Presented By – Pankaj Gautam

Topics to be discussed today –

1. What is a group?
2. Types of group
3. Function of formal group
4. Formation of groups
Group
A group may be defined as a collection of two or more people who
work with one another regularly to achieve common goals. In a true
group, members are mutually dependent on one another to achieve
common goals, and they interact with one another regularly to pursue
those goals over a sustained period of time.
Types of group

Group

Formal Informal
Formal Group
Formal groups are groups that organizations establish to facilitate the
achievement of organizational goals. They are intentionally designed
to channel individual effort in an appropriate direction. Formal groups
typically wear such labels as work group, team, committee, quality
circle, or task force.
The most common formal group consists of a superior and direct
reports who report to that superior. In a manufacturing company, one
such group might consist of a production manager and the six shift
supervisors who report to her. In turn, the shift supervisors head work
groups composed of themselves and their respective direct reports.
Thus, the hierarchy of most organizations is a series of formal interlocked
work groups.
Formal Group
Informal Group
An informal group emerges naturally in response to the
common interests of organizational members. They seldom
are sanctioned by the organization, and their membership
cuts across formal groups. Informal groups can either help
or hurt an organization, depending on their norms for
behavior.
Informal group
Functions of formal group

Over the years, researchers have suggested that formal groups

fulfill two basic functions: organizational and individual.
While Mazda pursued the organizational functions it wanted—
interdependent teamwork, creativity, coordination, problem
solving, and training— the American workers benefited from the
individual functions of formal groups. Among those benefits
were affiliation with new friends, enhanced self-esteem,
exposure to the Japanese societal reality, and reduction of
anxieties about working for a foreign-owned company. In short,
Mazda created a workable blend of organizational and
individual group functions by training its newly hired American
employees in Japan.
Organizational and Individual
Functions Fulfilled by Formal Groups
Organizational Functions Individual functions
• Accomplish complex, interdependent • Satisfy the individual need for
tasks that are beyond the capabilities affiliations.
of individuals. • Develop enhance and confirm the
• Generate new and creative ideas for individual’s self esteem and sense of
solution. identity.
• Coordinate interdepartmental efforts. • Give individual an opportunity to test
• Provide a problem solving mechanism and share their perception of social
for complex problem requiring varied reality.
information and assessment. • Reduce the individual’s anxieties and
• Implement complex decisions. feeling of insecurities and
• Socialize and train newcomers. powerlessness.
• Provide a problem-solving mechanism
for personal and interpersonal problem.
How groups can help organizations

• Groups are good for people.

• Groups can improve creativity.
• Groups can make better decisions.
• Groups can increase commitments to decisions.
• Groups help control their members.
• Groups help offset large organization size.
HOW ARE GROUPS FORMED?
It is important to recognize that there are various factors that lead to
group formation. In the case of informal groups, we are concerned with
the factors that prompt their emergence in the formal work setting. In the
case of formal groups, we are interested in factors that lead
organizations to form such groups and the ease with which the groups
can be maintained and managed. The formation of both types of
groups is affected by opportunity for interaction, potential for goal
accomplishment, and members’ personal characteristics.

1. Opportunity for Interaction

2. Potential for Goal Accomplishment
3. Members’ Personal Characteristics
The group formation process/stages
Forming
Getting to know each
other

Adjourning Storming
Disbanding and Dealing with tensions
celebrating and defining group
accomplishments tasks

