Introduction
Group synergy and group member roles are some of the elements applied in organisations with regards to the relationships between employees. The former involves interaction of forces. In such engagements, the whole is regarded to be greater and superior in comparison to its parts.
Group member roles, on the other hand, is a scenario where the tasks performed by different individuals belonging to a team are coordinated to solve specific problems. Employees working in a given company may be organised into different teams with specific objectives.
The marketing team, for instance, may be tasked with the responsibility of increasing sales volumes. In this paper, the author will define the two concepts by relating them to real life situations. The author of this paper will enhance the relevance of the two phenomena by linking them to experiences in contemporary society.
Group Synergy
An Overview of Group Synergy
According to Engleberg and Wynn (27), synergy is described as an association of many elements working together. Such elements are designed to operate in unison to give results that are greater than their individual effects. The word is derived from a Greek term that loosely translates to “working together”.
Engleberg and Wynn (27) associate the term with a group of individuals working in harmony to achieve specified goals. On their part, Harvey and Brown (16) define synergy in relation to developments in an organisation.
Harvey and Brown state that the term simply implies a form of coordinated interaction between multiple departments. The departments operate in a harmonious manner. They do this to improve the welfare of the entire organisation.
Group Synergy in the Real World
In a real life situation, synergy is used in different spheres of life. In small and medium business entities, for instance, group synergy is utilised to marshal resources for micro-enterprise development. The concept has made it possible for individual entrepreneurs to join forces with their peers and achieve their savings goals.
By coming together, such entrepreneurs can easily access credit, create formidable business partnerships, and share influence (Engleberg and Wynn 62).
Analysts view group synergy as a means of development among individuals with limited resources. The element of coming together as a group creates a “functioning complementation” (Engleberg and Wynn 62). The resulting functionality not only depicts team efficacy, but also positive team performance.
In this context, scholars contend that group level business enterprises have higher performance outcomes than individual establishments (Engleberg and Wynn 39).
Harvey and Brown argue that individuals working as a team bring together most of the performance “dimensions that are beyond supra-ordinate level” (p. 24). According to these two scholars, most individual business entities are unable to reach this level.
In many countries, group synergy is used by the government and other stakeholders in the economy to boost the small and medium enterprises. Small business engagements are important as far as the economic development of a country is concerned.
In addition to the vitality associated with them, small and medium enterprises provide jobs to the citizens (Harvey and Brown 43). When venturing into the market, individual entrepreneurs face a number of barriers. The desire to overcome these hurdles is what motivates them to work in groups.
The barriers encountered include, among others, discriminatory legal frameworks and low returns on investment. The element of group synergy helps these individuals to come together and exploit the opportunities presenting themselves in the market. It would be hard for the small enterprises to take advantage of such opportunities when operating alone (Harvey and Brown 44).
Group Synergy: Conclusion
The concept is regarded as a behavioural thrust for small business enterprises. As such, group synergy should be taken seriously by the government and individual entrepreneurs. It is hard to for SMEs to access resources when working in isolation. However, when parties come together as a team, the dream can be realized through group synergy.
The risks associated with sole proprietorships can be managed through group dynamics. As such, one can conclude that this concept is fundamental in eradicating operational constraints hindering economic establishments. In the case of small and medium enterprises, group synergy helps in eliminating the financial limitations faced by entrepreneurs.
Group Member Roles
Introduction to the Concept of Group Member Roles
There are different roles associated with different members of a given group. According to Robbins and Judge (20) and Engleberg and Wynn (38), group member roles entail the activities of individual team members that are designed to address particular problems unique to the group.
Such activities entail selecting, defining, and solving a number of issues that face a given group. The concept involves the coordination of the actions associated with group members. The roles are derived from “functions and facilitations” (Robbins and Judge 23) that arise during group interactions.
Group Member Roles in Real Life Situations
A given member is required to execute more than one role in the group. For a team to succeed, individual members are expected to excel in their specific roles. The different tasks available in a given group include initiation, contribution, and seeking information.
Others include seeking and forming opinions, as well as keeping of records. The existence of these diverse roles ensures that the operations of a team are geared towards the achievement of stipulated goals (Harvey and Brown 99).
Groups are found in different parts of the society. For example, most of the functions associated with a given community are performed through groups. Such establishments range from communities, schools, churches, and neighbours. They exist at the local, national, and international levels.
An example of a group in the community is that which is involved in the running of a private school. A successful school depends on the nature of the roles played by members of different teams (Robbins and Judge 22). That is why schools and other establishments hold regular group meetings.
The school’s management team meets regularly to ensure the goals set are achieved. The meetings bring together different parties associated with the organisation. They include parents, teachers, administrators, and students. The main objective of such gatherings is to initiate problem solving activities.
Individual members may propose new ideas on how the school can be governed to enhance performance. An information seeker may put some of the arguments made by the member into perspective by seeking clarifications on the new ideas proposed (Harvey and Brown 44).
An opinion seeker will engage the contributor and the information seeker in a discussion to shed more light on the proposals made. The interest of the opinion seeker is to establish the modalities of recruiting new and competent teachers to ensure that the performance of the school is improved (Harvey and Brown 84).
A coordinator tries to put the ideas together to ensure that various suggestions are implemented. On their part, a recorder keeps track of the developments made during the discussions. The recorder is responsible for the product generated through the group discussions.
That is why many scholars refer to this group member as the “group memory” (Robbins and Judge 41). At the end of the process, a combination of positive and negative results will be achieved. The reason is that the roles of some members may conflict with those of others.
Group Member Roles: Conclusion
The roles played by members of a group are important in the realisation of envisaged objectives. A given team is made up of different members performing specific tasks. Teamwork is very important in any given work environment. The nature of group interactions determines the success of the team in achieving the set goals.
Conclusion
The two concepts of group synergy and group member roles are important as far as business operations are concerned. An average business entity is made up of different groups that work in a synchronised fashion to achieve the missions and objectives of the organisation.
Members of the group work together in efforts to ensure that the organisation succeeds in its endeavours. In the process, they create synergy in the team. The individual players in a given group are allocated specific roles to perform. Their success in these group member roles determines the overall success of the organisation.
Business processes are made up of various operational cycles. Each cycle is characterised by different groups with different tasks. The larger business organisation is conceptualised as the sum of these varying cycles. The teams operate in such a way that the overall effect of their coordinated processes is larger than their individual undertakings.
Works Cited
Engleberg, Isa, and Dianna Wynn. Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies. 6th ed. 2013. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Print.
Harvey, Donald, and Donald Brown. An Experiential Approach to Organization Development. 8th ed. 2011. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Print.
Robbins, Stephen, and Timothy Judge. Essentials of Organizational Behaviour. 12th ed. 2013. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Print.