Gm591 "The Forgotten Team Member"
Case Study of “The Forgotten Group Member”
GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior
In this case the most of the team appears to be in the “Norming” stage of development. The text (Organizational Behavior 11th ed. Pp167) describes this stage as the “point at which the members really start to come together as a coordinated unit”. Assignments and roles within the group have been defined, and most of the members have made progress on their given assignments. However the major issues in the group’s development that needed to be addressed in the “Storming” stage went unaddressed. During this stage the team may be separated by the forming of cliques, high emotions, and competition for status position within the group. In this case a clique, or at least a perception by Mike of a clique, has formed. This has left Mike feeling excluded and unimportant to the group. If Christine had a better understanding of group development she would have known that during this stage emotions run high, and group members can quickly loose desire to work with the group if it is not properly managed. The primary problem within the group is fairly obvious, Mike’s perception of exclusion from the group. During this stage Mike’s desire to perform was drastically swayed by his perception of exclusion. When he feels that the team is meeting without him, it leaves him with a feeling that his role within the group is unimportant. This in turn affects Mike’s performance in a very negative manor. If Christine had noticed this, at this stage of development, she could have easily made the effort to bring Mike back into the group, defining his importance to himself and the group. If this had happened, the entire group would have entered the “Norming” stage with well-defined goals, expectations, and a drive to perform with the group. The second problem within this case study is Mike’s unaddressed feeling of dissatisfaction. Mike is exhibiting key characteristics of someone
GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior
In this case the most of the team appears to be in the “Norming” stage of development. The text (Organizational Behavior 11th ed. Pp167) describes this stage as the “point at which the members really start to come together as a coordinated unit”. Assignments and roles within the group have been defined, and most of the members have made progress on their given assignments. However the major issues in the group’s development that needed to be addressed in the “Storming” stage went unaddressed. During this stage the team may be separated by the forming of cliques, high emotions, and competition for status position within the group. In this case a clique, or at least a perception by Mike of a clique, has formed. This has left Mike feeling excluded and unimportant to the group. If Christine had a better understanding of group development she would have known that during this stage emotions run high, and group members can quickly loose desire to work with the group if it is not properly managed. The primary problem within the group is fairly obvious, Mike’s perception of exclusion from the group. During this stage Mike’s desire to perform was drastically swayed by his perception of exclusion. When he feels that the team is meeting without him, it leaves him with a feeling that his role within the group is unimportant. This in turn affects Mike’s performance in a very negative manor. If Christine had noticed this, at this stage of development, she could have easily made the effort to bring Mike back into the group, defining his importance to himself and the group. If this had happened, the entire group would have entered the “Norming” stage with well-defined goals, expectations, and a drive to perform with the group. The second problem within this case study is Mike’s unaddressed feeling of dissatisfaction. Mike is exhibiting key characteristics of someone