issue in the agenda, and letting everyone know when this time is up. It is also useful to point out when time is almost up so that issues can be wrapped up appropriately.
Note: For larger groups, the roles of notetaker and time keeper could be fulfilled by two students.
Typical phrases:
“Hold on, please, I just need to get this down before we move on.”
“I’ll send you an updated version of our report tomorrow, along with a summary of today’s meeting.”
“We’ve spent about 15 of the 20 minutes we allocated to this topic, so we’ve got about 5 more minutes to sort it out.”
Devil’s Advocate
Remains on guard against “groupthink” scenarios (i.e., when the pressure to reach the group goal is so great that the individual members surrender their own opinions to avoid conflict and view issues solely from the group’s perspective).
Ensures that all arguments have been heard, and looks for holes in the group’s decision-making process, in case there is something overlooked.
Keeps their mind open to problems, possibilities, and opposing ideas.
Serves as a quality-control person who double-checks every detail to make sure errors have not been made and searches for aspects of the work that need more attention. Keeps an eye out for mistakes, especially those that may fall between the responsibilities of two group members.
Note: For larger groups, this role of devil’s advocate could be divided into two roles: devil’s advocate and quality control.
Typical phrases:
“Let’s give Rahul’s idea a chance.”
“OK, we’ve decided to go with plan C, but I noticed that we still haven’t dealt with the same problem that plan A didn’t address. What can we do to solve this?”
Task Functions
Task functions are types of behaviors that help a group attain its goals. These include:
Initiating: Identifies tasks or goals; defines group problem; suggests relevant strategies for solving problem
Seeking information or opinion: Requests facts from other members; asks other members for opinions; seeks suggestions or ideas for task accomplishment
Giving information or opinion: Offers facts to other members; provides useful information about group concerns
Clarifying, elaborating: Interprets ideas or suggestions placed before the group; paraphrases key ideas; defines terms; adds information
Summarizing: Pulls related ideas together; restates key ideas; offers a group solution or suggestion for other members to accept or reject
Consensus taking: Checks to see whether the group has reached a conclusion; asks the group to test a possible decision.
Maintenance Functions
Maintenance functions are behaviors that help group members maintain harmonious working relationships. These include:
Harmonizing: Attempts to reconcile disagreements; helps members reduce conflict and explore differences in a constructive manner
Gatekeeping: Helps keep communication channels open; points out commonalities in remarks; suggests approaches that permit greater sharing
Encouraging: Indicates by words and body language unconditional acceptance of others; agrees with contributions of other group members; is warm, friendly, and responsive to other group members
Compromising: Admits mistakes; offers a concession when appropriate; modifies position in the interest of group cohesion
Setting standards: Calls for the group to reassess or confirm implicit and explicit group norms when appropriate
Note: Every group needs both types of functions and needs to work out a satisfactory balance of task and maintenance activity.
Non-Functional Self Roles
Non-functional self roles are those roles that take away from the group’s work and limit the likelihood of achieving the goal by creating discontent and discord among the group (Benne & Sheats, 1948, as cited by Arnold, 2020). These include:
Aggressor: Criticizes and blames others; personally attacks members; communicates with hostility and/or sarcasm
Blocker: Rejects ideas or argues an idea, uses irrelevant or tangential ideas and opinions to obstruct decision-making
Joker: Disrupts the group by joking and not taking the group work seriously
Avoider: Does not stay on task or engage in the process. Whispers or talks to others, daydreams, scrolls on their phones, acts indifferent.
Self-confessor: Uses the group to express and discuss their own personal life.
Recognition: Seeks to be the centre of attention in the group by gaining the attention of others or expressing extreme or peculiar ideas
Reference:
Arnold, E. (2020). Communicating in groups. In E. Arnold & K. Boggs (Eds.), Interpersonal relationships: Professional communication skills for nurses (8th ed., pp. 130-152). Elsevier.
