project report 4.pdf

7/27/2019 Project Report 4.pdf

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International group observation and analysis - Project Report MEHS-SEPM6

Created By:

Zoltan Balint

Dmitrij Lukjanec

Stefan Bogdan


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Created By:

Zoltan Balint

Dmitrij Lukjanec

Stefan Bogdan

Supervisors

Inge Lundrup

Anders Mller

Subject Group

Rathier Clment

Kuba Sitek

Olga Petka

Yim Ka-Yan


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Table of Contents1. Executive summary............................................................................................................................. 1

2. Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 1

3. Team Overview ................................................................................................................................... 2

4. Evaluation of the Project description ................................................................................................. 3

5. Initial conflict prediction ..................................................................................................................... 4

5.1 Group forming conflicts ................................................................................................................ 4

5.2 Decision making conflicts .............................................................................................................. 4

5.3 Cultural conflicts ........................................................................................................................... 4

6. Personality types ................................................................................................................................. 5

6.1 Personality types and traits. ......................................................................................................... 5

6.2 DiSc personality profile ................................................................................................................. 5

6.2.1 Personality profile of our group ............................................................................................. 6

6.2.2 Our group ............................................................................................................................. 10

6.2.3 Personality profile of our exchange group .......................................................................... 10

6.2.4 Exchange group ................................................................................................................... 14

7. Motivation Concerns ......................................................................................................................... 15

7.1 Incentives .................................................................................................................................... 16

7.2 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation ............................................................................................... 18

7.3 Humanistic theory of motivation (Maslow pyramid).................................................................. 20

7.4 Alderfers ERG Theory ................................................................................................................. 22

7.5 Herzbergs Dual-Factor Theory ................................................................................................... 24

7.6 Hackman and Oldham job characteristics model ....................................................................... 25

7.7 Job rotation, job enlargement & job enrichment ....................................................................... 26

7.7.1 Job Rotation: ........................................................................................................................ 26

7.7.2 Job Enlargement: ................................................................................................................. 27

7.7.3 Job Enrichment: ................................................................................................................... 28


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7.8 McGregors Theory X and Theory Y ............................................................................................ 29

7.8.1 Theory X ('authoritarian management' style) ...................................................................... 29

7.8.2 Theory Y ('participative management' style) ....................................................................... 29

7.9 Taylor Scientific Management .................................................................................................... 31

8. Group structure ................................................................................................................................. 33

8.1 Group power ............................................................................................................................... 33

8.2 Group status ................................................................................................................................ 34

8.3 Group liking ................................................................................................................................. 34

8.4 Communication ........................................................................................................................... 35

8.5 Belbin team roles ........................................................................................................................ 35

8.6 Leadership ................................................................................................................................... 41

9. Group development .......................................................................................................................... 42

9.1 Types of groups ........................................................................................................................... 42

9.2 The observed group. ................................................................................................................... 42

9.2.1 The full group ....................................................................................................................... 42

9.2.2 The subgroups ...................................................................................................................... 42

9.3 Group forming stages ................................................................................................................. 43

9.3.1 Forming ................................................................................................................................ 43

9.3.2 Storming ............................................................................................................................... 44

9.3.3 Norming ............................................................................................................................... 45

9.3.4 Performing ........................................................................................................................... 45

9.3.5 Adjourning ............................................................................................................................ 45

9.4 Conflicts....................................................................................................................................... 46

9.5 Actions we would take as managers ........................................................................................... 46

10. Team communication ..................................................................................................................... 48

10.1 Communication between the exchange group and the observing group ................................ 48

10.2 Communication model inside the exchange group .................................................................. 48

10.3 Communication within the group at the forming stage ........................................................... 49


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10.4 Communication within the group after 2 months have passed ............................................... 50

10.5 Communication when the supervisor is present ...................................................................... 51

10.6 Team meeting analysis .............................................................................................................. 52

10.6.1 Within the full group .......................................................................................................... 52

10.6.2 Within the subgroups......................................................................................................... 53

10.7 Group's decision making ........................................................................................................... 54

10.7.1 Mixed styles of decision making ........................................................................................ 54

10.7.2 Different styles ................................................................................................................... 54

10.7.3 French subgroup ................................................................................................................ 55

10.7.4 Polish subgroup .................................................................................................................. 55

10.7.5 Individuality ........................................................................................................................ 55

10.7.6 Competitiveness................................................................................................................. 56

10.7.7 Cooperation ....................................................................................................................... 56

10.7.8 Unhealthy agreements ...................................................................................................... 57

10.7.9 Close related subgroups..................................................................................................... 57

10.8 Conflicts and the acting "managers" ........................................................................................ 57

10.9 Why NO conflicts? ..................................................................................................................... 58

11. Reflections....................................................................................................................................... 59

11.1 Exchange group project reflections .......................................................................................... 59

11.2 Our reflections .......................................................................................................................... 59

11.3 Per's reflections......................................................................................................................... 60


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1. Executive summary

Our lives are made of belonging, being present in a group. All around us you can find

different social groups: families, classes in universities, religious groups and so on. Teams are

building blocks of organizational life.The way the people work, interact with one another, directly influences the team's

performance and efficiency. You can gather people of greatest intelligence in one room, give

them an assignment and notice that there will be no progress on it. Or, instead of just taking

people into a team with a high IQ level or education level, you can build a team of people

with personality profiles suitable for each other, people who will listen to one another and

will be able to work with one another and deliver.

This is what we had to asses. If we were dealing with a group of individuals that could

actually form a true group with all the needed traits. Plus the hardest thing is to establish

cooperation between the brilliant minds and make them see their interdependence on oneanother in the team.

Productivity is based in our days on group work and having good teams so this is why

this project is important and it is good practice of our knowledge, for our future positions.

2. Introduction

We are given to "manage" a newly formed international group, which consists of

representatives of 2 countries: France and Poland. All the people in the group have their owndifferences; educational backgrounds, cultural background, different personalities.

We are going to try to "manage" them, to increase their performance efficiency, as

well as observe and analyze as they develop as a group. We are going to apply the knowledge

that we gained in order to see if they are compatible as a group with their personality traits,

predict future conflicts, point out the leaders in the group and how the communication is done

there.

We are going to assist the group from a "manager's" perspective, not as technical

supervisors, although in need of help, we will provide help in a non-direct answering way,

meaning we will guide them by asking questions, which are relevant for solving the problem.What we did focus a lot on was Motivation and Group development and factors that

influence them. We used our theory and we tried to do as much as we can taking in

consideration that we were not actual managers so we could just postulate on what could be

done in most cases.


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3. Team Overview

The team consists of 2 French students: Clement and Yim and 2 Polish Students: Olga

and Kuba. Polish student have a mechanical engineering background and French are studying

ICT engineering. Before coming exchange to VIA, they knew each other in their home

countries: Olga and Kuba studied in the same programme in their home university and so did

Clement and Yim. So actually a group consists of 2 groups, which were formed based on the

friendship and education.

