Explain why conflict is an essential component of a group. How does conflict assist in achieving the group's goals?
What will be an ideal response?
Task groups often display discord about the issues they will address and the guidelines they will use. The issues may vary from operational concerns ("Why didn't we receive the minutes from the last meeting before today?" "Why is X on the agenda?") to significant issues that question the group itself ("I don't see why we should be the hiring committee. The CEO will just pick who she wants anyway." "It is a waste of time to try to influence legislation this term. We should just focus on our own jobs and services."). Conflict is to be expected as a sign of the members' investment in the group. Chairs must be prepared for this and respond nondefensively, putting complaints on the table for group discussion and decisions. In this, the process of debate is more important than the content of the issue being debated. All too often, task groups avoid conflict by evading thorny issues, sometimes even tabling an issue despite the availability of enough facts to make a decision. Establishing norms in which differing options are sought and evaluated on their own merits will aid the group in accomplishing its objectives. Leaders should attempt to stimulate idea-related conflict while managing and controlling personality-related conflict. Failure to achieve this balance may result in the marginalization of potential contributors and a less complete product. Without such healthy conflict, there is always the danger of groupthink, a condition in which members reach premature and superficial agreement and alternative views or options are not expressed or taken seriously. Leaders (and members) can assist others to express the rationale behind particular opinions, clarifying what information needs to be developed to answer questions raised in the course of the conflict.?
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night after work. She gets up the next morning for work and performs her duties successfully. She does not suffer from any physical or psychological problems. She does not drink on weekends. This woman is definitely ________. A. an alcoholic B. a heavy drinker C. addicted to alcohol D. a problem drinker
Discuss the pros and cons of deinstitutionalization.
What will be an ideal response?
Unemployed workers who meet certain qualifications can receive unemployment benefits for up to _____
a. 1-month b. 3 months c. 6 months d. 12 months
The frontier influenced U.S. history in the following way:
(a) it promoted the growth of “free” economic and political institutions; (b) it served as a safety valve for urban discontent; (c) it led to the displacement of indigenous populations; (d) all of the above.