team - organization

HCM 502 – Module 4 - Critical Thinking: Group Dynamics 100 Points

First select a healthcare organization and address the following in a paper:

· Discuss why the study of group dynamics is important to today’s managers, and how it would be useful to your selected organization, in particular.

· Explain how group cohesiveness either is or could be developed and sustained in the organization.

· Discuss the various organizational barriers that exist in this organization that affect team effectiveness.

Provide examples from the organization and from current research to support your comments and ideas.

Your well-written paper should meet the following requirements:

· Be 4-6 pages in length, not including the required cover and reference pages

· Formatted according to Saudi Electronic University and APA writing guidelines

· Provide support for your statements with in-text citations from a minimum of three scholarly articles from peer-reviewed journal articles.

Group Dynamics

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ID --------------

HCM 502 – Organizational Behaviors in Healthcare

Saudi Electronic University

Dr. -----------

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Group Dynamics

Group dynamics is a social process of people interaction with each other (Levi, 2015). Understanding the group dynamics in any working field especially in healthcare organization is an important step to success and work productivity. Group thinking, decision making process and brainstorming can lead to effective discussions and debates which influence the work flow. It is amazing how new teams manage to work even though the team members do not know each other (Yang, 2014). The experiences of members in healthcare organizations when they are in groups are so powerful and fascinating in which they present new dimension about importance of group dynamics (Kreeger, 1975). Each member share responsibility toward effectiveness of the entire group. Different personalities and different back grounds in group dynamics can lead to excellent outcomes. For example, in Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNG-HA) hospital which is one of the well-known Saudi healthcare organizations, a group of employees was formed in which a member is confident, he will share creative ideas and new thoughts while a shy member will be quiet and at the back of a group discussion. Another member can take the lead of managing the group and directing the group work toward achieving its goals. Positive thinkers can convert negative thinkers to see the picture from different angle. Dealing with differences, sorting out conflicts and building trust are some of the challenges that can emerge between members (Curry, 2012).

Group effectiveness and cohesiveness are important to each manager in Saudi healthcare organizations to accomplish certain goals. Effective groups are better in problem solving and task performance than individuals (Araújo-Simões & Guedes-Gondim, 2016). Therefore, Saudi healthcare organizations including MNG-HA plan for group working strategies to accomplish their goals such as medication safety committee, infection control committee and cardiopulmonary resuscitation committee (CPR). Edward Everett Hale Saied “coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success”. (p.1).

The success of Saudi Healthcare organization depends on the success of group work. Each member in the organization is in group tasks in different levels. For Example, director of medical nursing is a member in a group of all nursing directors who work together toward achieving organizational goals. A nurse manager is a member in a group of all nurse managers who work together to ensure policies adherence and disseminate information to their staff. A staff nurse is a member of nursing documentation group who work together to audit nursing documentation for better performance. Group effectiveness and cohesiveness in terms of quality performance, efficacy and efficiency is important. Groups have a reason for existing which is performing tasks and achieving goals and this is the organizational need (Araújo-Simões & Guedes-Gondim, 2016).

Group Cohesiveness Development

Group cohesiveness is group members bonding together, joining together and working together toward a clear goal (Brandler & Roman, 2015). It is about working together for a period of time on certain goal to be obtained. Group cohesiveness build strength and trust among group members. In healthcare settings, a greater cohesiveness in teamwork is related with better patient outcome measures and high patient satisfaction (Grumbach & Bodenheimer, 2004). In order to develop a group cohesiveness in healthcare organization, factors of group cohesiveness need to be considered. These factors are group experiences, size of group, status of group and threats to group (Hongyan, 2008).

Past group experiences contribute a lot to the members’ thoughts and actions. The future task behaviors are the pathways for group activities and work flow. Also, group size has a great influence on group behaviors and productivity (Hongyan, 2008). Increased group size is challenging and problems likely to occur in big groups where cohesion is less developed as well as trust (Hongyan, 2008). Group size of five to six members considered acceptable and promoting positive thinking (Nazzaro & Strazzabosco, 2009). Group size is an important element which should be considered in group behaviors (Thomas & Fink, 1963). Another factor is group status which is the rank or position of group members. It is an important factor to the success of group work. Group status can contribute to overcome challenges and achieve goals (Shi & Xie, 2014). Group cohesiveness is more seen among higher status members (Shi & Xie, 2014). Unpredictable threats can affect group cohesiveness. A stronger and more cohesive group can face the difficult challenges and threats. The presence of threats can lead to productive thinking, cooperation and more cohesiveness.

