Work Group example 3-page paper

Think of a workgroup that you are currently involved or have been involved in in the past. If you have not ever been in a workgroup (unlikely), describe a work group with which you are familiar. Think carefully about that the group under consideration.

Here are some statements about your team and its purposes. Please indicate how accurately each statement describes your team. Try to be as objective as you can in responding to each statement--regardless of whether you like or dislike being on the team.

Write a number in the blank beside each statement, based on the following scale:
How accurate is the statement in describing your team? 
1 Very Somewhat 
2 Neither 
3 Accurate 
4 Somewhat 
5 Very Inaccurate Inaccurate nor Inaccurate Accurate   Accurate

Effort
____ 1. Members demonstrate their commitment to our team by putting in extra time and effort to help it succeed. 
____ 2. Everyone on this team is highly motivated to have the team succeed.
____ 3. Some members of our team do not carry their fair share of the overall workload. (R)
Performance Strategy
____ 4. Our team often comes up with innovative ways of proceeding with the work that turn out to be just what is needed. 
____ 5. Our team often falls into mindless routines, without noticing any changes that may have occurred in our situation. (R)
____ 6. Our team has a great deal of difficulty actually carrying out the plans we make for how we will proceed with the task. (R) 
Utilization of Expertise
____ 7. How seriously a member's ideas are taken by others on our team often depends more on who the person is than on how much he or she actually knows or the quality of the idea. (R)
____ 8. Members of our team actively share their special knowledge and expertise with one another.
____ 9. Our team is quite skilled at capturing the lessons that can be learned from our work experiences.
Quality of Interaction
____ 10. There is a lot of unpleasantness among members of this team. (R)
____ 11. The longer we work together as a team, the less well we do. (R)
____ 12. Working together energizes and uplifts members of our team.
____ 13. Every time someone attempts to correct a team member whose behavior is not acceptable, things seem to get worse rather than better. (R)
Relationship Satisfaction
____ 14. My relations with other team members are strained. (R)
____ 15. I very much enjoy talking and working with my teammates. 
____ 16. The chance to get to know my teammates is one of the best parts of working on this team.
____ 17. Working on this team is an exercise in frustration. (R)
Team Commitment
____ 18. I feel a real personal satisfaction when our team does well. 
____ 19. I feel bad and unhappy when our team has performed poorly. 
____ 20. My own feelings are not affected one way or the other by how well our team performs. (R) 
____ 21. When our team has done well, I have done well.
Group Norms
____ 22. Standards for member behavior in this team are vague and unclear. (R)
____ 23. It is clear what is--and what is not--acceptable member behavior in this team. 
____ 24. Members of this team agree about how members are expected to behave.
Group Discussion
_____ 25. A lot of time was spent discussing irrelevant issues. (R)
_____26. Ideas expressed in the discussion were carefully examined.
_____27. The group examined a number of options before making decisions.
_____28. All members of the group actively contributed to group discussions.
Collective Efficacy
_____29. I am confident in my team’s ability.
_____30. I am not sure my team can ever reach a high level of performance. (R)
_____ 31. My team is more capable than the other teams.
Role Structure
_____ 32.Team members understand their assignments.
_____33. There is often confusion about who is responsible for what. (R)
_____34. The workload is evenly distributed among group members.
Scoring Instructions
1. Reverse score the items designated by “(R)”. Do this by subtracting the original score from 6. Now that these scores are reversed, for all items higher scores indicate better group processes.

2. After reversing scores when appropriate, AVERAGE the scores for each area. (Since the number of items is not consistent across categories, it is critical that you use average scores for each category). Higher scores indicate group strengths and lower scores represent areas where the group was not as strong.

 
3. Deposit a copy of the scoring summary (see next page) in the appropriate dropbox. Be sure to include your name.

 
4. Write a 3 page paper describing the group’s strengths and weaknesses. What area do you see as the greatest strength of the group? What is the area that is in the greatest need for improvement? What would you like to see happen to improve the group.