GROUP AND GROUP DYNAMICS

INTRODUCTION

Group dynamics Is Two Way Communication Implies A Situation Where Not Only
Two Parties Talk To Each Other As Well As It Helps In Clarification of doubts,,
confusion And Misconception. Both Parties Understanding Each Other And
Receiving and Giving of Feedback.
The term "group dynamics" describes the way in which people in a group interact
with one another. When dynamics are positive, the group works well together. When
dynamics are poor, the group's effectiveness is reduced.

DEFINITION OF GROUP
A group can be classified as several individuals who come together to accomplish a
particular task or goal.

DEFINITION OF GROUP DYNAMIC

 It is the social process by which people interact
face to face in small groups.
 A branch of social psychology which studies
problems involving the structure of group.
 It’s an interaction that influence the attitudes
and behavior of people when they are grouped
with others through either choice or accidental
circumstance.
 Group dynamics is viewed from the
perspective of internal nature of group: how
they are formed, why groups are formed,
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what are their structure and process, and how

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they affect individual members, other groups

and the organization .. According to
(Mamoria, 1996)

A group may be defined as two or more people acting interdependently in
a unified manner toward the achievement of common goals. According to
-(Harold koontz, 2004)

OBJECTIVES
  Identify and analyze the social impact on group
development and performance.
 Acquire the skills necessary to intervene and
improve individuals and group performance in an
organization context.
 Build more successful organization by applying
techniques by that provides positive impact on
goal achievement.

PRINCIPLES
 The members of the group must have a
strong sense of belonging to the
group.

 Changes in one part of the group may

produce stress in other person which can be
reduced only by eliminating or allowing the
change by bringing about readjustment in
the related parts.

 The group arises in functions owing to

common motives.

 Group survives by placing the members into

functional hierarchy and facilitating the
action towards the goals.

 The intergroup relations group organizations

and members participation are essential for
effectiveness of a group.
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 Information relating to need for change and

consequences of changes must be shared by
members of a group.

BASICS STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

 Forming
During this stage people have a sense of anxiety .The people are not sure
of what to do and how to do. In this there is superficial level of harmony
and cooperation.
  Storming
The group is formed. The group members now begin to feel comfortable
enough with their environment each person in the groups wants to have
individual importance and influence the group.
 Norming
During this stage people in the group start taking responsibility for solving
conflict and strengthening the friendship.There is growth of affection and
affection and establishment of personal relationship.
 Performing
This stage is characterized by working together and harmony among the
group members .Decision making and problem solving is shared in the
group.
 Transference
During this stage the group members are able to transfer the things which
they have learned.

  Factors affecting group dynamics-

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Psychological Forces: The psychology or desires of the individuals revolve around their
need for status, security, recognition, experience and belongingness. All this affects their
adaptability to the group.

Past Experience: An individual’s behaviour in a group depends upon his/her learning from
the past events of life comprising of the habits, values, attitude, perception etc.

Goals and Ideology: Another essential component is the individual’s goals and beliefs which
may or may not align with that of the whole group, leading to disagreement and
unwillingness to perform.

Associational Forces: The associational factors, i.e., the impact of family, geographical
habitation, peers group, traditions, customs and religion on the individual; direct his/her
actions in a group.

ELEMENTS OF GROUP BEHAVIOR

 Activity
When a person does something[ eg . talks ,runs ,manipulates
machinery]he said to perform some activity.

 Interaction
By interaction we mean a communication or contact between two or
more persons so that the activity of one responds to the activity of the
other. Every conversation is an interaction .It is usually important to note
whom they are initiated and whether two or more persons are
simultaneously involved.

 Beliefs
A belief of feeling which an employee must have in order to perform the
assigned task is called required sentiment.The belief of feelings which an
employee brings with him into a group because of his life outside it and
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his personal background is known as given sentiments.When given

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sentiments pertain to ideals and aspirations which are desirable they are
called values.

 Norms
In contrast to a value, a norm is a limited idea of what is desirable , It can
be fully released. Norm is a particular kind of emergent namely ,an
idea or belief about what the activities , sentiments or intreractions in
a particular group should be.
  Sentiments
Sentiments can be defined as an idea ,belief, feeling about the work and
the others involved in it.

ASSESSING GROUP DYNAMICS

To study the dynamics of a group , several factors in addition to group

structure and organization, may be analyzed;

 Commitment

 Leadership style

 Decision making method

 Members behavior or group task role

 Interaction patterns

 Cohesiveness

 power
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 commitment
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The members of effective groups have a commitment to goals and output

of the group. Because group demands time and attention , members
must relinquish some autonomy and self interest. Inevitably conflicts
arise between the interest of the individual members and those of the
group.

 Leadership style
To determine which group members carry out leadership functions ,the
following questions , the following questions may be asked.
-who starts the meeting or the work?
-who represents the group with other groups?
-who provides support to members with difficult situations?
-who clarifies thought expressed in discussions?

 Decision making methods

Five methods of decision making have been identified:
-Individual or authority rule decisions: The designated leader of the group
makes the decision and group members are expected to abibe by it.

-Minority decisions: A few members meet to discuss an issue and make a

decision that is binding to all.

-Majority decisions : More than half of those involved make decision.

This method is commonly used in large groups when complete member
commitment is unnecessary.

