Group Development From the definitions pertaining to group development, the team is still in the forming stage.

This is evident from the case study in the fact that the team has not gone through any forms of conflict that would have moved them into the storming stage. They are all acting in mostly individual roles and not starting to work through the group dynamics to move the team through the stages. If Christine understood the stage of group development, she could have begun to recognize the issues facing the team. From this understanding, she could have facilitated actions that would help the team to move from forming, through the other stages to performing. There are several examples from the case study to support this. (formal definition of mike s role from text) Mike has taken advantage of the group and has used his personality to manipulate Christine into allowing him to not actively participate. This has led to him developing a habit of not being available for group meetings and using Christine as his conduit to work with the group.

Problem Identification Retrospective Evaluation Reflection

Diane, Steve, Janet, Mike Assignment and Guidelines The Case Study for this week is "The Forgotten Group Member," which appears on page W--112 of the course text. Each student is required to analyze this weeks case study and submit a 23 page paper addressing the key questions identified below. Remember that all case studies present both too much and too little information. There may be information presented that is not really relevant, and there may be scant information about a key area. This analysis does require interpretation of the information and there is not one right answer. However, you must explain and defend any assumptions you made and\or conclusions resulting from your analysis with citations from the text or from the case itself. There is no need to research outside sources for this paper. Your paper MUST include the following labeled sections: Category Points Description

Identify and summarize the stages of group development. Reflecting on the case and textbook material, what stage is the group at now? How could an understanding of the stages of group development have assisted Christine in her leadership role with this team? Support your conclusion with evidence from the case and our text. Identify key problems. Identify primary and secondary problems the group and/or Christine are facing. Identify what Christine should have understood about individual membership in teams in order to have built group processes that were supportive of her workgroups performance. Do not necessarily limit yourself to only team theory here. Plumb any concepts we have covered to date in class if you feel they are relevant. Given that there is no one perfect solution for this situation, identify, describe, and defend two possible solutions to the primary problem(s). Clearly identify and defend both courses of action. Identity and discuss specific steps needed to implement your selections. Support your selections with evidence from the case, the text, and/or weekly discussion. Part III: Retrospective Evaluation Remember that deciding on a course of action entails envisioning and planning the steps to success. Be sure to identify implementation steps for both possible solutions. Almost every situation presented with relation to group dynamics and behavior can have multiple avenues for remedy. It is important to develop the ability to critically evaluate more than one alternative and rationally identify pros and cons of each. Presenting pros and cons for the identified alternative solutions in a table format within the paper is acceptable. Part IV: Reflection 15 Discuss whether Christine was an effective group leader in this case. Why or Why not?

Part I: Group Development

15

Part II: Problem Identification

30

40