IMPORTANCE AND DYNAMIC OF EFFECTIVE GROUPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATION Introduction:

According to Harder a German philosopher Human nature is not same it varies according to the situation and environment. Keeping the above statement in mind we the human being, according to the situation and environment come together to farm an aggregation or collection in order to make our survival possible in this world. This aggregation or collection is called in sociology social group.

Definition of Group:
A social group is defined as two or more people who have a high degree of common identity and who interact on a regular basis. (Macionis J.) According to Edgar H. Schein any number of people who interact with one another, are psychologically aware of one another, and perceive themselves to be a group Two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms and goals and have a common identity. (Kreitner and kinicki 2004) Any number of people who share consciousness of membership together and of interaction. (Horton and hunt) A group is defined as two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships."( Donelson R. 2006)

Importance of group: A commonly accepted definition of sociology as a special science is that it is the study of social aggregates and groups in their institutional organization, of institutions and their organization, and of the causes and consequences of changes in institutions and organization.(albert j. roiss,jr 1968:1) Thus from the above definition we can guess the importance of social group which is considered the basic factor in all social functions in the society. All sociological studies are based upon the study of social group. It is important in human life.
Out of necessity and inevitability human beings are made to live in groups. Knowingly or unknowingly or unwillingly, with pleasure or contempt, people live in groups and societies. Mans life is to an enormous extent lived and controlled by groups of different kinds. Survival Becomes Problematic without Groups:

Groups have become so necessary that our very survival becomes problematic and doubtful in their absence. Groups are complementary to the development of human faculties, traits and human nature. Man by birth itself has the biological potentiality of becoming man the social being. Man Becomes Man Only Among Men: Man becomes man only among men. Various studies have convincingly proved that man fails to develop human qualities in the absence of human environment. The famous case of Kasper Hauser, a youth who was bereft of human contacts because of political mechanisation, the most interesting feral case of the two Hindu female children Kamala and her sister found in an wolfs den and the pitiable case of Anna, an illegitimate American child which was kept away from human contacts for more than five years and several other instances have proved beyond doubts that only a human environment makes a man; a biological animal, a human being. The biological potentiality of man to become a person does not happen on its own automatically, even in the absence of a human environment. The biological potentiality blossoms only in social situation, to be more precise, only in the context of groups. Added to this, the prolonged human infancy and the helplessness of new born baby have almost made it a prisoner of the most elementary social group that is family. Groups Help Social Survival Also: Not only from the point of view of survival but also from the viewpoint of leading a successful life has man depended on groves. By engaging himself in constant relations with others he learns things and mends his ways. He keeps his eyes wide open, lends his ears to what others say, and tries to keep his memory ever fresh to remember the good things of the past and to refrain from repeating the blunders of the past. In brief, from birth to death, man is engaged in the process of socialisation. Socialisation or the process of humanisation helps man to develop a personality of his own. Groups Contribute to the Development of Personality: Personality is the product of the group life. The self that every individual develops, though. Unique, is it a product of the group? No self arises in isolation. Groups provide scope for the individuals to express their real nature, their talents and abilities. Hidden potentialities can find their expression only in the context of social groups. What is latent in man becomes manifest only in groups. The groups shape mans attributes, his beliefs, his morals and his ideals.

Emotional developments, intellectual maturity, satisfaction of physical and social needs are unthinkable without groups. Group is a part of our mental equipment and we are a part of group.

Group dynamics: Group dynamics is the scientific study of the interaction within small groups.(Horton and hunt) it means that group dynamic studies the interaction within groups and the processes of problem solving and decision making to gain understanding and to solve organizational problems. The group development process: Groups and teams in the workplace go through a maturation process, such as one would find in any life-cycle situation e.g humans, organization, products. (kreitner and kinicki 2004). However, in 1965, bruce w. tuckman hypothesized that groups go through four stages of development during their formation, existence, and dispersal: forming, storming, norming, and performing. But in 1977, tuckman reviewed his study and added fifth and final stage of group development: adjourning. The all five stages are sequential and developmental that will proceed as for its members are willing to grow. Stage: 1. Forming: Personal relations are characterized by independence. Group members rely on safe, patterned behavior and look to the group leaders for guidance and direction. Group members have a desire for acceptance, set gathering impressions and data about similarities and differences among them and forming preferences for the future sub grouping. Rules of behavior to keep things simple and avoided controversy, serious topics and feelings. The major task function is orientation. Members attempt to become oriented to the task and discuss around defining the scope of task, how to approach it, and similar concerns. Stage: 2. Storming This is a time of testing. Individuals test the leaders policies and assumptions as they try to determine how they fit into the power structure.subgroups take shape and subtle forms of rebellion, such procrastination, occur. Many groups stall because power politics erupts into open rebellion.(kreitner and kincki 2004) Group members move from a testing and proving mentality to a problem solving mentality. Stage: 3. Norming In this stage , interpersonal relations are characterized by cohesion. Group members are engaged in active acknowledgment of all members contributions,

