Factors Affecting Group Development

1. Factors Affecting Group Development

2. Group Norms • Acceptable standards of behaviour considered appropriate • Vary from group to group • Leader: • Strives to understand norms • Ensures that group exerts pressure on members to comply with norms • Deviation from norms • Leader interprets and makes recommendations for positive change • Other members punish or correct

3. Group Size • Effect of size varies depending on the purpose and goals • Smaller groups make decisions quickly • Less discussion • Larger groups bring forth more opinions • Takes longer for decision making

4. Leadership Dimensions Low Relationship/Low task Low Relationship/High task High Relationship/Low task High Relationship/ High Task

5. High Relationship/Low Task • Works Best in forming stage when faced with strict deadline • Leader ensures that group is: • Working on the task and • Moving quickly through the forming, storming and norming stages • Relationships important to ensure cohesion and complete task on time

6. High Relationship/High Task • Almost through the storming stage • Leader is working with the group on the task as well as building relationships within the group

7. Low Relationship/High Task • Moving out of the storming stage • Leader works diligently on the task while the group works through the norming stage of development • The task has a timeline that must be met • Relationship at a point where members have established their roles and can focus on the tasks

8. Low Relationship/Low task • In the performing stage • Leader now offers advice when needed • Group essentially functions on its own • Group members work well together and understand the implications of the task deadline • May need leader to steo

9. Leader’s Behaviours • Task Behaviours • Relationship Behaviours • Not only exhibited by the leader, but by the group members if the leader relinquishes control

10. Task Behaviours • Help keep the group on track and moving towards completing the task at hand • Include the following: • Initiator- generates new ideas and suggests solutions • Elaborator-expands on existing ideas and may restate ideas • Summarizer-pulls ideas together and ensures consensus • Recorder- records details for current and future progress • Time keeper- makes sure the group observes the time limits and deadlines

11. Relationship behaviours • Keep individuals within the group feeling wanted and valuable • Following roles and behaviours: • Encourager-makes everyone feel important • Gate keeper- ensures everyone’s opportunity to contribute • Mediator – helps keep harmony by suggesting compromises • Custodian – checks to ensure that the group doesn’t violate values • Blocker – opposes others’ ideas and gets off topic • Joker – is centre of attention and makes fun of others’ ideas • Dominator – imposes his own ideas at the expense of others • Hidden agenda – fulfills her own personal gains • Dependent – depends on others for ideas and opinions

12. Group Cohesiveness • The degree to which individual members are attracted to a group and each other • Varies between groups • Linked to the group’s overall productivity • Recommendations for developing cohesiveness: • Smaller size • More time spent together • “Buying into” the group’s goals • Physical isolation • Highlight valued status • Reward the group members equally • Encourage competition with other work groups

13. Group composition • Heterogeneous groups: • Composed of dissimilar individuals • Promotes group conflict • More likely to have diverse information and abilities • Improved decision making and task completion • For team building each personality colour should be represented • Depending on the reason for the group’s existence more or less members of a particular colour can be included

14. Preselected Groups • Groups existing prior to the appointment of the leader • Leader needs to make this work • Determine which group members possess which strengths and then promote these • Assign tasks to suit each person

15. Group Decision Making Process

16. Individual decision making • Advantages: • Fast • Clearer accountability • More consistent decision • When the decision is relatively unimportant and doesn’t require members’ input for success • When all the information required is available

17. Group decision making • Almost always superior over individual decisions • Advantages: • More complete information knowledge • Higher quality decisions • Group consensus is the optimum • Less efficient because they use up more time and resources to come to an ultimate decision

18. Groupthink • Desire for consensus overrides the best possible viewpoint for solving problems • Symptoms include: • Rationalizing resistance • Pressuring of hesitant members • Those who question the group opinion remain silent • Silence is interpreted as “yes” • Leads to poor decision making

19. Brainstorming • Overcoming pressures to conformity and generating ideas or alternatives • Members “freewheel” as many suggestions and alternatives as possible • No criticism is allowed • Every alternative is recorded • Each individual in the group silently and independently ranks different ideas presented • The final group decision = solution with the highest aggregate rating