Dynamics of Groups and Teams

Dr. Prachi Agarwal

Associate Professor
GLBIMR
Contents
Groups: Meaning and Definition; Why People join Groups;
Types of Groups – Formal Groups and Informal Groups
Characteristics of groups: Composition, size, status hierarchy,
norms, group cohesiveness, size, leadership; Stages of Group
Formation: Tuckman’s Five Stage Model; The Punctuated –
Equilibrium Model
Teams: Meaning and Definition; Nature of Teams; Benefits of
Teams; Differences between Groups and Teams; Types of
Teams – Problem-Solving, Self-Managed, Virtual Teams and
Cross-Functional Teams; Team-effectiveness Model
Groups - Definition
 Skein(1988), a group is any number of people:
Who interact with one another
Who are psychologically aware of one
another; and
Who perceive themselves to be a group.

 Group – two or more individuals interacting with

each other to accomplish a common goal
Features of a group:

 Two or more persons

 Interaction -- face to face interaction
 Shared goal interest -- members share at
least one common goal
 Collective identity -- members perceive
group as a unit
Reasons for group formation/Why
do people join groups?:

Warmth and
Support

Goal Power
Accomplishment

Recognition & Propinquity.

Security Social Identity (Proximity)
 Types of Groups

Formal Groups Informal Groups

 Command Group  Interest Group

 Task Group  Friendship Group

 Project Group

 Committees
 1. Formal Group

A designated work group defined by the

organization’s structure
 Command group: consists of subordinates who
report to a common superior
 Task group: those working together to complete a
job task
 Project group: consists of individuals from many
different areas or backgrounds
 Committees: group of people working together to
solve a certain problem.
2. Informal Group
A group that is neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined; appears in response
to the need for social contract.
 Interest group : Those working together to attain
a specific objective with which each is concerned.
 Friendship group :Those brought together
because they share one or more common
characteristic.
 Characteristics of Groups

Composition

Status
Size
Hierarchy

Roles Cohesiveness
Norms
 Composition

 Theextent to which group members are alike

 Homogeneous group – members share a
number of similar characteristics

 Heterogeneous group – members have few

or no similar characteristics
 Group composition can influence outcomes
 Status Hierarchy
 Status – the rank, respect, or social position that an
individual has in a group
 What determines status?
 The power a person wields over others-
managers/formal leader
 A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals-
outstanding performers.
 An individual’s personal characteristics- good looks,
money, intelligence
 Size

Small Group

Medium Group

Large Group
 Size

 Interaction and communication are much

more likely to be formalized in larger groups.
 Large size may inhibit participation and
increase absenteeism.
 Social loafing – It is the tendency for
individuals to expend less effort when
working collectively than working individually.
 Norms
 Employees don’t criticize their bosses in
public? Why? The answer is “Norms”.
 Norms – the acceptable standards of behavior
shared by members of a group
– Tell members what they ought and ought not to
do under certain circumstances.
– Accepted in various degrees by group members.
– Differ among groups, communities and societies.
 “15 percent time” program :The 3M Company
has a norm wherein employees devote 15
percent of their time to think big, pursue new
ideas, or further develop something spawned
from their other work.
Norms

 Common classes of norms:

 Performance norms
 Appearance norms
 Social arrangement norms
 Allocation of resources norms
 Roles
 Shakespeare said, “ All the world’s a stage, and all the men and
women merely players”.
 All group members are actors, each playing a role.
 Role is a set of recurring behavior that is expected from a member
by others in a group.
 Task roles-help the group achieve its goals and objectives
 Maintenance roles-helps in maintaining good interpersonal
relations.
 Personal roles-based on individual needs
 Expected roles-unwritten assignment that exists
 Group Cohesiveness
 Cohesiveness – the extent that group
members are attracted to each other and to
the group values and accept group goals
 It is the pressure on the individual member to
remain active in the group and resist leaving
it
 As the cohesiveness of a work group
increases, the level of conformity to group
norms also increases
What makes a group cohesive?

1. Size
2. Location
3. Outside pressure
4. Status of the group
5. Success
6. Other reasons (compatible goals,
attractive leaders)
 How To Increase Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness is the degree to which group members are
attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
How can we increase this?
•Make the group smaller.
•Encourage agreement with group goals.
•Increase time members spend together.
•Increase group status and admission difficultly.
•Stimulate competition with other groups.
•Give rewards to the group, not individuals.
•Physically isolate the group.
 Dysfunction of highly cohesive groups and
teams is called Groupthink.
 Term given by social psychologist Irving Janis.

