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Group Formation and Group Processes Group Dynamics Leading and Building Teams Conflict Resolution

Stephen Robbins defines group as Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent , who have come together to achieve particular objectives. According to Homans ,It is a number of persons who communicate with one another often over a span of time and who are far enough so that each person is able to communicate with all the others , face to face.

Groups

Formal

Informal

Command (Permanent)
Task (Temporary)

Interest

Friendship

It is said to be any social arrangement in which some activities of some persons are planned by others to achieve a common purpose Example :- A work group in a office , management bargaining team Characteristics : Assist in the accomplishment of goals less haphazardly Facilitate the coordination of the activities Aid in establishing logical relationship among people and positions Assist in the application of the concept of specialization and division of labour

On the basis of the length of time , formal group further classified into : 1. Permanent Formal Group : It is determined by the organizational chart It is a group determine by the connection between individuals who are a formal part of the organization. It usually consist of supervisor and his subordinate Example The marketing department consisting of GM and Other marketing staff

2. Task Group : It is created by the management to accomplish certain organizational goal It is specifically created to solve a problem or perform a defined tasks It is compose of individual with some special interest or expertise in a specific area regardless of their position in the organizational hierarchy Example A committee established to study and recommend changes in the wage system of the organization

They are formed spontaneously and are based on personal relationships or special interests They have few rules and procedures and members enjoy greater freedom of thought and action Informal Groups are further classified into : 1. Interest Group : It consist of persons who shares common interest. Employees who want to support a worker whose services have been terminated, to seek increased wages, bonus and other benefits Such groups are based on New Combs Balance Theory which says that people having common interest or attitude come together

2. Friendship Group : It consist of individual who come together because they share one or more common characteristics These are bachelor's clubs , teenagers groups ect. Such groups are based on Exchange Theory i.e. People join to satisfy their needs for a affiliation Informal Groups are important part of organizational life They help individual satisfy needs that are not met by formal Groups. Informal group provide their member with a social satisfaction and a sense of security and belongingness

Various Group Development Models are as follow: Tuckman's Stages model Wheelans Integrated Model of Group Development Fisher's Group Development Theory Tubbs's Group Development Theory

The model describes four linear stages a group will go through in its unitary sequence of decision making. A fifth stage was added in 1977 when a new set of studies were reviewed.

Forming : In this stage the members get acquainted with each other . This stage marked by get deal of uncertainty and confusion When members starts thinking of themselves as a part of the group the Forming stage complete

Storming : It is characterized by intra group conflict It is hostility and infighting over who will control the group When the intra group conflict are resolved and groups leadership is accepted the Storming stage is completed

Norming : In this members begins to come together as a coordinated unit There is strong sense of group identity , share responsibility and cooperation among the group members This stage is complete when the members of the groups accepts the common set of expectations Performing : In this group member work effectively , efficiently towards achieving the group object This stage is marked by the emergence of a mature , organized and well functional group For permanent groups performing is the last stage

Adjourning : In this groups focus is on wrapping up activities rather than achieving high task performance Group members experience mixed emotions This is the last stage of temporary groups

This model takes the perspective that groups achieve maturity as they continue to work together rather than simply go through stages of activity. We will study each one of these phases in detail. Stage I : Dependency and Inclusion In this stage, members are dependent on the designated leader. They are concerned about their safety and inclusion issues. Members rely on the leader and powerful members for direction.

Stage II : Counter dependency and Fight In this stage, members disagree among themselves about group goals and procedures. The groups task at this stage is to develop a set of goals, values, and operational procedures, and this generates some conflict. Conflict also is necessary for the establishment of trust and a climate in which members feel free to disagree with each other.

Stage III : Trust and Structure Communication becomes more open and task-oriented. This third stage of group development, referred to as the trust and structure stage, is characterized by more mature negotiations about roles, organization, and procedures. It is also a time in which members work to solidify positive working relationships with each other. Stage IV : Work and Productivity It is a time of intense team productivity and effectiveness. The group focuses most of its energy on goal achievement and task accomplishment

Interaction of complex intra and inter-personal forces operating in a group which determines its characters, development and long-term development.

