GROUP DYNAMICS

WHAT IS A GROUP?

A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting &

interdependent, who come together to achieve a particular objective.

Huse and Bowditch (1977) defined the group as

A Group is any no of people who
have a common purpose or objective
Interact with one another to accomplish their objective
Are aware of one another
Perceive themselves as part of the group

THE NATURE OF THE GROUP

Own property that is different from that of individual members

Synergy

GROUP DYNAMICS

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 In 1930s Kurt Lewin popularised the term.
It is concerned with the interaction & forces among group members in
a social situation.

It describes the internal nature of the groups, how they form, their
structure and processes.

Normative view describes how a group should be organised and

conducted. Democratic leadership , member participation and overall
cooperation are stressed.

Another view demonstrates that it is a set of techniques to make the

leader as well as members effective.

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WHY THE GROUPS ARE FORMED

Propinquity Theory: Individuals associate with one another because of

spatial or geographical proximity.

Social System Theory: Basis of group formation is activities,

interaction and sentiments of people.

Exchange Theory: It is based on Reward-Cost outcomes of interaction

Balance theory: The persons are attracted to one another on the basis
of similar attitudes toward commonly relevant objects and goals.

BALANCE THEORY

BASIC REASONS OF GROUP FORMATION

Economic
Security
Relatedness/ Belongingness
Esteem & Growth

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TYPES OF GROUP

Primary Group: Face to face Interaction, family and peer group

Informal Group: Formed within the organisation by the members
themselves

Formal Group: Established by the organisation to accomplish specific

tasks

FORMAL GROUPS

Committee: Established by the organisation to accomplish specific

tasks

Command Group: Comprises of a manager and his immediate

subordinates

Task Force: Consists of employees who work together to complete a

particular task or project

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 STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Forming: Characterized by Uncertainty, Members are wary of each

other, a stage of mutual suspicion

Storming: Initially inter group conflict, when conflict is over team

spirit starts

Norming: Evolving standards of behaviour

Performing: The structure at this point is fully functional
Adjourning: (temporary group) Wrapping up activities

GROUP DEVELOPMENT MODEL: FOR TEMPORARY GROUP WITH

DEADLINES

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 The first meeting sets the groups direction.
The first phase of group activity is one of inertia.
A transition takes place at the end of this first phase, which occurs
exactly when the group has used up half of its allotted time.

A transition initiates major changes

A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
The groups lat meeting is characterised by markedly accelerated
activity.

GROUP BEHAVIOUR MODEL

External conditions imposed on the group

Group member resources
Group Structure
Group Processes
Group Task
Performance and Satisfaction

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EXTERNAL CONDITION IMPOSED ON THE GROUP

Organisations overall strategy

Authority Structure
Formal Regulations
Resources
Performance and reward system
Organisations culture
Physical work setting

GROUP MEMBER RESOURCES

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Personality characteristics: sociability, Initiative, Openness and
flexibility

GROUP STRUCTURE

Formal Leadership
Roles
Norms
Status
Size
Composition

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 Cohesiveness

ROLES

Role: A set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone

occupying a given position in a social unit

Role Identity: Certain attitudes & behaviour consistent with a role

Role Perception: An individuals view of how he is supposed to act in
a given situation

Role Expectations: How others believe a person should act in a given

situation

Role Conflict: A situation in which an individual is confronted by

divergent role expectations

NORMS

Accepted standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the

group members

Common classes of norms: Performance Norms, Appearance Norms,

Social Arrangement Norms, Allocation of Resources Norms

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 CONFORMITY

Adjusting ones behaviour to align with the norms of the group.

STATUS

A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members

by others.

Sources of Status: Ascribed-Achieved, Scalar- Functional, Positional-

Personal, Active-Latent

Status and Norm: High-status members of groups often are given

more freedom to deviate from norm than are other group members.

Status and group interaction: The high status people tend to be more
assertive.

Status inequity results in problematic situation.

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SIZE

Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than are larger ones
If the group is engaged in problem solving, large groups are
consistently better

If the goal of the group is fact finding, larger groups are more
effective

Social Loafing: The tendency for individuals to expend less effort

when working collectively than when working individually.

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 COMPOSITION

Group Demography- The degree to which members of a group share a

common demographic attribute such as sex, race, educational level in
the organisation.

Cohort- Individual who, as part of a group, hold a common attribute.

COHESIVENESS

Degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are
motivated to stay in the group

Relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the

performance related norms established by the group

COHESIVENESS, PERFORMANCE NORM AND PROUCTIVIY

HOW TO INCREASE GROUP COHESIVENESS

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 Make the group smaller
Encourage agreement with group goals
Increase the time members spend together
Increase the status of the group and the perceived difficulty of
attaining membership in the group

Stimulate competition with other group

Give reward to the group rather than to individual members
Physically isolate the group

GROUP PROCESSES

Potential group effectiveness + Process gains process losses =

Actual Group Effectiveness

Synergy: An action of two or more substances that results in an effect

that is different from the individual summation of substances

Social loafing: The tendency for individuals to expend less effort

when working collectively than when working individually

SOCIAL FACILIATATIN EFFECT

The tendency to improve or decline performance in response to the

process of others.

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GROUP TASK

Size- performance relationship is moderated by the groups task

requirement

Large group facilitates pooling of information

For coordinating or implementing a decision small group is effective.

GROUP TASK

More complex the task, the more the group will benefit from
discussion among members

If the task is simple and routine, no discussion is required

If there is a high degree of interdependence among the tasks, more
interaction is necessary.

PERFOMANCE AND SATISFACTION

Are the outcome of all the variables discussed

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