 Itis defined as ‘a deterioration of mental

efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment
that results from in group pressures.
Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development

 FORMING: The group has just been

introduced and everyone is overly polite and
pleasant. At the start, most are excited to start
something new and to get to know the other
group members. During this stage, the focus is
on the task in hand and the utilization of
resources to complete it.
Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development

 STORMING: As members receive clarity about

the techniques of doing the job, there may be
disagreements among them.
 The reality and weight of completing the task at
hand have now hit everyone. The initial feelings of
excitement and the need to be polite have likely
worn off.
 Personalities may clash.
Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development

 NORMING: As the differences began to

resolve, members develop mutual
understanding and clarity with respect to the
task in hand.
 People start to notice and appreciate their
team members’ strengths. Groups start to
settle into a groove. Everyone is contributing
and working as a cohesive unit.
Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development
 PERFORMING: As members develop norms for
work and interpersonal relationships, solution to the
problem begin to emerge and constructive attempts
are made to complete the job.
 Members are confident, motivated and familiar
enough with the project and their team that they
can operate without supervision. Everyone is on
the same page and driving full-speed ahead
towards the final goal.
Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development

 ADJOURNING: This stage is more apparent in

temporary groups, where the members have to
abandon their membership in the group once
the tasks have been completed.
 This phase is sometimes known as mourning
because members have grown close and feel a
loss now that the experience is over.
 Tuckman’s Five-Stage
Model of Group Development
Formin Stormin Normin Performi Adjournin
g g g ng g

Little Conflict Agreement Clear vision Task

disagreeme increased and and purpose completion
nt consensus
Increased Focus on Good
Unclear clarity of Clear roles goal feeling about
purpose purpose and achievement achievements
responsibili-
Needs Power Delegation Recognition
ties
Guidance struggles
and Facilitation
Coaching
direction
 Bruce W Tuckman ， 1977

Prestage I Stage I Stage II

Forming Storming

Stage III Stage IV Stage V

Norming Performing Adjourning
 The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

3
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
 Given by Romanelli and Tushman (1994) .
 According to this approach, groups form in a first phase in
which a target or mission is set and then are not altered very
easily, due to a process called inertia, or systematic
resistance to change.

 Phase II- At some mid point, second phase begins. This

phase commences when group members suddenly recognize
that if they don’t change tactics, the group goals or mission
will not be accomplished. This is ‘mid-life crisis’ in group.
Power of Team Work
If between friends and partners
we were geese...
Ah!
 The next season,
when you see the geese migrating,
going to a warmer place,
to sort the winter...
Pay attention that they fly in a “V” formation
Maybe you will be interested in knowing
Why they do it this way...
By flying in a “V” formation....
 The whole flock increases
the flight efficiency by 71%

Compared to just one bird flying alone

 Lesson 1:
Sharing the same
direction
and working as a team,
get us to the destination
quicker and easier.
By helping ourselves, the
accomplishments are
greater!.
When a goose leaves the
formation..
He feels the resistance of the air and the
difficulties of flying alone....
Then, he quickly comes back to the formatio
to take advantage of the the flock’s power
in front of him ..
 Lesson 2:

By staying in tune and united

beside those who
are going in the same
direction,
the effort will be less.

It will be easier and pleasing to

reach the goals,

Everyone will be inclined to

accept and give help.
When the leader goose gets tired of flying...
... He goes to the end of the “V” formation.
While another goose takes the lead.
 Lesson 3:

To share the leadership,

There must be mutual respect

between us
all the time...

Sharing the hardest problems

and tasks..

Gathering our abilities and

combining our
talents and resources….
The geese flying on a “V” formation, they qua
to encourage to the ones in the front.

In that way, they keep the same speed.

 Lesson 4:

When there is courage and encourageme

the progress is greater..

A timely word of encouragement,

always motivates, helps and strengthen
It produces the best of benefits...
When a goose gets sick, is injured
or gets tired ,
And he must leave
the formation...
 Other geese leave the formation too,
and they fly with him to help him out
and protect him.
They remain with him
until he dies
or he is able to fly again.
They reach their bevy
or they just make another “V” formation
 Lesson 5:

Let’s stay
beside each other
no matter what the differences.

Specially in times of difficulty

and great challenges..
 If we bond together and
support each other..
If we make true the spirit of
teamwork..
Regardless of our
differences, we can rise to
meet our challenge.

If we are aware of the

feeling of sharing..

LIFE WILL BE EASIER

AND THE PASSING OF
YEARS
MORE FULFILLING ..
“Coming together is a beginning
Keeping together is progress; and
Working together is success”
Good old lessons in teamwork
from an age-old fable

The Tortoise
And
The Hare
Once upon a time a tortoise and a
hare had an argument about who
was faster.
That’s not true.
The fastest runner is
me!

I’m the fastest

runner.
 They decided to settle
the argument with a race.
They agreed on a route Fine!
and started off the race.

Ok, let’s have

a race.
The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for
some time. Then seeing that he was far
ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit
under a tree for some time and relax
before continuing the race.
Poor guy! Even if I
take a nap, he
could not catch up
with me.
He sat under the tree and soon fell
asleep.
The tortoise plodding on overtook
him and soon finished the race,
emerging as the undisputed
champ.
The hare woke up and realized that he'd
lost the race.
The moral of the story is that slow and steady
wins the race.

This is the version of the story that we've all

grown up with.
The story continues …
The hare was disappointed
at losing the race and he
did some soul-searching.
He realized that he'd lost Why did I
lose the
the race only because he race?
had been overconfident,
careless and lax. If he had
not taken things for
granted, there's no way the
tortoise could have beaten
him.
 So he challenged the
tortoise to another race.
The tortoise agreed. Ok.

