Hundreds of Fish Swimming Together Are Called a School

8/3/2019 Hundreds of Fish Swimming Together Are Called a School

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Hundreds of fish swimming together are called a school. A pack of

foraging baboons is a troupe. A half dozen crows on a telephone line is a murder.

A gam is a group of whales. But what is a collection of human beings called???

A group. [NEXT]

Thus a group is a collection of people. What else? George Homans says that in a

group, members communicate with one another, and who are few enough so that each

person is able to communicate with all the others. Theodore M. Mills says that group

members come into contact for a purpose and they consider the contact meaningful. To

sum up, a group has two or more humans who interact with one another other to

accomplish certain goals or meet certain needs, share similar characteristics and

collectively have a sense ofunity.[NEXT]

Thenhow is it different from a team???

After all a team also have a number of people working together? But... in a team,

members have complementary skills and are committed to a common mission,

performance or goals. So, we can say that all teams are groups but all groups are not

teams.[NEXT]

Characteristics of a Well-Functioning and Effective Group.

y Relaxed, comfortable, informal atmosphere

y Task well understood & accepted

y Members listen well & participate

y People express feelings & ideas [NEXT]

y

Conflict & disagreement center around ideas or methods

y Group aware of its operation & function

y Consensus decision making

y Clear assignments made & accepted [NEXT]

Whyhavegroups whenone canworkalone?

Becausegroups impact effectiveness. Groups can enhance performance, increase

innovation, motivation and satisfaction which all ultimately give us a competitive edge

over others. [NEXT]

Howperformance is enhanced in a group?

This is done by help of synergy. People working in a group are able to produce

more outputs than would have been produced if each person had worked separately. In

a group,

group members bounce ideas off one another

correct one anothers mistakes


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bring a diverse knowledge base to bear on a problem

accomplish work that is too vast for any one individual to achieve

Howworking in a group is innovative?

Individuals rarely possess the wide variety of skills needed for successful

innovation. Group members can uncover each others flaws and balance each others

strengths and weaknesses.

Howgroup acts as a motivator?

It is generally seen that members of groups are often better motivated and

satisfied than individuals. It is fun to work next to other motivated people. Group

members can see the effect of their contribution to achieving goals. Groups also provide

needed social interaction and help employees cope with work-related stresses. [NEXT]

Types ofgroups

There are various ways of classifying groups, for example in terms of their

purpose or structure.

According to way of socialization

Primary group- It is cluster of people like families or close friendship

circles where there is close, face-to-face and intimate interaction.

Secondary group- Secondary groups are those in which members are rarely

in direct contact. They are often large and usually formally organized.

Trades unions and membership organizations such as the National Trust

are examples of these. [NEXT]

According to the purpose of formation

Planned groups. Planned groups are specifically formed for some purpose

either by their members, or by some external individual, group or

organization.

Emergent groups. Emergent groups come into being relatively

spontaneously where some collection of people gradually come to know

each other through conversation and interaction over a period of time.

[NEXT]

Groups can also be classified as,

Formal Groups

y Command group : formal group determined by structure and is

composed of subordinates who report to the same supervisor.


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y Task group: formal group organized for a specific task.

y Committees: handles problems outside of regular assignments.

Informal groups

y Social groups: people who enjoy each others company (chat

groups) and socialize with each other.

y Interest groups: groups that develop informally around a common

interest (news groups). [NEXT]

Group dynamics.

Group dynamics is the study of groups, and the behavior of people in groups.