The way the groups were formed was that the group members were searching group

mates by looking at the credit amount and people from other educations who were looking

for additional group mates. None of them have done any similar very group work based

tasks, so all 4 members are newcomers to this area. Apart from Clement, who has worked in

the IT part of a bank back in France, none of them posses any education relevant work

experience. Most of their education was based on learning the theory without much practical

use of it.

Since they started their project, they did not really try to put much structure into the

way they were working. The meetings were held at random days and times, they were trying

to decide when they should meet on the face book page. But since not all members checked

the posts on the day it was posted, the meeting were postponed a bit all the time.

(Enclosure 3)


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4. Evaluation of the Project description

The group has decided to make a smart cooking machine, which would allow you to

do whatever you want, after you would set it to cook your meal, so you would not waste your

time on temperature regulations, etc.

From the first glance, the project description looks solid, as they went into the crucial

parts of it. They have a clearly stated purpose, which shows why this machine is needed.

Problem calculation shows area which will have to be focused on, from both mechanical and

IT part. Delimitation possesses clear statements what will and won't be done, and if it won't

be done, clearly showing what to expect, when you get the fully done project. In choice of

method they divided tasks and set deadlines with exact dates, as well as made a schedule for

all the upcoming work.

Things we would point out:

In the problem formulation, apart from having general problem formulating questionsfor both educations, they have also a clear line between what work should be done by

which education. The problems are not weighted, so it is very hard to judge if they're

equally hard or important, or if they are going to take up an equal amount of time to

solve them.

In addition, even though they made a separate time-schedule for mechanical and theIT part, the starting time is the same and it starts in parallel with some general things

that they will have to do, such as designing the overall look, features, deciding on the

food, which if not being finished, might complicate work for a mechanical/IT aspectof the project.

When they were making the mind map, they were actually working as a team, theywere debating, stating their opinions and trying to back it up. They did a lot of

research and you could see co-operation between the Mechanical and the ICT

students.

We have given certain points which could make their report better. After this wenoticed, that they started uploading the modified reports on the Facebook group page.

Seeing as members of both educations were uploading it, it allows us to think that all

of them want to make a very qualitative project.

We also got a clear point, at what they are making and what their goal is. They knowwhat to expect from the cooperation of both education, as well as what they have to

contribute.

(Enclosure 5)


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5. Initial conflict prediction

After meeting up with the group for 2 times and getting the questionnaire back we

made a short prediction of conflicts that they might endure during their project period. We

did not have enough time with the group, but we have noticed that they are pretty silent and

that made it even harder to predict any conflicts.

5.1 Group forming conflicts

The typical "Me over you" attitude Unhealthy agreements might prevent them from cooperating and evolving as a team. Division of the group based on the nationality and their education.

5.2 Decision making conflicts

Language barrier might cause certain problems, due to the fact that it is still prettydifficult for them to explains their thoughts in English.

They come from very individualistic countries, therefore cooperation might not bepresent and they will collide with each other, if they do everything on their own but in

a different way

Not establishing a structure, might lead to a chaos. Chaos itself might even lead to adestruction of the group.

5.3 Cultural conflicts

Judging from the cultural background, we think that there might be certain problems,if the group decides to meet and work on weekdays. It's well known that in French

weekends are work free, while in Poland it is okay to study and work during them.

It is common in France to take several breaks in the middle of the work. If thishappens, it might interfere with the Polish group members working policy.

(Enclosure 3 and 4)


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6. Personality types

Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral

response patterns of an individual in a stable and distinctive manner. The concept of

personality tries to explain why each individual has a unique character.

Personality can be determined through a variety of tests. Rorschach Inkblot test or the

most popular technique is the self-report: a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks

people to indicate the extent to which, sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe

their own behavior or mental state etc.

Two main traits of personality are stability and distinctiveness, which are described as

follows:

Stability describes the individuals capability of having a stable behavior. Distinctiveness describes the fact that each individual has a unique personalitytype and behavior.

6.1 Personality types and traits.

Personality types explain in 1 word what kind of personality characteristics does a

certain individual poses, a psychological classification. Types are sometimes said toinvolve qualitative differences between people, whereas traits might be construed

as quantitative differences. These could be: introvert, extrovert, open, perfectionist, achiever,

enthusiast etc.

Personality traits explain a relatively stable quality of an individual which influences

behavior in a particular direction such as: shyness, reliability, moodiness, irritability,

Machiavellianism etc.

6.2 DiSc personality profile

DISC is a behavior assessment tool based on the DISC theory of

psychologist William Marston. This theory centers around four different personality traits:

Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness.

The DISC assessment can be used for a variety of real-life situations. Many

companies use it as a way to screen potential employees, with the thought that a certain

personality type would be better or worse in certain jobs or positions.


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Based on this theory, this test allows you to understand your own behavior and

understand how your own behavior affects other people.

We have decided to hand in to our group a DISC personality test which we have used

in the classes of PKO. In order to do that we had to digitalize it and hand it in, in a Excel file.Here is a small sample of how it looked like. (Enclosure 6)

6.2.1 Personality profile of our group

We are all 3 part of the mechanical engineering program at VIA University, in the

sixth semester, and we come from 2 different cultural backgrounds, some might argue that

even 3 because of the fact that Zoltan and Bogdan come from 2 different parts of Romania,

one having a more western (being very close to the Hungarian border, and being in fact

Hungarian) influence than the other. Although we are from the same country our cultural

background is very different. Our third "comrade" is from Lithuania, but he`s Russian,

Dmitrij.

We have been working together as a group since the 2nd semester so we have a lot ofexperience. We got to a point that we know each other very well and know each other's

strong points. We work well as a unit and we have developed a good friendship.

Dmitrij Lukjanec

A Russian mechanical engineer, which we believe has an extrovert personality type,

some might say he is the "pillar" of our group, because he always tries to push us in making

deadlines. He is highly intelligent and radiates self-confidence. Some of his personality traits

are reliability, he is optimistic, psychologically resilient and on a more negative side he is

easily irritated and he shows aspects of dogmatism. Overall a great person and we are glad to

have him on board.


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As you can see from the DISC personality test he has a

typical objective thinker personality profile. He focuses on

achieving complete and total accuracy in everything he does. He

continually questions ideas and processes to ensure that things are

done properly. He is systematic, practical and efficient. He thrivesto reach correctness in his goals. He rejects impersonal aggression

and has an excellent ability of thinking logically. Under pressure he becomes rather

worrisome. He often prefers to work independently, yet he remains objective and diplomatic

when dealing with others. (Enclosure 6.1.1)

He is motivated by precision and accuracy and logic.