Performing Norming
Maturation in
Building relationships
relationships and task
and working together
performance
1. Forming
During this stage of group development,
the members get acquainted with each
other. They also establish the ground rules
by finding out what behaviors are
acceptable regarding the job (e.g., how
productive they are expected to be) and
interpersonal relations (e.g., who is really in
charge). During the forming stage, people
tend to be a bit confused and uncertain
about how to act in the group and how
beneficial membership will be. Once the
individuals come to think of themselves as
members of a group, the forming stage is
complete.
2. Storming
As the name implies, this stage is
characterized by a high degree of
conflict within the group. Members
often resist the control of the
group’s leaders, and they show
hostility toward each other. If these
conflicts are not resolved and
group members withdraw, the
group may disband. Otherwise, as
conflicts are resolved and the
group’s leadership is accepted, the
storming stage is complete.
3. Norming
During this stage, the group becomes
more cohesive, and identification as a
member becomes greater. Close
relationships develop, and shared
feelings become common. A keen
interest in finding mutually agreeable
solutions also develops. Feelings of
camaraderie and shared responsibility
for the group’s activities are heightened
as well. The norming stage is complete
when the members accept a common
set of expectations constituting an
acceptable way of doing things.
4. Performing
During this stage, questions about group relationships and
leadership have been resolved— and the group is ready to
work. Having fully developed, the group may now devote its
energy to getting the job done. The members’ good relations
and acceptance of the leadership helps the group to perform
well.
Performing
The performing stage of group development, sometimes called total
integration, marks the emergence of a mature, organized, and well-
functioning group. The group is now able to deal with complex tasks
and handle internal disagreements in creative ways. The structure is
stable, and members are motivated by group goals and are
generally satisfied. The primary challenges are continued efforts to
improve relationships and performance. Group members should be
able to adapt successfully as opportunities and demands change
over time. A group that has achieved the level of total integration
typically scores high on the criteria of group maturity shown in next
figure.
Ten criteria for measuring the maturity of a group.
5. Adjourning
Groups may cease to exist because they have met their
goals and no longer are needed (e.g., an ad hoc group
created to raise money for a charity project), in which case
the end is abrupt. Other groups may adjourn gradually, as
the group disintegrates either because members leave or
the norms no longer are effective.
Effective group
An effective group is one that achieves high levels of task performance, member
satisfaction and team viability.48 With regard to task performance, this group
achieves its performance goals—in the standard sense of quantity, quality, and
timeliness of work results. For a permanent work group, such as a manufacturing
team, this may mean meeting daily production targets. For a temporary group, such
as a new policy task force, this may involve meeting a deadline for submitting a new
organizational policy to the company president. With regard to member satisfaction,
an effective group is one whose members believe that their participation and
experiences are positive and meet important personal needs. They are satisfied with
their tasks, accomplishments, and interpersonal relationships. With regard to team
viability, the members are sufficiently satisfied to continue working well together on
an ongoing basis and/or to look forward to working together again at some future
point in time. The group in this way has all-important long-term performance
potential.
Input Foundations of Group
Effectiveness
An organization’s success depends largely on the performance of its
internal networks of formal and informal groups. Groups in this sense
are an important component of the human resources and intellectual
capital of organizations. Like individuals, group contributions are
essential if the organization is to prosper through high performance
over the long run.
Input Foundations of Group
Effectiveness

The work group as an open system transforming Resource inputs into product outputs.
Group and Intergroup Dynamics
Group dynamics are the forces operating in groups that affect the
ways members work together.

WHAT GOES ON WITHIN GROUPS : George Homans described a classic model of group
dynamics involving two sets of behaviors—required and emergent.

Intergroup dynamics are relationships between groups cooperating

and competing with one another.

WHAT GOES ON BETWEEN GROUPS

Decision Making in Groups
One of the most important activities engaged in by any group is decision making—

The process of choosing among alternative courses of action. Obviously, the quality and
timeliness of decisions made and the processes through which they are arrived at can
have an important impact on group effectiveness.

HOW GROUPS MAKE DECISIONS?

Consensus is a group decision that has the expressed support of

most members.
GUIDELINES FOR GROUP
CONSENSUS
1. Don’t argue blindly; consider others’ reactions to your points.
2. Don’t change your mind just to reach quick agreement.
3. Avoid conflict reduction by voting, coin tossing, and bargaining.
4. Try to involve everyone in the decision process.
5. Allow disagreements to surface so that information and opinions can be
deliberated.
6. Don’t focus on winning versus losing; seek alternatives acceptable to all.
7. Discuss assumptions, listen carefully, and encourage participation by
everyone.
Advantages of group decision
making
1. Information—more knowledge and expertise is applied to solve
the problem.
2. Alternatives—a greater number of alternatives are examined,
avoiding tunnel vision.
3. Understanding and acceptance—the final decision is better
understood and accepted by all group members.
4. Commitment—there is more commitment among all group
members to make
5. the final decision work.
Disadvantages of group decision
making
1. Social pressure to conform—individuals may feel compelled
to go along with the apparent wishes of the group.
2. Minority domination—the group’s decision may be forced
or “railroaded” by one individual or a small coalition.
3. Time demands—with more people involved in the dialogue
and discussion, group decisions usually take longer to make
than individual decisions.
Groupthink
Groupthink is the tendency of cohesive group members to lose their
critical evaluative capabilities.

