Kolb’s learning process and its effect on group work
Many colleges today incorporate group learning in their curriculum as part of the course outline. This practice is specifically to hone the students’ skills in interacting with one another in a working model. An eventual result is a group of students who can work with people and handle workplace pressures. This benefit is because of the imminent translation of workplace setups in the study and project groups. Critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills are also honed this way. Despite the imminent positives of such a culture, there are shortcomings to the learning process. This reflection will look at the group set up, its successes and positives, as well as its challenges. The paper will also analyze the Kolb’s learning process and its effect on group work.
People have proven to be more creative when they work in groups. Teams present a wide field of opinion and view, preventing old and tired ideas from taking center stage. A team presents unique standpoints as many as the members enhancing problem-solving and decision making. Working together as a team also brought about enthusiasm in the learning process as most people saw the baggage of learning and researching split. Being able to play your part for the group and aiding in discovery and sharing of knowledge provides a sense of pride and belonging to group members boosting their esteems and work output.
Working as a team provides the opportunity to benefit from the talents and abilities of your team members as you better your own. The group moves forward by collecting ideas and viewpoints from the team members to draw an aggregate position that is agreeable and distinct. Learning this process can enable you to apply to your thinking, evaluation, problem-solving, and content generation processes. Every moment when a team member takes a particular direction, line of thinking, or method, it helps expand your window of opinion, techniques, and decision making. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
A working team is like a football team where each player plays a critical role. The success of an organization heavily relies on a team sticking together with trust and strong interpersonal bonds. A capable team is that which shall successfully minimize disagreements and develop strong working relationships to deliver on their goals. Teamwork in the study process provides the opportunity to bond with people, trust them, and respect their opinions. The trust allows new ideas to crop out and enables group members to push each other towards achieving individual goals. The process provides for an individual to get appreciation from the others, boosting their esteem and confidence. Such a healthy relationship can then surpass minor disagreements and deliver successfully.
Should such minor conflicts occur, the question would be if the members shall overcome or the team set up would quickly disintegrate. A team set up also comes with a wide range of work pressure. Someone might not like the specific assignment that the group gives them. Additionally, another group member could be having interpersonal problems with a particular member of a group that is unrelated to the task at hand. In such a case, the members would be forced to find a way to put their differences aside and work together. Such decisions would call for a natural training of problem-solving without involving the managing authority. This process teaches leadership and conflict resolution.
In workplace setups, many people resign from their jobs, citing lack of a listening ear. Every person always wants their opinion at least given a chance in a group set up. Teamwork provides the opportunity for everyone to own the process since it also contains their idea. Such ownership is because the final product is an aggregate for which they also take individual responsibility. The football analogy best surmises the situation since the best player in the team could score goals, but he underrated defender could also help the team win the match and feel proud about it.
Despite these advantages, the teamwork set up could still crop up with a lot of challenges that could hinder ultimate success. Joyriders are a common occurrence in a group set up. These are people who don’t love working and wait for the other members to do the bulk of the work as they take credit under the team umbrella. In an academic set up such as a group team report, these people don’t benefit since they don’t contribute anything and end up gaining nothing. Such elements breed disagreements within the group, lowering the morale of others who start feeling they are overworked. The long term effect is a poorly done assignment.
Another challenge is the skyrocketed time expenditure that balloons due to constant meetings and prolonged decision-making processes. In a group set up, a simple decision could take a lot of time to make as everybody has to contribute their opinion and agree with the consensus before a decision is made. This time-wasting could lead to the rise of factionalism and group politics since there are people who don’t like it when their opinions are not respected. These actions can lead to communication breakdown and blame games as people start getting demotivated.
Specific individuals work better when they work alone. When they are in a group set up, they tend to coil away and hold on to their ideas. This example is seen in the instance of a brilliant team member whose impact is not felt in the overall group output. Others also focus entirely on the overall success of the team, killing their innovativeness in the process. This is often accompanied by a group mentality where people tend to agree with a particular position for fear of being seen as the problem causer. A disorganized leader can also take a toll on the overall group performance. The group can quickly become disoriented and demotivated if the leader is not focused and committed to accomplishing the team goals.
Diverging learners tend to watch, observe and feel more during the team process t. these team members prefer observing and gathering information from contributors and apply an imaginative approach to solving problems. These individuals are geniuses in idea generation and are more concerned with the interpersonal aspects of teamwork. They encourage the opinion of everyone and love the group experience.
On the other hand, assimilating learners are also good observers and keen thinkers. They prefer a logical approach to solution making and are more interested in abstract conceptualization and ideas. They are emotionally detached and demand clear explanations to contributions rather than matters of chance. They are naturally good organizers and can synthesize information to draw accurate conclusions on behalf of the group. They also prefer analytical models and love reading and thinking over problems.
Converging learners are also detached from interpersonal concerns and prefer a practical approach to matters. They love experimenting as a way of finding solutions to problems. They are attracted to theoretical models up to the point they can convert them to a practical model. They are thrilled with technical tasks in the group and avoid social issues that arise within. In a human resource assignment, for example, they prefer using the team set up as a point of analysis to test theories and positions.
Finally, accommodating team members. Some people feel they are lazy thinkers because they rely more on others for information than synthesizing their own. They don’t love technical and logical approaches and prefer sticking by chance and trying out a new challenge with the prospect of failure and excitement of success. They are more intuitive and act on their gut feeling rather than a logical position. This is the characteristic of the majority of learners. Generally, all these learning styles are essential for a group as they complement each other to deliver on an assignment.
When these aspects are taken into account, one of my resolutions is to appreciate the individuality in teamwork. That is to say, someone should feel their impact and contribution in a team and be honored for it. This way, we could encourage more individual minded players to get involved in group activities. This also means diverting focus from what is generally agreeable for the majority in the group to what is innovative and logically correct and binding.
As Steve Jobs once put it, great things in the business world are accomplished by committed teams, not individuals. It would be great to take into account the team play and design a model that would ensure the use of clubs and groups with diverse talents to achieve great things. Teams provide a large pool of thought that can dissect and solve even the meanest of problems. One of my resolutions is designing an easy conflict resolution technique that would keep teams moving and delivering.
Finally, the greatest challenge is to get personal fulfillment from the group. That is to say, converting the work team into a family 0f people working happily. This could mean organizing fares that are not work-related to increase interpersonal bonds between members of a team. A comfortable schedule that allows flexibility of team members also could go a long way towards curbing absenteeism and enabling members to see the group process in a new light.