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Groups and Team Processes
Working with groups can be challenging for the professionals, as it is essential to take into account group dynamics and the relationship among all members. The research conducted by Miller (2003) revealed that the retrospective self-efficacy evaluations may help the professionals to designate the group dynamics and identify the interpersonal problems inside the group. While the research has been conducted from the point of view of business relationship, it provides a valuable insight into the processes within the groups. Also, it has been a well-known fact that for a long time, the main focus was on the individuals, rather than groups. Nowadays, the attention has shifted to the teams and the way they function. In some instances, teamwork is more effective than focusing on the individuals. The main advantage of collaboration with the group is their common interest in the positive outcomes for all team members rather than themselves. According to Beersma et al. (2013), prevention-focused teams are more effective in group work than those where the attention of a professional focuses on the individual results.
Tips for Decision-Making
The process for decision-making may be a difficult task when the problem requires creative and non-standard resolution. There are several issues to consider before the development of the effective decision-making skills. First of all, training is one of the most important tools for the development of these skills, which may be embodied in brainstorming, looking for logical cause-and-effect connections, and evaluating the risks of possible outcomes in each scenario (Fore & Riser, 2005). Also, another essential tip is to realize the value of the situation and to found out how to reach a goal, which can be made with the help of the other stakeholders involved into the case, where willingness to collaborate and showing cognitive flexibility are the most important components. In addition, it has to be noted that the decision-making skills can be developed among the individuals as well as groups if implementing effective solutions, like ensuring the safe and sound environment for the individuals or the team and encouraging individuals to provide effective decisions.
Increasing Creativity
Trying to enhance the level of creativity is a complex task for the professional, as this skill cannot be forced, it has to be stimulated. Some studies insist that individuals have to undergo training interventions that promise to increase creativity level. For instance, Bott et al. (2014) applied a program that had a goal to encourage respondents to create a bias toward action and foster self-efficacy of designer abilities. The participants were engaged into hands-on activities on their daily tasks with the post-reflection intervention that aimed to evaluate the improvement of skills; the results proved that the participants increased their creativity level (Bott et al., 2014). Another research proposed to use short-term meditations for boosting creativity, as according to the research, “emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation” (Ding et al., 2014). There are a lot of methods for increasing creativity that have to be applied according to the individual situations.
Dealing with Diversity
Diversity is a positive characteristic of the group, yet it requires certain skills in dealing with it. The main task for a professional is to ensure that all members of the group understand each other even if their initial perception of diverse participants was not positive. The studies propose to use conversational learning that may increase the understanding in the team, which involves the discussion of burning issues, controversial topics, and giving the ability for the diverse members to express themselves (Dawson, 2013). Each conflicting situation has to be dealt with individually and addressed at once when the problem emerges.
References
Beersma, B., Homan, A. C., Van Kleef, G. A. & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2013). Outcome interdependence shapes the effects of prevention focus on team processes and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121, 194-203.
Bott, N., Quintina, E. M., Saggar, M., Kienitz, E., Royaltyc, A., Wei-Chen Hong, D., Liua, N., Chiene, Y., Hawthornec, G. & Reiss, A. L. (2014). Creativity training enhances goal-directed attention and information processing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 13, 120–128.
Dawson, G. A. (2013). Using conversational learning to enhance teaching of diversity. E-Journal of Business Education and Scholarship Teaching, 7(2), 31-41.
Ding, X., Tang, Y. Y., Tang, R. & Posner, M. (2014). Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 10(9), 12-19.
Fore, C., III, & Riser, S. E. (2005). Promoting maintenance and generalization through cognitive decision making training. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(2), 127-133.
Miller, D. L. (2003). The stages of group development: A retrospective study of dynamic team processes. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 20(2), 121-134.