Can we have
another race?
 This time, the hare went all
out and ran without stopping
from start to finish. He won
by several miles.
 The moral of the story?

Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and

steady. If you have two people in your organization,
one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast
and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable
chap will consistently climb the organizational ladder
faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be

fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here …
 The tortoise did some thinking
this time, and realized that there's
no way he can beat the hare in a
race the way it was currently
formatted. How can
I can win
the hare?
He thought for a while,
and then challenged
the hare to another Can we have another
race, but on a slightly race? This time we’ll go
different route. through a different route.
The hare agreed.

Sure!
 They started off. In keeping with
his self-made commitment to be
consistently fast, the hare took off
and ran at top speed until he came
to a broad river. The finishing
line was a couple of kilometers Goal
on the other side of the river.
The hare sat there wondering what
to do. In the meantime the tortoise
trundled along, got into the river,
swam to the opposite bank,
continued walking and finished the
race.

What
should I do?
 The moral of the story?

First identify your core competency and then change the

playing field to suit your core competency.

In an organization, if you are a good speaker, make sure you

create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior
management to notice you.

If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of

research, make a report and send it upstairs.

Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will
also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended …
 The hare and the tortoise, by
this time, had become pretty
good friends and they did some
thinking together. Both realized
that the last race could have
been run much better.
So they decided to do the
last race again, but to run Great! I think we
as a team this time. could do it much
better, if we two
help each other.

Hi, buddy. How

about doing our last
race again?
They started off, and this time the
hare carried the tortoise till the
riverbank.
There, the tortoise took over and
swam across with the hare on his
back.
 On the opposite bank, the hare
again carried the tortoise and they
reached the finishing line
together. They both felt a greater
sense of satisfaction than they'd
felt earlier.
 The moral of the story?

It's good to be individually brilliant and to have

strong core competencies; but unless you're able to
work in a team and harness each other's core
competencies, you'll always perform below par
because there will always be situations at which
you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership,

letting the person with the relevant core competency
for a situation take leadership.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise
teaches us many things:
Never give up when faced with failure
Fast and consistent will always beat slow and
steady
Work to your competencies
Compete against the situation, not against a
rival.
Pooling resources and working as a team
will always beat individual performers
Let’s go and build stronger teams!
Activity : WHAT MAKES A
SUCCESSFUL TEAM?

 Form a team of 4 students

 Write the word TEAMWORK vertically on a
piece of paper.
 Choose a word that starts with each letter of
the word TEAMWORK which describes what
makes a successful team.
 Present your findings and explain the
reasoning behind each word
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
TEAM?
TEAM

 Together
 Everyone
 Achieves
 More

 Together Everyone Achieves MIRACLES!!!

Definition of Team

 Work Team – a group of people with

complementary skills who are committed to
a common mission, performance goals, and
approach for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable
Team Versus Groups: What’s
the Difference
Work Group
A group that interacts primarily to
share information and to make
decisions to help each group
member perform within his or her
area of responsibility

Work Team
A group whose individual efforts
result in a performance that is
greater than the sum of the
individual inputs
Group Versus Team Differences
Formal Work Group Team
Works on common goals Total commitment to
common goals
Accountable to manager Accountable to team
members
Skill levels are often random Skill levels are often
complementary
Performance is evaluated by Performance is evaluated by
leader members as well as leaders
Culture is one of change and Culture is based on
conflict collaboration and total
commitment to common
goals
Performance can be positive, Performance can be greater
Groups vs Teams
 NATURE OF TEAMS

 Collective Performance
 Synergy
 MutualAccountability
 Complementary Skills
 Shared Leadership
TEAM IMPORTANCE

 Teams typically outperform individuals.

 Teams use employee talents better.
 Teams are more flexible and responsive to changes
in the environment.
 Teams facilitate employee involvement.
 Teams are an effective way to democratize an
organization and increase motivation.
Types of Teams
Problem-solving Teams
Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the same
department who meet to improve quality,
efficiency, and the work environment

Self-Managed Work Teams

Groups of 10 to 15 people who take on the
responsibilities of their former supervisors
(i.e., select employees, control operations,
working with suppliers, etc.)
Types of Teams (cont’d)
Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from
different work areas (production, accounting, marketing, etc.),
who come together to accomplish a task
 To improve coordination with cross-functional teams,
organizations can carry out five steps.
 (1) choosing the membership carefully
 (2) clearly establishing the purpose of the Team
 (3) ensuring that everyone understands how the group
will function
 (4) conducting intensive team building up front so that
everyone learns how to interact effectively
 (5)achieving noticeable results so that morale remains
high and the members can see the impact of their
efforts
Types of Teams (cont’d)

Team
TeamCharacteristics
Characteristics
1.
1.The
Theabsence
absenceof
ofparaverbal
paraverbaland
andnonverbal
nonverbal
cues
cues
2.
2.AAlimited
limitedsocial
socialcontext
context
3.
3.The
Theability
abilityto
toovercome
overcometime
timeand
andspace
space
 Five Cs of Team-member
Competencies

95
A Team-Effectiveness
Model
THANKYOU