Behavior which is noticed in such people:

Focus on quality and precision Tries to use familiar techniques, this way to ensure the most qualitative approach Is usually emotionally charged Minimizes the risk Diplomatic Indecisive Lack of creativity

Ways to approach such people:

Show respect for his knowledge

Be precise in agreements Be systematic Be on time Talk about facts, not feelings Be patient

(Copyright :http://www.discprofiles4u.com/)

Bogdan Stefan

A Romanian mechanical engineer, which we believe has also an extrovert personality,

with a hint of introvercy, because he doesn't always speak out what he has on his mind(which we believe is a part of his cultural background). He is also highly intelligent and is the

groups "brain" let's say. He is older than the rest and has more experience. The rest of the

group might think of him as an authority, almost all the decisions go through him, so he could

express his opinion on the matter. Personality traits that he possess are emotional maturity, he

is very calm when in stressful situations, he has a very altruistic view of the group, he has

amazing self control, although he is also easily irritated, but tries to hide it sometimes.

As you can see from the DISC personality test he has an atypical creativepersonality

profile. He expresses himself from opposing behavioral forces. Normally a creative person

desires immediate results, this is not the case with Bogdan, he doesn`t rush things, he takes


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his time, strives for perfection. He thinks and acts quickly, yet will

explore all options before making a decision. That is one of the

reasons why he doesn't always speak he's mind about matters that

need changing, the other would be mentioned above.

Creative persons want freedom to explore and the authority

to test and re-test findings. Daily decisions are easy for them, but

they use extreme caution when making bigger decisions. This describes him very well, he`s

whole being works on the idea that " you`d batter think twice before you say/do something.

(Enclosure 6.1.2)

People with creative disc profiles are motivated by unique accomplishments and

dominance.


Wants to be in control Is afraid of losing control Likes challenges New or varied activities are preferred Decisive Result-oriented Has insufficient focus on quality


Get to the point quickly Give direct answer Show determination Provide facts Emphasize logic Be frank


Zoltan Balint

A Hungarian mechanical engineer which we believe has an introverted personality. A

highly intelligent person. He is the go to guy, when you get stuck in the complicated

situation, since he will easily turn it around and show the easiest way to the solution. He is a

real team player, who is not afraid to state his mind, or take over work, which he is not

exactly comfortable with, but which has to be done eventually. He has a very explosive

attitude and he is very emotional.


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As you can see from the DISC personality test he has an

atypicalspecialistpersonality profile. This personality pattern, also

called "pure" style has only one plotting point above the mid-line.

That means that it is not affected significantly by other style

influenceswhat you see is what you get.

He is considerate, patient and always stand ready to help others. He seeks to restore

harmony to home or work and to minimize conflict and create a calm safe environment. He

is friendly and compassionate, and he patiently listens with empathy. He builds deep,

relationships and is a loyal friend and partner.

He prefers practical and true procedures that ensure stability. That is why we can see

some frustration in him, when he has to work on the SEPM6 project. He prefers to work

behind the scenes and offers support, rather than to lead. Change does not come easily to

Zoltanhe doesn't believe in change just for the sake of change. If the reasons for change

are fully explained and benefits are clear, he will support the change to avoid conflict.

(Enclosure 6.1.3)

He is motivated by controlled stable environment and maintaining status quo.


Is afraid of conflicts Doesn't like changes Co-operative Needs a sense of security Deliberate Persistent Loyal


Find areas of common interest Limit risks Talk quietly and peacefully Be loyal Provide full support



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6.2.2 Our group

We have been a group for 3 years now. Our group contains 2 extraverts and 1

introvert, as well as a representative of the steady behavior, conscientious behavior and

dominating behavior. From our experience, it was a big advantage, to have people, with

different personalities. Even though, we had a very rough start at the forming stages,

eventually we evolved group wise, got certain synergy and saw our differences more as

advantages, than obstacles. Having people, which are quite different, from our point of view,

is a big advantage, because this way you get a bigger overview of the problem you are trying

to solve. Each member of our group, sees the problem or a solution for it from a different

perspective, but it doesn't mean that we cannot decide on the final thing. What we get, is

actually a same solution, but looking from different sides on it, allows us to get different

processes to approach it, this way, getting a very qualitative result.

Certain conflicts come up from time to time, but it's just a storm in a cup and are

easily dealt with.

6.2.3 Personality profile of our exchange group

After observing their progress, attending their meetings and giving them a DISC

personality test we were able to make a personality profile for each of the group mates.

Kuba Sitek

A Polish mechanical engineering student, which we believe has a more extrovert

personality type, because out of all the group he is the one that speaks out the most, and

makes most of the interaction with us. We think that he is their "leader". He decides when themeetings should be, he interacts the most with the ICT guys, he is like a pillar on which the

group rests. Personality traits that he shown so far could be: reliability and calmness.

As you can see from the DISC personality test he has a

creative profile pattern, however not a typical creative personality,

meaning that: Creative styles exhibit great planning ability and they

strive for perfection. They make sound decisions yet may lack

attention to interpersonal relationships, although from what we have

seen and experienced, Kuba is not the case, he genuinely seems to

want to connect, of course at an educational level (and maybe

friendship level) with the other students from their group, or for that matter with us .

Creative people want freedom to explore and the authority to test and re-test findings.

And we have experienced this first hand, when the group was working on their problem, he

refused to continue to the next topic until he was sure that the data they had gathered was

okay. Daily decisions are easy for them, but they use extreme caution when making bigger

decisions. They weigh pros and cons, and can appear cool, aloof or blunt. (Enclosure

6.1.4)


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dominance.


Wants to be in control

Is afraid of losing control Likes challenges New or varied activities are preferred Decisive Result-oriented Has insufficient focus on quality




Olga Petka

A Polish mechanical engineering student , which we believe has an introvertpersonality type, because she refrains from speaking too much in the meetings, and she does

not interact too much with the French guys. Personality traits that she possesses are not

necessarily very positive from the group point of view because she is easily irritated and is

very moody, some might say that she has a very Machiavellistic trait. We have noticed that in

stressful situations she becomes independent and bored.

As you can see from the DISC personality test she has also a

creative profile pattern, but more a typical type. Creative styles

exhibit great planning ability and they strive for perfection. They

make sound decisions yet may lack attention to interpersonal

relationships, unlike Kuba she does not show the same commitment

in trying to make new friends,

Creative persons want freedom to explore and the authority to test and re-test

findings. Daily decisions are easy for them, but they use extreme caution when making bigger

decisions. They weigh pros and cons, and can appear cool, aloof or blunt. From this

perspective she is very similar to her friend Kuba. She appears to be private and restrained,

when it comes to communication with the two ICT students. She strives to reach unique


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accomplishments and from what we could gather, she likes to dominate others, from an

intellectual point of view. (Enclosure 6.1.5)


dominance.


