The Forgotten Group Member

The Forgotten Group Member

Christine was a devoted, hard-working student who wanted to acquire more skills and knowledge through her courses. Even this was important for her she was concerned about her grades. She felt that grades will give her a competitive edge when looking for a job and, as a third-year student; she realized that will come pretty soon.

Christine was working on an accounting assignment in Organizational Behaviors course. The course was to be based on the quality of group work, and she felt out of control. The professor of that class had divided the class into groups of five people and had given them a major group assignment worth 30 percent of the final grade. The task was to analyze a case and to come up with a written analysis. In addition, the professor Sandra Thiel had asked the groups to present the case in class, with the rest of the class members participating as "members of the board of directors of the company" who would be listening to how the manager and her team dealt with the problem at hand.

Christine was elected "Team Coordinator" at the first group meeting and the other members of the group were Diane, Janet, Steve, and Mike. It was week 5 into the semester, and Christine had called everyone to arrange a meeting for a time that would suit them all, but she seemed to be running into a roadblock. From the group only Mike, who missed most of the meetings, couldn't make it, saying that he was working that night as a member of the campus security force. Mike had sent to Christine brief notes, which she was supposed to discuss for him at the group meetings. The written case analysis was due next week and this was a group project, and the final mark would be peer evaluated. This meant that whatever mark the professor Sandra Thiel gave them could be lowered or raised, depending on the group's opinion about the value of the contribution of each member. She knew that Mike had creative ideas that could help to raise the overall mark. Reflecting on the case and textbook material I think the group is in Performing stage, maturing in relationship and task performance. The group passed the Forming stage, initial entry of members to a group, they know each other after 5 weeks of class; The Storming stage, a period of high emotionality and tension among group members (dealing with tension is a challenge during the whole process) and defining group task; Norming, building relationships and working together (the amount of work is always a sensible subject). If Christine could have understood better the stages of group development she would not be at this point of the assignment dealing with this issue, part of the Storming stage.

The primary problem in the group is one of the members of the group, Mike does not complete the task assigned to him and he does not participate in the meetings, and the second problem is final grade for the assignment. Christine should have understood from the beginning how individual membership in the team will influence the final stage of the assignment, celebrating accomplishments materialized in final grade. The professor Sandra Thiel had given clear instructions about the group assignment and how the final grade will be based on "whatever mark the professor gave them could be lowered or raised, depending on the group's opinion about the value of the contribution of each member". Each member was the main key in this process.

When Christine suggested originally that the group should get together before every class to discuss the day's case, Mike had balked, saying "No way!! This is an 8:30 class, and I barely make it on time anyway! Besides, I'll miss my Happy Harry show on television!" It was a first sign Mike is not going to give up his own time to be able to complete his task. Before the meetings Mike sent brief notes to Christine, part of his task and she supposed to discuss in his name the assignment. Every week Christine did not see any improvement in Mike behavior regarding this assignment and it should have been a red flag for her. She have waited almost to the end when slim chances to improve any relationship between Mike and his group. The second problem the group and Christine were facing is celebrating accomplishments, in this case the final grade for that class. This is more Christine's problem because she wants a great job and the grades in school are very important to get it;