groups

Question 1

define a group

Answer 1

2 or more people in face to face interaction, each aware of their group membership and interdependence, as they strive to achieve their goals

Question 2

why are groups important ?

Answer 2

. Groups are integral to life
. Average person belongs to 5 or 6 groups
. 92% of people are in groups of 5 people or less
. group or team
. Group success has a huge impact

Question 3

why do people join groups?

Answer 3

. Common needs 
. Interests
. Goals 
. Physical proximity 
. Cultural similarity 
. Assigned 

. members of groups are part of an identifiable unit
. Members relate to each other in meaningful fashion
. Members have a shared sense of collective identity

Question 4

formal groups

Answer 4

. created to achieve specific objectives and are concerned with the coordination of work activities
. Group members have defined roles and the nature of work tasks to be undertaken is a predominant feature
. Relatively permanent, although there may be a change in the membership of the group

Question 5

informal groups

Answer 5

. serve to satisfy the psychological and social needs of group members not related necessarily to the tasks to be undertaken
. they are based on personal relationships and membership can cut across the formal structure of the organisation
. influence on anothers behaviour and contribute to mutual need satisfaction

Question 6

group characteristics

Answer 6

group differ to the degree they possess the following characteristics:

• a minimum membership of 2 - more = more complex structures
• a communication network - interaction satisfies social needs/sets and enforces standards
• a shared sense of collective identity - not just a collection of individuals/ group is distinct
• complimentary goals- need to align
• group structure- roles, behaviour, contract

Question 7

practical implications

Answer 7

. humans are motivated to fulfil a need for love, esteem and safety:

• love = belongingness and relationships
• esteem = recognition, attention and appreciation
• safety = security of employment

.people try and satisfy these needs through work colleagues
. mix formal and informal groups
. difficulty is that organisations are not designed for people to be able to meet these needs at work

Question 8

Group dynamics

Answer 8

. the forces operating within groups that effect their performance and their members satisfaction

. forces that impact include:

• communication
• coordination
• influence
• roles
• relationships
• who leads
• balance between task and social
• conflict resolution

need for interaction = max 12

Question 9

types of tasks

Answer 9

. Borrill and west (2005) - 88% of the variation in a groups performance could be explained with reference to the task it was asked to perform

steiner (1972) - classified group tasks on the basis of the type of interdependence that i required between their members

• additive
• conjunctive
• disjunctive

Question 10

Group development

Answer 10

. Groups don’t come into existence fully formed
. Tuckman and Jenson (1977) - groups go through 5 clearly defined stages of development
. Some don’t get all the way through
. Some get stuck in
. Some progress slowly
. Some do not pass through stages in sequence
. Some cycle back and forth between stages
. A group may only work at half power because they have failed to resolve issues encountered in the early stages of the model

Question 11

forming
storming
norming
adjourning

Answer 11

Forming:
. little agreement
. unclear purpose
. guidence and direction

storming: 
.conflict
.increased clarity of purpose 
. power struggles 
. coaching

norming:
. agreement of consensus
. clear roles and responsibility
. faciliation

performing:
. clear vision and purpose
. focus on goal achievement
. delegation

ajourning:
. task completion
. good feeling about achievements
. recognition

Question 12

group diferences

differentiation in a group occurs along several dimensions…

Answer 12

liking:
- combined feelings towards each other represents the groups liking structure
- can be studied using sociometry- the study of interpersonal feelings and relationships within groups (monero, 1953)
communication - each group member depends on the information provided by others
role:
- the set of expectations that others hold of an occupant of a position
- these expectations presume attitudes, relationships and behaviours
leadership-
. the mergence of a leader within any group is a function of its structure
power:
- individuals in a group differ in terms of how much power they possess
status: prestige ranking within a group that is independent of formal position
-status indicates the groups pecking order
- difficult when there is disparity between what someone sees of themselves and what others see
formal status: the collection of prestige accorded to an individual by other group members. the value of the person as measured by the group
- people actively seek all forms of status to feed their self esteem
- status is always tenous- can be removed