Factors influencing group dynamics are as follow: 1. External Factors 2. Group Resources 3. Group structure 4. Group Processes 5. Group Tasks

Group Task Group member resources External conditions imposed on the group Group structure Group Process Performance and Satisfaction

Various factors within the organization affect group behavior. 1.Organizational Strategy: The overall organizational strategy adopted by the management has a strong effect on the working of group. 2.Authority Structure: The authority structure of an organization defines who reports to whom, who makes decisions and the extend to which individuals or groups have an influence to make decisions. These structures have an influence on formal relationship between groups.

3.Formal Regulations: Organizations create rules, procedures, policies, job descriptions, and other regulations to standardize employee behavior. The more formal regulations organization imposes on its employees, The more the behavior of the work group members will be consistent and predictable. 4.Organisational resources: Organizational resources includes money, time, raw material, high quality equipments etc. Availability of such resources have great influence on the group behavior.

5.Human resource selection process: The selection criterion of the organization affects the kind of people that are in its work group. 6.Performance evaluation and reward system: The performance appraisal and reward system affects the work group. The working of the group suffers if rewards are focused too much on individuals instead of group outcomes.

To succeed a group must have members with the right skills and competencies. Abilities and Personal Characteristics are two important resources of group members. Abilities: What group members can do and how effectively they can do it has a strong bearing on group performance. Intellectual and task relevant ability of group members affects overall group performance. Individuals who have abilities that are crucial to the groups task tend to be more involved, contribute more and are more likely to emerge as leaders.
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2. Personality characteristics: The personality traits of individual group member strongly influence how they interact with other group members. Traits such as sociability, self reliance and independence have positive impact whereas authoritarianism and dominance have negative impact on groups.

Group Structure refers to the pattern of interrelationship between the individuals forming a group. The variables of group structure are:-

1. Formal Leadership : The leaders characteristics and his leadership style have a strong influence on the working of group.

2. Roles : A role is a set of expected behavior that characterize a person in a social setting. Every person has to play many roles and our behavior varies with the role we play. Different roles have different requirements and responsibility. Some of these roles are compatible with each other while some create conflicts. 3. Norms: They are set of informal rules, shared beliefs and values that guide member behavior. Norms define the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior and are the standard against which member behavior is evaluated. Norms differ from organizational rules in that they are not formal and written.

4. Size: The size of the group strongly influences the groups overall behavior. Large groups are good for gaining diverse input but smaller groups are faster at completing tasks . An interesting phenomenon related to group size is social loafing. Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort when working collectively than when working individually. 5. Status: Status is the prestige, position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Status is an important factor in understanding human behavior because it is a powerful motivator and strongly influences individual behavior.

6. Cohesiveness: It is the strength of group members desire to remain part of their group. A high level of group cohesiveness does not necessarily mean high level of performance. 7. Composition: Group composition can be describe in terms of homogeneity or heterogeneity of its members. In homogeneous groups, members are similar to each other with regards to age, gender, race, experience, culture, values, talent, interpersonal orientation etc. Whereas in heterogeneous group embers vary from each other on these dimensions. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous group have their advantages as well as disadvantages.

Group Processes includes the communication patterns used by members for : information exchange, group decision processes, leader behavior, conflicts and like. One group process that has generated considerable interest is the Social Facilitation Effect

Social Facilitation Effect:-

It is the tendency for performance to improve or decline in response to the presence of others. Various theories that explains the S F effects are 1. Drive Theory:This theory states that, presence of others increases arousal, which Increases the tendency to perform the most dominant response. If the dominant response is a well learned one, then performance will improve. If the dominant response is not well learned , then performance will deteriorate.

