Ashwin John Mammen ID: 646754

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Full name: Ashwin John Mammen Email: ashwin163@gmail.com Course title: Communication Lecturer: Yvette Fisher Assignment number: 3 Assignment Description as stated in Course Information Booklet: Due date: 18th March

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Ashwin John Mammen ID: 646754

Groups are units composed of two or more persons who come into contact for a purpose and who consider the contact meaningful. (Mills 1967, p.2) Therere a large number of groups in the world today. There seems to be a group for almost everything. Society plays a very important role in shaping an individuals character or norms. The same applies to the existence of groups, for which society plays its part. Groups are known to be more powerful than an individual in terms of the overall efficiency, effectiveness and creativity to arrive at solutions. They can be extremely rewarding to its members and the society, it comes with significant dangers. This essay would describe and discuss the role of groups and their influence in a work place environment. First and foremost a group is not one, without a certain level of interaction- it is just an assembly of people (Adler & George 2005, p.365). One should identify what type of a group so as to see whether a group would be useful to him/her. Different groups have different motives and goals. So there should be a certain sense of clarity of purpose within a group.(Characteristics of Effective Teams 2011)There are a few major groups types namely, Learning, Growth, Problem-Solving and Social groups.(Eunson 2005, p.587). When the term learning group comes up, people automatically first think of school. Though academic settings qualify as learning groups, they arent the only ones. Whatever the setting or subject, the purpose of a learning group is to increase the knowledge or skill of each member. Learning groups take a variety of formats. One of the most familiar ones is lectures or presentations. These lectures or presentations can apply to any workplace environment. For example in a hotel, there is a L&D (Learning and Development) department, which uses these modes of groups to exchange information. Growth Groups, on the other hand, focus on teaching the members more about themselves. There is no collective goal, but to help people deal with their personal concerns (Adler & George 2005, p.365). Problem-solving group is rather a self-explanatory one- to work together and resolve mutual concerns (Eunson 2005, p.587). For example in a hotel type of setting, the supervisor in the restaurant would pick and staff to form a group, so as to solve a problem in the speed of service, or the amount of time it take to set up the restaurant before it opens etcetera. Social groups seem to be, by far, the most common group to come into existence. Some social groups are organized but the rest are informal. In either-ways, the inclusion, and affection that such groups give are reason enough to. Some group attributes are to develop a certain sense of identity and belonging, to broaden and better knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. People can seek help and support in a group wherein the can form and grow relationships. And as James Surowiecki (2004)

Ashwin John Mammen ID: 646754 states in many cases hat the many are smarter than the few. There s however a flipside to all this. The groups could be very potential settings that foster interpersonal conflicts and the socialization that is being offered could be oppressive and offensive to some members. The boundaries that are drawn within a group tend to exclude members of the group and create inter-group conflicts. And one of the most impactful dangers of a group is that of groupthink- where the ideas of the group overshadow that of the individual. This is not necessarily good all the time in terms of decision making, for this could lead the group only in one direction. Groups are employed by all organizations-knowingly or unconsciously. A larger number of people, that form a group, are able to see a broader view of a certain task/problem in question, than what an individual person can perceive. A collective mind is stronger for the work load burden is being split among the members thereby giving each of the members a specific task, and hence leads to a holistic type of outcome. Eunson (2005, p.584) says that risk management are managed more competently in groups. A high-risk decision for an individual can often be a moderate-risk decision for a team for there is more knowledge that is being processed, and risk is a function of Knowledge. Motivation can also be increased among the members of a group and to others in a workplace setting. There are a multiple number of reasons for organizations to employ groups the main reasons are that groups are creative, effective and efficient for the roles that it has assigned to each member of the group. DeVito (2011) illustrates a few examples of these roles, which include 1. The Information Seeker or giver, asks for or seeks clarification of issues being discussed, and gives facts and opinions to the group members. 2. The Initiator presents new ideas or new perspectives on old ideas, suggests new goals, or brings proposes new procedures or strategies. 3. The Elaborator tries to work out possible solutions and build on what others had said. 4. The Critic, by its name, critiques/ evaluates the groups performance, questions the logic or practicality of any said suggestion, to every possible detail. He/she then gives both positive and negative feedback to the group. 5. The Recorder records the minutes of the group meetings for future references, and arranges the next meeting to be held as well.

Ashwin John Mammen ID: 646754

If all these roles that a group are able to split among themselves, had to be done by one person, the outcome wouldnt be as elaborate and detailed as a groups results. This essay elaborated the types of group that exist as well as their roles. Through this the significance of groups is being brought out. To ensure that a group is effective, the members must be extremely competent in using certain skills. These skills- the attitudes and ideas associated with them can be learnt, predominantly through experiencing group life. The omnipresence of groups and the inevitability of being part of them make groups a major part in ones life.

Ashwin John Mammen ID: 646754 References Adler, RB, Rodman, G, 2005, Understanding human Communication, Harcourt Brace College Publishers, USA. Characteristics of Effective Teams, 2011, Viewed 16th March 2013, <http://www.stanford.edu/class/e140/e140a/effective.html> DeVito, JA, 2011, Essentials of Human Communication, University of New York, New York. Eunson, B, 2005, Communicating in the 21st Century, John Wiley & sons Australia Ltd., Sydney
Mills, TM, 1967, The Sociology of Small Groups, N.J. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs. Surowiecki, J, 2004, The Wisdom of Crowds. Why the many are smarter than the few, Abacus, London.