GROUP DYNAMICS

A GENERAL MODEL OF GROUP DYNAMICSPhase One

Type of Group Group FormationPhase Two

Group Development stages Mutual Acceptance Communication and Decision

Making Motivation and Productivity Control and Organization

Performance Factors Composition Size Norms Cohesiveness

Phase Three: Mature groupGroup Characteristics Productive Adaptive Self-Correcting

Member Characteristics Interdependent Coordinated Cooperative Competent Motivated Communicative

Group Decision Making and Interactions with Others Groups

DEFINITION OF GROUPS

A group is two or more persons who interact with one another that each person influenced by each other person

CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR TYPES OF GROUPS

Relatively Permanent Relatively Temporary

Formal Command groups Quality assurance

department Cost accounting group

Task groups Pope’s Special

Council on Finances Task force on new

product quality

Informal Friendship groups Friends who do many

activities together (attend the theater, play games, travel)

Interest groups Bowling group Women’s network

TYPES OF GROUP

Formal GroupAre formed by the organization to do its work and usually are included in the organization chart

- Command/Functional Group

Is a relatively permanent, formal group with functional reporting relationships.

- Task Group

Is a relatively temporary, formal group established to do a specific task

Informal groups- Established by their members

Friendship group Relatively permanent and informal and draws its

benefits from the social relationships among its members

Interest group Relatively temporary and informal and is

organized around a common activity or interest of its members

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Mutual acceptance stage of group development is characterized by

members sharing information about themselves and getting to know each other.

Communication and Decision Making Members discuss their feelings more openly and

agree on group goals and individual roles in the group

Motivation and Productivity Members cooperate, help each other and work

toward task accomplishment

Control and organization Members work together and are flexible,

adaptive, and self-correcting

GROUP PERFORMANCE FACTORS

Group performance factors including; Composition Size Norms Cohesiveness

They affect the success of the group in fulfilling its goal

Group Composition Degree of similarity or differences in the characteristics of the

members on factors important to the group’s work.

SOURCE: Based on discussion in Bernard M. Bass and Edward C. Ryterband, Organizational Psychology, 2nd ed.

A homogeneous group is more useful for :

A heterogeneous group is more useful for:

• Simple tasks• Sequential tasks• Cooperation required• Speed required

• Complex tasks• Collective tasks• Creativity required• Speed not important

Group size Number of members of the group and affects the number of

resources available to perform the task

Group norm Standard against which the appropriateness of a behavior is

measured

i. Norms help the group survive

ii. Norms simplify and make more predictable the behaviors expected of group members

iii. Norms help the group avoid embarrassing situations

iv. Norms express the central values of the group and identify the group to others

Group CohesivenessFactors that affect group cohesiveness

and consequences of group cohesivenessFactors that affect group cohesiveness

Consequences of high cohesiveness

• Homogeneous composition• Mature development• relatively small size• Frequent interactions•Clear goals (competition or external threat)• Success

• goal accomplishment • personal satisfaction of members• increased quantity and quality of interactions• groupthink

Factors that decrease cohesiveness

Consequences of low cohesiveness

• Heterogeneous composition• Recent formation• Large size• Physical Dispersion • Ambiguous Goals• Failure

• Difficulty in achieving goals • increased likelihood of disbanding • Fewer interactions •Individual orientation

GROUP DECISION MAKING

Group Polarization Tendency for a group’s average post-discussion attitudes to

be more extreme than its average pre-discussion attitudes.

Groupthink Mode of thinking that occurs when members of a group are

deeply involved in a cohesive in group and desire for unanimity offsets their motivation to appraise alternative courses of action

Participation in Decision Making Important part of managing motivation, leadership, organization

structure, and decision-making processes

Group Problem Solving Brainstorming

Technique used in the alternative generative phase of decision making that assists in development of numerous alternative courses of action

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)• Group members follow a generate discussion vote cycle

until they reach an appropriate decision. The Delphi technique

• Method of systematically gathering judgments of experts for use in developing forecasts

INTERGROUP DYNAMICS

Interaction among groups are based on the characteristics of the interacting groups, the organizational context within which the groups operate, and the task and situational bases of the interactions

Five factors that determine the nature of group interactions are; Location Resources Time and goal interdependence Task uncertainty Task interdependence