Analyze the characteristics of and conditions for optimal group performance

Effective group work is essential for helping a health care organization achieve its objectives and meet patients’ needs. In Week 4, you examined the process of planning for and implementing change, and began to assess the competencies necessary to facilitate such an effort. This week, you consider how to work with groups to execute planned change.
During Week 5, you examine group process theory and consider stages of group formation as well as the characteristics of effective groups. You are encouraged to think about how the unique context of health care creates a particular demand for productive group interactions and assess your own strengths and needs for improvement in this regard.
Objectives

Students will:
Assess stages of group formation in relation to a specific group
Analyze group task and group-building roles
Analyze the characteristics of and conditions for optimal group performance
Assess the role of management/leadership in facilitating team development

Learning Resources
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This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources.
Required Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Readings
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Chapter 19 “Organizational, Interpersonal, and Group Communication”

Chapter 19 covers many aspects of the communication process, including group communication. As you read this chapter, focus on the stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing) and group dynamics (group task roles, group building and maintenance roles, problematic roles). Consider how you can apply these concepts as you engage in group work.
Adams, S. L., & Anantatmula, V. (2010). Social and behavioral influences on team process. Project Management Journal, 41(4), 89–98.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

In this article, the authors report on the effects of individual behaviors on project teams and provide a model that identifies the progress of social and behavioral development. For each stage, the authors provide recommendations for managing team members.
Chun, J. S., & Choi, J. N. (2014). Members’ needs, intragroup conflict, and group performance. The Journal Of Applied Psychology, 99(3), 437-450. doi:10.1037/a0036363

This study theorizes and empirically investigates the relationships among the psychological needs ofgroup members, intragroup conflict, and group performance.
Haynes, J., & Strickler, J. (2014). TeamSTEPPS makes strides for better communication. Nursing,44(1), 62-63. doi:10.1097/01.NURSE.0000438725.66087.89

Teamwork and communication are the focus of this article and include the use of the TeamStepps model for Quality Improvement.
Hogg, M. A., Van Knippenberg, D., & Rast, D. E., III. (2012). Intergroup leadership in organizations: Leading across group and organizational boundaries. Academy of Management Review, 37(2), 232–255.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The authors of this article introduce a theory on intergroup leadership that is based on social theory and intergroup relations. This theory purports that intergroup performance relies on a leader’s capacity to create intergroup relational identities.
Kaufman, B. (2012). Anatomy of dysfunctional working relationships. Business Strategy Series, 13(2), 102–106.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Kaufman examines the impact of dysfunctional working relationships in an organization. She provides managers with tips that will allow them to identify early warning signs of dysfunctional behavior and to minimize its effects in the workplace.
Mind Tools. (2012). Forming, storming, norming and performing: Helping new teams perform effectively, quickly. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm

This web article discusses stages of team development and provides strategies for moving through the early stages effectively.
Mind Tools. (2009). Team charters. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_95.htm

This web page features helpful information about team charters. Before you begin work on the Week 7 Assignment, you may find it helpful to create a charter that can guide your group’s work together.
Ortega, A., Sánchez-Manzanares, M., Gil, F., & Rico, R. (2013). Enhancing team learning in nursing teams through beliefs about interpersonal context. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 69(1), 102-111. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.05996.x

This article examines the relationship between team-level learning and performance in nursing teams, and the role of beliefs about the interpersonal context in this relationship.
Table Group. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2012, from http://www.tablegroup.com/

Patrick Lencioni is recognized worldwide for his work on teams. Under the Patrick Lencioni link, download and read articles related to addressing team dysfunctions.
Optional Resources

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Chapter 16, “Socializing and Educating Staff for Team Building in a Learning Organization”

Week 5 Discussion
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Groups
The dynamic and increasingly complex world of health care often requires nurses to work collaboratively on interprofessional teams. In the group environment, individuals with unique skills and expertise come together to focus on a common goal; however, groups must become cohesive before they can become effective.
Your experiences working with groups—whether you perceive them as positive, negative, or neutral—can be used to facilitate insight and development. Health care, with its focus on interprofessional teamwork and collaboration, offers ample opportunities and an imperative for continuous learning.
For this Discussion, you focus on strategies for facilitating the group process.
To prepare:
Review the information in this week’s Learning Resources regarding the stages of group formation, problematic roles individuals play in groups, and strategies for facilitating and maintaining positive group collaboration. In particular, review Learning Exercise 19.12 on page 464 of the course text.
Reflect on various groups with which you have been or are currently involved. Select one specific group to analyze for the purposes of this Discussion. Identify the purpose or task that the group is or was meant to perform.
Consider the four stages of group formation (forming, storming, norming, and performing). How would you describe the progression between stages? Is there a stage in which you believe your group is or was “stuck”?
Consider the task or group-building role you normally play in a group setting. How could you apply the information from the Learning Resources to improve your group participation and facilitation, as well as the functioning of the group as a whole?
In addition, think about which individuals within your group (including yourself) may fall into problematic roles such as the Dominator, the Aggressor, or the Blocker. How have you and your group members addressed the enactment of these roles and its impact on interactions? With information from the Learning Resources in mind, what strategies would you apply now or going forward?
On the Week 5 Discussion Board, post on or before Day 3 a description of a group with which you have been or are currently involved. Assess where the group is in terms of the four stages of group formation. If you are reflecting on a past experience, explain if your group moved through all four stages. Describe the task or group-building role you typically play, or played, in this group. Then, explain what strategies you, as a leader, can apply to better facilitate the group process and address any problematic individual roles in the group.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond by Day 6 to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple po

Week 5 Assignment
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Application: Leadership Concept Analysis Group Paper

This week you will begin a group paper that you will develop over the next few weeks. By Day 3 of this week, you will be placed in a collaborative group and provided with a work area for your group (See the Groups area below Week 11 in the left-hand navigation bar. If you do not see your team area by the end of Day 3, contact your Instructor.)
Before you begin to work with your group, read the information below describing the paper. Then join your group, introduce yourself, and begin work on selecting a topic.
To prepare:
Review the Peer Evaluation Form for important information on how this assignment is graded.
Identify a group facilitator.
Within your group, select a topic relevant to interprofessional leadership and the health care field on which to focus your group paper. The following are some potential topics for your group to consider:
Matrix organizations
Accountable care organizations
Horizontal and vertical organizations
Role conflict and ambiguity
Employee recruitment and selection
Interpersonal relationships in the C-suite of organizations (the relationships between the CEO, CFO, and CNO)
Resistance to change
Succession planning
Whistle blowing
“Just” culture
Team Stepps
When your group has selected a topic, the group facilitator will submit the topic to the Instructor for approval on the Discussion Board in the Week 5 Group Project Topic Forum.
Conduct research on your topic using the Walden Library and other credible sources.
To complete:
As a group, write a 3- to 5 (page count does not include title and reference page) page paper that includes the following: