Open Leadership Wiki

Introduction Group evolution plays a key factor in effective teamwork and distinguishes the personalities of its members to be able to form a structure applicable to that of leadership/members in order to keep motivation and discipline.

First acquaintance Upon meeting someone for the first time in a community such as CyberArmy, you are faced with only what you see which is generally what they tell you. You need to get to know each and every member of the newly formed group whether the individuals were selected specifically or whether they joined on their own as these are the ‘pillars’ of the team that’s soon to be formed.

It’s fairly understandable if someone you meet is a bit wary of you and not totally ‘forward’ with you and could be a result of awkwardness or cautiousness. However, it is common practice for people to be as polite as they can in order to make a good ‘first’ impression because this is what will stick in the other persons mind.

Now, with everyone getting along nicely together you should take advantage of this and get tasks handed out and let them begin work on things right away as there will be high morale and motivation within the group. A short burst of activity will be great to start things off as I personally think that members join, do some work then disappear leaving your manpower at a low as described next.

Personality development A personality consists of those relatively enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from others and make them unique. Several factors drive the creation of the personality and according to Freud’s (1856 – 1939) psychoanalytic theory these are: the pleasure principle, the ego and the super ego. The pleasure principle is self explanatory; the ego is the conscious intellectual part and is governed by ‘reality’, the need to behave in acceptable ways. Then finally there’s the super ego which is learned from others e.g. parents.

Threats to the ego such as feelings of anxiety are dealt with through ‘ego defence mechanisms’ (sublimation, repression (excluding desires and impulses (wishes, fantasies or feelings) from your consciousness and attempting to hold them back in the subconscious), denial, displacement and projection) which remove threats from the conscious awareness. Personality is not consistent at all; behaviour is specific to certain situations and there are individual differences in the way we learn so that it is not simply the situation that affects behaviour but the member’s prior learning experience.

The individual experiences conflicts between maturation and the expectations of society. This conflict then leads to various crises which need to be resolved for healthy development. A purely negative outcome is obviously unhealthy thus requiring the outcome to be mixed between negative and positive to even it out. (see image below)

Erikson’s (1902 – 1994) psychosocial theory

Image created by iota

Within personality development you will start to see members begin to stand up for their own ideas and speak up when they disagree with something. This can cause some group volatility but can also provide good constructive criticism. Another sign of personality development is when members begin to show more of their personalities and try to influence the group thus giving themselves a sense of individual importance. Personalities can evolve to be stronger or weaker depending on the person which changes the levels of maturity within the group. Conflicts are bound to arise and these help the group to become self-sufficient and resolve them on their own.

Working as a team This is the crucial point in the evolution of a group as there is harmony with the members. They all look to see how other people in the group are performing and make sure they all have the things they need and help is there when they require it. At this point the group don’t need an authoritative figure such as a leader as they are perfectly capable of working things out between them, problem solving and attending to things that are needed.

Sharing knowledge Finally, there is no point in being part of a community, forming a nice social group and learning new things without sharing it. This completes the cycle of evolution. This can be done by spreading what they have learned in the community to their everyday lives.

If you want to strengthen minimal group building practices you will need to declare it as a goal, explain how to achieve it, and perform the behaviour yourself. If the leader tells people to for example write something, but then doesn’t write one themselves, the members become confused and may assume that the instruction was merely verbal. Remember, when a member joins the group, they may not know what to expect and may not have previous experience in the specialised area. Direct demonstration is the best way to get things across in this early stage. Before work begins, think about what sorts of rules and guidelines you want to suggest to the group before assigning anything as well as how things are done.