Reflective Essay: Group Analysis

I remember doing a group history project when I was a senior in high school. I don’t really remember what the assignment was about, but we were required to do a group prostration and hand in a four page paper. My group had two other members, and I remember the first suggestion was made by Edwin, he offered to read the material and do an outline, and the plan was that using his outline I would put together the PowerPoint and Casey would write the essay. Casey immediately said something like that’s perfect, I also agreed. Thinking back about this experience makes me realize that we were definitely guilty of groupthink. I myself felt pressured to agree with the rest of the group just because two of the members already had the same opinion, and
I basically, try to make sure that the team is focused and thinking about the project. Most of the time I am aware of the roles of each person in the group. Usually there are different roles in a group such as “note keepers”, “information seekers”. Generally this is the case, but task roles can change based on the assignment. I am also aware of members that adopt Antigroup roles, such as the “floor hugger”, “blocker” and “recognition seeker”. I don’t think I am ever one these people, but I am guilty of taking a step back when one of the members in the group adopts one of those roles. Having had the time to think more clearly about this, in the future I plan to use this knowledge gained to improve the effectiveness of group work. I think the most important thing is that everyone must be assigned a role, and that member of the group must be aware of what this role requires from him. I also think that it’s always better when multiple ideas are being considered and discussed, additionally, it’s important not to let group members set the group back by adopting Antigroup