Are groups today that perishable?
WARNING: This entry may result in a brain casualty. My apologies.
You’ve been warned. That’s good!
Now that you have been warned, your body system will be performing a ‘group communication and coordination’ to lead you to your path to success! =D
“WHAT? What is this Kelly talking about this week?
She must be going ‘koo-koo’ with the stream of examinations around the corner…”
Fear not. I’m still sane. I’m refering to the coordination of your nervous system where your sensory organs make sense (encode) my message and translate it to electric signals that will be transmitted to all parts of your body. The communication of neurons do not end here.. The nervous system will then communicate with your endocrine and muscular system to ensure that you are now physically relax (since i will not be boring you with dull and lifeless facts) and the list goes on… till my message finally ‘sinks in’, a.k.a. success of information transfer.
So look! From the above, we can observe that even our body portray group communication and team-work to function cohesively. 
Below is a diagram of our body circulatory system to emphasise my point if you’re unclear of what I have been ranting.
How group synergy in your body enables you to achieve success
Everyone needs to be able to communicate well in groups. Long gone the days when you are the only one standing alone on an island…
Running alone brings you no where
Last week, the Malaysia ruling coalition group UMNO won a special election after a string a losses in its polls for the past year. Details of the article can be found here. All groups like UMNO are created with a common aim and members usually join for a common purpose- to meet one’s interpersonal needs. Most political parties that are formed are typically in groups and not individually. This is to maximise the potential group synergy and power a group can have as opposed to an individual effort. With regards to the news, it was reported that the public was unsupportive of the UMNO group due to the rising corruption rates in the group.
Assuming that the corruption activities made by the group is true, I would say that the root of the problem lies with the group socialisation. Individuals in the group failed to successfully influence each other to best meet one of the group’s aim- to be ethical and accountable for their actions. From there, members of the group failed to distinguish between the individual and group needs- where one should not prioritise oneself so highly in a group.
Every group member has a role.
The role of every member is essential. Should one cripple, the entire group will perish?!
It is possible that the member whose role is tasked to being the procedural technician has failed. The group member of this role was unsuccessful in controlling the procedures of the group, resulting in dishonesty and illegal behavior of group members.
Therefore the corruption phenomena in the group might be accountable by the failure of the group-think symptom (to be ethical and accountable). It is also possible that a new group aim was developed with time- to satisfy personal needs irregarless of the ethics and law. O.O
But whatever it is that motivates the UMNO group these days, I certainly hope that the outcome will be positive for the people under their control.
Groups may be formed to satisfy the needs of the group members and we should refrain from intervening in their matters. But I strongly believe that if the group behavior affects the society, more attention and regulation ought to be made to the group. Groups today are not as simple as it appear. A group created today may be perished tomorrow. What do you think?
i agree with you that group synergy is important as it allows the group to do things and make decisions that otherwise, as individuals can never achieve. however, it is important that members in the group do their individual part responsibly so as to avoid misunderstandings either from the outside society towards them or even from “internal affairs”. while the roles that individual have to perform may not be as clear as black and white, but if everyone in the group does things for the greater good of the group, things will work out just fine.
| Posted 2 years, 4 months agoSuccess breeds success. I believe a good group have these attributes.
* Members share a common goal.
| Posted 2 years, 4 months ago* Members have equal status. There’s no kingpin who considers himself or herself the best.
* Members APPEAR (ha.) to like and respect one another.
* The members’ skill levels are all adequate for the task.
* Open communication among the members.
* The group supports members facing challenges and celebrates members’ successes.
* A good boss. (hint hint.)
Personally I agree with the idea of having each and every member of the group to share a common goal. I mean, groups are created for a purpose. If each member does not work together to walk forward to having this purpose, then what’s the purpose of having a group? So it is essential for the members of the group to work together and have a common goal. So why are groups that easy to be perishable these days? Perhaps it’s the unwillingness of the group members to work together. Or perhaps the unwillingness of the member in following the group’s purpose.
| Posted 2 years, 4 months agoYes i do agree that it’s the unwillingness of the group member to follow the group’s aim, that result in group failure. But if they’re unwilling, why join the group? I just can’t understand some group members. Anyway some group members can be easily motivated by their personal agenda resulting in group which i think is sad.
| Posted 2 years, 4 months agoAs mentioned, I too am of the opinion that a group will fail if their members don’t share the aim of the group. Even though some group members are unwilling to further the group’s aim, they join with the intention of furthering their own aims and benefits. Many people join political parties just because they believe that it will help them make lots of money, and don’t really care about the cause of the party, or their constituents. Coffee shop talk in Singapore would have you believe that residents join grassroots organisations to network and not to help the community, especially if they are businessmen or sell insurance/financial products.
The high salaries we pay our MPs and ministers means that they are less likely to turn to corruption, but can we then be sure that they work for the good of Singaporeans, rather than just taking it as a well-paying career? I’m not saying that this is indeed the case, but it is something to think about, especially as the ruling party starts to groom the next generation of ministers.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoPeople form groups because they have to,in a way or another. No one is alone in this world.Everyone is inter-related in some way or so. Like it or not,we do belong in a certain group or groups.