Development of group cohesiveness is starting with having a clear goal, location and time of regular meetings. Also, defining group status and group size. Group members need to be aware of features of cohesiveness which include effective listening, constructive discussion and frequent criticism (Toner, Miller & Gurland, 1994). Positive interactions between members is important to develop a strong cohesiveness. Also, setting priorities and achievable goals are essential. Group members’ awareness of their roles will direct their group work correctly toward achieving goals. Leadership support to group members is fundamental to increase their confidence. Acknowledgment of good work will create a climate of trust and good productivity which is important to group cohesiveness (Toner, Miller & Gurland, 1994). Sustaining group cohesiveness is an important goal in order to achieve the organizational goals. This can be done by motivating and acknowledging group works in organization.

Organizational barriers to team effectiveness

Organizational barriers to team effectiveness are inadequate working plans, mistrust among members, leader’s lack of leadership skills, lack of communication skills, ineffective recognition and acknowledgement from organization. Also, lack of organizational support is considered a barrier that affect team effectiveness. Ineffective team forming process by organization can be a negative barrier. Setting difficult and unattainable goals is time and energy consuming which will affect work productivity and team effectiveness (Brandler & Roman, 2015). In addition to, lack of educational support about leadership skills and effective group works. Also, having many projects to be done in same time considered a difficult barrier affecting effectiveness of group work.

Conclusion

Understanding the group dynamics in any working field especially in healthcare organization is an important step to success and work productivity. Each member share responsibility toward effectiveness of the entire group. Group effectiveness and cohesiveness are important to each manager in healthcare organization to accomplish certain goals. To develop a group cohesiveness in healthcare organization, factors of group cohesiveness need to be considered. These factors are group experiences, size of group, status of group and threats to group (Hongyan, 2008). Development of group cohesiveness is starting with having a clear goal, location and time. Also, defining group status and group size. Group members need to be aware of features of cohesiveness which include effective listening, constructive discussion and frequent criticism (Toner, Miller & Gurland, 1994). Sustaining group cohesiveness in organization is needed to achieve future organizational goals. This can be done by motivating and acknowledging group works.

References

Araújo-Simões, A. C., & Guedes-Gondim, S. M. (2016). Performance and affects in group

problem-solving. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 32(1), 47-54.

Brandler, S., & Roman, C. P. (2015). Group work: Skills and strategies for effective

Interventions (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Curry, L. A., O’Cathain, A., Clark, V. L. P., Aroni, R., Fetters, M., & Berg, D. (2012). The role

of group dynamics in mixed methods health sciences research teams. Journal of Mixed

Methods Research, 6(1), 5-20.

Grumbach, K., & Bodenheimer, T. (2004). Can health care teams improve primary care

practice?. Jama, 291(10), 1246-1251.

Hongyan, S. (2008). Psychological Contract, Group Cohesiveness and Organizational

Performance. Depatment of Economics and Mangement Huahzong University of Science

and Technology Wuchang, 366-371.

Kreeger, L. (1975). The large group: Dynamics and therapy. London: Karnac Books.

Levi, D. (2015). Group dynamics for teams. (5th ed.) Sage Publications.

Nazzaro, A. M., & Strazzabosco, J. (2009). Group dynamics and team building.

Development, (4).

Serruys, P. W. (2014). " Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working

together is success.".

Shi, B., & Xie, H. (2014). Moderating effects of group status, cohesion, and ethnic composition

on socialization of aggression in children’s peer groups. Developmental psychology,

50(9), 2188.

Thomas, E. J., & Fink, C. F. (1963). Effects of group size. Psychological bulletin, 60(4), 371.

Toner, J. A., Miller, P., & Gurland, B. J. (1994). Conceptual, theoretical, and practical

approaches to the development of interdisciplinary teams: A transactional model.

Educational Gerontology: An International Quarterly, 20(1), 53-69.

Yang, I. (2014). What makes an effective team? The role of trust (dis) confirmation in team

development. European Management Journal, 32(6), 858-869.