Group's Performance

The class was diverse, with students from different backgrounds, skills, knowledge and personality. Since it is the first time the groups had to work together, group members naturally went through the stages of group dynamics. It is important to understand group dynamics, because a dysfunctional dynamic could reduce the productivity of the team and impact teamwork (Justice & Jamieson, 1999). There were six groups, and each group consist of six members. The task was to compete with each group, in order to create a tall standing structure. Fragile materials were given to each group, with a given timeframe of one hour to create the structure. The group was managed with limited facilitation and the activity was handled by the individual group members. Many questions came into my thoughts, the reason behind the limited facilitation, the purpose of the task, random selection of group members and what would we learn out of it. At the time, it was difficult to understand the reasons behind the group activity. Chaudhry & Javed (2012) suggested that laissez-fair leadership style is when the facilitator wish to limit their participation in the decision making process of the groups; providing group members the decision making power and take responsibility for their own actions. This was a surprising leadership style that was chosen, where the group members formed their own groups. This however, may have brought some potential ethical issues. All professional leaders have a set values that they follow, including the facilitation of actions and interventions of potential issues within a group (Institute of Group Leaders, 2017).

The rationale of group work is when there are two or more individuals that are interdependence on each other, in order to achieve a mutual goal (Johnson & Johnson, 2014). This way, group members have the ability to help each other, discuss and share ideas. According to (Yalom, 1998), groups work because it promotes group cohesiveness, which is when group member feels valued from the warmth, comfort and belonging.

I believe the purpose of our group was to simulate a real life environment, where people are