An important potential problem in group decision making, identified by social psychologist

Irving Janis, is groupthink—the tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their
critical evaluative capabilities.80 Janis believes that, because highly cohesive groups demand
conformity, their members tend to become unwilling to criticize one another’s ideas and
suggestions. Desires to hold the group together and to avoid unpleasant disagreements lead
to an overemphasis on agreement and an underemphasis on critical discussion. The possible
result is a poor decision. Janis suggests that groupthink played a role in the lack of
preparedness of U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor in World War II. It has also been linked to U.S.
decision making during the Vietnam War and to the space shuttle Challenger disaster.
How to avoid Groupthink
• Assign the role of critical evaluator to each group member.
• Have the leader avoid seeming partial to one course of action.
• Create subgroups to work on the same problem.
• Have group members discuss issues with outsiders and report back.
• Invite outside experts to observe and react to group processes.
• Assign someone to be a “devil’s advocate” at each meeting.
• Write alternative scenarios for the intentions of competing groups.
• Hold “second-chance” meetings after consensus is apparently
achieved.
How to improve
group decision making
1. Brainstorming
2. Nominal Group Technique
3. Delphi Technique
4. Computer-Mediated Decision Making
Team
Teams are groups of people who work actively together to
achieve a purpose for which they are all accountable.
Types of teams
First, there are teams that recommend things. Established to study
specific problems and recommend solutions to them, these teams
typically work with a target completion date and dis band once their
purpose has been fulfilled. They are temporary groups including task
forces, ad hoc committees, project teams, and the like. Members of
these teams must be able to learn quickly how to work well together,
accomplish the assigned task, and make good action
recommendations for followup work by other people.
Types of teams
Second, there are teams that run things. These management teams
consist of people with the formal responsibility for leading other
groups. These teams may exist at all levels of responsibility, from the
individual work unit composed of a team leader and team
members to the top management team composed of a CEO and
other senior executives. Teams can add value to work processes at
any level and offer special opportunities for dealing with complex
problems and uncertain situations. Key issues addressed by top
management teams, for example, include identifying overall
organizational purposes, goals, and values, crafting strategies, and
persuading others to support them.
Types of teams
Third, there are teams that make or do things. These are functional
groups and work units that perform ongoing tasks, such as marketing
or manufacturing. Members of these teams must have good long-term
working relationships with one another, solid operating systems, and
the external support needed to achieve effectiveness over a
sustained period of time. And they need energy to keep up the pace
and meet the day-to-day challenges of sustained high performance.
Teamwork
Teamwork occurs when group members work together
in ways that utilize their skills well to accomplish a
purpose.
HOW TO CREATE A HIGH -
PERFORMING TEAM
• Communicate high-performance standards.
• Set the tone in the first team meeting.
• Create a sense of urgency.
• Make sure members have the right skills.
• Establish clear rules for team behavior.
• As a leader, model expected behaviors.
• Find ways to create early “successes.”
• Continually introduce new facts and information.
• Make sure members spend a lot of time together.
• Give positive feedback and reward high performance.
DIVERSITY AND TEAM PERFORMANCE
When team members are homogeneous, that is, when members are
alike in respect to such things as age, gender, race, ethnicity,
experience, ethnicity and culture, there are certain potential
benefits. It will probably be easy for them to quickly build social
relationships and begin the interactions needed to work
harmoniously together. On the other hand, the homogeneity may be
limiting in terms of ideas, viewpoints, and creativity. With team
diversity in terms of demography, experiences, and cultures, by
contrast, comes a rich pool of information, talent, and varied
perspectives that can help improve problem solving and increase
creativity. These assets are especially valuable when the team is
working on complex and very demanding tasks.
Team Building
Team building is a collaborative way to gather and analyze
data to improve teamwork.
HOW TEAM BUILDING WORKS
APPROACHES TO TEAM BUILDING
1. Formal retreat approach
2. Continuous improvement approach
3. Outdoor experience approach
Improving Team Processes
Like many changes in the new workplace, the increased emphasis on
teams and teamwork is a major challenge for people used to more
traditional ways of working. As more and more jobs are turned over to
teams and as more and more traditional supervisors are asked to
function as team leaders, special problems relating to team processes
may arise. As teams become more integral to organizations, multiple
and shifting memberships can cause complications. Team leaders and
members alike must be prepared to deal positively with such issues as
introducing new members, handling disagreements on goals and
responsibilities, resolving delays and disputes when making decisions,
and reducing friction and interpersonal conflicts. Given the complex
nature of group dynamics, team building in a sense is never done.
Something is always happening that creates the need for further
leadership efforts to help improve team processes.