Group Dynamics

1. Group Dynamics Lesson brought to you by: Megan Steer, Justin Tiseo, Sine Frederick, NathalyAntillon, Kenzie Thomson, and Gabby Zagorski

2. Group Dynamics Click on the following topic headings to learn more about the different aspects of everyday group dynamics! • Stages in Group Development • Roles within a Group • Effects of Communication Styles • Effects of Personality Types • Effects of Leadership Styles • Strategies for Best Results • Conflict Resolution • Ice Breakers • Applications of Group Dynamics

3. Stages in Group Development • There are 5 main stage involved in group development: • Stage One: Forming • This is also known as the initiating stage. • In this stage the groups comes together, exchanges numbers, emails and other forms of communication. • Each group member’s role is established almost immediately and connections are formed. • Stage Two: Storming • In this stage groups meet and establish what will be taking place and how it will be done. • Stage Three: Norming • Relationships are established between members and final touches are placed on project.

4. Stages in Group Development • Stage Four: Performing • This is the actual presentation of the project. • By this stage the project is finished and group member tweak and add last minute corrections to project. • If being presented orally, rehearsals are done and plan is written out multiple times. • Groups use this stage to perfect projects. • Stage Five: Adjurning • The final stage is the disbandment of the group. The project has adjourned and members can celebrate. • Overall • Understanding the stages can make for a healthy group. • Success is achieved through hard work and determination. • If a group is struggling, revisiting a stage to see what has been done wrong is recommended. • It is recommended that anyone participating in group work to read and follow these stages. Return to HOME

5. Roles Within a Group • A large part of working in groups is understanding that leadership is not the property of one person, but rather, a series of roles shared by many people within a healthy group. • Each role is a part of the leadership process, which role a person plays depends on the person’s abilities, personality or preference. Many of these roles can be shared and can be filled by more than one person at the same time or over a period of time. • In more depth, it helps to differentiate the roles that help accomplish the task, between the roles that help maintain the group as a whole. • The different roles present in a group can be broken down into three types; the task roles, the maintenance roles, and the blocking roles.

6. Roles Within a Group: Task Roles • The INITIATOR -suggests or proposes to the group new ideas. • The INFORMATION SEEKER - asks for interpretation of suggestions made in terms of their accurate sufficiency. • The INFORMATION GIVER - offers facts or overviews which are authoritative or relates their own experience relevant to the group problem. • The OPINION GIVER - states their belief relevant to a suggestion made. • The ELABORATOR - spells out suggestions in terms of examples or developed meanings. • The COORDINATOR - shows or explains the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, tries to pull ideas and suggestions together. • The ENERGIZER - attempts to stimulate the group to "greater" or "higher quality" activity. • The PROCEDURAL TECHNICIAN - furthers group movement by doing things for the group, e.g. passing out materials. • The RECORDER - writes down suggestions, makes a record of group decisions, or writes down the product of discussion.

7. Roles Within a Group: Maintenance Roles • The ENCOURAGER - praises, agrees with, and accepts the contribution of the others. They offer commendation and praise and in various ways that indicate understanding and acceptance of other points of view, ideas, and suggestions. • The HARMONIZER -mediates the differences between other members, attempts to reconcile disagreements. • The GATE-KEEPER -furthers attempts to keep communication channels open by encouraging or assisting the participation or by proposing regulation of the flow of communication. • The STANDARD SETTER -expresses standards for the group, or set limits on acceptable individual behavior within the group. • The SUMMARIZER -defines the position of the group with respect to its goals by summarizing what has occurred, points to departures from agreed upon directions or goals, or raises questions about the direction which the group discussion is taking.

8. Roles Within a Group: Blocking Roles • The AGGRESSOR - devaluates the status of others; expresses dissatisfaction of the values, acts, or feelings of others; attacks the group or the problem it is working on, etc. • The BLOCKER - tends to be negative and resistant, disagreeing without or beyond reason and attempting to bring back an issue after the group has rejected it. • The RECOGNITION-SEEKER - works in various ways to draw attention to themselves. • The PLAYBOY-PLAYGIRL - makes display of their lack of involvement in the group’s processes through disinterest, horseplay, and other more or less studied forms of "out-of-field" behavior. • The DOMINATOR - tries to assert authority by manipulating the group or certain members of the group, taking the form of flattery, asserting a superior status, giving directions authoritatively, or interrupting the contributions of others, etc. • The HELP-SEEKER - strives for sympathy from other group members, whether through expressions of insecurity, personal confusion or devaluation of themselves. Return to HOME

9. Effects of Communication Styles • In order for us to better guarantee a positive group work experience, let’s learn more about the different communication styles; aggression, passivity, and assertion. • The communication style of aggression: • Aggression is the most negative form of communication, and therefore the most difficult to work with in a group setting. • Although an aggressor’s expression of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs can provide useful information to their peers, the way with which they go about contributing this information is often found to be inappropriate and downright disrespectful. • Those who communicate through aggression tend to believe that their opinions are rule; only what they say matters and anyone who says differently will soon regret it. • The ultimate goal of an aggressor is to achieve dominance, not through positive means, but rather through force and intimidation. • One has to respect what the aggressor has to say, so as to not aggravate them or trigger any negative actions, but in turn also calmly present their own ideas in order to keep balance.