Wants to be in control Is afraid of losing control Likes challenges New or varied activities are preferred Decisive

Result-oriented Has insufficient focus on quality




Clement Rathier

A French ICT engineering student, which we believe has a very introvert personality.

He speaks very slowly and with a low volume, he tries not to engage into conflicts too often,

he generally "does what he is told" and doesn't ask questions. Personality traits that he

possesses are: obedience, self control and maybe timidity ( which in a group is not always a

good trait to have).

As you can see from the DISC personality test he has a very typical agent profile

pattern. People which take part of this profile are easy going, relaxed, and they go with the

flow. We have experienced this, we have seen that he is exactly

how the profile describes him to be. He is calm, relaxed, and even

in stress situations he never got irritated. They strive to maintain

harmony in relationships, and are committed to treating people with

respecta key distinction is that they tend to thinks of others first,

then themselves.


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He also has excellent task related skills and add stability to his work environment

through adherence to procedures and completion of tasks. While he generally tries to avoid

conflict, he is willing to mediate between others to restore harmony in the workplace.

Also, people with agent disc profiles are motivated by acceptance of their group.

(Enclosure 6.1.7)


Is afraid of conflicts Doesn't like changes Co-operative Needs a sense of security Deliberate Persistent Loyal


Find areas of common interest Limit risks Talk quietly and peacefully Be loyal Provide full support


Ka-yan Yim

A French ICT engineering student, which we believe has also an introvert personality.

Such as his close friend, Clement, he possesses the same personality type and traits. He also

speaks very quietly and rarely. Out of the 4 student he is the one with whom we`ve had the

least interaction.

In general these traits that the 2 French people possesses are not too common for their

country, which leads us to believe that the social influences from around their homes had ahuge impact on the way these buys "turned out" to be .

As you can see from the DISC personality test he has a typical perfectionist profile

pattern. If it cant be done right, then why do anything at all that is the mantra of the

Perfectionist Styles. Perfectionists are precise thinkers and employ

plans and procedures for both their personal and professional lives,

thus avoiding the unexpected.

We have experienced this before hand, he strives to reach

greatness with his work, he wants everything to be in tip-top shape,

he is precise and always has a good point in the discussion. He


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question's assumptions and require loads of information that he can analyze when exploring

alternatives and before making a decision or reaching conclusions.

From our experience, as being a group, we can state that having too many introvert

people in 1 group can`t be a positive thing. But because of the 2 subgroups similar cultural

backgrounds, they have managed somehow, to work together and they have proven theplausibility of the old tale "practice doesn't always mix with theory".(Enclosure 6.1.6)

People with perfectionist disc profiles are motivated by predictable and stable

outcomes.


Focus on quality and precision Tries to use familiar techniques, this way to ensure the most qualitative approach Is usually emotionally charged Minimizes the risk Diplomatic Indecisive Lack of creativity


Show respect for his knowledge Be precise in agreements Be systematic Be on time Talk about facts, not feelings Be patient


6.2.4 Exchange group

First thing we should point out is, that the Polish mechanical students both have

dominating behavior. Meaning, they might want to be the leading force. Apart from this,

from our own experience, group forming stages that we undergo before, we can say that thissetup could work. The profile from behavior point of view, is very similar to our groups, in

addition with 1 more dominating person.

Difference in education might the thing, that will either destroy any chance of

evolving as a group, or it might influence it in a completely other way, positively. It is very

hard for us to predict, because there are too many variables in this case, with which we did

not deal, when we first made a group:

We felt that this was a long-term thing We had same educational background


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We know that we understood the importance of teamwork, which was presented byVIA, as whether the exchange students did the same, remains to be seen.

Our strong sides and weaknesses are different, and they inspired a lot of cooperationand better synergy

Having all of this in mind, we say that it is very unpredictable, on how they will worktogether and only time will show how it is going to turn out.

7. Motivation Concerns

Motivation can be seen as the process that initiates, guides and maintains behaviors

and helps getting to the goals. Motivation is what causes people to take actions, whether it is

getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or even reading a book to gain knowledge and many

more.

We can say that there are three major components for motivation:

Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior, such as enrolling in apsychology class.

Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may existalthough it requires a significant investment of time, energy and resources.

Intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal.If you were to apply the theory to our group we could actually identify the components ofmotivation as follows:

Activation : This can be the moment that the group decided about the project themeand decided on having both IT and Mechanical Engineering concepts.

Persistence : They became persistent and carried on work even if the supervisor andus told them that the project is rather ambitious for their background and even if they

encountered difficulties when doing the mind map for problem formulation.

Intensity : Well that can be observed especially in the meetings when they try toend up with a solution and they are showing a rather large work power and ambition.


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The reason we are paying quite a lot of attention to motivation is because the more

that people are motivated to be successful and achieve their goals, the more their confidence

in themselves and their abilities will grow which in turn will also turn out to get them even

more motivated.

When people are motivated, at work, this is a big advantage because it can lead to many

positive things:

Improvement of job satisfaction Increase in effort of employees Working environment can improve The focus becomes now the actual result Everyone's full potential can be used The team becomes a whole The team members become aware of their role.

7.1 Incentives

The incentive theory says that people are motivated to do things because of external

rewards. For example, going to work for the salary.

An incentive is basically promise given or offered to stimulate new or added action or

effort in one or more people. An incentive can take the form of recognition, job promotion, or

an increase in salary. However, to some people just a kind word from a company superior can

also be incentive. While most incentives are extrinsic motivation, some may be intrinsic

motivation as well, such as one's own job satisfaction, job security and a pride ofaccomplishment.

There are two major forms of incentives: monetary incentives and nonmonetary

incentives.


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A company can offer incentives to its employees to accomplish the goals or

objectives. The company may need:

to increase the productivity improve quality of products implement new processes or procedures discover or develop new capabilities in their workforce.

An incentive can be either positive or negative in intent. A positive incentive leads to

an assurance for the accomplishment of a desired outcome and are usually optimistic and

psychologically rewarding to employees.

A negative incentive is meant to correct an unwanted or unexpected outcome. Such

things as a threat of demotion, transfer, suspension or even termination can serve as an

incentive, but in a negative way.

To succeed in motivating employees, by using incentives, requires a prior

understanding of the people the incentives intend to stimulate. However, in a lot of cases, the

recognition that they are the "best" at what they do can be a strong incentive. To be

successful, an incentive motivation program must be adapted to the needs, desires, and goals

of the group to be effective.

What we can do is to constant reassure them that they are doing a good job and that

the result that they produce is over the average and close to professional. We are trying to

keep away from negative incentives such as constant pressure, witch for some managers istheir "MO" or inhibiting them from actually creating and pursuing their ideas.We tried to

have a helping attitude towards them and to offer them a good forum easy to use and it did

work. They like it and they use it to communicate with us and between each other.

