Reply

Greetings, Professor and classmates,

After reviewing both scenarios I decided to respond to the second scenario, and the ways in which I would go about approaching the matter. To start, I’d like to address how a group is defined, their functions, and the importance of group collaboration. According to McLean (2018), a group is an assemblage of people, this can be understood as a collection of three or more individuals, that come together with a purpose for interacting with one another. More specifically, to achieve the objectives this group has defined, such as their foundations, goals, or ideas (p. 83). Additionally, it is understood that there are two main types of groups, which are primary and secondary groups. Primary groups are defined by their ability to meet all needs within that group, while secondary groups are used to solve problems or complete a task within the primary group.

In this scenario the group of 15 to 20 individuals I am tasked with assembling would be a secondary group used to complete a task set in place by the organization. So, considering the fact that my manager asked me to take charge in this specific project, I would first ask them what significance surrounds the large number of people assigned to this project. Do they want more people because this allows for more creative ideas and input, or do they believe this project will be completed faster with a larger number of individuals collaborating on it? After addressing the number of individuals, the next area of focus would be to define the roles and relationships within the group. As stated by Mclean (2018), “Relationships are apart of any group and can be described in terms of status, power, control, as well as role, function, or viewpoint.” The goal is to outline which individuals were are using for the task to fill collaborative roles in achieving the objective set forth by management.

Once I can clearly demonstrate to my manager why the large number of people are not necessary, then I will address my concerns about John. First, I might suggest that there are better candidates to draw from when the roles for the project are more precisely defined, however if this doesn’t work, I would express my concerns in a professional manner around how John may hinder the completion of the task. If my manager insists that John be in the group, I wouldn’t push back on their decision, but I would ask that John’s role is clearly defined just in case my concerns are correct. Ensuring that each individual, including John, has a specific role within the task will prevent those in the group from not taking responsibility for any part of the task they complete, or fail to complete.

Best,

Alicia Buckley

References

McLean, S. (2018). Exploring Interpersonal Communication v2.0. Flat World Knowledge. https://ambassadored.vitalsource.com/books/9781453390429Links to an external site