Group Work
CSCI102 - Introduction to Information
Technology B
ITCS905 - Fundamentals of Information
Technology
Overview
Group development
Group roles
Effective groups
Report components
Group Development
Groups generally pass through the
following stages
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Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Mourning
Forming – What does the group need
Clear goals and objectives
Definition of tasks and roles
Clear work plans
To know what information is required
An identification of group behaviour,
standards and norms and ways to
handle behaviour problems
Forming – Group members feelings
Demonstrate excitement
Participate hesitantly
Show tentative attachment to the group
Intellectualise
Discuss symptoms or problems peripheral to
the task
Be suspicious, fearful and/or anxious about
the new situation
Accomplish minimal work
Storming
You may find that you and/or other
group members exhibit
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Infighting
Doubts about success
Low group morale
Polarisation of group members
Concern about excessive work
Disunity, increased tension and jealousy
Storming
You and/or other group members may
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Set unrealistic goals
Resist the task demands
Establish a pecking order
Criticise group leaders or other group
members
Complain
Norming – What Are the Rules of the
Group?
You and/or other group members may
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Attempt to achieve maximum harmony by avoiding conflict
Develop a high level of trust
Confide in each other, share personal problems and discuss
group dynamics
Express emotions constructively
Form friendships
Develop a sense of team cohesion with a common spirit and
goal
Have high group morale
Establish and maintain group boundaries
Accomplish a moderate amount of work
Performing
You and/or other group members may
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Experience insight
Be willing to sort through group problems
Understand members strengths and weaknesses
Confide in each other, share personal problems
and discuss group dynamics
Undertake constructive self change
Identify closely with the group
Mourning
You and/or other group members may:
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Feel elated at the successful attainment of goals
Feel disappointed at unattained goals
Feel a sense of loss when the group is disbanded
Feel relief at the end of the process
Congratulate each other
Celebrate
Roles in the Group
Individuals within a team all have
unique skills and strengths
An effective team does well because of
the combined input of ALL its members
Any individual team member can play a
number of different roles within the
team
Roles in the Group
Roles are predetermined behaviours
expected of people in a group
Some roles will feel natural - "I'm
always the one who . . . " there will be
other roles, however, which may be
difficult, eg chairperson or presenter.
Try and develop as many unfamiliar
roles as possible
Roles in the Group
There are four main types of roles:
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Task roles
Functional roles
Maintenance roles and
Dysfunctional roles
Task Roles
Some of the tasks you may need to do
include:
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Obtaining photographs
Preparing notes
Doing calculations
Evaluating data
Obtaining references
Preparing presentations
Functional roles
You may find yourself
taking on such roles as:
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Coordinator
Initiator
Information seeker
Information giver
Opinion seeker
Opinion giver
Goal setter
Deadline setter
Progress monitor
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Evaluator
Clarifier
Summariser
Decision pusher
Planner
Spokesperson
Troubleshooter
Diagnosor
Maintenance roles
You may find that your personal skills lend
themselves to one or more of the following
maintenance roles:
Encourager
Gatekeeper
Standards setter
Consensus tester
Mediator
Tension reliever
Listener
Volunteer
Dysfunctional roles
Some of these roles
include:
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being aggressive
blocking or nit-picking
competing
back stabbing
seeking sympathy
clowning or joking to
disrupt the work of the
group
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withdrawal
being sarcastic or cynical
blaming
taking all the credit
dominating
manipulating.
Features of effective teams
The features of a team which is effective in
what it does and how it does it include:
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combined group effort
clear goals setting
achieving a learning orientation
mutual trust and support
open communication
democratic processes
Report Writing
Writing reports
Introduction
The intent of the report
Basic report structure
The body of the report
Presentation
Conclusions
Recommendations
References and Bibliography
Introduction
Any report needs some clear guidelines:
Why are you writing the report? (the purpose)
Who will read the report? (the audience)
What will it cover? (the scope)
How will this be conveyed? (clear language,
logical progression of topics, use of figures, tables,
equations, appendices, references, etc)
When is it required? (time management)
Where is it required? (physical location)
Basic Report Structure
The following components are present in
almost all reports:
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Title page (including Authors)
Table of contents
Summary or Executive Summary
Introduction
Chapters of detail
Conclusions and Recommendations
List of References or Bibliography
Appendices
Introduction
the Introduction covers the following issues:
what was the problem and its context,
why was it a problem,
how was the problem solved (briefly).
Body of the Report
The body of the report must address:
Why was the study necessary? (the purpose)
When, where, how and by whom the study
was conducted?
What were the findings?
What conclusions were drawn?
What recommendations were made?
The Body of the Report
The body of the report contains the main
thrust of your argument, and is normally
made up of an Introduction, a number of
chapters, plus Conclusions and possibly
Recommendations.
Conclusions and
Recommendations
Your report will typically describe some
findings which have been derived from
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Observation
Experiment
Calculation
Literature review
From these findings, you should draw some
conclusions
Conclusions and
Recommendations
The insights that you can extract from your
basic findings are a key part of your report
You may also be expected to make some
recommendations based on your conclusions
The findings are the foundations on which the
conclusions rest, while the conclusions, in
turn, support the recommendation