We created a group on Facebook where only our group

members and the subject group members could join. We

encouraged the students to upload every document or part of

document they write so that we can see it and give them our

input. They were very happy to have things like that.

We used this medium to build their confidence and also

to offer a medium they can use without feeling too pressured. We thought about Skype but

they all are shy persons so they would have felt us as being too involved in their activities.

With a group on Facebook they can read it and participate in the discussion when they want

and that gives them a better sense of "freedom" and power.


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7.2 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic means internal or inside of yourself. When you are intrinsically motivated,

you enjoy an activity solely for the satisfaction of learning and having fun, and you are

determined to evolve in order to be competent.

Some factors that motivate a learner intrinsically:

being personally challenged, curious to acquire knowledge, control or alter theoutcome,

imagining the outcome and how it can affect the future competition within one's self , how well they are doing in a comparison to others, cooperation , helping others and being recognized for your work.

During our meetings with the group we tried to talk to them in a matter that would

increase their curiosity to the project and increase their confidence in the outcome of the

project. We encouraged them to have confidence that the project is interesting and even if it

is difficult we accomplished in making them believe that this project , this new way of

working in a group will make them better and will prepare them for future jobs.

Having done this we were able to increase their curiosity and we got a lot of questions

about jobs and about future work environments. It is very clear that they are driven

individuals and that they all have a strong goal to become better.

It is a strong advantage also , concerning intrinsic motivations that they have a girl in

a group. It is well known that there are two factors , two "society truths " that enrich the

group dynamic and increase the intrinsic competition for each member of the group :

The fact that the boys want to impress in some extent the girl by becomingbetter and showing good results and show reliability and trust.

The fact that the girl will always want to prove that she is not the week linkand that she can always be as good as any boy , as an engineer and as a part of

the group.


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Extrinsic means external or outside of yourself. This type of motivation is very much

used within society. Throughout the entire life cycle, rewards are used like better grades,

money, promotions , giving the person that is performing the job a sense of satisfaction that

the task does not achieve alone. When a person is motivated to behave, achieve, learn or do,

based on a future desired , usually physical outcome, rather than just for the fun, ordevelopment or the learning provided from within the experience, that person is being

extrinsically motivated.Examples of extrinsic motivators can be:

trophies, medals, money, discounts, grades, entrance to programs or schools, higher commissions, new clothes, losing weight

Because of these potential flaws of extrinsic motivation we are trying to diminish the

thoughts of the group in this area. The only goal that we talked to them about is the grade that

they might receive but we tried to give a small importance to that and tried to make them

understand that finishing the project and learning from working in a group and gathering

more knowledge is more important.


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7.3 Humanistic theory of motivation (Maslow pyramid)

Humanistic theory has , at the core, the idea that everyone has the potential to make a

contribution to society and be good and likeable person in the situation where their needs are

fulfilled. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers started the humanistic theory movement

and Maslow developed the famous pyramid of needs.

Maslow suggested that fulfilling the needs, in the proper, natural order, would allow

people to become accomplished, fully able persons. So only after the basic physiological

needs such as food, shelter, warmth are met people can move on to the next stages

Maslow theory was developed not by studying mentally ill patients, which was the

usual way for psychologists, up to that point, but by studying healthy, productive, creative

individuals. He's conclusion was that there were common characteristics which were shared

by the more successful subjects:

self acceptance, openness respect for other individuals.

Humanistic theory is , as we see it , about the development of the person. It was very

popular in the 1970s but it's becoming out of relevance today as western countries are

tending slightly towards the political aspects and rights and there is more emphasis on

conforming and contributing to society that now is becoming more conservative. Humanistic

theory does have a very strong focus on the individual development and it is based upon the

preconception that well developed, successful people are more likely to make a positive

contribution.

To be honest we felt really connected to this theory even if other people feel that it is

overly egocentric, people who tend to think that this is free to be you and me, hug a tree

crap We found some logic in the fact that in order to define what makes a healthy person,

Maslow and Carl Rogers had a good idea in studying successful individuals who made great

contributions to society.


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If we were to simplify the model of Maslow and analyze it we would get these

conclusions:

Maslow advanced the following propositions about human behavior:

Man is a wanting being governed by drams of achievements. A satisfied need is not a motivator of behavior. The opposite, only unsatisfied

needs motivation.

There are levels - a hierarchy of importance for needs . As soon as needs on alower level are met those on the next, higher level will need satisfaction.

Within those levels, there could be many specific needs, from lowest to highest:

Physiological : the need for food, drink, shelter and relief from physical oremotional pain.

Safety and security : concerns about protection from physical dangers witheconomic security, preference for the familiar ,predictable world.

Social : getting a sense of belonging in a family , group, intimate relationship. Esteem or egoistic : self-esteem and the esteem of others, which involves

self-confidence, achievement, competence, knowledge, autonomy, reputation,

status and respect.

Self-actualization: the persons needs forrealizing his/her own potential.

If we take a look at the pyramid then we can see that our purpose can only start at the

top 2 levels because the rest of the levels are actually society concerned and we do not have a

role in that. We cannot influence the amount of food, security and sentimental stability that

they receive.

Although Maslow's top two level needs are basically intrinsic needs we can still

influence the way that our group members see each other because we have an experience

edge over them and they might not be able to accurately assess their weaknesses and

strengths.

Concerning the esteem level we are very proud that we were able to actually give

them a level of self confidence and to guide them in understanding the need of other group

members for respect. We were able to show them that any individual deserves respect

because of the input that he can bring and to show them the result of showing respect. We

accomplished in showing them that they can actually become better and that no task is

impossible if you actually try to think of the group members in the way that you would want

them to think about you.

The top level of the pyramid was kind of tricky because it is a heavily intrinsic

motivation so all we could offer is a difference in normality, a difference in the work

environment. We could offer a medium where morality could grow, by becoming even a role


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model, by showing our mutual respect and drive. We encouraged them to be creative we kept

reminding them that no idea during brainstorming is a bad idea because it could easily lead to

a viable result. By doing that we tried to help them achieve self-actualization by increasing

their capabilities of problem solving, by encouraging them to have a raised acceptance of

facts, and we did not encourage prejudice.

Although this model has encountered a lot of criticism we feel that it is still a viable

model of analysis and we did actually feel quite close to the whole logic of Maslow and Carl

Rogers. We feel that they are correct and that people, especially in these days, tend to be

more selfish so the pyramid of self actualization is not actually so "out of date" as some

critics will say.