-Consensus decision: Each group member expresses an opinion , and a

decision is made by witch members can abide , if not in whole , at least in
part . this type of decision making taken a great deal of time and energy
and therefore is not effective when time pressures are great or when an
emergency is in progress .

-Unanimous decisions : Every group member agrees on the decision and

can support the action to be taken .This method is commonly used for
issues that are highly important to the group and require complete
member commitment.

 Group task roles \ Members behavior

The degree of output by members into goal setting, decision making,
problem solving and group evaluation is due in part of the group
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structure and leadership style, but members have responsibilities for

group behavior and participation. Effective member task roles include the
following.
 Initiator or contributor
 Information
 Information receiver
 Opinion receiver
 Summarizer
 Energizer
  Elaborator or evaluator
 Gate keeper
 Linker
 Diagnoser
 Active listener
 Clarifier
 Tension reliver
 Recorder
 Dominator
 Blocker
 Playboy
 Agressor
 Monopolizer

 Interaction pattern
Interaction pattern can be observed and ascertained by a sociogram, a
diagram of the flow of verbal communication within group during
specified period . Eg: 5-15 minutes. The interaction pattern indicates who
speaks to whom and who initiates there marks. Ideally the interaction
patterns of a all members of the group to all members of the group.
 Cohesiveness
Cohesive groups possess a certain group spirit, a sense of “we” and
common purpose. Group lacking in cohesiveness are unstable and prone
to disintegration.
 Power
Power can be viewed as a vital , positive force that move people towards
the attainment of individual or group goals. It is impossible to interact
with others without influencing and being influenced by them.
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GROUP DYNAMICS- THEORIES

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 Balance Theory
Many other theories are put forward regarding group formation. But they
tell one or two dimensions of group formation. The theory , of these
many theories , considered to be comprehensive is “Balance Theory”
developed by Theodre Newcomb .This theory states that that “two or
more individuals interact with each other as they have common attitudes
and values. These include authority politics ,work, religion, lifestyle and
marriage.
 The theory further states that individuals who form the group try to
maintain balance between attitudes and values through interaction and
propinquity and if they cannot maintain balance ,they back out resulting
in disconnection of relationship.

 Exchange Theory
This is a socio-psychological theory. In this theory, cost-benefit aspect is
considered .Here , the “Cost” refers to anxiety, frustration , embrassment
and fatigue that occurs due to participation in a group .Benefit refers to
satisfaction of personal needs. If reward is more than the cost, people
join the group .
Thus, benefits and rewards are exchanged for costs [ anxiety, frustration,
etc.] and if rewards and benefits are more , the group is formed and
developed.

GROUP DYNAMICS IMPORTANCE

.1 The group can influence the thinking of its members. The members are always influenced

by the interactions of other members in the group.

2. A group with a good leader performs better as compared to a group with weak leader.

3The group can give the effect of synergy, that is, if the group consists of positive thinkers

then its output is more than the double every time.

4. Group dynamism can give job satisfaction to the members.

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5. The group can also bring team spirit among the members.
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6. Even the attitude, perceptions, and ideas of members depend on group dynamism. For

example, the negative thinkers can be converted to positive thinkers with the help of the

facilitator.
7. If the group works as a cohesive group, the cooperation and convergence can result in

maximization of productivity.

8. Lastly, group dynamism can reduce the labour unrest and labour turnover due to emotional

attachment among the group members.

There are many problems of human behavior which disturbed the man from the beginning.
There are certain questions which may be asked about human relations and the group
behavior that are very difficult to answer.
Researches have been done or are being done to answer these related
questions of human and group behavior.
Such perceptions may be:
 Negative
 Positive

 Negative view point:

-Group do not exist and these are the product of distorted thought
processes generally known as abstractions;
-Group are good. They like that their members must be loyal to the
groups without their head and brain.

 Positive view point:

-Group do exist. Acceptance or non-acceptance of an individuals by a
group counts much to that individual and it proves the existence and
importance of groups.

-Groups are not bad, they are good. They satisfy the higher order needs
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of an individual such as affection , recognition and self -esteem. They

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stimulate altruism and self -sacrifice. Groups provide the means to get
such things through mutual interaction that a person can never attain
them individually.

ROLE OF NURSE MANAGER IN GROUP DYNAMICS-

- Supervise and manage the overall performance of staff in department.

- Analyzing, reporting, giving recommendations and developing strategies.

 - Achieve business and organization goals, visions and objectives.
Involved in employee selection, career development, succession
planning and periodic training .

-Working out compensations and rewards. 

- Responsible for the growth and increase in the organizations' finances

and earnings.

-Identifying problems, creating choices and providing alternatives courses

of actions.

CONCLUSION:
When the team process is executed effectively a team can be used to
pool the ideas and experiences of its members in search for a collective
outcome. … Good group dynamics begin with good relationships of both
on an individuals basis and the relationships of individuals with the team.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- Basheer, P Shabeer (2020). Textbook of Advanced Nursing Practice , (2 nd
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edition)Bangalore; Emmess; 529-524

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-  Basvantthappa B.T. Nursing Administration.1st Edition. New Delhi: Jaypee

Brothers; 2000,268-302.

-Bhaskar N (2015). Text book of Nursing Education , (seventh Edition),

EMMESS, 365-400.
-Rebecca Samson .Leadership& management in nursing practice
&education; Jaypee publication ,New Delhi;50-55.
-https;//www.economicsdiscussion .net/organizations/group-dynamics/32339.

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