Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (intragroup dynamics), or between social groups (intergroup dynamics)

1. GROUP DYNAMICS
By
Abhijit Bhoyar

2. INTRODUCTION
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the
only thing that ever has”.
Margaret Mead

3. DEFINITION
A group may be defined as a number of
individuals who join together to achieve a
goal. People join groups to achieve goals that
cannot be achieved by them alone.
Johnson & Johnson (2006)

4. WHAT IS
GROUP
DYNAMICS ?
• A branch of social psychology which studies
problems involving the structure of a group.
• The interactions that influence the attitudes
and behavior of people when they are
grouped with others through either choice
or accidental circumstances.
• A field of social psychology concerned with
the nature of human groups, their
development, and their interactions with
individuals, other groups, and larger
organizations.

5. TYPE OF GROUPS
• Formal groups: refers to those which are established under the
legal or formal authority with the view to achieve a particular
end results. Eg: trade unions.
• Informal groups: refers to aggregate of personal contact and
interaction and network of relationship among individual. Eg:
friendship group.
• Primary groups: are characterized by small size, face to face
interaction and intimacy among members of group. Eg: family,
neighbourhood group.
• Secondary groups: characterized by large size, individual
identification with the values and beliefs prevailing in them
rather than cultural interaction. Eg: occupational association
and ethnic group.

6. TYPE OF GROUPS
• Task groups: are composed of people who work together to
perform a task but involve cross-command relationship. Eg:
for finding out who was responsible for causing wrong
medication order would require liaison between ward in
charge, senior sister and head nurse.
• Social groups: refers to integrated system of interrelated
psychological group formed to accomplish defined objectives.
Eg: political party with its many local political clubs.
friendship group.
• Reference groups: one in which they would like to belong.
• Membership groups: those where the individual actually
belongs

7. TYPE OF GROUPS
• Command groups: formed by subordinates reporting directly
to the particular manager are determined by formal
organizational chart.
• Functional groups: the individuals work together daily on
similar tasks.
• Problem solving groups: it focuses on specific issues in their
areas of responsibility, develops potential solution and often
empowered to take action.

8. OBJECTIVES OF GROUP DYNAMICS
To identify and analyze the social
processes that impact on group
development and performance.
To acquire the skills necessary to
intervene and improve individual
and group performance in an
organizational context.
To build more successful
organizations by applying
techniques that provide positive
impact on goal achievement.

9. PRINCIPLES OF
GROUP
DYNAMICS
• The members of the group must have a strong
sense of belonging to the group.
• Changes in one part of the group may produce
stress in other person, which can be reduced only
by eliminating or allowing the change by bringing
about readjustment in the related parts
• The group arises and functions owing to common
motives.

10. PRINCIPLES OF
GROUP
DYNAMICS
• Groups survive by placing the members into
functional hierarchy and facilitating the action
towards the goals
• The intergroup relations, group organization and
member participation is essential for
effectiveness of a group.
• Information relating to needs for change, plans
for change and consequences of changes must
be shared by members of a group.

11. ELEMENTS OF
GROUP
DYNAMICS
• COMMUNICATION
• CONTENT VS PROCESS
• DECISION
• INFLUENCE
• TASK VS RELATIONSHIPS
• TASK ROLES
• RELATIONSHIP ROLES
• SELF-ORIENTED ROLES
• MEMBERSHIP
• FEELINGS
• NORMS
• GROUPATMOSPHERE
• GROUP MATURITY

12. STAGES OF
GROUP
DEVELOPMENT

13. BRUCE W TUCKMAN
• Respected educational psychologist who first described the four stages of
group development in 1965.
• The four-stage model is called as tuckman's stages for a group.
• Tuckman's model states that the ideal group decision-making process should
occur in four stages:

14. Stage 1: Forming
Individual behaviour is driven by a
desire to be accepted by the
others, and avoid controversy or
conflict.
Serious issues and feelings are
avoided, and people focus on being
busy with routines, such as team
organization, who does what, when
to meet, etc.
individuals are also gathering
information and impressions -
about each other, and about the
scope of the task and how to
approach it.
This is a comfortable stage to be in,
but the avoidance of conflict and
threat means that not much
actually gets done.

15. Stage 2: Storming
• Individuals in the group can only remain nice to each other for so long, as important
issues start to be addressed.
• Some people's patience will break early, and minor confrontations will arise that are
quickly dealt with or glossed over.
• These may relate to the work of the group itself, or to roles and responsibilities within
the group. Some will observe that it's good to be getting into the real issues, whilst
others will wish to remain in the comfort and security of stage 1.
• Depending on the culture of the organization and individuals, the conflict will be more or
less suppressed, but it'll be there, under the surface. To deal with the conflict, individuals
may feel they are winning or losing battles, and will look for structural clarity and rules to
prevent the conflict persisting

16. Stage 3: Norming
getting used to each other and
developing trust and productivity

17. Stage 4: Performing
working in a group to a common
goal on a highly efficient and
cooperative basis

18. Not all groups reach this stage, characterised by a state of interdependence and flexibility.
Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together, and trusts each other
enough to allow independent activity.
Roles and responsibilities change according to need in an almost seamless way. Group identity,
loyalty and morale are all high, and everyone is equally task-orientated and people-orientated.
This high degree of comfort means that all the energy of the group can be directed towards
the task(s) in hand.

