Foundations of Group Behaviour

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Chapter 5

• Foundations of Group Behaviour

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Chapter Outline

• Defining Groups
• Stages of Group Development
• What Makes Groups Work (or Not Work)?
• Can We Build a Better Working Group?

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Foundations of Group Behaviour
Questions for Consideration

• What are the stages of group development?
• What makes groups work (or not work)?
• How do we build a better work group?

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Defining Groups

• Groups
• two or more individuals, interacting and
  interdependent, who have come together to achieve
  particular objectives.

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Exhibit 5-1Why Do People Join Groups?

• Security
• By joining a group, individuals can reduce the
  insecurity of standing alone. People feel
  stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and are more
  resistant to threats when they are part of a
  group.
• Status
• Inclusion in a group that is viewed as important
  by others provides recognition and status for its
  members.
• Self-Esteem
• Groups can provide people with feelings of
  self-worth. That is, in addition to conveying
  status to those outside the group, membership can
  also give increased feelings of worth to the
  group members themselves.
• Affiliation
• Groups can fulfill social needs. People enjoy the
  regular interaction that comes with group
  membership. For many people, these interactions
  are their primary way of satisfying their needs
  for affiliation.
• Power
• What cannot be achieved individually often
  becomes possible through group action. There is
  power in numbers.
• Goal Achievement
• There are times when it takes more than one
  person to accomplish a particular task there is
  a need to pool talents, knowledge, or power in
  order to complete a job.

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Exhibit 5-2Stages of Group Development
Stage I Forming
Prestage 1
Stage II Storming
Stage III Norming
Stage IV Performing
Stage V Adjourning
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Stages of Group Development

• Forming
• The first stage in group development,
  characterized by much uncertainty
• Storming
• The second stage in group development,
  characterized by intragroup conflict
• Norming
• The third stage in group development,
  characterized by close relationships and
  cohesiveness
• Performing
• The fourth stage in group development, when the
  group is fully functional
• Adjourning
• The final stage in group development for
  temporary groups, characterized by concern with
  wrapping up activities rather than task
  performance

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Exhibit 5-3The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
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Exhibit 5-4Group Behaviour Model
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Effects of the Workplace

• Groups are a subset of a larger workplace
  consisting of the following
• Organization Strategy
• Organizational Infrastructure
• Leadership
• Rules
• Resources
• Evaluation and Rewards
• Organizational Culture

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Group Member Resources

• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities - set the
  parameters for what members can do and how
  effectively they will perform in a group
• Personality Characteristics - the magnitude of
  the effect of any single characteristic is small,
  but taking personality characteristics together,
  the consequences for group behaviour are of major
  significance.

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Group Structure

• Groups are not unorganized mobs. They have a
  structure that shapes the behaviour of members.
• Formal Leadership
• Roles
• Norms
• Status
• Size
• Composition
• Cohesiveness

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Roles

• A role is a set of expected behaviour patterns
  attributed to someone occupying a given position
  in a social unit.
• Role Identity Certain attitudes and behaviours
  consistent with a role
• Role Perception An individuals view of how he
  or she is supposed to act in a given situation
• Role Expectations How others believe a person
  should act in a given situation
• Psychological Contract Unwritten agreement that
  sets out what management expects from the
  employee, and vice versa.
• Role Conflict A situation in which an individual
  is confronted by divergent role expectations

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Roles in Groups

• Task-oriented roles
• Roles performed by group members to ensure that
  the tasks of the group are accomplished
• Maintenance roles
• Roles performed by group members to maintain good
  relations within the group
• Individual roles
• Roles performed by group members that are not
  productive for keeping the group on task

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Exhibit 5-5 Task-oriented Roles
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Exhibit 5-5 Maintenance-oriented Roles
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Norms

• Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group
  that are shared by the groups members

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How Norms Develop

• Explicit statements
• Critical events
• Initial patterns of behaviour
• Carry-over behaviour