Group size: it affects group performance. Normally, small group is ideal

(2 to 9 members). Small groups interact better and tend to be more

motivated. Large groups are used when more resources are needed.Division of labor is possible with large group. [NEXT]

Advantageof smallgroups

Interact more with each other and easier to coordinate their efforts

More motivated, satisfied, and committed

Easier to share information

Better able to see the importance of their personal contributions

Advantages oflargegroups

More resources at their disposal to achieve group goals

Enables managers to obtain division of labor advantages [NEXT]

Disadvantages oflargegroups

Problem of communication and coordination

Lower level of motivation

Members might not think their efforts are really needed [NEXT]

Group tasks: it has an impact on how group members interact. Task

interdependence shows how the work of one member impacts another; as

interdependence rises, members must work more closely together. [NEXT]

Taskinterdependence types:

Pooled Task Interdependence: Members make separate, independent

contributions to group such that group performance is the sum of each

members contributions [NEXT]

Sequential Task Interdependence: Members perform tasks in a

sequential order making it difficult to determine individual performance

since one member depends on another. [NEXT]


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Reciprocal Task Interdependence: Work performed by one group

member is mutually dependent on work done by other members. Members

share information and work closely together. [NEXT]

Group Norms: the standards that a work group uses to evaluate the

behavior of its members. For example, Groups may set working hours,

behavior rules, etc.

Conformity &

Deviance: members conform to norms to:

Obtain rewards, imitate respected members, and because they feel

the behavior is right.

When a member deviates, other members will try to make them

conform, expel the member, or change the group norms to

accommodate them.

Conformity and deviance must be balanced for high performance from

the group. Deviance allows for new ideas in the group. [NEXT]

Being at the extremes is not always fruitful. There should be a balance ofconformity and deviance in a group which is evident from this graph. [NEXT]

Group cohesiveness: measures the loyalty to the group by its members.

The determinants of cohesiveness are-

GroupSize: small groups allow high cohesiveness. Low cohesive

groups with many members can benefit from splitting in two groups.

Managed Diversity: Diverse groups often come up with better

solutions. When results come, the group gets attached.

Group Identity:A group having a unique identity and engaged inhealthy competition with others are likely to be more cohesive.

Success:Cohesiveness increases with success.

The consequences of group cohesiveness are-

Level of Participation: Participation helps get members actively

involved. Participation rises with cohesiveness.

LevelofConformity:as conformity rises, so does cohesiveness.

Levelof Group GoalAccomplishment:as cohesiveness rises, the

emphasis on group accomplishment will rise. High levels of

cohesiveness can cause the group to focus more on itself than thefirm. [NEXT]

Stages of GroupDevelopment.

There are five stages of group development namely, forming, storming, norming,

performing and adjourning.[NEXT]

Forming: members get to know each other and reach common goals.

Storming: members disagree on direction and leadership.


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Norming: close ties and consensus begin to develop between members.

Performing: group does its real work.

Adjourning: only for task forces that are temporary. [NEXT]

Group conflict.

Group conflict between different human groups, is a pervasive feature of the

human world: 'a glance at the history of the human race reveals an endless series ofconflicts between one community and another.

Conflict arises when social behaviourcauses individuals to clash with each other.

Conflicts may be caused by differences in social norms, values, and religion or due to

aggression, which is a key characteristic of all competitive games. [NEXT]

Conflict may be intergroup where two groups strive either for valued material

resources or for social rewards, or it may be intragroup where members of the group

clash due to interpersonal and work related issues.[NEXT]

How tomanagegroup for betterperformance?

Motivategroups to achievegoals:

o Members should benefit when the group performs well.

o Rewards can be monetary or in other forms.

Reduce social loafing: human tendency to put forth less effort in a group than

individually

Helpgroups manage conflict.

o All groups will have conflict, managers should seek ways to direct it to the

goals. [NEXT]

How toreduce socialloafing?

The three ways adopted to reduce social loafing are-

Make individual efforts identifiable and accountable.

Emphasize the valuable contributions of individual members.

Keep group size at an appropriate level. [NEXT]

Conclusion.

Humans are small group beings. The inevitability of being in them makes groups one of

the most important factors in our lives. They are a fundamental part of human

experience and play a crucial role both in terms of shaping and influencing individual

lives and society itself. [NEXT]

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Hundreds of Fish Swimming Together Are Called a School