Dealing with Group Conflict
Group Conflict
Conflict can appear in indirect or direct forms within group interaction, just as it can in interpersonal interactions. Group members may openly question each other’s ideas or express anger toward or dislike for another person. Group members may also indirectly engage in conflict communication through innuendo, joking, or passive-aggressive behavior. Although we often view conflict negatively, conflict can be beneficial for many reasons. When groups get into a rut, lose creativity, or become complacent, conflict can help get a group out of a bad or mediocre routine. Conversely, conflict can lead to lower group productivity due to strain on the task and social dimensions of a group. There are three main types of conflict within groups: procedural, substantive, and interpersonal (Fujishin, 2001). Each of these types of conflict can vary in intensity, which can affect how much the conflict impacts the group and its members.
Procedural conflict emerges from disagreements or trouble with the mechanics of group operations and deals with questions about “how” a group should do something. A leader may be able to resolve this conflict by changing or explaining a procedure or taking, from group members, proposals for or votes on procedural revisions.
Substantive conflict focuses on group members’ differing beliefs, attitudes, values, or ideas related to the purpose or task of the group. Leaders and other group members should avoid closing off this type of conflict before people have had a chance to be heard, as a lack of substantive conflict can lead to groupthink. Instead, listen to all viewpoints, try to find common ground, and then weigh and evaluate the information as a group.
Interpersonal conflict emerges from personal conflict between individual members of a group. Manage interpersonal conflict by getting to the root cause of the conflict. In some cases, interpersonal conflict may be disguised as procedural or substantive conflict, or it may develop as a result of poorly managed procedural or substantive conflict. Leaders, group members not directly involved in the conflict, or even outside third parties may also be able to effectively mediate interpersonal conflict.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Conflict
Remember that a complete lack of conflict in a group is a bad sign, as it indicates either a lack of activity or a lack of commitment on the part of the members (Ellis & Fisher, 1994). Conflict, when properly handled, can lead a group to have a better understanding of the issues they face. For example, substantive conflict brings voice to alternative perspectives that may not have been heard otherwise. When people view conflict as healthy, necessary, and productive, they can enter into a conflict episode with an open mind and an aim to learn something. This is especially true when those who initiate substantive conflict are able to share and defend their views in a competent and civil manner. Group cohesion can also increase as a result of well-managed conflict. Occasional experiences of tension and unrest followed by resolutions make groups feel like they have accomplished something, which can lead them to not dread conflict and give them the confidence to deal with it the next time.
Conflict that goes on for too long or is poorly handled can lead to decreased cohesiveness. Group members who try to avoid a conflict can still feel anger or frustration when the conflict drags on. Members who consistently take task-oriented conflict personally and escalate procedural or substantive conflict to interpersonal conflict are especially unpopular with other group members. Mishandled or chronic conflict can eventually lead to the destruction of a group or to a loss of members as people weigh the costs and rewards of membership (Ellis & Fisher, 1994). Hopefully, other group members can take on conflict resolution roles in order to prevent these disadvantages of conflict.
Managing Conflict in Small Groups
Tips for Managing Group Conflict (Ellis & Fisher, 1994)
Clarify the issue at hand by getting to the historical roots of the problem. Keep in mind that perception leads us to punctuate interactions differently, so it may be useful to know each person’s perspective of when, how, and why the conflict began.
Create a positive discussion climate by encouraging and rewarding active listening.
Discuss needs rather than solutions. Determine each person’s needs to be met and goals for the outcome of the conflict before offering or acting on potential solutions.
Set boundaries for discussion and engage in gatekeeping to prevent unproductive interactions like tangents and personal attacks.
Use “we” language to maintain existing group cohesion and identity, and use “I” language to help reduce defensiveness.
References:
Ellis, D. G., and B. Aubrey Fisher, Small Group Decision Making: Communication and the Group Process, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 133.
Fujishin, R., Creating Effective Groups: The Art of Small Group Communication (San Francisco, CA: Acada Books, 2001): 160–61.
Key Takeaways
Effective study groups have common goals, clear expectations, small numbers, and rotating roles.
Group conflict is a natural and can be positive when handled appropriately.
Study groups are more effective when they meet at regular intervals and stick to an agenda.
Study groups are a great way to fill in knowledge gaps and view different perspective and understandings.