Groups and team working are a major feature of any organisational life.

The work
organisation and its sub –units are made up of groups of people. Most activities of the
organisation require at least some degree of coordination through the operation of groups and
team work. This essay endeavours to explain if it is agreeable to state that groups and team
working are an essential and integral part of work organisation, though people value their
individuality for the mutual benefit of the group as whole. The essay will also explain how
school managers might best be trained to enhance the contribution and performance of
groups. However, the key term need to be defined which is work organisation.

Beatriz (2012) explains that Work organisation is about control of work and the division of
labour. Itincludes the tasks performed, who performs them and how they are performed in the
process of making a product or providing a service. Not all the tasks are done individually but
also in groups or are done as a team. Even though groups and team working are an integral
and essential part of work organisation, it is agreeable that people rather value their
individuality for the benefit of the whole group because of the reasons explained below.

As much as people working in groups or as teams have greater possibilities of yielding much
success towards achieving the goals of the group, people may not be able to express their
opinions towards the given task or their opinion may be overlooked even though they are
beneficial to the group just because the majority of the members of the group are not in
favour of the idea. As a result people may just follow what others say or what the majority of
the group members say without them contributing anything. (Cane, 1996). This is why people
may value their individuality though groups and team working may play a crucial and
important role on the part of work organisation.

In addition, there is a problematic effect of working in groups or as a team which is known as

‘groupthink effect’. According to Beatriz (2012), Psychologist Irving Janis developed this
concept and describes it as the alignment of our own opinions with the expected opinions of
the group, in order to reach a consensus. It is not latest that individuals often make different
decisions in group situations than they would have in a solitary one. Opponents of the
predominant opinion do not stand up for their own opinion, but restrain themselves to
preserve peace and harmony within the group. Naturally, this phenomenon accelerates the
decision making process in many cases, but it can also cause damage to quality of the
decisions.

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People may also value individuality because team working does not necessarily improve the
performance of each person. A typical phenomenon, which appears in bigger groups, is the
‘ringelmann effect’. Miner (1971:49) explains that this effect “describes the fact that
individual team members unconsciously hold themselves back in group settings,
consequently performing worse than they would have alone”. Also, teams shouldn’t be too
big, so that the performance of the individual is visible. This can contribute immensely to
their appreciation of their own contribution to the task or project and as a result they are
encouraged to do a good job. Still, in most tasks or projects it is not as bad as it appears to be,
work packages and milestones help with continuous performance assessments, which makes
it difficult for ‘slackers’ to get away with it.

Another reason why people may value individuality for the mutual benefit of the group rather
than working in a group is the visible fact that sometimes people don’t perform to the fullest
or the task given is not done according to how the task should be done as a group but rather
according to the leader or the manager. It is more enjoyable when you perform a task
according to your opinion than doing a task according to how someone else thinks. Schein
(1988) explains that implementing your own ideas makes you feel like the owner or part of
work being performed and therefore perform the task with all the care and quality that is
needed. This will lead to in most instances outstanding performance. So mostly people do not
work well in groups because the ideas used are not theirs and also because of the fear of their
boss or leader.

In addition people would value their individuality than working as a group or team to serve
time. Mostly for a simple task to be performed by a group takes more time than the time it
would take a single person to do the same task. In agreement, Brooks (2006) states that
workings as a group is a waste of time as mostly every single process like planning, making
decision takes a lot of time. It is easy as an individual to make decisions and plan than when
you are a group and so people would prefer doing a task as an individual but benefiting the
group as a whole.

However, groups and team working is very beneficial as there is exchange of different
knowledge and skill sets, which can achieve or enhance synergy effects which an individual
can rarely do. Furthermore, it is a form of division of labour. This is because group members
can divide extensive tasks, so the workload of the individual members decreases which in
turn increases their motivation.(Adair, 1986).

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Moving on to the second part of the essay, leaders or managers of institutions need to acquire
skills so that they help groups to achieve and attain their desired goals and contribute to the
institution as a whole. School managers are not an exception, they also need to be trained on
how they can enhance group contribution and performance, but how best might they be
trained to enhance group contribution and performance.

