Question

1.
A. Think of a time when you made judgments about a new workmate as you came to know him or her. In what ways were these judgments biased? As you began to know this person better, did you change your mind? What lesson can you learn about reaching judgments about
people prematurely? (200 words minimum)
B. Think of a group in which you have been working/ studying . How do the five-stage model and the punctuated-equilibrium model apply to this experience? (150 words minimum)
C. Describe an incident of social loafing in which you may have been involved (e.g., a class
project). What might be done to overcome this effect? (150 words minimum(

Answer 1

1.

A. There was a time when I made a negative judgment about my new workmate. I used to believe that first impression makes the last impression. Unfortunately, the first impression of new workmate who joined my process was not as positive as per my experience. As the first impression was not so great and positive, I felt that I should get a chance to know that as a person and I was eager to do that. As the time went on, my new workmate was doing great in the process and this was the time when i got the opportunity to know the person better. Once, there was a team bonding exercise was going on the floor, I got to learn little more about the new workmate and I thought that the first impression which I believe was wrong. But the sad part that it has been almost 2 years since the new workmate joined the organization. When I asked the new workmate that why initially he was so shut off to the team then he expressed that he also had a negative impression with all of us.

The whole above scenario taught me a lesson that it’s not necessary that what you see or feel is always right, even the first impressions can go wrong. So, it is better not so formulate any judgments before knowing the person. Here, I was victimized by a strong believe that first impression makes the last impression which was an error. That error was making an initial judgment which was guiding our subsequent impression. And now we are so close to each other and after office hours we both usually hangout with our families.

B. Once, there was a time when I joined the organization and every workmate was a stranger to me.

• Forming: On my first day at office, i met my colleagues. There was some formal introduction with them and the group started to form. I was excited to know about them and how things will shape up with the group.
• Storming: At this stage, I became comfortable with the group and started voicing my opinions whenever required without thinking how people will judge me.
• Norming: At this stage, I felt more connected with the group and realized that we can work together as a team to achieve a common goal.
• Performing: We use to have a shared vision and unity while working on a project and this showed up in our performances.
• Adjourning: The group then dissolved due to organization restructuring and I was upset about it. Also, there was a grief that I will have to restart from stage one again.

As per the punctuated-equilibrium model initially our group remains static in first two stages i.e. Forming and Storming stage and then it reaches to equilibrium at Norming and Performing stage where everything was smooth for some period of time. And then, the group got dissolved at Adjourning stage due to organizational restructuring. This helps us to understand that the groups follows the same cycle repeatedly with revolutionary change taking place in an organization and making an opportunity for innovation and creativity.

C. I was assigned a project and there were 10 people in the group. In the initial stage of the product I noticed that some of the members are not contributing as per their caliber and our putting lesser amount of efforts compared to others. This led to creation of an in group of performers and non-performers. This also affected the overall success of the project as performers felt exploited and felt de-motivated.

To overcome Social Loafing, the manager should assign separate goals or contributions for each member so that the work can be measured timely and everyone works equally towards achieving common goal. Also, motivating non performers can help in preventing Social Loafing. Establishing accountability and clear responsibility for each group member will also help to get everyone working. Monitoring the performance of each individual and giving them feedback will instigated them to work according to their skill set and caliber.