Group dynamics
Work groups are the basic building blocks of an organization. Work groups use roles, rules, and norms to control their members’ behavior, and they use several socialization tactics to turn newcomers into effective group members. Groups contribute to organizational effectiveness when group goals are aligned with organizational goals.
Sometimes, organizations are in such a hurry to move on their projects that they pull together groups of people without first deciding on the goals and desired outcomes. In his book, Team Renaissance: The Art, Science and Politics of Great Teams (Old Man River Publishing, 2013), Richard Spoon explains that without a clear sense of what the team needs to accomplish and how a successful outcome will be defined, it’s impossible to assemble the right group of people to get there.
Here we will focus on:
• Group and team concept
• The team as a specific group
• Teamwork
• Characteristics of teamwork
• Types of groups
• Types of teams
• Group dynamics
Group dynamics
- Group and team concept
Work groups are the basic building blocks of an organization. Work groups use roles, rules, and norms to control their members’ behavior, and they use several socialization tactics to turn newcomers into effective group members. Groups contribute to organizational effectiveness when group goals are aligned with organizational goals.
- Groups and Teams:
- A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. A group is a set of two or more people who interact with each other to achieve certain goals or meet certain needs.
- A team is a formal work group in which there is a high level of interaction among group members who work intensely together to achieve a common goal. A group whose members work intensely with each other to achieve a specific, common goal or objective is known as Team. All teams are groups but not all groups are teams. Teams often are difficult to form. It takes time for members to learn how to work together.
- Teamwork - The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.
- Characteristics of effective teamwork
- Clear direction
Sometimes, organizations are in such a hurry to move on their projects that they pull together groups of people without first deciding on the goals and desired outcomes. In his book, Team Renaissance: The Art, Science and Politics of Great Teams (Old Man River Publishing, 2013), Richard Spoon explains that without a clear sense of what the team needs to accomplish and how a successful outcome will be defined, it’s impossible to assemble the right group of people to get there.
So decide on team goals and desired outcomes first. Use it for clear direction for the team you select. Start at the end point: What is the outcome you want and why? Leave the team flexibility to develop the best way to get there.
- Open and honest communication
Communication is the close brother of chemistry. In any team, communication is crucial to building a sense of camaraderie between members. The manner of communication — how freely and frequently team members communicate — determines the effectiveness of the team. Put simply, the more freely you talk to your fellow team members, the more comfortable you are in sharing insights and ideas. This is just one major reason why modern businesses emphasize communication and collaboration tools.
The most important part of communication is listening. Listening is not just a way to find things out. It’s also a sign of respect. So send the message that your conversation partner is valuable. Listen like you mean it. Demonstrate that you’re listening. Paraphrase, re-state, and react to what you hear. Ask for clarification. Get involved.
- Support risk taking and change
Good teams support appropriate risk taking and experimentation for change. They look on first time mistakes as opportunities for learning.
- Defined roles
Roles might shift somewhat once the team is assembled, but understand the skill sets and thinking styles are needed on the team. If a team needs to develop a new product for market, that team will need a detail-oriented person (the task-master), who is methodical and can keep the team on track.
The explorer will be more of a big-picture thinker who can help the team see what is possible. The number-cruncher will take charge of measurement and metrics. It’s possible your team will have other roles to fill, but you should have a good handle on those roles before you begin staffing.
Once you have a plan for those basics, begin choosing the strongest team members to carry out the project.
- Mutually accountable
Teams accept responsibility as individuals and as a team. They don’t blame one another for team mistakes and failures. No one should spend any time, useless time, in personal justifications. They should celebrate their successes together and recognize special performances and contributions that each team member makes to the total work of the team.
- Communicate freely
Communication is the cousin of chemistry. In any team, communication is crucial to building a sense of camaraderie between members. The content of the communication is rather irrelevant, as researchers at MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory have shown. Rather, the manner of communication — how freely and frequently team members communicate — determines the effectiveness of the team. Put simply, the more freely you talk to your fellow team members, the more comfortable you are in sharing insights and ideas. This is just one major reason why modern businesses emphasize communication and spend significant time each year on social communication and collaboration tools.