10. Effects of Communication Styles • The communication style of passivity: • On the other side of things, is exactly what aggression is not; reserved, apologetic, and impressionable. The passive members of a group hardly ever express their own thoughts, feelings, or beliefs to their peers, and if so, then they do so in a manner that is easily pushed aside and disregarded and disrespected entirely. • They believe that their contributions and feelings do not matter, and that the only ones that are important to listen to are those of other members. • Those who communicate passively will contribute hardly anything to the group’s goals, preferring to remain in the shadow, away from any sort of attention, and avoiding conflict at all costs. • One has to respect the wants and needs of a passive member to stay in the background, yet at the same time should also gently encourage group participation.

11. Effects of Communication Styles • The communication style of assertion: • The balanced mixture of the others, it is usually found to be the most appealing presence in a group environment. • Assertive members never fail to express their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to the group, however, unlike the aggressors, they do so in an appropriate way that respects the opinions of others. • The goal of the assertive member is to not only successfully present their ideas, but to also create a positive learning environment that encourages contribution from their peers. • They create balance and a great group setting perfect for growth and success. • Group members have to keep in mind, however, that they can also respond with their own assertiveness and should all respect each other’s ideas equally. • If approached in the right way, a variety of communication styles in a group can be used as a great advantage. Having different kinds of communicators present can provide a diverse, rich learning environment, and in turn, can contribute greatly towards to success of a project. Return to HOME

12. Effects of Personality Types • The combinations of personality types in a group can really make or break it in terms of their success, so to understand them more, let’s focus on the Human Resources Quadrant Theory, as well as the Myers-Briggs Personality Types. • The main four personality types are analytic, driven, amiable, and expressive. • Analytic personality type: • Analytics are known for two things: trusting the facts, and needing time. • Other members who put the most power into their emotions and feelings would come across as irritating to these analytics, and could cause conflict if not properly handled. • Analytics also have high-expectations, so they can be very demanding of both themselves and others as a result. • Regarding Myers-Briggs, analytics would be considered to be introverts, intuitive, thinking, and perceiving, being less of a people-person and more of a scholar. • Analytics can always be counted upon to provide intelligent, accurate contributions to the final product.

13. Effects of Personality Types • Driver personality type: • Drivers are known for two things: trusting the facts, but making quick decisions. • Drivers have the tendency to take-charge and make their presence known, which in retrospect, could cause great conflict with the more emotional, soft-spoken members. • With this in mind, those emotional members could also cause a lot of frustration for the drivers who want to get right to the point. • With regards to Myers-Briggs, drivers would be considered to be extreme extroverts, thinking, and judging. • Drivers are competitive and often take the leadership role, which can be helpful for a group struggling to get started.

14. Effects of Personality Types • Amiable personality type: • Amiable people are known for two things: being emotion-based, but making slow decisions. • They tend to be very cooperative members in a group, who look for trust in their peers, while also avoiding the leadership role, preferring to be soft-spoken and ask questions. • Their slow decision making could be found to be very bothersome to others who are more active and fact driven, yet these members would also in turn be a cause of frustration to the amiable members due to their differences. • With respect to Myers-Briggs, amiable personality types are considered to be relative extroverts, sensing, extreme feeling, and perceiving. • People with the amiable personality type have great approachability and their cooperative nature can be a great source for comfort to the group members, helping them to not stress out and look to others for support.

15. Effects of Personality Types • Expressive personality type: • Expressive members are known for two things: being emotion-based, and also making fast decisions. • They are found to be sociable, kind-hearted members who tend to be very enthusiastic towards the group’s main goal. • Expressive types could be found to be irritating to the more driven types, and in return, the expressive members could become frustrated by the fact-based members who take too much time. • According to Myers-Briggs, expressive types would be considered to be extroverts, sensing, feeling, and perceiving. • Expressive members can be useful in a group as they provide a relief from the hum-drum of constant research and work, and can always be counted upon to bring up group morale. • With these guidelines as your reference, personality types in a group should no longer be a source of conflict, but rather as a concrete base to look to for advice. Return to HOME

16. Leadership Styles • There are many leadership styles that are used by people, the main of which include: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. • An authoritarian leader uses discipline and control and limits the input of ideas by others not in leadership position. • A democratic leader uses group members as advisors, listens to opinions and asks before ordering. • A laissez-faire leader gives little or no direction to the group and only steps in when needed. • Conflict often arises when leaders use only one type of leadership style, or when a leader relies too much on control and discipline to get what they want without accepting ideas. This will cause people to eventually get tired and revolt against the leader. • The key to avoiding conflict and being a good leader is the ability to adapt to different situations and combine leadership styles. The following pages will elaborate more on some combinations of leadership styles and their effects.

