150 likes | 388 Views
GROUP DYNAMICS. Sus Lundgren. Why this lecture?. Generations(!) of MDI/ID-students have requested it Even if most of you’ve already worked in groups at the uni… …most of you were in very homogenous groups . The life of a group: six stages. 1) Initial stage
E N D
GROUP DYNAMICS Sus Lundgren
Why this lecture? • Generations(!) of MDI/ID-students have requested it • Even if most of you’ve already worked in groups at the uni… …most of you were in very homogenous groups
The life of a group: six stages • 1) Initial stage • Insecurity, curiosity, showing off • 2) The honeymoon • Intense communication and bonding • 3) The ”we”-stage • Roles and means of communication are being established • In groups with more than seven members, sub groups emerge • Diversity is seen as a strength
The life of a group: six stages • 4) Conflict stage • Irritation, less praise, aggression, envy • Diversities are annoying • Group pressure builds up • 5) Plateau stage • Fatigue, resignation • 6) The effective stage • Unity, everyone working well towards the same target • Tranquility, pleasure in one’s work, satisfaction • Remains until conditions change…
One aspect of roles… • Members of a group have task-related roles • System architecturer • Programmer • Database programmer • Designers • Interaction designers • Graphic designers • Project leader • Technical Project Leader • Technical writer
Another aspect of roles • Members of a group also have roles related to “behaviour”/personality • There are various theories on how to describe personalities… • Cattell Personality Inventory (16 PF), pairs of attributes (intovert-extrovert, submissive-detemined, exact-creative etc.) • Belbin • … and numerous tests
Belbin’s team roles • Meredith Belbin and his colleagues have spent years studying team work in an experimental environment • They have defined eight team roles • Coordinator (calm, confident, controlled) • Plant (creative, unorthodox, non-practical) • Implementer (conservative, dutiful) • Shaper (extrovert, dynamic, pushing, provoking) • Monitor/Evaluator (analytic, strategic, dry) • Team worker (sensitive, mild, indecisive, caring) • Resource Investigator (curious, communicative) • Completer-Finisher (thorough, perfectionist, anxiuos )
Team roles &teams • Each of us have a primary and a secondary role, etc. • Well-working teams consist of people with many different roles • One- or two-role teams are hardly ever functional • A person sometimes acts as his or her secondary team role, if it is missing in the group • If the team is smaller than eight, some members may act out both their primary and secondary roles • The ideal team size seems to be 4-6 people
Easy reading • Meredith Belbin: Management Teams - så skapas framgångsrika team • Management Teams: Why they succeed or fail • Meredith Belbin: Teamroller i praktiken • Team Roles at Work • Ann & Marianne Fredriksson: De elva sammansvurna
About you… • 56 students • Graphical designers 19 • Writers 20 • Programmers 14 • Lots of knowledge in the most diverse areas! • Stuff you have to deal with • Level of ambition • Ways of working • Keeping your known roles (programmer etc) or switching and learning from another