1/19/2018

OHM401
Group Dynamics for Teams

Session-3
Group Development and Structure

The five stage model of group formation

• Stage 1 Forming: Members get to know each other and seek

to establish ground rules.
• Stage 2 Storming : Members come to resist control by group
leaders and show hostility.
• Stage 3 Norming : Members work together developing close
relationships and feeling of camaraderie.
• Stage 4 Performing : Group members work toward getting
their job done.
• Stage 5 Adjourning : Groups disband either after meeting
their goals or because members leave.

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Stages of Group Development

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Group Structure/Properties

• Norms
• Roles
• Status
• Size
• Cohesiveness

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What is group structure?

• Groups are not unorganized, haphazard collections of

individuals, but organized systems of interactions and
relationships regulated by group structure.

• The pattern of interrelationship between the individuals

constituting a group; the guidelines of group behavior that
makes group functioning orderly and predictable.

• Elements of group structure include norms, roles, status,

size and cohesiveness among the members.

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Norms

• Norms are the emergent, consensual standards

that regulate group members’ behaviors. They
are emergent, in that they develop gradually
during the course of interaction among members
– in some cases through deliberation and choice
but often only gradually as members’ actions
align. They are also consensual because norms
are shared rules of action; norms are social
standards that are accepted by a substantial
proportion of the group.

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What kinds of roles are common in groups and how do

they influence members?

• Roles specify the types of behaviors expected of individuals

who occupy particular positions within the group.
• As members interact with one another, their role-related
activities become patterned (role differentiation) with passage
of time.

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Roles
• Task roles: Any position in a group occupied by a member
who performs behaviors that promote completion of tasks
and activities, such as initiating structure, providing task-
related feedback, and setting goals.
• Relationship roles: Any position in a group occupied by a
member who performs behaviors that improve the nature
and quality of interpersonal relations among members, such
as showing concern for the feelings of others, reducing
conflict, and enhancing feelings of satisfaction and trust in
the group.
• Individual roles: roles in which members emphasize their
own needs over groups.

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Status : The prestige of group membership

• Status : the relative prestige , or rank given to groups or

individuals by others.

Group cohesion

• Group cohesion is the strength of the bonds linking

members to a group. Cohesiveness is an indication of
the health of the group and is related to a variety of
other group processes.
• (Cohesiveness: The degree to which group members
are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in
the group.)

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Diversity
• The extent to which members of a group are
similar to, or different from, one another.