7.4Alderfers ERG Theory

To bring Maslows need hierarchy theory of motivation on a more real perspective,

Clayton Alderfer redefined it in his own terms. His rework is called as ERG theory of

motivation. He re-categorized Maslows hierarchy of needs into three simpler and generalized

classes of needs:

Existence needs : material necessities. In short, it is about a personsphysiological and physical safety needs.

Relatedness needs : aspiration for interpersonal relationships ( family,colleagues or superiors), getting public fame and recognition. The same with

Maslows social needs and external component of esteem

Growth needs : need for self-development and personal growth andadvancement. Same with Maslows self-actualization needs and intrinsic

component of esteem needs

Our opinion is that the significance of the three classes of needs may vary for each

individual. ERG theory is based on Maslow's levels of needs but the differences between

Maslow Need Hierarchy Theory and Alderfers ERG Theory are :


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ERG Theory says that at a given point of time, more than one need may beoperational so none of the climbing in the pyramid of Maslow.

ERG Theory also states that if the fulfillment of a higher-level need isdiminished, we will see an increase in desire for satisfying a lower-level

need. ERG Theory of motivation is more flexible as he perceived the needs as arange/variety instead of perceiving them as a hierarchy. According to

Alderfer, an individual can work on the growth of needs even if his

existence or relatedness needs are not really met. That could be the

explanation to the existence of starving artist who can struggle for getting

better even if he is hungry.

(Copyright:www.valuebasedmanagement.com)

As "managers" we have to understand that an employee has various needs that must

be satisfied at the same time. According to the ERG theory, if we make the mistake ofconcentrating solely on one need at a time, then we will see that we didnt manage to

motivate our group properly.

In conclusion the main difference that we saw from Maslow hierarchy of needs is that

the climb through the needs level is not necessary linear in ERG case. The ERG theory

acknowledges that the person can easily revert to a prior need if he becomes frustrated during

the level that he might be on.

This was very obvious in the group that we "managed" and we saw a lot of reverts

from self accomplishment to the prior level of esteem and even lower to the level of familyand friendship needs. The fact that they were basically 2 groups instead of one group had bad

repercussions on the friendship relationship and the mutual respect between the group

members. They did not enough times to become real friends and to become extremely

obvious to them that the other members are real persons with real problems but also with

intelligence and persons that can add value to the group.

This was not a big problem and the extent of that fact was not on a large scale because

they still communicate enough and they were people with good upbringing and with a high

degree of education.

Our solution would be to have a few team buildings. We should have met them and

put them together to encourage them to talk to each other even if they were shy persons. By

doing that we would allow them to meet each other and discover each other's pluses and

minuses and starting from that building a better friendship. So we could have build a very

stable relatedness but due to the lack of time, with our other projects and the groups other

projects we were not able to find the time to do that.

Also, a big plus to teambuilding would be that people participating, during the process

of making friends realize that they really could be appreciated for their input, for their

personality and so on so they tend to get a better self esteem which is already a big climb tothe next level of needs.


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7.5 Herzbergs Dual-Factor Theory

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioral scientist wrote a two-factor theory called

also motivator-hygiene theory. According to this theory, there are some job factors that result

in satisfaction and other job factors that just prevent dissatisfaction.

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories as it is shown in this diagram:

If you look from this perspective what we provided for our group concerning the

motivational factors is recognition by always telling them that the result of their work is

viable and responsible by making sure they understand that each member has a part to play

and they all are important but also responsible for the final result.

Concerning hygiene factors we did not have anything to do with that because we

dont actually decide that. What we think should have been done is give them their own room

so they can concentrate better on the project and so they can talk freely without distraction.


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A budget for some experiments that they might have and also for the teambuilding

would have been great and also we think that free access to the laboratory and the tools so

they can make some experiment would have been great to.

Quality of supervision was great. Mr. Per Ulrik Hansen gave great insight and had

regular meetings with them where he was truly involved in each stage of the development of

the project. Although the project is quite ambitious he continued encouraging them and lifted

their moral.

7.6 Hackman and Oldham job characteristics model

The job characteristics model, a very interesting theory was designed by Hackman

and Oldham, is based on the idea that the task itself is what offers employee motivation. A

boring, a monotonous job depletes motivation but a challenging job will increase it.

Hackman and Oldhams job characteristics theory says that good motivation isdirectly related to experiencing these three psychological states when the employee is

working:

Meaningfulness of workWhen that work has meaning to the people, when it is not repetitive usually and

when it is quite challenging.

ResponsibilityWhen is given the opportunity to be a success or failure at the job because sufficient

freedom of action was given.

Knowledge of outcomesThis is important for two reasons.

to provide the employee knowledge on how successful the work has been, which, inturn, enables him to learn from previous mistakes.

to connect them emotionally, meaning that you can help the employee understand theimportance of quality and the importance of the end result , the product.


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In reality we did not focus too much on those aspects mainly because our "job" was to

supervise and to gather what we should be doing instead of what we would actually do. Had

this been a real job environment and had we been real managers we would focus more on this

way of designing their job to better the motivation for the group.

Knowing these critical job characteristics, the theory , we should have been able to

derive the key components of the design of a job and redesign it:

1. Varying work in order to enable skill variety by giving different tasks to the membersof the group during the project period.

2. Delegate tasks to their lowest possible level to create autonomy and henceresponsibility

3. Connect the group members to the outcomes of their work create milestone meetingsso as to provide feedback for learning.

7.7 Job rotation, job enlargement & job enrichment

7.7.1 Job Rotation:

Job rotation involves the movement of employees through a range of jobs in order to

increase interest and therefore motivation. It can improve "multi-tasking" but a disadvantage

is the need for continuous training. It keeps people from getting bored and disinterested

through diversifying the activities.

To evaluate our group members we practiced using the "nine-box grid" talent matrix

to evaluate the group's members areas of better performance in the following work activities:

3D design/Pure programming skills Leadership and decision making Ability of research and technical writing

A nine-box grid is a matrix tool that is used to evaluate a companys talent pool,

based on two factors performance and potential. The horizontal axis is "performance" and

the vertical axis is "potential". (Enclosure 7)


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Why did we use it:

1. Its a simple way to assess any worker on two important dimensions.2. Its a great way to ease a dialog in our group as the senior group.3.We can use it to calibrate our expectations.4. Instead of just an opinion from one person it offers multiple perspectives

provide for a much more accurate assessment.

5.The process can give a shared sense of accomplishment and completeness.6. Its a great way to identify development needs and start development planning

Job Rotation also has certain drawbacks:

Every time an employee is transferred to other department; it will cost a huge trainingcost.

Employees may take time in adjusting with the new environment.7.7.2 Job Enlargement:

Job Enlargement means the expansion of the number of different tasks performed by an

employee working a single job.

It is an expansion in a horizontal manner. It attempts to add some similar tasks in the existing job. It enhances the interest of the employee.

