Group Motivation Inventory
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx
PSY/430
Dr. Denise Land
January 7, 2010
Group Motivation Inventory During week four of Team Dynamics for Managers, the completion of a group motivation inventory identified each group member’s motivation toward working with others, goal completion, and dedication. While completing the Group Motivation Inventory, the discovery that a weakness within a group does not necessarily have to be self-induced, but could possibly be induced by factors or effects from many things within my surrounding. The assessment included questions that reviewed a group member’s work ethic, quality and quantity of contribution, attitude toward members in the group and the assignment at hand, the quality and dedication found within other group members, and the understanding and acceptance of the group’s diversity. Successful completion of this assessment will improve the group’s productivity and cohesion, setting the group up for success.
Knowing a Group’s Motivational Base
Identifying and Discovery Upon completion of the Group Motivation Inventory, areas of weakness and strengths became evident allowing myself and group members to address possible causes of such a mediocre score of 98. According to Engleberg & Wynn (2007) a scores between 76 and 99 represent a moderate level of motivation (p. 320). This moderate level of motivation is primarily environmentally induced with a few personal negative motivators. The environmental factors that play a major role in my lack of motivation toward the group and course stems from outside interaction and influence from group mates, such as negative attitudes, lack of organization, and miscommunication. These may seem relatively minor to many, but these are major factors as they control my reaction and response to the group. My reaction and response will become one of the two: 1) Lack of concern about the assignment and group mates, and 2) Limited dedication to group’s goal. My reaction and response becomes such to protect and defend my responsibilities toward the group’s assignment.
Using What You Know Growth through Knowledge Understanding factors that may control a group member’s interaction and dedication toward goal completion is a vital tool needed to progress as a unit. With this assessment, I was able to see what gives me motivation or lack thereof and use this information to prepare and brace myself for any obstacles that may arise. Knowing exactly what my motivators are will allow me to consider extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to establish or improve my motivation. Understanding and acknowledging that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation plays an important role in a group’s success will help to balance the group’s potential and motivation toward goal completion.
Development of Work Ethic Being aware of factors that may alter or diminish my motivation gives me the knowledge needed to improve my dedication and interaction within the group. Using procrastination as an example, it would be imperative that deadlines are set to ensure that every one submits their assignments on a timely manner. For some members to miss the group’s deadline may create an inconvenience, as my daily schedule does not allow much flexibility. Another example is the factor of miscommunication. When group members do not understand exactly what his or her role is, they lose motivation because of doubt. Establishment of regular communication will keep any issues that arrive at a minimum level and give adequate response time. Knowing that life is unpredictable and issues happen sporadically, my plan of action would require me to ensure organization and understanding of the assignment and that deadlines are agreed upon, which will allow me to finish my assigned portion at my earliest convenience. This will allow the group to have reaction time for any issues and give me the time needed to communicate with other group members, if needed. A well-organized plan of action will also remove any stressors and allow intrinsic motivation, self-gratification, to come into play actively and for extrinsic motivation, fear of failure or disappointment from team members, to diminish.
Motivation is the Key To increase my level of motivation, remaining flexible and open to change, understanding that others may not possess the same work ethic or motivators as myself, and communicating any issues or desires that may arise immediately will allow me to remain receptive and cooperative with my group members. Self-motivation can improve or be established through extrinsic motivators, such as: fear of failure, disappointment from group members, loss of self-respect, and drop in my grade point average. I am very hard on myself concerning my career and education, so failure is not an option and I do not believe in giving up. These two characteristics allow constant enforcement toward giving my all on any project or role I am assigned. An incentive that would be a catalyst to starting and keeping me motivated is success. To know that I have given my all to the assignment and that my group has produced a body of work that is quality. This gives me a rush knowing that my time was not dedicated in vain and that I was a part of a positive experience. A few incentives that I would consider to motivate my group are input on the assignments, volunteering for role selection, suggestions on scheduling deadlines, compensatory time, acknowledgement, and monetary rewarding. Developing a variety of motivational factors will increase my chances of selecting a motivator that will reach each group member. With each group member possessing different motivators, the group must develop motivators that will influence each member to give his or her best on the group assignment.
Conclusion
Taking time to evaluate a group’s motivation level will each member and the group leader an in-depth view at what factors that may be potential obstacles and which may be motivators for the success of the group. To ensure that a member is participating to the fullest of his or her extent, taking a motivational inventory assessment will help a member discover potential problems and give him or her chance to develop intrinsic motivators to improve the group’s morale and productivity of the group. The knowledge gained from evaluating and discovering one’s extrinsic and intrinsic motivators will give a member growth and valuable information that can be used to develop solid motivators and a strong work ethic, factors that will strengthen the group potential. Concerned with what others may think if failure occurs, or receiving a monetary reward are examples of extrinsic motivators; while a feeling of disappointment in self or giving total dedication toward group success are intrinsic motivators. Regardless of what type of motivators work for the group or group members, accomplishment of the assignment and production of quality work is the primary concern.

Reference:
Engleberg, I.N. & Wynn, D.R. (2007). Working in groups. Communication principles and strategies. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, Resource PSY430 – Team Dynamics for Managers Course Website.