stages of group development123

7/30/2019 Stages of Group Development123

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Forming:It is the initial stage of group development. When the group member first come

in contact with others and get acquainted with each other. This stage is marked by a greatdeal of caution, confusion and uncertainty about the groups purpose, structure and

leadership. At this point, individuals ask a number of questions as they begin to identify

with other group members and with group itself.

Storming: In this stage members compete for status. This stage is characterized by

conflict. The conflict which rise could be a mixture of expressions of relative priorities of

goals, what is to be the responsibility of each member and regarding the task related

guidance and direction of the leader.

Norming: At this stage of development there is a clear sense of group identity and group

structure, norms, procedures, rules and structures become formally established.


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Performing: In this stage, the group structure is fully operational and is

accepted by all the members. All the individual members know and

accept the individual roles. This stage is marked by team work, role

clarity, and task accomplishment. Group energy moves from conflict totask accomplishment.

Adjourning Stage: This is the final stage, when the group after

achieving the objectives for which it was created starts to gradually

dissolve itself


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Group cohesiveness is understood as the extent of liking each member

has towards others and how far everyone wants to remain as a member

of the group.

It refers to the extent to which members of a group are united and knit

together. Persons in a highly cohesive group value their membership

and strive to maintain positive relationships with other group members.

Members also experience satisfaction from group affiliation.


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Members Similarity

The more group members are similar to each other on various

characteristics the easier it would be to reach cohesiveness. Following

Social Identity Theory, we know that people feel closer to those whom

they perceive as similar to themselves in terms of external

characteristics (age, ethnicity) or internal ones (values, attitudes). In

addition, similar background makes it more likely that members share

similar views on various issues, including group objectives, how to

communicate and the type of desired leadership. In general, higher

agreement among members on group rules and norms results in greater

trust and less dysfunctional conflict. This, in turn, strengthens both

emotional and task cohesiveness


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Group Size

Since it is easier for fewer people to agree on goals and to co-ordinate

their work smaller groups are more cohesive than larger groups. Task

cohesiveness may suffer, though, if the group lacks enough members to

perform its tasks well enough.

Group Success

Group success, like exclusive entry, increases the value of group

membership to its members and influences members to identify more

strongly with the team and to want to be actively associated with it.


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External Competition and Threats

When members perceive active competition with another group, they

become more aware of members similarity within their group as well

as seeing their group as a means to overcome the external threat or

competition they are facing. Both these factors increase group

cohesiveness; leaders throughout human history have been aware of

this and focused the attention of their followers on conflicts with

external enemies when internal cohesion was threatened. Similar

effects can be brought about by facing an objective external threat or

challenge (such as natural disaster).


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Conflict can be defined as a process in which one party (person or group)

perceives that its interests are being affected by another party.


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Functional conflict: the conflicts which support the goals of the group

and improve its performance functional conflicts.

Dysfunctional conflict: the conflicts that hinder group performance are

called as dysfunctional conflict

Functions of conflict:

a) Positive implications (functional conflicts): If conflicts are

handled properly, they can have the following positive

consequences.

i) Releasing Tension: conflict may be used for releasing tension and

frustration. Conflict when expressed can reduce tension, when

members express themselves, they get some psychological

satisfaction.


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ii) Stimulation for change: sometimes conflict

stimulates change among the people. When

they are faced with a conflict, they might

change their attitudes and become willing toadapt themselves to change in the situation.

iii) Group cohesiveness: conflict brings about

group cohesiveness among the members of

the group as every member co-operates tomeet the pressure of the conflict situation.

As a result, there is a greater loyalty to the

group.


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Identification of weakness: when a conflict

arises, it might help in identifying the

weaknesses in the system. Once the

management comes to know about theweaknesses, it can always take steps to

remove them.

Awareness: conflict creates awareness of what

problems exist, who are involved and how tosolve the problem. Taking cue from this,

management can take necessary action to

resolve the conflicts.


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1) High tension: unresolved conflicts have the

potential to cause high level of tension

among the individuals and group and a

stage may come when it becomes difficultfor the management to resolve the conflict.

2) Creation of distrust: conflicts often create

a climate of distrust among the members of

the group as well the organisation. Theyhave negative feelings towards each other

and try to avoid interaction with each

other.


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Low productivity: conflict will result indiscontentment to the losing party, who willwait for an opportunity to settle the scorewith the winning party. All this will result in

less concentration on the job and as a resultthe productivity will suffer.

Goal conflict: conflict may distract theattention of the members of the organisation

from organizational goals. They may wastetheir time and energy in finding ways andtactics to come out as winners in theconflict.


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Weakening of organization: conflicts may

weaken the organization as a whole if the

management is not able to handle them

properly.


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Personality differences: some people have difficulty in getting along with

others they cannot develop co-operative relations with others.

Differences in perception: people coming from different backgrounds

hold different perceptions. Such differences in perception may lead to

interpersonal conflict.

Clash of values and interests: differences in value system and ego state

may create misunderstanding leading to conflicts between individuals.

Power and status differences: unequal distribution of power and statusmay cause interpersonal differences.

Scarcity of resources: interpersonal conflicts may arise when individuals

compete for scarce resources


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Specialisation: when jobs are highly specialized,

employees become experts at certain tasks. As

the highly specialised people have little

awareness of the tasks that others perform, such

a case leads to conflict among the specialist.

Interdependence: when two or more groups

depend on each other to accomplish their tasks

Skills and abilities: work force in an

organisation/ department is composed of peoplewith varying levels of skills and abilities. Such

diversity in skills and abilities leads to conflict,

especially when the jobs are interdependent.


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stages of group development123

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