Effective Groups: Cooperative Working Groups Flashcards
- Discuss material to be learned with one another
- Help one another to understand the information (dialogue, different interpretations)
- Encourage one another to work hard, improve (be open to constructive feedback)
Members of Cooperative Learning Groups
- Embrace controversy that will lead to change and creativity (humility, constructive feedback, hear other people out)
- Use diversity as a strength, to increase resources of the group (be realistic and self-aware, recognize your strengths and vocalize them, help determine who will do what)
- Evaluate each other to assist on improving behaviours in the future (hardest part, consider delivery style of feedback, important in order to move forward and improve)
Cooperative Learning Groups
Individual work, not working within a team
Individual Effort
- Members work against one another; competitive structure
- Pretend to work together, however, they have little cohesion
- End up working against each other in order to achieve
- Sabotaging work, competing, denying resources to select group members, etc.
- Score lower on effectiveness and performance than individual effort
Pseudo Groups
- Members work as individuals in a group structure
- Have the same general goals to achieve, however, work individually to complete the task
- They may ‘check-in’ throughout the project, but don’t really learn from each other in the process
- When submitting the final document or delivering a presentation, all group members are experts of their piece only (apparent when group members are not familiar with parts of the work they were not involved in)
- Causes problems in learning, understanding, and submitting a well-rounded, cohesive, document/idea/etc.
Traditional Classroom Group
- All members work together and learn together on all tasks
- Work together every step of the way. There is very little if no, individual work
- Everyone in the group is present for each meeting, and the meetings are where the work happens
- All members research the same topic and compare notes; all decide what information what information to keep and how to organize it; all are deciding how to present it, etc (everyone has a voice and influence, have to prioritize what end success looks like, should be revisiting goal together throughout the process)
- No one has resources or knowledge that others do not have. This solves a lot of problems when it comes to accomplishing the final task effectively (sharing knowledge so everyone has access and benefits)
Cooperative Learning Group
- Executive teams, highly dedicated to working and learning together in all aspects
- Can be found in executive settings; such as Board of Directors, Management Team, Executive Team
- These are the groups that might spend an entire day or more in a group setting, working together to solve a problem or propose a change in the organization
- These are highly functioning groups members that rely on each other to complete tasks; no individualized work happens in these groups
High-Performance Executive Group
Characteristic and behaviours taken on in a group setting based on title
Role (of individuals in cooperative working groups)
An area of expertise; something you are very good at; something you enjoy doing, and a talent that you are willing to share in order to meet group goals
Superpower
What are 6 potential roles of individuals in Cooperative Working Groups?
Administrative Assistant Participant Observer Devil's Advocate Technology Specialist Subject Matter Expert Mediator/Negotiator
Participates in group work, calls meetings, note-taking, documents and follows up with plans, may inform absent group members of meeting details
Skills: Organized, meticulous, time-management
Administrative Assistant
Participates in group work, ensures group members have a say, asks opinions of others, notices when some people are talking too much, and when others are not talking enough (and encourages them to speak up)
The “neutral”, creator of dialogue
Skills: open-minded, communication skills, multitasking, perceptive, empathetic, tactful
Participant Observer
Participates in group work, protects the group from making ‘easy’ decisions by helping them see what they haven’t thought of
Skills: Tactful, open-minded, communication skills, assertive, confident, humble/balanced
Devil’s Advocate
Participates in group work, deals with computer and equipment concerns; PowerPoint presentations, internet research, etc.
Skills: comfortable with technology, patient, helpful, problem-solver, communication skills
Technology Specialist
Participates in group work, informs group members with their personal expertise; not all groups have one, however, all group members can be one!
Skills: researching skills, critical thinking, confidence, communication skills
Subject Matter Expert