- Common goals
A chief characteristic of any successful team is that members place the common goal above individual interests. While scaling individual targets is great for personal morale, teams succeed when they understand, appreciate and work with a common purpose.
- Encourage differences in opinions
Agreeing on a common goal is essential. But it shouldn’t come at the cost of suppressing alternative ideas and opinions. Having divergent opinions within a team enhances team performance; a diverse team is its competitive advantage.
Diverse opinions stir imagination and new ideas. Imagination and new ideas stir creativity. Unless the status quo is threatened and questioned, you won’t find those crucial “out of the box” ideas.
- Collaboration
Close collaboration is a trait shared by every successful team, whether it be the Apple leadership team or Lennon-McCartney of the Beatles fame or Jordan-Pippen of the Chicago Bulls fame. The idea is simple enough: the more you collaborate and the more you communicate, the more you create.
- Team trust
Team members who cannot trust one other or who don’t believe in the process and goals of the team seldom find success. Effective teams focus on solving problems. Trust is an adjunct of effective communication; there can be trust between team members only if they are allowed to air their views freely. This is the reason why organizations often undertake team-building exercises that put team members in positions of trust.
- Types of groups
There are many types of groups in organizations, and each type plays an important role in determining organizational effectiveness.
- Managers establish formal work groups to help the organization achieve its goals. The goals of a formal work group are determined by the needs of the organization.
- Informal work groups emerge naturally in organizations because organizational members
- perceive that membership in a group will help them achieve their goals or meet their needs.
One way to classify the groups is by way of formality – formal and informal. While formal groups are established by an organization to achieve its goals, informal groups merge spontaneously. Formal groups may take the form of command groups, task groups, and functional groups.
Command Groups: Command groups are specified by the organizational chart and often consist of a supervisor and the subordinates that report to that supervisor. An example of a command group is a market research firm CEO and the research associates under him.
Task Groups: Task groups consist of people who work together to achieve a common task. Members are brought together to accomplish a narrow range of goals within a specified time period. Task groups are also commonly referred to as task forces. The organization appoints members and assigns the goals and tasks to be accomplished.
Functional Groups: A functional group is created by the organization to accomplish specific goals within an unspecified time frame. Functional groups remain in existence after achievement of current goals and objectives. Examples of functional groups would be a marketing department, a customer service department, or an accounting department.
- Types of teams
Teams can be divided into four main groups: project teams, self-managed teams, virtual teams, and operational teams. What type of team you have depends on its purpose, location, and organizational structure. Each type of team comes with its unique set of strengths and weaknesses. In order to fully utilize your team, you first need to understand where each type of teams works the best.
- Group dynamics
Group dynamics deals with the attitudes and behavioral patterns of a group. Group dynamics concern how groups are formed, what is their structure and which processes are followed in their functioning. Thus, it is concerned with the interactions and forces operating between groups.
Group dynamics is relevant to groups of all kinds – both formal and informal. If the UPA government has set up Group of Ministers for every governance issue, the Supreme Court of India has 27 Group of Judges committees overseeing all manner of non-judicial work in the apex court. In an organizational setting, the term groups are a very common and the study of groups and group dynamics is an important area of study.
Literature:
- Cartwright, Dorwin, and Alvin Zander. "Group dynamics." (1968).
- Forsyth, Donelson R. Group dynamics. Cengage Learning, 2018.
- Brown, Rupert. Group processes: Dynamics within and between groups. Basil Blackwell, 1988.
Open ended questions:
- A group is defined as: ______________________________________.
- A team is: _______________________________________________.
- Teamwork is defined as the process of _________________________.
- What are the characteristics of teamwork?
- Group dynamics deals whit __________________________________.