Group DynamicsStages of Group Development

Group DynamicsO This week we will be looking at the

importance of working in groupsO Positive and negative roles/attitudes

that individuals can assumeO Comparing formal and informal group

structuresO Advantages and Disadvantages of

group structures in a business

Stages of Group Development

There are four stages to group development. They are:1) Forming2) Storming3) Norming4) Performing

Forming

FormingO The group comes together and gets to

initially know one another and form as a group

O At the end of the forming stage, team members should know the following:O The project’s overall missionO The main phases of the missionO The resources at their disposalO A rough project scheduleO Each member’s project responsibilitiesO A basic set of team rules

FormingO Activities usually found in this stage:

O Making acquaintancesO Sharing informationO Discussing subjects unrelated to the

task

Storming

StormingO Storming is when members of the

team learn to bend and mold their feelings, ideas, attitudes, and beliefs to suit the team organizationO Usually through competition and

conflictO Questions about who is responsible

for what, what the rules are, what the reward system is, and what the evaluation criteria are arise

O These questions reflect conflicts over leadership, power, and authority

O Team members must move from a testing-and-proving mentality to a problem-solving mentality

O Listening is the most helpful action

StormingO Typical Activities found in this stage:

O Expressing attitudesO Establishing normsO Establishing goals and discussing

tasks openly

Norming

NormingO Team members actively acknowledge all

members’ contributionsO Team members build communityO Team members maintain team focus and

missionO Team members work to solve team

issues

O Members are willing to change their preconceived ideas or opinions

O Leadership is sharedO Cohesions occurs when individuals

place trust in one anotherO Team members begin to experience

a sense of group belonging

NormingO Typical activities:

O Working on tasks as a teamO Being cooperative

Performing

PerformingO Teams enjoy team members who work

independently but also support those who can come back together to solve problems

O Team is most productive at this stageO Team members are highly task-oriented

and also highly people-orientedO Team is unified

O Team identity is completeO Team morale is highO Team loyalty is intense

O The task function becomes genuine problem solving, which leads to optimal solutions

O Support for experimentation in solving problems, and an emphasis on achievement

PerformingO Typical activities include:

O Working independentlyO Assigning tasks according to abilityO Being spontaneous and flexible

Roles within Group Structures

O There are a variety of roles/attitudes that team members can embrace while working in a group

O They can be positive roles/attitudes, but they can also play a negative role, or have a negative attitude

Positive

Positive Task RolesO ContributorO Information SeekerO Information GiverO Opinion SeekerO Opinion GiverO ElaboratorO EvaluatorO EnergizerO Recorder

Positive Social RolesO EncouragerO HarmonizerO CompromiserO GatekeeperO ObserverO Follower

Negative

Negative Task RolesO AggressorO BlockerO Recognition SeekerO DisruptorO Dominator