Group Development

This blog is going to look at the development of groups using the four stages of Tuckman’s theory. Tuckman 1965, came up with the theory of “team development theories”. This theory involved four stages, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.

When the group is in the forming stage, it is literally coming together; it is where there is discomfort within the group about their new task or position in the team. For the group expedition, it was clear that for the planning stage of the expedition was the forming stage, when the members of the group were all involved, however reluctantly, in the working out of the route and writing of the route cards.

What could be seen on the expedition especially was that although the group normally worked well together, there was a split that was even more prominent through the distribution of the group. Three out of the four members remained together, whereas the last group member was always up in front of the group, refusing to walk with them. This was clearly the storming stage of the group development; which is when there was the case of several people who appeared to be trying to lead the group, some were more determined than others.

The group did not reach the norming stage until the camp area had been set up. This was when the bickering had stopped, when the group had set up tents in the early afternoon, and was spending a bit of time relaxing, playing cards, and then taking in the surrounding views.

The following day, after packing up from a frosty night, and continuing on the expedition; there was an assent that needed to be climbed, it was at this time that the group finally started to be fully working together to ensure that all members of the group were able to get to the summit safely. This point of the expedition clearly shows the performing stage of Tuckman’s theory; which is when the group clearly begin to concentrate on the task in hand by using mutual support and ensuring that all the other group members were interacting together well.

Upon the decent from the decent from the ridge, which was the final stage of the expedition, it became clear that the group was slowly entering the adjourning stage of the group development. It became obvious when the group reached their final destination, the mountaineering hut; the group entered the full stage of adjourning. They were no longer required to work together to ensure each other’s’ safety or enjoyment.

In accordance to Priest and Gass 1998, “Properly orchestrated small-group interactions can exponentially increase a group’s ability to accomplish tasks,…” this quote shows that it is as much down to the group leader to assist the cohesion and development of the group as much as the group members. This information could have been useful within the forming stage of the development of the group, when the group were in the planning process of their expedition.

http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/Forming_Storming_Norming_Performing.html

Applying Psychology to Sport, B. Woods. 1998

Acquiring Skill in Sport, B. Sharp. 1992

Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, S. Priest and M. Gass. 1997

Leadership Styles

On the third day of the Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition when it was my turn to lead, we were being accompanied by our Mountain Leader for the first and only time, owing to the area normally being marsh and it was written in the risk assessment.

I was asked to lead only a short leg, however, as the most experienced of the group, it was a harder leg, and I was put on the spot by the mountain leader for several reasons, one of which was to test my skills, as Simon didn’t know at what level I was personally at, another was to demonstrate to the others some different techniques that it was unlikely that they had come across before, owing to them being less experienced in the field.

After assessing our position, coming up with a plan for the route; I then began, using differently styles of leadership. It became clear that although the rest of the group although they had experience in the hills, they were not know aware of certain techniques that would assist them should the situation arise that they need to extricate themselves from the area. The skill that was taught was pacing. The guided discovery style, Mosston and Ashworth 1990, was used when teaching about pacing, as it was something that has a definite distance, however it is down to the individual to work out their own personal step count for 100 metres.

Throughout the section which I was leading, guided discovery was mainly used, owing to the fact that there was not actually much teaching done aside from the pacing section. In accordance to Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939) cited in Woods 1998, study on leadership styles, the style that I found was mainly used on my part was Laissez-faire; when the rest of the group were allowed to get on with the hike in their own way and style. This suited the group very well as every member was very laid back, and happy going at their own pace.

With the gift of hindsight, if I could re-do that particular leg, I would probably use the same style of leadership, with some subtle changes to the presentation. Instead of keeping the “story” of the route in my head, I would tell it to the group, therefore I had not only my mind on the different areas and sections that needed to be checked, there were 5 more people looking out for the markers too. This approach would allow me the chance to “look after” the group more, using more senses than mainly my hearing; as if I had, there would have been more of a chance to actually speak to the group to establish how they were doing and whether there was anything that they wanted to change or learn.

Applying Psychology to Sport, B. Woods. 1998

Acquiring Skill in Sport, B. Sharp. 1992

Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, S. Priest and M. Gass. 1997

http://www.teachpe.com/A_level_skill_acq_files/mosston_ashworth_teaching_styles_information_sheet.php

Group Motivation

A recent expedition on Dartmoor for my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award practice expedition has caused me to think about motivation and the different things that can affect it. According to B, Sharp; “Motivation is inextricably bound up with attitudes, feelings, expectations, needs and emotions.” This shows that there are numerous factors that can affect the motivation levels of both individuals and groups.

