In detail, explain the nature of the group, its purpose, length of time, and your role as a member of the group. Explain if the group is still active or not.
The scholars is a group in my former college to which I was the secretary. The purpose of the group is to bring top scorers in SAT and ACT tests. We would meet for brainstorming in case of group work and the result was always an excellent result that caught the eyes of many instructors. We would represent the college in inter-college contests. We were also mandated to come to the aid of ‘slow learners’. As a result, the college and government recognized our efforts. Some of us received full scholarship for further education based on merit. We would also keep in touch with successful earlier graduates to organize for mentorship programs for the institution. The group is still active and I constantly keep in touch with it once in a while.
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Assess the dynamics of your small group by the leadership styles. Where did you fall in the spectrum of formal, informal, task oriented or process oriented? Where did other members of this group fall on the spectrum?
The leadership style in use in the group was mainly democratic. In case the leaders wanted to make any decision, every member’s input was sought through discussion. The decision-making process was mainly through consensus. My spectrum of leadership as the group secretary was informal. I was able to influence the behavior of other group members by means other than the usual authority conferred by the group through procedures and rules. This was very effective as we were able to meet the group’s objectives and goals without conflicting on matters leadership- there was no need for coercion; only willingness to participate. This was the case for other group members including the group chairperson and vice-chairperson. Being more of a social group and made up of people of almost the same age, democratic leadership and informal spectrum worked very well.
Assess the communication styles. Wheel or web patter or combination of both. How did the communication style impact your group?
The communication style that was boldly accepted in the group was the assertive one. The application of this style allowed members to express their own needs, ideas, feelings and desire while in consideration of other members’ needs. At the same time, the group upheld the wheel pattern of communication. In this case, all members were allowed to communicate directly with the leaders without necessarily following formal protocols. Whether verbally or in writing, we were always ready to listen as leaders. As a result of the group assertiveness in communication, excellent ideas were presented and discussed. Members would communicate while in consideration of their fellow members’ feelings. Consequently, exchange of information and ideas was free and fair. There were measures to ensure that members do not go overboard and follow the accepted guidelines. However, since everybody felt represented and taken care of, such cases were very minimal.
Assess the group cohesiveness by addressing ALL of the following: unification, common goals, clear objectives, satisfaction of member’s emotional needs.
Cohesiveness was enhanced through unification. All members were united a factor that made them into a whole. This does not mean that we did not disagree every now and then. However, after deciding a course of action, the members, even those whose views was not followed, willingly joined the others in the implementation process. This kept us together as one. At the same time, at the beginning of every semester, the first role was to enlighten new members on the group goals. One of the goals was to ‘boost work performance’ and it was upheld by all members as the unifying factor for all other goals. Any amendment would then be done. This boosted understandability and cohesiveness. The group objective was very clear: ‘holistic education’. Even as we strived to maintain top scores in all tests, emphasis was on fully rounded personality. Lastly, enhanced by assertiveness in communication, members’ emotional needs was always at the core of fundamental principles guiding the group. The pioneers of the group believed that this was important for cohesiveness.
What interpersonal dynamics changed during the life of the small group? Assess your personal growth? What did you learn about yourself?
The group attracted members from different background in form of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion and disabilities among others. As a result, before coming to a common ground, individual differences were clearly exhibited in ideas. However, my ability to tolerate they developed with time and I developed a clear understanding of other peoples’ perspectives. At first, I would resent some ideas based on prejudice. However, after several weeks, I learnt to be critical based on importance of the ideas. I learnt that I am more accepting and flexible than I would have thought about myself in the past.