19. Stage 5:
Adjourning
mourning the adjournment
of the group

20. Stage 5:
Adjourning
This is about completion and
disengagement, both from the tasks
and the group members.
Individuals will be proud of having
achieved much and glad to have been
part of such an enjoyable group.
They need to recognize what they've
done, and consciously move on

21. GROUP DYNAMICS
PROCESS

22. GROUP DYNAMICS PROCESS
A. GROUP FORMATION B. DEVELOPMENT OF
GROUPS
C. FACILITATING A
GROUP

23. GROUP FORMATION
A GROUP IS ABLE TO SHARE EXPERIENCES,
TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK, TO POOL IDEAS,
TO GENERATE INSIGHTS, AND PROVIDE AN
ARENA FOR ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCES.
THE GROUP PROVIDES A MEASURE OF
SUPPORT AND REASSURANCE.
MOREOVER, AS A GROUP, LEARNERS MAY
ALSO PLAN COLLECTIVELY FOR CHANGE
ACTION.
GROUP DISCUSSION IS A VERY EFFECTIVE
LEARNING METHOD.

24. Factors which affect member’s participation are
The content or task of
the group
The physical atmosphere
The psychological
atmosphere
Member‘s personal
preoccupations
The level of interaction
and discussions
Familiarity

25. Helpful hints for effective communication
• Have a circular seating arrangement so that everyone can see and interact with everyone else
• If there are two facilitators, they should sit apart so that communication flow is not in one
direction
• Respect individuals- let everyone call everyone else by name respectfully
• Encourage and support the quiet members to voice their opinions
• Try and persuade the people who speak too much to give others a chance
• Ensure that only one person speaks at a time or no one else will be heard
• Discourage sub groups from indulging in side talk

26. An effective
problem
solving
procedure
would be to
• Clearly define the problem: Is it what appears on the
surface or are there deep hidden aspects?
• Try to thoroughly explore and understand the causes
behind the problem
• Collect additional information, from elsewhere if
necessary, and analyze it to understand the problem
further
• The group should suspend criticism and judgment for a
while and try to combine each other's ideas or add on
improvements. The objectives should be to generate
as many ideas and suggestions as possible. This is
called "brainstorming" in a group, when individuals try
lateral thinking.

27. DEVELOPMENT
OF GROUPS
• The developmental process of small groups
can be viewed in several ways. Firstly, it is
useful to know the persons who compose a
particular small group.
• ◘ People bring their past experiences
• ◘ People come with their personalities (their
perceptions, attitudes and values)
• ◘ People also come with a particular set of
expectations.

28. • The priorities and expectations of persons comprising a group
can influence the manner in which the group develops over a
period of time Stages Viewing the group as a whole we
observe definite patterns of behavior occurring within a
group. These can be grouped into stages.

29. FIRST STAGE
• The initial stage in the life of a group is concerned with forming a
group. This stage is characterized by members seeking safety and
protection, tentativeness of response, seeking superficial contact
with others, demonstrating dependency on existing authority
figures. Members at this stage either engage in busy type of activity
or show apathy

30. SECOND STAGE
• The second stage in this group is marked by the formation of dyads
and triads. Members seek out familiar or similar individuals and
begin a deeper sharing of self. Continued attention to the subgroup
creates a differentiation in the group and tensions across the dyads
/triads may appear. Pairing is a common phenomenon

31. THIRD STAGE
• The third developmental stage is marked by a more serious concern about
task performance.
• The dyads/triads begin to open up and seek out other members in the
group. Efforts are made to establish various norms for task performance.
• Members begin to take greater responsibility for their own group and
relationship while the authority figure becomes relaxed

32. FOURTH STAGE
• This is a stage of a fully functional group where members see themselves as a
group and get involved in the task. Each person makes a contribution and the
authority figure is also seen as a part of the group.
• Group norms are followed and collective pressure is exerted to ensure the
effectiveness of the group. The group redefines its goals in the light of
information from the outside environment and shows an autonomous will to
pursue those goals. The long-term viability of the group is established and
nurtured.

33. FACILITATING
A GROUP
• A group cannot automatically function effectively,
it needs to be facilitated.
• Facilitation can be described as a conscious
process of assisting a group to successfully
achieve its task while functioning as a group.
• Facilitation can be performed by members
themselves, or with the help of an outsider

34. To facilitate effectively the facilitator needs to:
UNDERSTAND WHAT IS
HAPPENING WITHIN THE GROUP
BE AWARE OF HIS/HER OWN
PERSONALITY AND
KNOW HOW TO FACILITATE

35. Thank you