community building and maintenance, and solving of group issues. Members are willing to change their preconceived ideas or opinions on the basis of facts presented by other members, and they actively ask questions of one another. Leadership is shared , and cliques dissolve. When identification, trust and cohesion develops among members than sense of groupness develop. The task function in this stage is data flow between group members, they share feelings, ideas, solicit and give feedback to one another, and explore actions related to task. Creativity is high. Interaction is on personal and task level. They feel good to be part of effective group. The major drawback is resist change of any sort due to fear of breakup of group in future. Stage: 4.performing The groups which reach in this stage ,their capacity, range and depth of personal relations expand to true interdependence. People can work singally in subgroups. Their roles and authorities dynamically adjust to the changing needs of the group and individual. This stage is marked by interdependence in personal relations and problem solving. Members are highly task oriented and highly people oriented. Theire is unity: group identity is complete , moral is high and loyalty is intense. The task function becomes genuine problem solving, leading toward optimal solutions and optimum group development.there is support for experimentation in solving problems and an emphasis on achievement. The overall goal is productivity through problem solving and work. Stage: 5. Adjourning The final stage involves the termination of task behaviors and disengagement from relationships. A planned conclusion usually includes recognition for participation and achievement and an opportunity for members to say personal goodbyes. Concluding a group can create some apprehension in effect, minor crises. The termination of a group is regressive movement from giving up control to giving up inclusion in the group. The most effective interventions in this stage are those that facilitate task termination and the disengagement process. Group structure and process: Work groups of varying size are made up of individuals with varying ability and motivation. Furthermore, individuals perform different role while performing their task in the group. While some are productive and others not. Some create problems while some solves. In this section we examine three dimensions of group structure as explained by kreitner and kincki in their book organizational behaivior. 1. Functional roles of group members, 2. Group size and 3. Gender composition. Functional roles performed by group members

The functional roles which are performed by group members are task and maintainance roles. Task and maintainance roles: Task roles according to Dimmock 1987 are 1. Defining problems 2. Seeking information 3. Giving information 4. Seekin opinions 5. Giving opinions 6. Testing feasibility While maintainance roles are also called group building are: 1. Coordinating 2. Mediating harmonizing 3. Orienting facilitating 4. Supporting encouraging 5. Following Task roles keep the group on track while maintainance roles keep the group together. .(kreitner and kincki 2004) a group in order to function well than it needs the right function at the right time. All functions are coordinated with each other whether task roles or maintainance roles. In order to function well than a group must balance the task and maintainance roles which a mature group can do. Checklist for managers: The task and maintainance roles can serve a handy checklist for managers and group leaders who wish to ensure proper group development. (kreitner and kincki 2004) this checklist is very much important in order to accomplish the goals of the group because it maintains balance and show the maturity of the group. 2. Group size: The group size is very much important in effective groups. The optimum size of a working group, as one would suspect, depends upon the nature of the task to be performed. In tasks where coordination among group members is essential, productivity is dependent upon the most or least competent workers. As noted by William G. Scott and Terrence R. Mitchell, in the former case, an increase in size increases the chances of getting a competent individual. Unfortunately, increased group size also increases the probabilities of adding an incompetent person to the group. As noted that a group of five , six or seven members is the most effective size for accomplishing tasks of a general nature. Paul A. Hare observes that a group of five is most effective , in part because of three characteristics: first, no deadlock is possible with an odd number of group members. Second, a group member does not feel deviant being in the minority, as he or she would in an even smaller group. Third, a group of five is large enough for members to shift roles

easily. The trend toward an optimal size of about five or seven is clear but the proof is lacking. (Dubrin j.A 1978) The different approaches of group size: The mathematical modeling approach: This approach involves building a mathematical model around certain desired outcomes of group action such as decision quality. Due to differing assumptions and statistical techniques, the result of this research are inconclusive. Statistical estimates of optimum group size have ranged from 3 to 13. kreitner and kincki 2004) the methamatical connection between the number of people in a social group and the number of relationships among them are: two people are joined by one relationship; adding a third person results in three relationships; a fourth person yields six. As additional people are added one at a time according to what mathematicians call an arithmetic increase the number of relationships increases vary rapidly in what is called a geometric increase. By the time six people have joined one conversation, there are fifteen different relationships among them, which explains why the conversation usually divides at this point.(micions. J.j ) The labortary simulation approach: This stream of research is based on the assumption That group behavior needs to be observed firsthand in controlled labortary settings. A labortary study is presented by austrialian researchers phillip yetton with his colleagues and concluded that it would be difficult, at least with respect to decision quality, to justify groups larger than five members of course, to meet needs other than high decision quality, organizations may employ groups significantly larger than four or five. Managerial implications: Within a contingency management framework, there is no hard and fast rule about group size. It depends on the mangers objective for the group. If a high quality decision is the main objective, than three to five member group would be appropriate. However, if the objective is to generate creative ideas, encourage participation, socialize new members, engage in training, or communicate policies, then groups much larger than five could be justified. But even in this developmental domain, researchers have found upward limits on group size. As meta analysis , the positive effects of team building in increased group size. George simmel on group size: George simmel a german sociologist used the term dyad to designate a social group with two members. He pointed out two qualities of dyad: 1. Less stable than social groups with a larger number of members beause of a single relationship among them as spouses. 2. Members experience the greatest intensity of social interaction. It also have the potentailto be the strongest social bonds that we experience in our lives.

Simmel claimed that a traid a social group of three members is also unstable because it contains three relationships, each uniting two could expet the third one. Finally we could say that group size depends on group purposes and objectives. Amount of coordination required among members, task complexity and urgency to the problem. Effects of men and women working together in groups: Some profound effects on group dynamic of gender are discussed below: Women face an uphill battle in mixed gender task groups: