Group Dynamics

Greenberg & Baron

Group Dynamics Focuses on nature of groups Variables governing their formation & development Structure of groups and interrelations with individuals, other groups & organisation Groups A collection of two or more interacting individuals who maintain stable patterns of relationships, share common goals and perceive themselves as being a group Main features Two or more persons in social interaction (verbal or non-verbal) must have some influence Stable structure- groups members must have stable relationships must function as a unit Members share common interests or goals Mutual recognition and ind. Perception as being part of group

Types of groups A. Formal Groups created by organisation intentionally designed to achieve organisation goals 1. Command Groups determined by connections between ind. in a orgn decided by orgn rules as to who reports to whom consists of supervisor and subordinates 2. Task Groups specific task special interest or expertise of members across hierarchy standing committee (permanent) ad hoc committee (temporary) B. Informal Groups natural formation common interest & personal affiliation no direction from organisation 1. Interest Group

 common goal voluntary membership 2. Friendship Group common interest satisfaction of social needs Informal Groups mostly emanate from formal group Beneficial to both ind & orgn Reasons for joining groups Reasons To satisfy mutual interests & goals To achieve security To fill social needs To feel need for selfesteem Explanations By banding together people help meet mutual needs Groups provide safety in no., protection from common enemy Being in group helps fulfill that Membership in group provide opportunity to feel good abt accomplishments

Stages in development of a group Stage 1 Stage 2 Members get to know each other & establish ground rules Storming Members come to resist control by group leaders and show hostility Stage Norming Members work together, 3 establish close relations Stage Performing Group members work toward 4 getting their jobs done Stage Adjourning Groups may disband either after 5 meeting their goals or members leave Aspects of group structure Aspects that make group functioning orderly & predictable Roles Typical behaviours that characterise a person in a social context Role incumbent - a person holding a particular role Forming

 Role expectations behaviour expected of someone in a particular role Role ambiguity confusion arising from not knowing what one is expected to do as the holder of a role Role differentiation tendency for various specialized roles to emerge as groups develop Norms Generally agreed upon informal rules that guide group members behaviour How do norms develope? Basis of norm development Example 1. Precedents set over time Seating location of each group member around a table 2. Carryovers from other Professional standards of situations conduct 3. Explicit statements from Working a certain way others bcoz you are told thats the way we do it around here 4. Critical events in group A norm develops to history maintain secrecy after an instance of revealing orgn

secrets led to huge losses

Status The relative prestige, social position, or rank given to groups or individuals by others Status symbol objects reflecting the position of any individual. Within a orgns hierarchy of power Status provides stability & avoids uncertainty in organisation, inspires junior workers, reinforces ones identity Informal status is accorded, for instance, to the elderly, specially skilled Low value given to women and members of minority group is an indicator of negative status Cohesiveness Strength of group members desire to remain part of their groups

Causes and consequences of cohesiveness Causes Severe imitation External threats Group cohesiveness Consequences Positive Enjoy group membership Participate in group activities Accept groups goals Low absenteeism and turnover Negative Lose sight of goals (groupthink) May work against orgn interests

Lots of time together Small groups History of success

Effect of group on individual performance Social Facilitation the tendency for the presence of others sometimes to enhance an individuals performance and at other times to impair it

Zajoncs Drive theory of social facilitation presence of others increases emotional arousal (feeling of tension & excitement) increases peoples tendencies to perform the dominant response if the dominant response is well-learned, performance will be improved if the dominant response is newly learned , performance will be impaired Evaluation apprehension theory of social facilitation
the fear of being evaluated or judged by another person

Distraction-Conflict Model of social facilitation recognises that the presence of others creates a conflict between paying attention to others and paying attention to the task at hand Computerised performance monitoring the process of using computers to monitor job performance

- Performance in culturally diverse groups (race & ethnicity) the performance may be slower in a heterogenous group initially but over time differences disappear Social Loafing Additive tasks types of group tasks in which the individual efforts of several people are added together to form the groups products Social loafing the tendency for group members to exert less individual effort on an additive task as the size of the group increases Social impact theory of social loafing the larger the size of a group, the less each member is influenced by the social forces acting on the group Reason of social loafing

 People are more interested in themselves than their fellow group members Root cause - Individualistic Vs Collectivist Culture (America Vs China & Israel) How to eliminate social loafing: A few tips Make each performer identifiable Make work tasks more important and interesting Reward individuals for contributing to their groups performance Punishment threats