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Why Norms Are Enforced

• Facilitate group survival
• Make behaviour predictable
• Minimize embarrassment
• Express central values
• Clarify the groups identity

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Norms Positive

• Regulates individual behaviour
• Makes behaviour predictable
• When oriented toward company goals, usually get
  effective group performance

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Norms Negative

• Loss of individuality and initiative
• Establishment of only moderate levels of
  performance
• If norms in conflict with company goals, probable
  drop in group performance will result

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Status

• A socially defined position or rank given to
  groups or group members by others

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Group Size

• Research Evidence
• smaller groups faster at completing tasks
• when problem-solving, larger groups do better
• larger groups result in more social loafing
• the tendency for individuals to expend less
  effort when working collectively than when
  working individually
• groups with an odd number of members preferable
  (to avoid ties)
• groups of between 5 and 7 tend to combine the
  best elements of small and large groups

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Group Composition

• Impact of diverse groups
• diversity in personality age, gender and
  experience promotes conflict, which stimulates
  creativity and idea generation, which leads to
  improved decision making
• cultural diversity in groups initially leads to
  more difficulty in building cohesion, gaining
  satisfaction, being productive
• problems pass with time (certainly by three
  months)
• culturally diverse groups bring more viewpoints
  out

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Cohesiveness

• Degree to which group members are attracted to
  each other and are motivated to stay in the group

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Exhibit 5-6Relationship Between Group
Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and Productivity
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Exhibit 5-7Effects of Group Processes
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Understanding Group Processes

• Group processes can impact effectiveness
• Synergy An action of two or more substances that
  results in an effect that is different from the
  individual summation of the substances.
• Social facilitation effect The tendency for
  performance to improve or decline in response to
  the presence of others.

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Building Better Working Groups

• Assigning Appropriate Tasks
• Providing Organizational Support
• Building Group Cohesiveness

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Assigning Appropriate Tasks

• The group task is a whole and meaningful piece of
  work, with a visible outcome
• The outcomes of the groups work on the task have
  significant consequences for other people
• The task provides group members with substantial
  autonomy for deciding about how they do the work
• Work on the task generates regular, trustworthy
  feedback about how well the group is performing

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Providing Organizational Support

• Assign Appropriate People to the Group
• Provide Appropriate Group Training
• Provide Adequate and Timely Information
• Give Challenging, Specific Performance Objectives
• Give Rewards for Excellent Performance
• Direct Rewards and Objectives to the Group Level

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Building Group Cohesiveness

• Clear Purpose
• Participation
• Civilized Disagreement
• Open Communications
• Listening
• Informal Climate
• Consensus Decisions
• Clear Roles and Work Assignments
• Shared Leadership
• Style Diversity
• External Relationships
• Self-assessment

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Selecting Organizational Members

• Interview
• Written Tests
• Performance Simulation Tests
• work sampling
• assessment centres

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Summary and Implications

• Performance
• Work groups are part of a larger organization and
  can provide a favorable or unfavorable climate
  for operations.
• Structural factors show a relationship to
  performance.
• There is a positive relationship between role
  perception and an employees performance
  evaluation.
• Norms control group member behaviour by
  establishing standards of right and wrong.
• Status inequities create frustration and can
  adversely influence productivity.
• The impact of size on a groups performance
  depends upon the type of task in which the group
  is engaged.
• A groups demographic composition is a key
  determinant of individual turnover.
• Satisfaction
• Most people prefer to communicate with others at
  their own status level or a higher one.
• Large groups are associated with lower
  satisfaction.

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Conducting a Group Meeting

• Follow these 12 steps to more efficient and
  effective meetings
• Prepare a meeting agenda.
• Distribute the agenda in advance.
• Consult with participants before the meeting.
• Get participants to go over the agenda.
• Establish specific time parameters.
• Maintain focused discussion.
• Encourage and support participation of all
  members.
• Maintain a balanced style.
• Encourage the clash of ideas.
• Discourage the clash of personalities.
• Be an effective listener.
• Bring proper closure.