Theories of How Individuals Interact in Groups in HSC
2.1 Write an assay explaining theories of how individuals interact in groups, particularly applying them to teams that work in your Health and Social Care setting.
The relationship between classical Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1978; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and the interpretive tradition of Symbolic Interactionism is strong and historical. Although this relationship has been discussed in previous publications as a “given” limited literature has explained the connections between their silent assumptions and concepts precisely and thoroughly (Chenitz & Swanson, 1986; Crotty, 1998; Speziale & Carpenter, 2007).
Bruce Tuckman (1965) developed a 4-stage model of group development, this is his theory on how Health and Social Care professionals should be working effectively in managing human resources. The four stages of his theories are; Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing and also added a fifth stage of model to group development after 10 years which is Adjourning. The fifth model is when a professional breaks the knot and leaves the group without informing anyone.
Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one other and form as a group.
Forming is when a new set of Health and Social Care professionals are introducing one another by communicating and interacting in a group. They exchange information and set a target to be met as successful team work. The manager will need to set a clear guild to the Health and Social Care workers and it must be followed effectively so the colleagues avoid any misbehaviours and prevent from problems arising between each other in a team work.
Forming is where a big group of Health and Social Care professionals are depending on one particular individual whom is a team leader or their role model, this person will have a huge responsibility in guiding the group of Health and Social Care professional to the right path in their carer to pass their activities. An agreement on team aims other than received from team leader. In this team individuals are not certain of their own role or responsibilities as they are all depending on one person who is the team leader. The team leader has skills and knowledge and must be willing to answer all the questions about the team purpose, activities and external relationships. Individual’s test tolerance of system and leader directs to telling mode as he is in charge of the team and tells everyone to do what he wishes.
Storming: A chaotic vying for leadership trialling of group processes.
Storming is when a group of members don’t agree with each other’s decisions, team members attempt to establish themselves in relation to another member in the team or team leader, who might receive challenging behaviour from a team member in disagreeing with decisions made. At this stage issues are developed over members having their own views rather than a whole team agreeing to one point of view. A team will only have conflict rising when they are not working effectively and the team leader is managing the group following the guild lines. The improvement guide: a practical approach to enhancing organizational performance (GJ Langley, RD Moen, KM Nolan, TW Nolan… – 2009 – books.google.com).
Norming: Eventually an agreement is reached on how the group operates (norming)
The third step, norming, is where the team members fall into agreement over the solutions for their team. In this step, the team members are able to talk openly about their opinions and have the ability to adjust their behaviour to avoid conflict. The team members agree on the team’s values, rules, professional behaviour and methods of work (Armstrong, 2006).
Performing: The group practices its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives.
The final step, performing, is where the team fully understands, co-operates and supports one another, thereby working as a single unit rather than individuals. Teams that have reached this step display high levels of motivation, knowledge, competence and autonomy (Armstrong, 2006)
Adjourning: The process of without informing the group, that is, letting go of the group structure and moving on.
This is the fifth and last step Bruce Tuckman (1965) developed which breaks the team apart without any signals showing.
References
Aldiabat, Khaldoun M; Le Navenec, Carole-Lynne. The Qualitative Report; Fort Lauderdale
16.4 (Jul 2011): 1063-1080.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01933928808411771?src=recsys