Group process

GROUP PROCESSES Groups: Two or more people working together to achieve common goals. An effective group is one that achieves:

Øhigh levels of task performance Ømember satisfaction; and Øteam viability Performance Goals: Quantity, quality and timeliness of results Member Satisfaction: Members feel their participation and experiences are positive and meet important personal needs Team Viability: Members are sufficiently satisfied to continue working together on an ongoing basis

Group and Inter-group Dynamics Group Dynamics: The forces operating in groups that affect the way members work together – how they work together as well as how they relate to one another while working. Inter-group Dynamics: relationship between groups cooperating and competing with one another.

Positive Outcome of Inter-group Dynamics: • • • •

Motivated to work harder More focused on key tasks Develop more internal loyalty Achieve higher level of creativity in problem solving

Negative Outcome: • Energy focused on animosities toward the other group than on performance of important tasks.

Homogenous & Heterogeneous Groups Advantages and Disadvantages of Homogenous & Heterogeneous Groups

Homogenous Groups: • Easy to work together • Performance limitations of skills, experiences and perspectives Heterogeneous Groups: • Greater pool of talent, and viewpoints • But diversity may result in interpersonal conflicts, at least in the short run.

Roles within Groups Role Taking •Expects to be assigned responsibilities •Performing the responsibilities that are required as part of an assigned role Role Making: •Taking the initiative to create a role by assuming responsibilities

Group Norms Informal rules of conduct. Individuals conform to norms for 3 reasons: 1.Compliance 2.Identification 3.Internalisation

– to get rewards or avoid punishment - Associating with supports of a norm - Believing that the norm is right

Conformity & Deviance When norms are appropriate, conformity is good Response to Deviance: 1.Explain why norm is important and reprimand or punish deviants 2.Expel the deviant 3.Change the norm to be more in line with deviant’s behaviour Deviance is sometime functional as it allows reexamining of norms for its appropriateness and changing norms where necessary

L e v E L of G o a l A c c o m P L I S H M E N t

High Performance

Low conformity/low Deviance Low Performance

Medium confirmity/ Medium deviance

CONFORMANCE

High Confirmity/ Low Deviance Low Performance

Stages of Group Development

FORMING Getting to know each other

ADJOURNING

STORMING

Disbanding & Celebrating accomplishment

Dealing with tensions & defining group tasks

PERFORMING Maturation in relationship & Task Performance

NORMING Building relationships and Working together

SOCIAL FACILITATION

Tendency of one’s behaviour to be influenced by the presence of others in a group or social setting. Ø Positive when one is proficient Ø Negative when not proficient

SOCIAL LOAFING When people perform at a lower level when working in groups than when working alone. Also known as Ringelmann Effect More likely to occur in large groups where individual output is difficult to identify or is less noticeable. Less likely to occur when task is interesting – intrinsic motivation. Less common when group objective is important.

SOCIAL LOAFING

Dealing with Social Loafing: •Have smaller groups •Define member roles and tasks and assign specific tasks •Measure individual performance •Select motivated people •Select people who have a collectivist value orientation

Advantages & Disadvantages of Group Decision Making Advantages: Information: More knowledge and expertise is available and applied. Alternatives: A greater number of alternatives are examined avoiding “Tunnel Vision”. Understanding & Acceptance: The final decision is better understood & accepted by all group members. Commitment: More commitment among group members to make the final decision work.

Disadvantages: Social pressure to conform: Individual members may feel compelled to accept the decision of the group Minority Domination: The group decision may be forced by one individual or a small coalition. Time Demands: Needs more time than individual decision making as more people involved in discussion

GROUPTHINK Tendency of cohesive group members to lose their critical evaluative capabilities. –

Overemphasis on agreement and under-emphasis on critical discussion to hold the group together and avoid unpleasant disagreements.

GROUP DECISION TECHNIQUES Brainstorming: Members generate as many ideas and alternatives as possible. Rules of Brainstorming: • No criticism is allowed till the idea generation process is completed • “Freewheeling” is welcomed: Emphasis on creativity and imagination • The emphasis is on more number of ideas • “Piggy-backing” : Everyone is encouraged to suggest how others’ ideas can be turned into new ideas or how two or more ideas can be joined into still another new idea.

GROUP DECISION TECHNIQUES Nominal Group Technique: Structured rules for generating and prioritizing ideas. When opinions differ greatly or group is too large that open discussion may not possible. Delphi Technique: When members are unable to meet face to face. Questionnaires sent to members, summarised by decision coordinator and again sent to the members alongwith a follow-up questionnaire. Process repeated till a consensus is reached.

Three Distinguishing Features of Effective Groups 1. High Interdependence 2. Members have differentiated skills and abilities 3. Members are responsible for performing different functions

Five Cs for Group Effectiveness ♦Commitment ♦Cohesiveness ♦Cooperation ♦Coordination ♦Communication

Different Behaviors in Groups • I am OK. You are not OK. (Tendency to Dominate – Asserting authority, trying to manipulate)

• I am not OK. You are OK. {Allegiance (as a sign of loyalty) Compliance (yielding to pressure)}

• I am not OK. You are not OK. (Avoidance Behaviour – Not being involved, being withdrawn)

• I am OK. You are OK. (Win-Win approach) {(Acceptance (convinced about the group decision based on common understanding)}

Characteristics of Effective Teamwork

• • • • • •

Clarity of objective/purpose among team members Commitment towards a common purpose Well defined roles for individual members Individual and Group Accountability Members complement each other High degree of Openness and Trust among members • Healthy spirit of Confrontation • Should be action-oriented within a time-frame

Dysfunctional Behaviour • Being aggressive • Blocker – Disagreeing and opposing beyond reason • Dominator – Asserting authority, trying to manipulate • Avoidance Behaviour - Not being involved • Pursuing own agenda • Resorting to arguing rather than discussing

Advantages of Group Working • Team working avoids tunnel vission/tramline thinking. • Individual assumptions are questioned by others. • Discussion stimulates the creation of new ideas • Allows brainstorming to overcome conformity • Each person in a group can contribute his expertise towards a common objective. • Can help in avoiding rationalisation of resistance by not giving in to Group Think

Group Decision Making 1.

Decision by Lack of Response One idea after another is suggested without any discussion taking place

2.

Decision by Authority Can be done with or without discussion. Is time efficient

3.

Decision by Majority Rule In case of early signs of disagreement - voting

4.

Decision by Consensus Discussion leads to one alternative being favoured by most members and the other members agreeing to support it.

5.

Decision by Unanimity (Ideal) All group members agree on the course of action.