GROUP BEHAVIOUR

By:Ms. Sharine Jacob

GROUP: Two or more individuals interacting and inter-dependent who have come together to achieve particular objectives.

FORMAL GROUP: A designated work group defined by an organization’s structure.

INFORMAL GROUP: A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY: Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups.

Several characteristics make a social identity important to a person –

Similarity

Distinctiveness

Status

Reduction in uncertainty

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENTFIVE – STAGE MODEL

Stage 1: Forming stage The first stage in group development,

characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure and leadership.

Stage 2: Storming Stage Second stage Characterized by intragroup conflict Members accept being part of a group,

but resist constraints it imposes on individuality

Stage 3: Norming Stage Third stage Group structure is solidified Characterized by close relationships and

cohesiveness

Stage 4: Performing Stage Fourth stage Group is fully functional Group energy is focused on performing

the task at hand

Stage 5: Adjourning Fifth and final stage Concerned with wrapping up activities

and preparing to disband

GROUP PROPERTIESGROUP PROPERTY I – ROLES

ROLE: Refers to a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit.

ROLE PERCEPTION: Refers to an individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation.

ROLE EXPECTATION: Refers to how others believe a person should act in a given situation

ROLE CONFLICT: Refers to a situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expevtations

GROUP PROPERTY II – NORMS

NORMS: It is an acceptable standard of behaviour within a group that are shared by the group’s members.

CONFORMITY: Refers to the adjustment of one’s behaviour to align with the norms of the group.

REFERENCE GROUPS: Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform.

DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOUR Anti-social inactivity or workplace

incivility Refers to voluntary behaviour that

violates significant organizational norms Threatens the well being of the

organization

GROUP PROPERTY III – STATUS

STATUS: A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others.

STATUS CHARACTERISTICS THEORY: A theory stating that differences in status characteristics and uniqueness create status hierarchies within groups

STATUS AND GROUP INTERACTION High status people tend to be more

assertive in the group. They speak out more often, critically evaluate, are more commanding and interrupts other members more often.

Low status people: participate less

Status differences can inhibit diversity of ideas and creativity within groups

GROUP PROPERTY IV – SIZE

Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks

Individuals perform better in small groups

Problem solving is better in large groups

Larger groups are good for gaining diverse input

Social loafing: Refers to the tendency of individuals to expend less effort when working collectively, than when working individually.

Often seen in large groups

GROUP PROPERTY V – COHESIVENESS

COHESIVENESS: The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.

For group cohesiveness to be encouraged –

Make the group smaller Encourage agreement with the group goals Increase the time members spend with each other Increase the group’s status Stimulate competition with other groups Give rewards to the group rather than individual

members Physically isolate the group

GROUP PROPERTY VI – DIVERSITY

DIVERISTY: The extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from one another.

Diversity can increase group conflict Effective team-oriented human

resources practices and good leadership can offset problems created by diversity

GROUP DECISION MAKINGStrengths of group decision making Help in generating more complete

information and knowledge Aggregate the resources of several

individuals Bring more input into the group Increased diversity of views Opens up opportunity to consider more

alternatives

Weaknesses of group decision making

Conformity pressures More time to reach a solution Desires by members to be accepted in

the group Dominated by one or more members Suffers ambiguous responsibility With low or medium-ability members,

overall effectiveness of group can suffer

GROUP DECISION MAKING TECHNIQUES

INTERACTING GROUPS

Most common form of group decision making

Members interact with each other meeting face to face

Rely on verbal and non-verbal modes of communication

BRAINSTORMING

An idea-generating process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.

Brainstorming can overcome pressure for conformity that inhibits creativity

Encourages creativity and to ‘think out of the box’

NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE

In this group decision making method, individual members meet face to face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent manner.

Takes place in following steps –

Before any discussion takes place, members write down ideas on the problem

After this, each member present an idea to the group

The group discusses all the presented ideas for clarity and evaluates them

Finally, each member silently and independently rank-orders the ideas. The idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final decision. This idea is likely to be chosen.

Chief advantage – it permits a group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking.

Research studies generally show nominal group perform better than brainstorming groups.

ELECTRONIC MEETING

A meeting in which members interact on computers, allowing for anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes.

Faster in communication, than other techniques since only matters of importance are discussed

Decreased group effectiveness seen, more time to complete tasks.

Reduced member satisfaction as compared to face-to-face groups

However, with current enthusiasm for technology, this technique may become more popular in the future

GROUPTHINK

It is a phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.

GROUPSHIFT

Refers to a change between a group’s decision and an individual decision that a member within the group would make.

The shift can either be towards conservatism, or a greater risk

It is generally towards a more extreme version of the group’s original position.

GROUP EFFECTIVENESS

Criteria for group effectiveness

The number of ideas generated and the quality of those ideas :- more number of ideas and better quality of ideas can improve group effectiveness

Social pressure :- more social pressure may reduce group effectiveness

Money costs :- greater task performance with lesser money costs make a group more effective

Speed :- speed of doing tasks determine group effectiveness

Task oriented :- more task oriented the group is, more effective it becomes

Potential for interpersonal conflict :- lesser the interpersonal conflicts within the group, more the group effectiveness is

Commitment to problem solving :- more committed to problem solving a group is, more effective it becomes

Development of group cohesiveness :- higher the group cohesiveness, better is the group effectiveness

THE END…