Case Study Leadership and Organizational Behavior Mgmt 591

Week 3- Case Study

Leadership and Organizational Behavior

MGMT 591

Group Development

Teamwork does not come naturally when a group of people is put together, even if they have a common task; in this case a group accounting assignment. Christine, being the appointed leader, could have done a much better job with her team. Had she understood the stages of group development, she would likely not be facing the class deadline with such trepidation.

From the book’s description of the class, we are led to believe that none of the group members knew each other before this assignment. Therefore, there was no basis for trust or personal connection among the group members. Christine was assigned a leadership role and she should have capitalized on this position to encourage her team to FORM.

Christine’s team never really formed. During the forming stage, the group should have taken the opportunity to get to know each other on a personal level, get to know each other’s expectations, explore the way each group members works and responds to pressure, and discover any obstacles in each other’s personal lives that would keep them from working hard on the project.

We know from the start that Mike was quick to set himself apart from the group, acting as a clown and complaining that group meetings would interfere with a television show. Although he made the group laugh, alarms bells should have been going off in Christine’s head. She should have recognized that she needed to discuss her expectations with the group and find out what each of them expected from the group as well. Christine should have set up milestones for the group assignment, letting each member know what was due and when. When the story begins, Christine is already into week #5 and the group has neither had enough quality meetings nor do they have a cohesive assignment.

In addition, because Christine did not set up a formal framework for the team to form, the majority of the team members...