Groups

What is a Group?
It refers to a collection of two or more interacting individuals with a stable
pattern of relationships between them, who share common goals and who perceive
themselves as being a group.
Nature of Group
Interaction among members
Common interests or goals
People see themselves as members
two or more people are needed to form groups
Defining and Classifying Groups
Group
Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to
achieve particular objectives
Formal Group
A designated work group defined by organizations structure.
Informal Group
A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined;
appears in response to the need for social contact


Types of groups
Formal Work Groups
Command groups
Task Groups
Teams
Committee
Informal Work Groups
Friendship Groups
Interest Groups



Types of Formal Groups
Standing Task Group: also known as command group, is permanently specified
in the organizational structure and consists of a supervisor who exercises
formal authority over subordinates.
Task Group : is a temporary formal group that is created to solve specific
problems. This group comprises employees who work together to complete a
particular task or project but who do not necessarily report to the same
supervisor.
Command Group
A group composed of the individuals who report directly to a given manager.
Team
Consists of people who work intensely together to achieve a common group goal
Task Group
Those working together to complete a job or task.
Committee
Consists of people who are working together to solve a certain problem.

Informal Group
it is also called a clique, is an alliance that is neither formally structured, nor
organizationally determined.
They are natural formations in the work environment which appear in
response to the need for social contact.
A Members behaviour is guided by his own internalised perception of what is
appropriate and sanctioned by the bestowing or withholding of social
approval.
Types of Informal groups
Interest Group
Those working together to attain a specific objective with which each is
concerned.
Friendship Group
Those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics.
Why People Join Groups
Security
Status
Self-esteem
Affiliation
Power
Proximity, interaction
Identity
Goal Achievement
Functions of Group
Working on a complex and independent task that is too complex for an
individual to perform
Generating new ideas or creative solutions to solve problems
Serving liaison or co-ordinating functions among several work groups
Facilitating the implementation of complex decisions
Serving as a vehicle for training new employees, groups teach new members
methods of operations and group norms
The Five-Stage Model of Group Development
Forming Stage
The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty.
Storming Stage
The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict.
Norming Stage
The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and
cohesiveness.
Performing Stage
The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully functional.
Adjourning Stage
The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by
concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance.
Group Development
Stages of Group Development
1.Forming
Awareness
Commitment
Acceptance
2. Storming
Conflict
Clarification
Belonging

3. Norming
Co-operation
Development
Support
4. Performing
Productivity
Achievement
Pride
5. Adjourning
Separation
Recognising
Satisfaction
Advantages of Groups
Groups bring together people for a specific purpose
Achieve positive synergy
Highly cohesive and high-performance entities
enhance task accomplishment and decision making
information may be more readily shared within groups of people
enables people to work together on large and complex tasks
fulfill individual & organizational needs
an ideal collection of people to work on particular tasks

Disadvantages of Groups
Some groups specific purposes may conflict with the objectives of the
organization
may result in negative synergy, especially when there are disruptive
behaviours
some people may loaf in groups while others do hard work
people with similar opinions & viewpoints may make uncreative or poor
decisions
People in groups may be fulfilling their own needs at the expense of
organizational needs
Can be of wrong size
THEORIES OF GROUP FORMATION
1) Propinquity Theory:- Individual affiliate with one another because of
geographical nearness.
2) Homans Theory:- Homans explained group formation in terms of activities,
interactions and sentiments of people.
Activities Interaction sentiments
3) Balance Theory:-
Individual Individual
common attitudes & values
4) Exchange Theory:- Reward cost outcomes of interaction are the basis of
group formation.


Group Structure Size

size
measured by the number of full-time members who work together to achieve
the groups goals

Small (2-4)
Exchange more opinions
Few demands on team leaders.
Member get along with each other
Report greater satisfaction
Tend to be informal
Show more agreement

Large (12 or more)
More disagreements
Subgroups form
Greater demands on leaders
Centralized decision making
Turnover and absenteeism higher
Less member satisfaction

Group Structure Norms

Norms
Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the
groups members
Classes of Norms:
Performance norms
Appearance norms
Social arrangement norms
Allocation of resources norms

Group Tasks
Decision-making
Group decision making is the process of choosing a course of action from
various alternatives. In group people of similar characteristics come
together and understand the problem in a better way, hence develop
creative alternatives leading to effective group performance
Large groups facilitate the pooling of information about complex
tasks.
Smaller groups are better suited to coordinating and facilitating the
implementation of complex tasks.
Simple, routine standardized tasks reduce the requirement that group
processes be effective in order for the group to perform well.

Group Decision Making

Strengths
More complete information
Increased diversity of views
Higher quality of decisions (more accuracy)
Increased acceptance of solutions
Weaknesses
More time consuming (slower)
Increased pressure to conform
Domination by one or a few members
Ambiguous responsibility

Improved Group Decision-Making Techniques

Interacting Groups
Typical groups, in which the members interact with each other face-to-face.



Nominal Group Technique
A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-
face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion.

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

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













Sumit Sablok