GROUP DYNAMICS

Definition: Group

Two or more individuals, interacting and independent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives

Think…..Almost all of our time is spent interacting in groups; we are educated in groups, we work in groups, we worship in groups, and we play in groups. But even though we live our lives in groups, we often take them for granted. Consider their influence on you by enumerating the groups to which you belong, as well as those that influence you.

1. Make a list of all the groups you belong to now. List as many as possible; don't forget family, clubs, sport teams, classes, social groups, cliques of friends, workteams, and social categories that are meaningful to you (e.g., Indian).

2. Which group has changed the most over time? Describe this change briefly?

3. Which group has influenced you, as an individual, the most? Explain the group's influence on you briefly.

4. Identify five groups that you do not belong to, but that influence you in some way. Of these groups, which one influences you--your behaviors, your emotions, or your outcomes--the most?

Types of groups Formal Informal Command Task Interest

Stages of Group Development Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

Sociometry Analytical

technique for studying group interactions

Group behaviour model External conditions imposed on group- Organisational strategy- Authority structures- Formal regulations- Organisational resources- HR selection process- Performance evaluation and reward

system- Organisational culture- Physical work settings

Group member resources-Abilities-Personality characteristics

Group Structure

- Formal Leadership- Roles: A set of expected behaviour

patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit-Role Identity: Attitudes and behaviours consistent with a role

-Role Perception

- Role expectation- Role Conflict

Norms: Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by group members

- Performance norms- Appearance norms- Social arrangement norms- Allocation of resources norms

How norms develop? Explicit

statements made by a group member

Critical events in group history

Primacy

Why norms develop?

- Facilitates group survival- Increases predictability of group

members’ behaviours- Reduces embarrassing situations- Gives identity to group

Status Status is a

socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others

- status and norms

Size-Social Loafing

Composition- Group

Demography

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

Group Processes Synergy: An action of two or more

substances that results in an effect that is different from the individual summation of the substances

Group Think Group Shift

GROUP THINK

Group Exercise

Make 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 triangles using these six sticks