School managers need to be trained in such a way that they should be able to make full use of
people’s individuality for the mutual benefit of the group as a whole if they are to enhance
group contribution and performance. People enjoy their individuality and enjoy the right to
self-expression but membership to a group means giving up some of that personal identity.
Brooks (2006) states that as a school manager to solve the problem of ‘alphas’ in the group
that can cause more introvert members to hold back and contribute less input than they would
if they were working alone is to prepare for group brainstorming session with individual
brainstorms. This is where every group member collects their own ideas and then presents
them to the other group members. In this way, as a school manager you can combine team
work and individual work and enhance the group’s contribution and performance.

A school manager should be trained and have knowledge on the different leadership styles,
their advantages and disadvantages. The form of management and style of leadership adopted
will influence the relationship between the group and the school manager and among the
group members. In general, Beatriz (2012) explains that group contribution and performance
is affected by such things as the manner in which the manager gives guidance and
encouragement to the group, offers help and support, provides opportunities for participation,
attempts to resolve conflicts and gives attention to both employee relations and task
problems. Good leadership and management provides a conducive working environment
group work which can greatly enhance the contribution and performance of a group.

To enhance group contribution and performance, the school manager should be concerned
that members of the group co-operate in order to achieve the results expected of them. Co-
operation among members is likely to be greater in a united, cohesive group. Membership of
a cohesive group can be a rewarding experience for the individual can contribute to the
promotion of morale and can aid the release of creativity and energy. Members of a high
morale group are more likely to think themselves as a group and work effectively.
(cane,1996).

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School managers should also be trained on the mechanism of membership of the group like
the size of the group, members of the group’s compatibility and permanence of the group
members. This allows each member to contribute as an individual but also to facilitate
communication.On the size of the group, Adair (1986) make mention to say an ideal group
should have 3 to 5 members. If the group is big, it is difficult for the group to make a sound
decision and also in time. Meaning if the group is small, it will save time when it comes to
decision making and also allow each member contribute which will definitely enhance the
performance and contribution of the group in the school.

The school manager should also be trained in such a way that they should be able to know
which task to delegate to which group and when. For instance in a school there are a number
of groups in form of committees like production unit, preventive maintenance, entertainment,
sports committee etc. As a school manager you cannot for instance delegate a task meant for
the production unity committee to the entertainment committee. This will only result to
frustrations and incompetence. Additionally, as a school manager before giving out work to a
particular group, consider their work load. Giving a lot of work will disadvantage the group
and do the tasks in a way that is incompetent and have a negative impact on the group’s
contribution and performance. (Miner, 1971).

To improve group contribution and performance, a school manager should be trained in such
a way that he should be able to motivate the group members in order to achieve the goals of
the group. As indicated by schein (1988), motivation is the most important weapon a leader
or manager can use to achieve the desired performance and results.People need to be
motivated through many ways like for example praises for job well done, creating a stress
free environment and also reward actions that benefit the group.

In conclusion, group and team working is very important in an organisation when performing
certain tasks or providing certain services but people would rather value their individuality
for the mutual benefit of the group as a whole on grounds of maintaining peace and harmony
within the group, when working with the group may mean deprivation of self-expression, to
save time and other reasons as explained in the essay above. School managers need to know
how groups work and also create an environment that is conducive for people to work in
groups in an institution so as to enhance their contribution and performance.

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REFERENCES

Adair, J. (1986). Effective Team Building. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Beatriz, P etal (2012). Improving School Leadership: Policy and Practice.New York:
Basic books.

Brooks, I. (2006). Creative Leadership and Team Effectiveness. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.

Cane, S. kaizen (1996). Key Management Ideas: Thinkers That Changed the
Management World. Finland: Niilo Maki Institute.

Miner, J.B. (1971). Management Theory. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Schein, E.H. (1988). Organisational Psychology. Windsor: NFEER-Nelson.