Every group member has his/her role to ensure that the group is functioning well and every role is important. Any uncooperative member may cause the group to mal-function. Just like my body, any part that fails to do its parts can cause our body system to break down. (=
As for your question, my answer to it will be it depends. It depends of what kind of group you are talking about. If it is groups for projects,yes,i do feel that it will perish one day when the project ends. But groups such as family units and your closest cliques of friends. Will they perish? I doubt so.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoWorking well together in a group is really important. Team work as opposed to an individual is definitely much stronger and powerful. However, having said that, it is necessary for every member in that group to play their rightful role. Otherwise, you may have the quantity, but not the quality at the end of the day. Where there are groups, conflicts are bound to be inevitable. But if we can learn to compromise and accept other’s weakness, the team will definitely be a formidable one.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoIt is good for all the members in the group to have a common goal since it makes working together much more efficient and to have group synergy. However, we must also be careful not to let it develop into groupthink.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoa common goal is really important, especially if it is set and agreed upon by all members of the team. a manager who imposes his views and goals unto others find that his members do not work hard for the goal and he will not comprehend why.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agothus, i really agree that having a common goal is important when everyone has a part such that they feel responsibe to work towards it.
Group think. Group shift.
These are some of the powerful management lingos of the twenty-first century birthed by business gurus and educationists themselves, of which I had been exposed to during varsity days.
Both words share similar grounds as they expound on the synergies of groups and how it can benefit us politically, commercially and socially. We may even think of teamwork or team spirit as groups created take on a proactive role in our modern society today.
Multi-national companies are built upon teams, or in this case, groups. They are created to achieve a commerical purpose. Political groups are formed by like-minded people who share similar pursuits and agendas. On a local level, take fan clubs, be it enthusiasts of Korean pop stars or of the late Michael Jackson, are examples how groups are created to give people a sense of belonging and identity. Will these enthusiasts change their minds about their idol overnight? Unlikely. Pop stars like MJ have been immortalised. Fan clubs would surely hold their dear idol in strong memory.
There are a plethora of groups which come in different sizes and colours. Just a notion that groups created today may be perished tomorrow is inconcrete. We are living in a gobal village. Groups are here to stay. Let’s wait till the dawn of the next century to see if that changes.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoGroups are easily perishable if we don’t join the group with an open heart and take any comments seriously. For example, when we do voice out on certain issues, we’re bound to receive some comments which might lead to us or some members feeling fustrated about it. Think about this, without these comments, we’ll never learn and always live in our own world.
However do note that we must never criticise on any comments made by any individuals. Just give our comments, our feel. This in a learning process, trains the EQ of the individual members. At work, you will never meet people that will always agree with you.
Everyone needs to learn how to work in groups. Regardless of being in school, in society etc. And the most important thing is, we CAN’T CHOOSE the members that we’re working with! Thats the reason why our school system trains us from young to learn how we can function in groups. However working well in groups doesn’t just mean being together to complete an assignment / work together.
To learn how, expand your network and learn to work with more people. Mix around with more people, other than being with your circle of friends.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoManaging a group is really an art and a science in itself. To keep a group together in today’s context where people are more educated, think for themselves and place their individual goals above the organization’s goals is very much tougher.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoTo keep a group together, all, if not most of the members’ interests must be taken into consideration but many managers do not care about this. Thus, I do feel that groups are indeed more perishable.
Hey Kelly,
I think there is a distinct difference between what defines a ‘group’ and a ‘team’. A ‘group’ would literally refer to a gathering of random people – there is not obligation to work together; to trust each other; to rely on one another. This would lack direction, cooperation, and usually a common goal. All these traits which are lacking in a ‘group’ are essentially what makes up a ‘team’. As stated by many of the fellow commentors on this page, a common goal is key to the survival of a team. However, what makes this more crucial, is the fact that everyone has to be ‘on the same page’.
Take for example: Your task is to draw a map as a team. Now, what kind of map would that be? One with simple directions? Pictorial? One that depicts the landscape exactly? – then again, how much is enough to detail the map ‘exactly’? Must it include various contours of the land and indicate buildings? -et cetera.
To be on the ‘same page’, every individual in the team must share the same ‘image’ and ‘idea’ of the goal. Simply acknowledging its existence or having a vague idea as to what it refers to, is insufficient to sustain cooperation. Furthermore, in a team, one must be able to rely on your team mates and NOT just act out of your own selfish needs.
Now, just to touch about the idea of ‘group mentality’ – or as I like to refer to it, ‘Mob mentality’. This is a little something to remind you of secondary 2 as we were studying ‘Animal farm’ by George Orwell. The mob mentality literally refers to a bunch of sheep in a herd, following a single leader blindly. Just as sad as that may sound, the sheep also enforce their ideas to the minority and as such, we have Conformity. Now that Ladies and Gentlemen, is what I ask: do you want such to be UNperishable?
| Posted 2 years, 3 months ago