CHAPTER 3

FOUNDATION OF GROUP BEHAVIOR

3.1. Defining teams and/or groups

3.2. Classifying teams and/or groups
3.3. Why do people form and/or join
teams/groups?
3.4. Stages in team/group development
3.5. Obstacle to team /group productivity
3.6. Increasing team/group productivity
3.7. Group behavior
3.8. Implication for performance and satisfaction
 Defining Teams and/or Groups
• A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a
strong sense of mutual commitment creates synergy, thus
generating performance greater than the sum of the
performance of its individual members.
• One of the many ways for a business to organize employees is in
teams. A team is made up of two or more people who work
together to achieve a common goal.
• Teams offer an alternative to a vertical chain-of-command and
are a much more inclusive approach to business organization,
Teams are becoming more common in the business world today.
• Effective teams can lead to an increase in employee motivation
and business productivity.
• The team can be defined by following ways too:
• A group of people who compete in a sport,
game, etc., against another group.
• A group of people who work together.
• A group of two or more animals used to pull a
wagon, cart, etc.
• A number of persons forming one of the sides in
a game or contest.
• A number of persons associated in some joint
action: a team of experts.
 3.2. Classifying Teams and/or Groups

• There are various types of teams and their functions and objectives are
also different. The types of teams are discussed are below:
• • Executive Team,
• • Command Team,
• • Project Teams,
• • Advisory Teams,
• • Work Teams,
• • Action Teams,
• • Sports Teams,
• • Virtual Teams,
• • Work Teams,
• • Self-Managed Team,
• • Parallel Teams,
• • Management Teams,
• • Managed Team.
 Types of Groups:

• 1. Formal Groups:
– Command Group:
– Task Group:

• 2. Informal Groups:
– (a) Interest Group:
– (b) Membership Group:
– (c) Friendship Group:
– (d) Reference Group:
 Why do people form and/or join teams/groups?

• People join groups for a variety of reasons. For

example, students may have to take a certain
class, they join functional groups simply by
virtue of joining organizations and accepting a
specific job assignment that involves working
with a designated group of other people.
• The need for belonging:
•  According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the need for
belonging is one of the basic human’s needs. According to
Maslow people feel that they want to be a part of a group
as a part of their nature.
• To feel superior:
•  According to individual psychology, the desire to feel
superior is a desire that all humans experience. By joining
the superior group people can help themselves achieve the
need for superiority.
• To survive:
•  Since the early days, humans used to join groups to
increase their survival abilities and to be better able to
protect themselves.
• To be a part of something bigger:
•  People can join a group out of their feelings of weakness.
Since an individual human can feel powerless on his own he
might join a social group to gain more power and influence.
• To project an identity:
•  Some people can join certain groups to project certain
identities. People usually buy branded clothes in order to
project a certain identity to others.
• To reduce inferiority:
•  Sometimes people join groups to reduce the feelings of
inferiority they feel as individuals. According to
psychologists, some people become racists to join a certain
group in order to feel superior.
• Because of common interests:
•  A person can join a certain group in order to Connect with people
who have common interests.
• It increases one’s self-esteem:
• According to the socio meter model, a person’s self-esteem can
increase when a person joins a certain social group. According to
this  Theory, the self-esteem boost arises from the fact that a person
feels accepted by the group.
• Uncertainty-identity theory:
• According to the uncertainty-identity theory, people join social
groups to reduce the uncertainty about their •identity and their place
in the world.
• Learning:
• User groups provide a unique opportunity for people to learn from
their peers.
• Networking:
• The opportunity to network and make new connections with
industry peers, make new friends is endless.
• Sharing Experiences
• Most human beings love to share and highlight their expertise
and knowledge. During most community meetings, members
share their challenges and experiences with each other.
• Solutions to Problems
• Community members are very helpful in helping one another.
Most user group sites feature an online forum enabling
interactions between members.
• Organizations typically form groups in order to accomplish work-
related tasks; however, as a member of a workgroup, you may
unintentionally reap the numerous benefits independent of the
original group construct.
Stages in team/group development
• The four stages of team development are:
• Stage 1: Forming
• Stage 2: Storming
• Stage 3: Norming
• Stage 4: Performing
• Stage 1: Forming
• During this stage, group members may be anxious
and adopt wait-and-see attitude. They will be
formal towards each other. There would be no
clear idea of goals or expectations. Besides, they
may not be sure why they are there.
• Stage 2: Storming
• During this stage, team members are eager to get
going. Conflict can arise as people tend to bring
different ideas of how to accomplish goals. At this
time, they notice differences rather than
similarities. This leads to some members dropping
out mentally or physically.
• Stage 3: Norming
• This stage is when people begin to recognize ways in which they are
alike. They realize that they are in this together. Hence, they tend to
get more social and may forget their focus in favour of having a good
time. This is the time to help with training if applicable. It becomes
important to encourage them in order to feel comfortable with each
other and with systems. Also, the group needs to stay focused on goal.

• Stage 4: Performing
• This stage is when team members are trained, competent, as well as
able to do their own problem-solving. At this time, ways need to be
looked at in order to challenge them as well as develop them. The
team is mature now. The members understand their roles and
responsibilities. They would require more input in processes. The
members would be self-motivated as well as self-trained. Thus, their
efforts need to be recognised. Growth has to be encouraged. This is
done by giving new challenges to the team.
 Obstacle to team /group productivity
• Common challenges of working in a team
• Lack of trust. Trust is crucial to teamwork, and it starts
with team members knowing each other.
• Conflict and tension.
• Not sharing information.
• Low engagement.
• Lack of transparency.
• No long-term thinking.
• Badly perceived, not delivering.
• Poor change management.
 How to Increasing team/group productivity

1. Set and track attainable goals.

2. Clarify roles and tasks
3. Give and receive feedback
4. Don’t let meetings ruin your productivity
5. From an adobe of idleness to a space of
performance
6. Enhance productivity by communicating effectively
7. Bring all the projects your team’s working on
under one roof
8. Measure everything
 Group Behavior
• Therefore, group behavior in organizations tends to follow the
organizational norms and rules wherein the employees are expected to be
disciplined, follow orders, and work to the requirements of the organization
rather than their own whims and fancies.
• Indeed, the extreme form of groups conforming to the common codes of
behavior is the armed forces wherein all members at whatever level they
are in are expected to follow the orders of their superiors.
• On the other hand, organizations such as Google and Facebook are less
hierarchical and less structured with employees being allowed to work on
their pet projects for a certain period every week.
• The difference here is that in the armed forces and many organizations,
the boss is always right whereas in the startups and the new economy or
the knowledge sector, the rules tend to be less rigid. Most organizations fall
between these two extremes wherein the employees are encouraged,
persuaded, and even ordered to conform to the norms of the group with
some latitude and freedom being allowed for them to exercise their
independence.