Job Enlargement might be beneficial for us as "managers" as we could get more amount

of work in similar pay. People might think that employees stay away from it and deny job

enlargement but there are some reasons why it is actually accepted as a practice:

Task Variety: More tasks tend to give a good variety to the workers and it also helpsthem to avoid boredom.

Utilization of the Ability: If we enlarge the role in job the group members tend to usetheir highest ability to perform the task in a more efficient manner. This in turn

becomes a motivational factor in itself.

Feedback on the basis of Performance: It's about giving feedback. It enhances themotivation of the employees to work effectively and efficiently.

Job enlargement also has certain drawbacks like

group may require additional training for the new tasks, which in a real world maycause increase in the training budget.

if a new system is introduced it may decrease the productivity.


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What we could focus more on , in the situation that we are , as just pretend managers is

the utilization of abilities so we tried to work more on that because the other factors were

out of our "jurisdiction" .The fact that we as "managers" had to take care at this stage is that

we should not stretch or enlarge the job in such a way in which the group members feel

frustrated and bored and also the job should not become monotonous. We had to present thenew tasks as challenging and interesting telling them in a manner like "I'm curious if you

could also do this, do you think you can do it ?".

By doing this we managed to have them work on more tasks without feeling that they are

overloaded and by giving them the intrinsic motivation of competition within one's self.

7.7.3 Job Enrichment:

Basically job enrichment means that additional authority is granted to the employee in his

tasks list. In addition it means that we introduce new and more difficult tasks not handled

previously. It is important because it provides opportunity for employee's psychologicalgrowth.

The theory of Job enrichment was first stated by Herzberg. According to him, Job

enrichment has the following key characteristics:

Direct Feedback: If we give feedback at the time of the result it increases the moraleof the worker to perform better.

Scheduling own work: we give the group members the ability to self-schedule. Thishelps the group members to tackle which assignment to finish first and which later.

This aspect enhances the creativity of the group.

Direct Communication Authority: this aspect allows communicating directly withthe group members, which helps in increasing the results.

Personal Accountability: After receiving direct feedback the team members couldeasily come to know about their own stand in the team and in the process.

We found that even if job enlargement and enrichment have a relationship with each

other, they also have some distinct features:

area of expansion: job enlargement expands horizontally and job enrichment expandsvertically

mutual reliance: job enrichment is largely dependent on job enlargement, but jobenlargement does not have this dependency

allocation of duties and responsibilities : job enrichment gives more responsibilitiesto the worker and job enlargement just gives the worker more intrinsic motivation.

Motivation: job enlargement tends to motivate more on the self competition factorwhere in job enrichment motivates more in the area of competition to others, having

the feeling that you get closer to the management positions then others.


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An important thing that we can do is enrich their job by adding the responsibility of the

quality of the final project and to also be concerned about group dynamic. That means that

their job now also is about getting the 2 subgroups work together at the end of the project

period and be responsible for the quality of the result.

7.8McGregors Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor, an American social psychologist, wrote his famous X-Y theory in his

1960 book 'The Human Side Of Enterprise'. Theory x and theory y are still used commonly in

the field of management and motivation.

McGregor's X-Y Theory still remains a valid basic principle for developing positive

management style and techniques. McGregor's XY Theory remains central to organizational

development, and to improving organizational culture.

McGregor's idea states that there are two fundamental ways of managing people. Many

managers tend for theory x, and on the long term get poor results. Experienced managers use

theory y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people working for them

to grow and develop.

7.8.1 Theory X ('authoritarian management' style)

The average person dislikes work and will avoid it if he/she can. Most people must be forced to work with the threat of punishment. The average, un-motivated person prefers to be directed.

7.8.2 Theory Y ('participative management' style)

Gives the sense that effort in work is as natural as work and play. Managers rely on the worker's self-control and self-direction without external control

or the threat of punishment.

The system is made in such a way that commitment to objectives is a function ofrewards associated with their achievement.

The result is that people usually accept and often seek responsibility. This type of management encourages the capacity to use a high degree of imagination

and creativity in solving organizational problems.


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It was really clear to us that Kuba was the leader of the group. The main group divided in

two subgroups mainly because of two factors:

The difference in the work, the subject followed ( mechanical an IT). The fact that they were 2 group of friends with 2 nationalities so they could use

their own language to communicate more accurately.

Even with this division happening it was clear that Kuba remained the leader and as

shown also in the communication pattern he had a style of leadership similar to Theory Y. He

allowed inputs from other members and he tended to wait for a vote of some kind before

making a decision for the group.

Problem is that this can also be a factor of insecurity as he might in fact been waiting

and looking for a compromise in order to avoid responsibility as much as he can. This would

have been seen the same in the communication pattern but would actually not consist in a real

leadership style as the Theory Y. Inexperience was a big factor in this group and although he

did take initiative we feel that the reality is somewhere in the middle . He was trying to be a

leader, and in that he was developing as a future Theory Y leader, but also he was afraid of

reasonability so that practice of allowing others to speak and post ideas was a way for him to

spread the reasonability to others.

We could have used this theory to assess whether or not the group leader would be

Theory X or Theory Y managers and also to indicate how the other members coup with

having a leader that is Theory X or Theory Y. This might have been an interesting exercise,

in order to later compare them with their upbringing and origins and take also in

consideration Hofstede's value system.


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We wanted to hand to the group members that were not considered by us to be leaders a

questionnaire that we found on www.businessball.com and, in basis of that, to asses to things:

indicate whether thesituation and management style is

X or Y.

indicate whether theperson prefers being managed by

X or Y style.

But we thought that already they were to

pressed by time concerning their own

project so we changed our minds and gave

them some space.

7.9 Taylor Scientific Management

Taylor developed his theory of "scientific management" as he worked his way up from a

laborer to a works manager in a US steelworks. It is quite an old theory published in 1909 in"The Principles of Scientific Management."

The main idea is that by optimizing and simplifying jobs, productivity would increase. A

very good factor that we found is the he proposed the idea that workers and managers needed

to cooperate with one another. At that time this concept was new and there was no

standardization and no real communication with the workers.

The problem starts with his observations. Taylor made three key assumptions about

human behavior at work:

Man is a rational economic animal concerned with maximizing only hiseconomic gain

People respond as individuals, not as groups People can be treated in a standardized fashion, like machines

This is why we could not really relate to this theory, because we do not agree with the

assumptions that he made. History shows that he was proven wrong and in our case we saw

that our group , even if they did divide in two subgroups they still cared about the others

progress and their own subgroup progress. So people do not think as individuals and


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motivation on different levels and fashion was needed so clearly we were not dealing with

"machines".

Taylor had a simple view about what motivated people at work: money. In his view

workers should get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. Workers who did not deliver a fair

day's work would be paid less. Workers who did more than their norm got paid more.