2. Evaluation apprehension:It is the fear of being evaluated or judged by another person. Here the person is concerned with what others may think about him. 3. Distraction-conflict model :According to the model, the presence of others creates a conflict between paying attention to others and paying attention to the task at hand. This conflict leads to increased arousal, which in turn leads to social facilitation.

Task may be simple, routine and standardized or they may be complex, non-routine and novel. The nature of the task moderates the group processes and affect group performance and members satisfaction. Greater interaction among group members is required when there is a high degree of interdependence among the task that group members must perform.

Greenberg and Baron define a team as, A group whose members have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose or set of performance goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. According to Stephen Robbins, A group whose individual efforts results in a performance that is greater than the sum of those individual input.

There are several important differences between a team and a group.

Team
Performance Depends on individual as well as collective work The team works together to produce an outcome and each team member is responsible for outcome

Group
Depends on the work of individual member Group members do not consider themselves responsible for any results other than their own. Although they pool their resources together to attain the goal.

Accountability

Team Reward Shared in a team

Group Individual performance is taken into account

Commitment

Members not only have common goal but they also have common commitment to the purpose. The feeling of ownership is there
Work team have greater flexibility and less interference from the management

Members shared a common interest goal. the feeling of ownership is missing.

Connection to Management

Less flexibility. Work groups have to respond regularly to the demands placed on them by the management

Considerable managerial skills and hard work are needed to develop effective teams. A model developed by J R Hackman provides some useful guidelines as to how to design work team effectively. It involves four stages: Prework: It is an important step as it determines whether there is necessity to build a team. Before creating a team, the manager should decide on: a. The work that needs to be done b. The objective of the team c. The composition skills needed to do job. d. The authority-would it be working merely as an advisory to the manager or whether it would have full responsibility and authority in carrying out task.
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2. Create performance conditions:

Once it is decided to create a team, the next step is to ensure that the team has the proper conditions to carry out its work. The team should be provided with necessary resources(material and human) and support to ensure its success.
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Form and build the team: Boundaries: the manager should make it very clear as to who is a member of the team and who is not. This removes confusions among the team members otherwise they feel frustration. Mission acceptance: the manger must ensure that all the team members are committed to the teams purpose and mission. Lack of acceptance of mission will result into failure.

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Clarify responsibly: it is very important to let the team know what is expected from them. What is their area of responsibly and what they are suppose to do. Ambiguity of any kind should be avoided.

4. Provide ongoing assistance:

The manager should provide whatever support and assistance the team needs without interfering in their routine functioning. The support can be by removing any obstacle such as replacing uncooperative member, ensuring regular supply of resources etc. this helps team to perform much better and more effectively.

If a team is to yield high performance then it should be properly cared and maintained. Vital elements that a manager needs to pay attention to in order to build high performance team :
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Small Size Good teams are usually small teams. A team should not have more people than required. The ideal number is 10 to 12 Members with diverse skills It is vital that a team has the right mix of members. It must have a members with diverse skills and experiences. It needs members with three different types of skills: a)Technical expertise b)Problem-solving and decision-making skills c)Interpersonal Skills

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Proper Selection : As far as possible only those individuals who like working in teams must be selected. Team members must be selected on the basis of the skills they possess to accomplish the task Training: Team members need to be given trained skills that they are lacking in to develop high performance team. Proper Role Allocation: The manager must attempt to understand the strength and weakness of each member and allocate them roles that fits the teams requirement and individual preference. Goal Clarity: The team goals must be clearly stated so that all the team members can put their efforts in the same direction.

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Rewards Contingent On Team Performance: The reward systems should be so designed that members can share the success of the group. Appropriate Performance Measures: Teams must be given freedom to develop their own measures of success. The same methods of performance evaluation used with individuals cannot be applied to teams. Participation: All the team members must be encouraged to participate in the decision making process. Urgency: A certain amount urgency about the task must be created in teams as it challenges and pushes them to deliver a high caliber performance. Confront Teams With New Facts: Teams should be regularly provided with new facts and information that will encourage innovation. New development challenge teams and charge them up.