INDIVIDUAL REPORT

Research Project –
MN5241

Candidate Number: 0116662

– Royal Holloway University of London –

Group: VII (stream 2)

–
 I. Overview

This report aims to depict my personal experience of working in a group and the
opportunities and challenges that were presented while working on the project work
assigned for the module Research Project –MN5241. Initially each member of the group
depending on their strengths and area of expertise, were assigned specific duties to
perform. Although the diversity in a group brings many challenges of working together
but working cohesively towards a common goal and respecting each individual’s
contribution helped a great deal to achieve a successful outcome.

II. Individual Attributes

According to Meredith Belbin’s team roles classification, my role in the team would fall
under the category of ‘Team workers’ and ‘Completer Finishers’ (Dr Meredith Belbin,
1981). As I looked after the final compilation of the report, ‘scrutinizing’ the report for
‘errors’ and ‘polishing’ and editing it to the best ‘quality standards’ which has been
termed as the ‘Completer Finishers’(Dr Meredith Belbin, 1981). According to Belbin
(1981), my role of ‘Team worker’ could be linked to being ‘a good listener’, ‘diplomatic’
and ‘Cooperative’. There was good communication between me and my group members
on a daily basis which helped in grouping and exchanging our ideas effectively.
Therefore, it was very clear from the beginning about the team members being
comfortable in handling their respective responsibility in the group project. Being creative
and also a ‘perfectionist’ which is classified under ‘completer finisher’(Dr Meredith
Belbin, 1981), I paid attention to the comprehension, designing of the presentation slides,
making sure that the presentation slides were in coordination to the data stated in the
report to keep a level of uniformity.

III. Strengths and Contribution

The basic principle of social interdependence theory revolves around the interaction or
‘actions’ between ‘individuals’ that affect the ‘outcomes’ (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson,
1989). This is further categorized into two aspects, i.e. ‘Positive interdependence’ and
‘Negative interdependence’ (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 1989). According to Johnson
& Johnson, our group interaction could be termed under the ‘Positive interdependence’,
 since each and every group member was highly focussed on achieving a ‘common’ or
‘joint’ goal by maintaining a good and healthy relationship with the entire team (D. W.
Johnson & R. Johnson, 1989). It was very inspiring to see how every member of the team
contributed with great enthusiasm and interest in the research topic and although each one
of us belongs to different backgrounds, an environment of strong support and
encouragement existed throughout the group work. This indeed motivated the group to
work hard towards achieving the goal. As Atkinson rightly put it, that motivation to
accomplish is highly based on the individual’s evaluation of the probability of the
‘success’ in doing a ‘task’ (Atkinson, 1964). There should be an environment of trust and
positive energy in the team in order to achieve the set goals. ‘Positive interdependence’
usually occurs in ‘Cooperative’ situations which when compared to ‘Competitive’
situations increase the productivity of a team and the learning ability of each group
member (Deutsch, 1985). The ‘Cooperative’ system has a positive impact on the
relationships between the team members and this leads to a ‘sense of responsibility’ of
performing the tasks (Deutsch, 1985). This to a great extent promoted effective
communication in my team resulting in a cooperative and collaborative decision making
process.

IV. Weaknesses

During the start of the term, I was severely ill and couldn’t attend my meetings in the first
week, which made me worry about communicating with my group. However, after
joining back the university, I was able to cope up and thankfully the team was still in the
process of deciding what topic to choose for the case study. I also feel that I pay too much
attention on scrutinizing the work for errors and minimizing the irrelevant data which
according to me is to an extent time consuming. But being a perfectionist, I tend to have
difficulty in avoiding these little details which many might not consider that important. I
kept a check on myself not to spend too much time on this as I kept checking for errors
constantly after each member emailed their initial drafted parts to me. Thus in the end,
there were very few areas that required editing and corrections to be made.
 V. Techniques to improve teamwork

It is highly essential for every team to work in cooperation with the every team member and
to have an open mind set in order to be flexible to changes in ideas and other activities.
Taking example from our group, I would like to suggest that being an active listener and
staying open to ideas and feedback are very important factors in the beginning of the
planning stage that affect the overall success of the team’s productivity. Appreciation of the
individual efforts and contribution adds to the positivity in the group which was constant
present in my group all throughout. Ultimately it’s the individual effort that gives shape to the
collective effort of the team. The ‘principles of social and organizational psychology’ clearly
state that working together in a group yields greater level of ‘productivity’ than working
‘alone’ (Johnson & Johnson, 1991). Taking example from my team, I learnt that perhaps the
best approach towards achieving a goal is to identify the team goals and the strengths of each
group member so he or she can contribute to the best ability. It is not important that each
individual will contribute the same amount as others; hence it is necessary to divide the work
according to the respective areas of expertise. For example, one member can focus on writing
the literature review; another can make the presentation slides and compilation of the report,
while others can concentrate on case study analysis and other various areas of the report. It is
imperative for the team members to be aware of their weaknesses and be open about it in
front of the group so that the leader can assign the respective tasks. This allows each member
to be in a strong position to prove their worth by excelling in the tasks towards the
commencement of the project, which was excellently displayed by each member of my
group.
References

1. Johnson DW, Johnson R (1989). Cooperation and competition: Theory and research
(Interaction Book Company, Edina, MN).
2. Belbin, R, Meredith. (1981). Management Teams. London; John Wiley & Sons, New
York, 1981.
3. Atkinson J (1964). An introduction to achievement motivation (Van Nostrand, New
York).
4. Deutsch, M. (1985). Distributive justice: A socio-psychological perspective. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
5. Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1991). Learning together and alone: Cooperative,
competitive, and individualistic learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.