Group Influence Assignment

Group Influence Assignment
Name:
Institution:
Physical environment of the Group
The arrangement of the group was Small Group or Cooperative which was dependent on the task ahead. The students were arranged in this structure so that each student would contribute effectively in the assignment that was before us (Myers, 2010). The arrangement of the group can be clearly illustrated using a graphical representation as shown below;
(Myers, 2010)
Composition of the group
The small group was made up of 8 members being facilitated by a teacher. This figure was determined from the typical composition of a ‘small group’ of 8 to 12 learners as explained by Peter McCrorie (2006) in his book Teaching and Leading Small Groups. The 8 learner-centered small group was made up of 4 males and 4 females aged between 20 and 25 years as they were all students in a Social Sciences class (McCrorie, 2006). The 8 members were from different ethnic backgrounds and were actively involved in the accomplishment of the group’s goals.
The group’s mission and Goals
The group’s mission was to help managers to be effective and productive in the company by the support of research. The goals of the small group thus was to achieve its mission and be the best small group in the class. Members working alone was discouraged by building relationships within the group (McCrorie, 2006). The goals were to be achieved using achieve the SMART analysis theory. SMART is the acronym for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time- bound (SMART) goals. The influence style mainly used by our small group was the direct interpersonal influence.
The group structure
The group structure refers to the underlying pattern of the roles, authority, norms, attraction and communication among the group members. The structure presents the integrated group pattern that reflects the autonomous parts inhering individual group members. The basis of the group structure formation is differentiation (Myers, 2010). Differential refers to the different personalities that make up the group. For example some people are more talkative than others, some exert more influence, some are more active and some elicit more respect from the outside world than others.
The group structure offers various benefits in a group setting in an organization or business setting. Rather than an individual working on the project alone, the group structure enables the members to work collectively in the small groups (Myers, 2010). In the class, students with different skills and knowledge bases were grouped together to foster creativity and improve on the group’s efficiency. Small groups is important in that it give members a sense of belonging. The members of the small group can handle a huge and complex project with ease and more speedily because the project is broken into small modules handled by members skilled in the particular area.
The Group’s Facilitators
The group’s primary facilitator was the teacher. However, each group appointed its leaders who provided leadership to the team as it engaged in its tasks as well as through the formation process (Myers, 2010). The facilitators were visionary and...