Understanding Group Cohesion and Development

1. Cohesion and Development

2. What is group cohesion?

3. Cohesion = Attraction, Liking Attraction between members Cohesion Attraction Attraction to the group-as-a-whole

4. Cohesion = Unity: Cohesive groups stick together as members “cohere” to one another and the group • The group is unified; solidarity is high in the group • Members report feeling a sense of belonging to the group Group Unity Cohesion Unity Belonging (part of the group)

5. Task • Cohesion = Teamwork: Members of cohesive groups coordinate their efforts to achieve goals • Collective efficacy: a high level of confidence about success at the tasks the group accepts • Esprit de corps: positive group affect Implication: Measurement is complex! Collective Efficacy Teamwork Cohesion Group morale, esprit de corps Moti- vation

6. Special Issue: Hazing • Hazing, or severe initiations, can increase members’ commitment to the group • Festinger, Schachter’s and Back’s classic study of the “Seekers” suggested initiations create dissonance • Aronson and Mill’s study of severe initiations • Alternative interpretations and the dangers of hazing

7. Does Cohesion Develop Over Time? • Cohesion develops over time in a relatively predictable pattern • Tuckman's five-stage model of group development

8. Performing Task Norming Storming Adjourning Forming

9. Does Cohesion Develop Over Time? • Types of group development models • Successive-stage theories: Tuckman • Cyclical models: Bales's equilibrium model • Punctuated equilibrium models: periods of accelerated change

10. What are The Positive and Negative Consequences of Cohesion? • Cohesion tends to lead to: • Increased member satisfaction • Decreased employee turnover and stress • Cohesive groups can intensify emotional and social processes. Such groups can: • Be more emotionally demanding (e.g, the old sergeant syndrome) • Exert more conformity pressure on members • Suffer from groupthink • Respond with more hostility

11. Cohesion and Performance

12. Road crews

13. .51 Attraction .03 Unity (Group Pride) .18 .23 Task Focus (teamwork) Cohesion and Performance Performance Cohesion .25 Norms are also critically important

14. The cohesion-performance relationship is weakest if group norms do not encourage high productivity Groups with norms that stress productivity P r o d u c t i v i t y Groups with norms that stress low productivity

15. Should Organizations Rely on Teams to Enhance Productivity? • What is a team? A specialized, relatively organized, task focused group Features (same as any group): • Interaction • Interdependence • Structure • Goals • Cohesion • Types of teams

16. Source: Adapted from Devine, 2002.

17. Should Organizations Rely on Teams to Enhance Productivity? • Team building • Setting and clarifying goals and roles • Designing teams: size, communication features, authority, organization, duration, composition • Practicing (training): orienting, distributing resources, pacing, coordinating responses, and motivating members • Process consultation • Building cohesion by increasing communal perspective, efficacy • Team approaches are reliably associated with increases in effectiveness and satisfaction.