Group Development in Office Space

A detailed Summary of Group Development in Office Space

Group Development Illustrated in "Office Space"

The group development process contains five different stages of a group's life. Each step involves activates directed both at performing the task and dealing with the interpersonal interactions within the group needed to accomplish the task. An effective group deals with the challenges and issues of each stage and moves to the next stage.

In the movie "Office Space" we tried to accurately depict each stage in the groups development. In order to understand the nature of the motivation of the group and the reactions of group members a brief overview of the movie must be explained. The movie "Office Space" is about a young man named Peter Gibbons who works at Innotek, a computer software company that is helping banks update their software for the year 2001. Peter Gibbons is unhappy with his job.

One day Peter decides that he has had too much and decides that him and some coworkers should get Innotek back for the mistreatment of their employees. He consults with two coworkers about the idea of revenge against the company. Peter and his coworkers Michael and Zahir come together to form a group and perform a set task. Their goal is to slowly launder money from Innotek to t

The progressive model of development contains five stages. Stage one is called the orientation to the task stage also known as the forming stage. The group looks at task studies information and decides what the group will need to perform the task. Group members have different roles such as gatekeeper, leader, agenda setter, testing their functioning. Each person finds their role in the group through interpersonal behaviors with other group members through negotiations in order to accomplish the group's task. A group may not progress beyond the first stage if it lacks skills and effective ways to work together. In the forming stage Peter Michael and Zahir came together through mutual dissatisfaction with their jobs when they had coffee together. Peter plays the role of the leader and Michael and Zahir are followers. When Peter tells Michael and Zahir that they are going to be laid off they form a group with the goal to seek revenge against Innotek.

Groups form from common needs, interests, goals, or lifestyle similarities. In the movie the group was formed based on all of these characteristics. The group's formation may influence its attractiveness and cohesiveness developing in predictable ways. They develop progressively, noncontinuously, or focused externally.

The second stage is called the redefinition stage of appropriate behavior also known as storming. The group redefines its task based on the information acquired during orientation and the abilities and preferences of the group members. The group determines if they like the task and how much the are willing to commit to it. Members differ in the amount of time they will put towards the task, priorities they assign to it and the means to accomplish it. Typically at this point the group lacks good capabilities to deal wi

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