Chapter 5

Group Dynamics
Groups: ?
 Groups
 Two or more individuals, interacting and
interdependent, who have a stable relationship, a
common goal, and perceive themselves to be a
group
 Types of Groups
 Informal groups: a collection of people seeking
friendship and acceptance that satisfies esteem
needs.
 Formal groups: a collection of people created to
do something productive that contributes to the
success of the larger organization.
Types of Groups
 Formal Groups
 Task
 Command
 Informal Groups
 Interest
 Friendship
Exhibit 5-4
Stages of Group Development

Prestage I Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V

Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning
Stages of Group Development
 Stage I: Forming
 The first stage in group development,
characterized by much uncertainty
 Stage II: Storming
 The second stage in group
development, characterized by
intragroup conflict
 Stage III: Norming
 The third stage in group development,
characterized by close relationships
and cohesiveness
Stages of Group Development
 Stage IV: Performing
 The fourth stage in group development,
when the group is fully functional
 Stage V: Adjourning
 The final stage in group development for
temporary groups, characterized by
concern with wrapping up activities
rather than task performance
Putting the Five-Stage Model
Into Perspective
 Groups do not necessarily progress
clearly through the stages one at a
time
 Groups can sometimes go back to an
earlier stage
 Conflict can sometimes be helpful to
the group
 Context can matter: airline pilots can
immediately reach performing stage
The Punctuated-Equilibrium
Model
 First phase
 The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
 The first phase of group activity is one of inertia.
 Transition
 A transition takes place at the end of the first
phase, which occurs exactly when the group has
used up half its allotted time.
 The transition initiates major changes.
 Second phase
 A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
 Last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated
activity
Exhibit 5-5 The Punctuated-
Equilibrium Model

(High)
Performance

Phase 2
Completion
First
Meeting
Transition
Phase 1
(Low)
A (A+B)/2 B
Time
Explaining Work-Group Behavior
 External Conditions Imposed on
Group
 Group Member Resources
 Group Structure
 Group Processes
 Group Task
 Performance and Satisfaction
External Conditions Imposed on
Group
 Organization Overall Strategy
 Authority Structure
 Formal Regulations
 Performance evaluation and reward
system
 Organization culture
 Physical work setting
Group Member Resources
 Knowledge
 Skills
 Abilities
 Personal Characteristics
Group Structure
 Formal Leadership
 Roles
 Norms
 Status
 Size
 Composition
 Cohesiveness
Roles
 A role is a set of expected behaviour
patterns associated with someone
occupying a given position in a social
unit.
 Role Identity: Certain attitudes and
behaviours consistent with a role
 Role Perception: An individual’s view of
how he or she is supposed to act in a
given situation
Roles
 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
Norms
 Acceptable standards of behaviour
within a group that are shared by the
group’s members
What Norms Cover
 Performance
 How hard to work, what kind of quality, levels of
tardiness
 Appearance
 Personal dress, when to look busy, when to
"goof off," how to show loyalty
 Social arrangement
 How team members interact
 Allocation of resources
 Pay, assignments, allocation of tools and
equipment
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 group’s identity

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Conformity
 Adjusting your behaviour to align with
the norms of the group
 People conform to reference groups
 Important groups to which individuals
belong or hope to belong
Deviant Workplace Behaviour
 Antisocial actions by organizational
members that intentionally violate
established norms and that result in
negative consequences for the
organization, its members, or both.
Exhibit 5-3
Deviant Workplace Behaviour
Category Examples
Production Leaving early
Intentionally working slowly
Wasting resources

Property Sabotage
Lying about hours worked
Stealing from the organization

Political Showing favouritism

Gossiping and spreading rumours
Blaming co-workers

Personal Sexual harassment

aggression Verbal abuse
Stealing from co-workers
Status
 A socially defined position or rank
given to groups or group members by
others
 Status and norms
 Status equity
 Status and culture
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
Exhibit 5-7 Roles That Build Task
Accomplishment

