Personal Work Group Evaluation

Personal Work Group Evaluation

  • Complete the following:
    • Choose a group in which you are currently involved or have been involved in the past. A group or team associated with a current employer often works the best, but you may also use group experiences from previous employers or community activities. If possible, choose a group that may be experiencing communication difficulties.
    • Prepare an investigative paper that applies group-related communication theories to your selected group. Include the following in your paper:
      • Describe the characteristics of the group using all of the criteria below:
        • Describe whether the team is ongoing (permanent) or ad hoc (temporary).
        • Is the group a short-term group that will only exist for 1–12 months or is the group a long-standing group that has or will exist for more than one year?
        • Is the group formal or informal? For example, is the group an official (that is, formal) department or committee at a company or is the group an informal collection of people such as a book club.
        • Is the group self-managing or does the group have a clear consistent leader?
        • Is the group best described as a primary work team or a project team? A primary work team generally takes on a variety of tasks (for example, a Human Resources Department or a Maintenance Department). Project teams typically engage in a narrow set of activities such as organizing a specific event or a taking on a single project.
      • Using the 2007 Benne and Sheats article, “Functional Roles of Group Members,” linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading, analyze the formal roles and communication roles of group members:
        • Group members’ task roles.
        • Group members’ maintenance roles.
        • Group members’ individual roles.
      • Using Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) team stages model or Backlund’s 2001 article, “Team Effectiveness,” linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading, describe the group stages experienced by the group.
      • Analyze the group norms. Norms are the formal and informal rules groups develop. Many norms are never written down and many are not discussed openly but are still learned by group members.
      • Describe positive and negative participation behaviors.
      • Describe the group’s use of technology for communication, such as e-mail, texting, or the Internet.

    Additional Requirements

    • Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
    • APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.
    • Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
    Criteria Non-performance Basic Proficient Distinguished
    Describe the characteristics of a group.
    Does not identify the characteristics of a group. Identifies the characteristics of a group. Describe the characteristics of a group. Describes the characteristics of a group and analyzes the impact on communication.
    Analyze the roles of group members.
    Does not analyze the roles of group members. Identifies the roles of group members. Analyzes the roles of group members. Analyzes the roles of group members and the impact on communication within the group.
    Describe the group stages experienced.
    Does not identify the group stages experienced. Identifies the group stages experienced. Describes the group stages experienced. Describes the stages the group experienced and changes in communication throughout stages.
    Analyze group norms.
    Does not identify group norms. Identifies group norms. Analyzes group norms. Analyzes group norms and the impact on organizational communication.
    Describe positive and negative participation behaviors.
    Does not describe positive and negative participation behaviors. Describes positive or negative participation behaviors but not both. Describes positive and negative participation behaviors. Describes positive and negative participation behaviors and describes their impact on communication.
    Describe the group’s use of technology for communication.
    Does not identify the group’s use of technology for communication. Identifies the group’s use of technology for communication. Describes the group’s use of technology for communication. Describes the group’s use of technology for communication and assesses the effectiveness of the group’s use of technology for communication.
    Consistently apply appropriate APA style and formatting.
    Does not apply APA style and formatting. Inconsistently applies appropriate APA style and formatting. Consistently applies appropriate APA style and formatting. Consistently applies appropriate APA style and formatting, and writing is consistently clear, well-organized, and free of distracting errors.

    Resources

  • Benne, K. D., & Sheats, P. (2007). Functional roles of group members. Group Facilitation, (8), 30–35.
  • Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399.
    • The initial ideas presented by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, regarding the stages of development that teams go through, are so ingrained in the literature about teams that some authors forget to cite Tuckman. Reading Tuckman’s original ideas about team development will help you understand how later authors formulated their ideas on team development.