Study Skills for Effe ctive Learn ing

Group Working and Creativity

You will spend much of your time on your course working/studying as a member of a group - large or small, formal or informal.

The informal group will be those you choose to communicate or socialise with. The formal group will one you are assigned to for a specific task e.g. analysing a case study or making a presentation. On occasions you may have little choice over who you work with.

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Creativity and Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a group technique in which group members

• Stage 1:
  define the nature and scope of a problem from as many different angles as possible. Concentrate on opening up the problem. Record all sub-statements (appoint a good scribe, with flip chart and pens!). No solutions are presented - just problem statements and no criticism or smug remarks about any of these is allowed. All are recorded no matter how trivial or off-the-mark they seem

• Stage 2:
  At the end of stage 1, all the problem statements and re-statements are weighted up and grouped into categories bearing some relation to each other. The sub-problems are grouped, summarised and ranked (according to criteria/priority etc).

  This stage may be repeated several times. The group may realise they have insufficient information - so investigate and obtain more - until satisfied that the problem is understood and good statements of the problem exist.

• Stage 3:
  The next stage involves the group - taking each "grouped" problem statement and applying the question

  "How may we solve this problem" - generating possible solutions using the same approach as Stages 1 and 2.

  The rules used to support creative group dynamics are:

  • keep it fast and furious
  • record all ideas
  • no critical remarks allowed
  • build on ideas rather than pass over or demolish
  • the 'wilder ' the idea the better
  • quantity is what is wanted
  • evaluate the ideas afterwards only
  • work in a circle - with good eye-contact
  • keep it energetic and fun
  • give each other enough space
  • let one idea be handled at a time - keep others going in the queue - don't lose ideas
  • keep the tempo going
  • use praise and compliments - smile

Pros and Cons of Brainstorming

Brainstorming produces many new and novel ideas but maybe too many to handle. Assumptions may be challenged but the energy can be hard to get going. It needs much resolve and good energising and synthesising people. Judgement is deferred and this encourages exploration of relationships and possibilities. But many problem-statements and ideas can be superficial. The hidden gem can still be missed!

Brainstorming encourages participation but it favours the boisterous and the extrovert. Works best with simple or specific problems. The complex problem demands much separation and it may be that entangled undergrowth (of emotion and personal views need clearing away first.

It fosters creativity and it's fun. Difficult to keep going if people are concerned about their role, status and seniority. Hard to administer - especially when trying to synthesise and conclude on core problems and core solutions.

"If you are too aloof to try it you will never appreciate its value" C. Jarvis

Combine brain-storming with......

Classical problem-solving

.....interrogation, data gathering, evaluation, definition of elements and relationships, synthesising or modelling "the new, the adaptations", planning/organising, implementing and controlling.

• Contextualisation: weight up all the elements of the situation. What is the scenario? Where is the pressure coming from? What is the bigger picture? Is the trend up, down, sideways? What are the imperatives? What are the forces driving the problem and/or constraining movement? What is the timing?

• Problem analysis: focus on the specific problem and define it accurately. Identify its source? Quantify it.

  Ask questions about what should be happening i.e. define the standards/criteria against which you are stating that "this is a problem".

  Arrive at a clear description of its quantitative and qualitative elements. Who says it is a problem? What is their analysis? What is their influence? How does it affect them? Is it a symptom that you are looking at rather than the real problem?

• Solution development Solutions may be obvious - they may be elusive. There may be sub-parts to the problem that need to be resolved first or will arise as soon as you make a move. Solutions need to be examined as OPTIONS and their resource demands and consequences evaluated. Solutions must be charted in detail - people, time, sequences and costs. Agreement to a solution and the contingent issues has to be obtained

• Action/implementation Once a solution has been agreed (if it is a clear solution at all or a moving feast)... the fun now begins. It has to be implemented. People and programmes of implementation have to be scheduled and organised in all their detail. The cycle continues.......

Also look up

• Reverse brain-storming (e.g. turn solution statements on their head and ask " in how many ways can this go wrong?".
• Value analysis/engineering - take a good solution apart and identify its contributory elements
• Force Field Analysis - identify pushing and pulling forces in the situation Checkland method - construct the rich picture.

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Developing Skills for Working in Groups

Working in groups will help you develop skills that will be useful in your future career. Such skills involve listening and responding to others, communicating, influencing and persuading, making decisions and accepting the decisions of others (which you may not always go along with)

Group Roles and Behaviour

Whether or not a group is effective depends on many variables so an understanding of group behaviour will help you understand group processes.

You may have a formal role in a group e.g. as a chair-person, but you may find yourself taking on a particular role or roles because of the nature of the task or composition of the group. Roles can be categorised as follows (the list is not definitive as other roles can become evident)

Task-oriented roles. (directed towards accomplishing the task)

• Information giver: offers relevant facts, information.
• Initiator: suggests new ideas, ways of doing things.
• Co-ordinator: brings together ideas, suggestions.
• Evaluator: measures progress, acts as time keeper.

Maintenance oriented roles. (directed at keeping the group together)

• Encourager: praises and supports contributions of others.
• Gate keeper: opens channels of communication, ensuring that quiet members who want to contribute can do so and close-down over-talkative members.
• Harmonizer: attempts to reconcile differences within the group.
• Group Co-ordinator: calls attention to group processes and offers suggestions about problems the group may have in functioning

Self oriented roles.

• Aggressor: dominates the group in a way that prevents others from contributing fully.
• Blocker: negative about task and/or group, prevents progress being made.
• Clown: fools around, refuses to take things seriously.
• Non-participant: makes a point of not wanting to be involved, may even physically move away from the group.

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Stages of Group Development

New groups (and existing groups) typically go through stages in their development. When working in a group yourself be aware of stages you are going through.

• Forming:
  This is reflected in the initial uncomfortable silence. Members are unsure what is expected of them and maybe unclear about the task. Make sure you have introduced yourselves and that everyone understands what the group's task is.

• Storming:
  Be aware that conflict may emerge between sub groups or over leadership. members may be reluctant - fail to reappear after the break. there may be tension in the group because of some disagreement/dislike between members.

• Norming:
  a sense of group identity develops. Group members begin to share ideas and objectives. They agree on what is to be achieved and commitment develops.

• Performing:
  Energy is now directed towards the task. It needs to be channelled and co-ordinate well.

How long a stage lasts depends on how long the group is together and the nature of the task. If you only have 30 mins to work on a task (Stage 4 performance) you will need focus very quickly and reach stage 3 in a few minutes. If you cannot get this to happen the group is likely to wallow. On the other hand if you are working together over several weeks you may continue to hit the difficulties of Stage 2. You may find that the group regresses.

Conflicts within a group may remain unresolved. Because of the demands of performing and inability to resolve Stages 2 and 3 the group may splinter and sub-group may carry on as best they can. If the group is to work together properly, some form of conflict resolution needs to occur.

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Study Skills Index

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© This resource was developed by C. Jarvis.