The basis of Taylor's theory for managing behavior at work were:

The main form of motivation is high salaries, linked to the output given by workers. A manager's job is to tell employees what to do. A worker's job is to do what they are told and get paid accordingly.There was no obvious practicality in applying this theory in our case because the group

was not paid for their work and the only extrinsic incentive they got was the actual grades atthe examination. Plus the model has some rather significant weaknesses such as:

The most obvious weakness in Taylor's approach is that it ignores the manydifferences between people. There is no guarantee that a "best way" will suit

everyone.

Secondly, whilst money is an important motivation at work for many people, it isn'tfor everyone. Taylor overlooked the fact that people work for reasons other than

financial reward.

We had enough meetings with our group members and honestly Taylorism would notwork on them, will not motivate them higher in really working harder but instead would only

create conflicts and envy because of the envy factor and the sensation that managers do not

evaluate them properly.


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8. Group structure

A group's structure is defined by a stable pattern of relationships between individual

members of a group. It can be determined by :

The requirements for efficient group performance The abilities and motivations of group members The psychological and social environment of the group

Of course, the same as with any team or group, differentiation occurs, in our exchange

group as well a so calledgroup process, along several dimensions:

Power Status

Liking Communication Role Leadership

8.1 Group power

Group Power basically starts from an authority which can influence people both

positively and negatively. And for easier understanding of it's definition, power has been

classified into:

Reward power Coercive power Referent power Legitimate power Expert power Information power Affiliation power Group power

If we were to reflect on our exchange group's leader, which we believe to be Kuba, we

can state that his type of power used is mainly, group power, because we believe that he gets

a lot of support from his group mates. He doesn't seem to be a coercive type of person, he is

very calm and refers from getting aggravated when in stressful situations.

Another type of power that we have noticed with his is reward power. Although not

any monetary rewards, because let's face it is not possible, but a rather psychological type of

reward. Meaning that he expresses his gratitude towards the people that do something in their

group.


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8.2 Group status

The group process continues with the next step, being groupstatus. There are 2 types

of groups statuses:

Formal status (prestige) Social status (renomm)

Our exchange group, being in a school environment, working on a project and

fulfilling a job, ultimately leads us to believe that they have a formal status.

8.3 Group liking

The next step in the group process is likingstructure, which is defined in two ways,

using:

Sociometry: a quantitative way of measuring social relationships. Sociogram: a graphical representation of social attraction between the

members of the group.

Although we have not used any sociometric tests to discover if our exchange group's

member have any social relationships among them, we could assume that there is a high

degree of socialization between the members of the two subgroups, Olga and Kuba / Clement

and Yim. Each subgroup shows that they have a certain social relationship, by the way they

act in the group, and also through the social networks of the 21st century (which clearly statethat they spend time together).

We did not see any type of social behavior between the member of the two subgroups,

with each other, except from what we have seen in school (which is very little).

The exchange group's sociogram


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8.4 Communication

The forth step in describing a group's process is communication. The communication

process is divided into two parts:

Communication network analysis: A technique that uses direct observation todetermine the source, direction and quantity of verbal communication in a group

Communigram: a graphical interpretation that indicates the source, direction andquantity of verbal communication between the congregated members of a group

These matters have been discussed in a previous chapter, we have mentioned them

just to add a certain flow to our project.

8.5 Belbin team roles

Dr Meredith Belbin, UK academic and consultant developed the Belbin team rolesmodel in the late 1970s. Instruments and other related services based on Belbin's theories)

including the Belbin Team Roles model is used by over 40% of the UK's top 100 companies,

and thousands more companies internationally.

In the beginning Meredith Belbin identified eight roles, which if they are all present in

a team provide good balance and increase the chance of success. The eight roles were later

increased to nine, with the addition of the 'Specialist' role.

Belbin team roles and descriptions

If we try to correlate the Belbin team roles to specific personality types in other

personality models, we find that this is difficult just because his theory is so different and in

our opinion revolutionary but there are certain common elements, for example Extraverted

and Introverted roles, which are color coded appropriately below. This color-coding does not

form part of the original Belbin theory, it is simply something that we thought that it will

assist comparisons with other models of analysis like the big five factor. (Light color is

extraverted roles and darker color is introverted roles):


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We can describe the team roles and categorize them in such a manner that they would

show the type of activity that would be suited for them is as follows:


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The most important thing to remember, in our opinion, is that all of these roles have

value and are missed when not in a team; there are no stars or extras. We think it was very

important for us to have the filled up questionnaires from our subject group because we

wanted to see what kind of team do we have. Our goal was to put the results one on top of

each other to see how the group looks like as a whole.An individual's team role can be determined by the completion of a Belbin

questionnaire. As it is not essential that teams comprise eight people each fulfilling one of the

roles above, We think in small teams, people can, and do, assume more than one role as it is

in our subject group.

We used our knowledge of the Belbin test and we made an excel program containing

the questionnaire and the results page. We correlated the respective questions to the column

in the results page that represents the respective trait. By doing that we can assess the three

governing traits that would give us the profile of the group member. We also added the

personality chart circle to have a visual representation to the profile. We can use that to placethe profile charts one on top of each other , to get the profile of the group and assess their

plusses and minuses.


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We think that by analyzing the group and their performance or behavior, using these

team roles, we can now present some viable facts that give sense to all this team role theory,

for example:

Under-achievement demands a good coordinator or finisher (in this case it wasKuba and sometimes Olga taking charge of organizing work.)

Conflict requires a team worker or strong coordinator (there were not toomany conflicts but again Kuba as the coordinator was the key to solving them)

Mediocre performance needs a resource investigator, innovator or shaper Error prone teams need an evaluator so Kuba can have this role.

Different roles are important in different circumstances, for example:

New teams need a strong shaper to get started. Competitive situations demand an innovator with good ideas. In areas of high risk, a good evaluator may be needed.

Teams should, always, be analyzed keeping in mind two factors:

what team roles members can play. what team skills are most needed.

After getting back the filled up Belbin tests from our subject group members we could

see that the most common trait is "specialist" with in our opinion is actually just because they

are all young and inexperienced and the way that they were formed so far was as a specialist.

At this stage of their life they are just gathering information and do not have enough

experience to asses correctly their role in a team. There are still some differentiations asshown below:

Kuba:

Main traits are in order of the score given by the result page:

Specialist Monitor evaluator Complete finisher

The Monitor Evaluator trait was very obvious in Kuba's case because he showed

abilities and willingness in taking decisions, acting as a manager and in evaluating the

proposals and ideas of the other members and finding the correct path to go.

The Complete Finisher trait was shown when he was the one organizing the

workload of the entire team and when he took the decision concerning the shape and the

outcome of the project.

(Enclosure 8.1) and (Enclosure 8.5)

project report 4.pdf

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