SHIPWRECKED!SHIPWRECKED!

Risk of being marooned!....

You have just 2 minutes!

• Get ready for a trip on a life boat to a far off island…?

• You are allowed to take with you, only one item, other than what you are wearing.

• Write the name of the item in a slip of paper.

You have 4 minutes!

• Make groups of 5 each for life on the island

• Now share your ideas with your team. Make adjustments as required.

What is a ‘Group’?

• 2 or more individuals interacting, who have come together to achieve a particular goal

• Have a stable pattern of relationship

Criteria for a group include:

• Formal social structure• Face-to-face interaction• 2 or more persons• Common fate• Common goals• Interdependence• Self-definition as group members• Recognition by othersSocieties are large groups consisting of a myriad of sub-groups.

The members….

• Are motivated to join the group

• Perceive the group as a unified unit for interaction

• Contribute in various degrees

• Have agreements and disagreements, but finally come to a consensus

‘Group’ Vs ‘ Random collection of individuals’

Group Random collection of individuals

Mutual interaction and influence is specific - Interaction and influence may be there, but non specific

Develop several dynamic processes - norms, roles, relations, development, need to belong, social influence, and effects on behavior

Random interactions

Family, fellow workers, crowd… Crowd at any place

WHY USE GROUPS?

• Simulates the “real world” - use of teams• Learn better when actively involved• Peer instruction, teaching each other• Learn more fully and with less effort• Learn in context• Modification of – - Personality - Power - Behaviour

Types of groups

Primary group - close,

personal, enduring relationships

Secondary group – Less

personal. Performs functions

Category group- associated with an application or global set

Formal group

Informal group

Command and task group

Interest and friendship group

Coalition group

Why do people join groups?

• Goal achievement • Attraction – To persons, to group

activities & to group goals• Group membership per se • Need for – Power, affiliation, self esteem,

status, security

“Hey friend, your support means a great deal to us!”

Group Dynamics

Sociology of Groups

Group Dynamics

• The study of groups• A general term for group processes. • Explains the internal nature of a group –

How it is formed Structure & process It’s function Effect on individual members Effect on the organization

• Relevant to the fields of psychology, sociology and communication studies

• Primarily concerned with small group behavior.

Domains of Group Dynamics

• Communication processes

and interaction patterns• Interpersonal attraction

and cohesion• Social integration

and influence• Power and control

• Culture• Goal achievement• Power• Affiliation• Self esteem• Status• Security

Criteria for Group Development (Mills 1967)

Needs of the individual

Social forces

Adaptation

Goal attainmentIntegration

Pattern maintenance and extension

Gro

up

Stages of group development - Bruce Tuckman (1965)

• Confusion – Not certain about purpose, task, leadership

• Orientation, dependence, inclusion

• Interaction is cautious, language ambiguous and there is a great deal of agreement 

• Minimal work is accomplished

• Breaking of ice (small talk, socializing) 

• Takes one day to several weeks

Stage I – Forming(Dependence)

Stage II – Storming(Counter dependence)

• Conflict , confrontations, disagreements, evaluation, control 

• Assertion of individuality - A chaotic vying for leadership• Language - Clear, unambiguous, direct • Minimal work is accomplished• 2 issues:

– how close we should be (affection)– does the leader know what he/ she is doing (control)

• Risk for communication failures

Now there, you two! You can’t both be Australia,.

One of you has to be England.

Stage III- Norming (Interdependence)

• Settling down, cooperation, collaboration • Agreement on how the group operates • Maintaining harmony, focused work emergence• Marked by several layers of balance:

– Individualism vs group ness

– Group goals vs individual goals

– Closeness vs distance

– Role of leader vs members

• Cohesion begins to emerge

Norms

= Acceptable standards of behaviour shared by group members

• All groups have norms• They define what ought/ ought not to be done

by the members • May be laid down formally or informally• They act as behaviour influencing parameters

without outside control • Differ from group to group

Why have norms?

• Facilitate survival of the group• Simplify role expectations• Protect self-images• Enhance the group's unique identity • Avoid rejection from the group• Increases predictability of group members behaviour• Reduces embarrassing IPR problems of group members• Allows the group members to express the central values and

apply

How are Norms formed ?

• Norms develop in many ways -

- Explicit statement by managers

- Critical events in group’s history

- Primacy – The first behaviour pattern that emerges becomes the norm

- Carry over behaviour what one followed

Forms of Norms

• Performance – parameters as to how hard a person has to work, what production level to achieve

• Appearance – Dress, code of conduct…

• Arrangement – Social interaction

• Allocation of resources – Pay, bonus, equipment ..

Stage IV – Performing(Independence)

• Group fully functional, devoted to task at hand

• Works to meet its objectives

• Period of consensus and maximum productivity

• Spirit is high

• Negative comments are

not expressed

Factors affecting group performance

1. Composition

2. Size

3. Norms

4. Cohesiveness

1. Composition of group

• Acts as a predictor of turnover

• Heterogeneous group - gender, personality, opinion, skill, perspective

– More conflict laden More deliberate

- Cultural diversity Difficulty in processes

• Groups that have cohorts (persons with common attributes) - perform better

2. GROUP SIZE

# in group

Relationships Interactions possible

2 1 2

3 3 9

4 6 28

5 10 75

6 15 186

7 21 441

8 28 1056

Dyad:

a to b

b to a

Triad:

a to b

a to c

b to a

b to c

c to a

c to b

a to b&c

b to a&c

c to a&b

• Dyad - close but unstable because one person leaving ends the group. Hence move from dyads to triads • Third person : - Mediator, Vyer for attention, Divide and conquer

Does the size of the group affect the group’s overall behaviour?

Yes

• Simmel (1950): size changes two aspects of groups:– Intimacy (diluted)– Coordination of behaviors (harder)

• Smaller group – Good for completion of a particular (productive) task

• Larger group – Good for problem solving

As size increases…?

Advantage –• Range of abilities & knowledge increases (added resources for

problem solving) Disadvantage -• Satisfaction of each member decreases• Time to decide increases• Cohesion decreases• Disagreement increases• Factions and antagonism increase• Member participation decreases

- Bales & Strodbeck (1951)

Group behaviours

• Task behaviour – Initiating, clarifying, information seeking/ giving, consensus

• Maintenance behaviour – Encouraging, harmonizing, compromising, gate keeping

• Self interest behaviour – Dominating, controlling, blocking, belittling

Transactional Analysis

Social attraction between individuals –

• Parent – Protective, nurturing, controlling, critical, guiding

• Adult – Rational calculating, factual, unemotional

• Child – Rebellious, spontaneous, dependent, creative, emotional

The PAC interactions

Parent

Adult

Child Child

Adult

Parent

Person A Person B?

Reactions within a Group

I’m OK – You’re OK

I’m OK – You’re not OK

I’m not OK – You’re OK

I’m not OK – You’re not OK

4. Group cohesion

Affected by the ability of the group to – • Work as a unit, share tasks, recognize members’

contributions,

Vs

Conflict, role ambiguity, lack of motivation• Attract high performers, opportunists, achievers

• Affected by - Group size, cliques, acts of protest, self interest behaviour

Stage V - Adjourning

• Dissolving, termination • The process of "unforming" the group, that is, letting

go off the group structure and moving on.• Tail end behavior - Happy - Sad - Depressed - Angry - Dissatisfied

ThanQ

I’m OK – Are you OK?