At the start of the expedition, when we left Warwick for Dartmoor, the motivation levels were extremely high; everyone was excited about going and achieving something that for most of us was a new experience. It became clear as the expedition wore on that the motivation levels were waning, especially when the group members were hungry, it was also around these times that the tolerance levels of the group were lower, people were more unwilling to be dragged across a field with a bleak landscape to spend yet another night in a tent.

One of the reasons that the levels of motivation began to lower was partly due to the major gap between the different members of the group. Those group members who were up at the front, had a faster pace, which therefore meant that they had to wait for the rest of the group to catch up owning to the difference in pace. At first this seemed not to bother than many people, however, as the trip extended, it became clearer that it was irritating several group members, both those who were faster and those who were slower. Although there had been several attempts to keep the group together, it was clear that those who of a faster pace were unaware of those further behind them.

This proved to be an annoyance and meant that tempers were running high at certain points. The one occasion that this was especially prominent for this specific lowering of motivation was on the final day. The faster members of the group were a good 400 metres in front of the slower group members, it was coming up to lunch time, as the energy levels were flagging. The bigger the distance became, the less likely it seemed that those with a faster pace were likely to locate a suitable place to break for lunch; they were unaware that the other group members were struggling to match their pace and that their energy levels were lowering more than their own. The only way that they realised these factors were when one member of the group was forced to raise the fact through the form of a raised voice. It was an awkward moment; however, it proved to be necessary, as the fact that the group was not all together was brought up by the mountain leader accompanying us.

Numerous other theorists, like B. Woods 1998, have discussed motivation, their links to other theories and how the different factors such as intrinsic stimulus and extrinsic stimulus, can create different levels of motivation for different occasions. The forms of motivation that were present on this trip were intrinsic, but also extrinsic in the form of achieving the highest award of the scheme.

Applying Psychology to Sport, B. Woods. 1998

Acquiring Skill in Sport, B. Sharp. 1992

Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, S. Priest and M. Gass. 1997

Self esteem

Self esteem is an important thing to be developed from a young age, simply that as a child, those who do not regularly receive positive reactions would have a higher chance of developing low self esteem, Sharp 1992.

A person’s self esteem can be easily dashed, simply by a comment from a teacher or coach. From a personal experience, I found that a small phrase was enough to completely dash my self esteem and self confidence which therefore caused me to make more simple mistakes throughout the rest of the day, but especially when I was still leading my leg.

When on a second Year Mountain Leader trip to the Lake District in March, a group of us took a day up on Crinkle Crags, spilt into different legs, each of us having different sections of the hike to lead. For my leg the cloud had come down, it was the first part of the assent up to a plateau. Whilst climbing the steep path, it was clear that the group would need to take several short stops to catch their breath and rehydrate. Once the first assent was accomplished, the cloud was thicker, which proved to be very disorientating. When I was requested to locate myself, I found that I made the classic mistake of thinking I was further along my leg than I actually was; however I wasn’t the only one who thought so, our leader for the day also thought the same. It was at this point that our leader made a comment which caused my self esteem to falter.

The reason that my self-esteem faltered, was partly due to the fact that I had received, in my eyes, harsh and unnecessary criticism, but it had also been uttered in front of everyone. This caused self consciousness about being criticised in front of my peers unnecessarily; my confidence had been knocked down several pegs. Academic forms of these facts can be found in association with Lowe (1973), cited in Woods (1998), and his research about stress and stressors.

The simple comment had the effect of causing my self esteem and self assurance to drop, in a short space of time, to the point where I felt that I would struggle to make it as a mountain leader as, in my eyes, at that particular moment in time I had not achieved the task set out for me by those who were of superior levels of experience and knowledge.

Something that I picked up from Woods (1998) was that if the comment had been rephrased, then it would not necessarily have been taken the way it was. If the comment had been phrased in a different manner; then the result might have been seen as constructive criticism, therefore not causing my self esteem to drop.

What can be seen from this moment are several things. One of them is for me not to allow myself to be affected by comments like that. Another thing is that maybe it is also the lecturer who needs to be aware of how their comments can affect people’s confidence.

Applying Psychology to Sport, B. Woods. 1998

Acquiring Skill in Sport, B. Sharp. 1992

Areas for development

During my first year of ML I developed skills and an understanding of the subject. I also found that there is room for improvement in certain areas. Throughout this year I am going make an effort to improve these areas.
These areas are:

• micro navigation, I need to work on my self confidence, use linear features more, and taking a bearing.
• soft skills such as self confidence when leading others; confidence in my own abilities and therefore being able to rely on them more.
• I would like to develop my leadership skills, particularly group management, to ensure that the group are safe.