Initiating Stating the goal or problem, making proposals

about how to work on it, setting time limits

Seeking information and Asking group members for specific factual

opinions information related to the task or problem

Providing information and Sharing information or opinions related to the task

opinions or problems

Clarifying Helping one another understand ideas and

suggestions that come up in the group

Elaborating Building on one another’s ideas and suggestions

Summarizing Reviewing the points cover ed by the group and the

different ideas stated so that decisions can be
based on full information

Consensus Testing Periodic testing about whether the group is nearing

a decision or needs to continue discussion
Exhibit 5-7 Roles That Build and
Maintain a Team

Harmonizing Mediating conflict among other members,

reconciling disagreements, relieving tensions

Compromising Admitting error at times of group conflict

Gatekeeping Making sure all members have a chance to express

their ideas and feelings and preventing members
from being interrupted

Encouraging Helping a group member make his or her point.

Establishing a climate of acceptance in the group
Group Size
 Research Evidence
 Smaller groups faster at completing
tasks
 When problem solving, larger groups do
better
 Social loafing-The tendency of individuals
to expend less efforts when working
collectively than working individually.
Composition
 Group demography-The degree to
which members of a group share
common demographic attributes like
age, experience, qualification and it
impact on turnover
 Cohorts-Individuals who, as a part of
group hold a common attribute.
Cohesiveness
 Degree to which group members are
attracted to each other and are
motivated to stay in the group

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Exhibit 5-9 Relationship Between Group
Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and
Productivity

Cohesiveness
Performance Norms

High Moderate
High
productivity productivity

Low Moderate to
Low
productivity low productivity
Group Processes
 Synergy
 Social facilitation effect- The tendency
for performance to improve or decline
in response to the presence of others
Group Task
 If task is complex then it need
diverse views, skills and ideas
therefore group discussion required
 If task is simple and repetitive than
people can better work on it
independently.
Exhibit 5-10 Advantages and
Disadvantages of Diversity
Advantages Disadvantages
 Multiple perspectives  Ambiguity
 Greater openness to  Complexity
new ideas  Confusion
 Multiple  Miscommunication
interpretations  Difficulty in reaching a
 Increased creativity single agreement
 Increased flexibility  Difficulty in agreeing
 Increased problem- on specific actions
solving skills
Group Decision Making
 Strength of group decision making
 More complete information and
knowledge
 Diversity of views
 High quality decisions
 Weakness of group decision making
 Time Consuming and Conformity
 Effectiveness and efficiency
Group Decision Making
Strengths of Group Decision
Making
 Generates more complete information and
knowledge
 Offers increased diversity of views
 Generates higher-quality decisions
 Leads to increased acceptance of a solution
Weaknesses of Group
Decision Making
 More time consuming

 Conformity pressures in groups

 Discussion can be dominated by one or a few
members
 Decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility
 Groupthink
 Phenomenon in which the norm for
consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of
alternative courses of action
 Groupshift
 Phenomenon in which the initial positions of
individual members of a group are
exaggerated toward a more extreme position
Group Think
 Groupthink (Irving Janis)
 A mode of thinking (blind conformity) that people
engage in when they are deeply involved in a
cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings
for unanimity override their motivation to
realistically appraise alternative courses of action.
 Symptoms of Groupthink
 Excessive optimism
 An assumption of inherent morality
 Suppression of dissent
 A desperate quest for unanimity
 Preventing Groupthink
 Avoid using of groups as rubberstamps.
 Urge each group member to think independently.
 Bring in outside experts for fresh perspectives.
 Assign someone the role of devil’s advocate.
 Take time to consider possible effects and
consequences of alternative courses of action.
Group shift
 A change in decision risk between the
group decision and individual decision
that members within the group would
make, can be either toward
conservation or greater risk
 It is one of the type of group think
Group Decision-making Techniques
 Interacting Groups
 Brainstorming
 Nominal Group Technique
 Electronic meeting