Group Dynamics and Technology

Paper Summary:

This paper examines whether group dynamics become increasingly relevant, practical or important as society adjusts to a more technological and united world. The paper explains that although technology has enabled human beings to become more isolated, hiding behind their computer screens on one hand, for an organization to manage the increasingly complex processes required for its operations, encouraging individuals to work in teams is increasingly valued, and the ability to cooperate is seen as an essential character trait in employees. The paper then points out that organizations in the future will face the challenge of having to unite workers who may be less and less well-versed in the emotional skills necessary to create a cohesive group unit. The paper also looks at how, as organizations grow ever-larger, newly merged entities must bring together a variety of individuals from diverse backgrounds and skills to work together.

From the Paper:

"Group activity is often referred to as "shared cooperative activity" which is something fewer and fewer Americans are seeking in their leisure time activities. Civic affiliation is on the decline yet more and more employers are demanding they engage in teamwork at work, as noted in Putnam's landmark 1995 sociological study Bowling Alone. The image of people bowling alone, side-by-side in the same building, but not involved in the same game demonstrates how an activity that multiple people happen to perform simultaneously is not a group activity, with the type of interactive dynamics necessary for creative and productive dialogue (Pavitt, 2004). Rather, a true group is a collection of people with the intention of pursuing some shared goal, intending to act together, in the pursuit of that agreed-upon purpose. Charles Pavitt adds the caveat that each person in a group must intend that each other person in the aggregate acts in pursuit of the goal."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mennecke, Brian & Bradley, John. "Making Project Groups Work: The Impact of Structuring Group Roles on the Performance and Perception of Information Systems Project Teams." ERIC. 1997. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini. jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED422912&ERICExtSearc h_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED422912
• Millhous, Lisa M. "When a Group is Not a Group: Do we agree on the domain of group communication?" Manuscript presented at the Eastern Communication Association. Boston, April 2004. 28 Nov 2007. http://communication.wcupa.edu/groupdiv/NCA04_Millhous.htm
• Pavitt, Charles "When is a Group a 'Group'? When It Features Shared Cooperative Activities and Collective Intentions." Manuscript presented at the Eastern Communication Association. Boston, April 2004. 27 Nov 2007. http://communication.wcupa.edu/groupdiv/NCA04_Pavitt.htm
• Putnam, Robert. Bowling Alone. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
• Smith, M. K. "Bruce W. Tuckman - forming, storming, norming and performing in Groups." The encyclopedia of informal education. 2005. 27 Nov 2007. www.infed.org/thinkers/tuckman.htm. Last updated: 27 Nov 2007.

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