17. Leadership Styles • Authoritarian and Democratic • These leadership styles appear to be complete opposites of each other, so what good can come out of combining these two? • Many associate authoritarians with dictators, but this is not the case when used properly. Authoritarian leadership can be very useful in times of crisis, when there is a sense of urgency, people need someone to tell them what to do and when to do it. • Democratic leadership includes the use of the opinions of others, involving group members, and coming to decisions together. This gives people the opportunity for the leader to increase their skills and have an input in decisions made. • Mixing these two types of leaderships can be very useful in everyday life as it can give people the discipline they need to stay on task (authoritarian) but it can also prevent any ill feelings among the group of being bossed around with no say (democratic).

18. Leadership Styles • Democratic and Laissez-Faire • The laissez-faire leadership style is a very laid back way of leading often using the expression “don’t bother fixing anything that’s not broken”. The positive advantage of this leadership style is that it allows other group members to grow and become more self-motivated. • Democratic leadership gives people structure but at the same time allows leeway for people to talk decisions out. • Mixing these two leadership styles would allow group members to grow together and get along with each other (laissez-faire) which in turn would mean that group members could arrive to a conclusions faster and easier. • The sense of team that would result from this mixing of leadership styles could help the entire group as a whole to grow and increase their skills with working in groups.

19. Leadership Styles • Authoritarian and Laissez-Faire • These two leadership styles are complete opposite of each other, how would one go about even trying to mix these leadership styles? • As mentioned before, authoritarian leadership is all about control, whereas laissez-faire is all about laying back and letting others control themselves. • One of the major disadvantages to authoritarian leadership is that is does not allow for much creativity among the group members. This is where mixing in laissez-faire leadership can be helpful; it could increase the creativity level among the group members. • The mixing of these two leadership styles could keep group members satisfied and avoid conflict with the leader, because they are still able to express themselves. Return to HOME

20. Strategies for Best Results • Strategizing to make a group work smoothly is an ongoing process. There are certain things you should establish before beginning to work as a group. Below you will find ways to help a group work efficiently and effectively. • Choose hard working members • Choosing group members who work well together is important, so try and choose those who strive for the same goals as you. • Working in a group with slacked off members creates a rough working environment, as the lazy workers usually target hard workers because they know that they will pick up their slack. • In a group, there is always one who takes action, and one who listens. Both are needed in a group, but always make sure everyone has put in their input. • Create an outline • It is important to make sure all your members are onboard and know what their duty is. By creating an outline, it will allow for less confusion and more action. Creating a strong plan will evidently show in the final product.

21. Strategies for Best Results • Divide work into interests • If a group member is good at creating power points, give them that duty. If you divide your work into something that someone is good at or is interested in, it is bound to come out with more passion than someone who does not enjoy it. • This should therefore lead to less complaining and more work. This will cause less conflicts and more positive attitudes in a group. •  Interaction within the group • Positive interaction is grounded by mutual respect and encouragement. • Find a common way to communicate. Always put in your input because the more ideas that are thrown out there, the more creativity there is. • One of the most important successes to a group are ideas, not personalities. The final outcome is determined by ideas that individuals in the group come forth with. Return to HOME

22. Conflict Resolution • The keys factors to keep in mind when thinking about conflict resolution in group environments, is that it`s all about how to avoid conflict in the first place, and if necessary, how to then solve it. • Avoiding Conflict • Conflict almost always occurs in a group function, so avoiding conflict is important to have a successful project. • Always listen to your group member’s ideas. By shooting down an idea, it could cause upset, or angry members. Try to instead revise an idea or come up with a better one and explain why you believe so. Also allow other opinions on your idea and continue with their input. • Positivity is key within a group. Try and remain optimistic so as to bring about happier, more livelier and open group. • Try and include all members and distribute work equally so no one is working more than others.

23. Conflict Resolution • Solving Conflict • If conflict has occurred, there are ways to stop it. The best method is using the conflict resolution model. Using these steps will help you in creating a healthier group. • First look at the perspectives of both sides • Sit together and discuss something that is in both interests (why this conflict is occurring) • Share your feelings and thoughts (both sides) • Find a list of solutions that will help solve this problem • Choose the best method in solving the problem and making both sides happy • Finding a way to make a group work smoothly is not entirely a textbook answer. The best way to make a group work smoothly is going along with what happens and fixing it along the way. Using these simple tips can always help, but will never solve every conflict possible. Return to HOME

24. Ice Breakers • Ice breakers are structured activities that are designed to relax new learners, introduce them to each other and hopefully put some positive attitude into what is normally a very unknown or uncomfortable atmosphere or situation. • Ice breakers are very important for a several reasons: • Using ice breakers helps to build a community. It doesn’t matter who the group of people is, if its employees at a store, or students in a classroom together for the first time, or a group of people at a conference, the point of using ice breakers is to create a community quickly where you feel comfortable. • When these ice breaker activities run smoothly and these groups of people get to know each other, things run smoothly as well. • There is less conflict between people as they get a sense of who people are from the activities they participate in.

25. Ice Breakers • Ice breakers help to get people to relax and get to know each other, in a much quicker and faster way that is fun and interactive. • Ice breakers make people become more engaged in what they are going to be doing that particular day. When people are more engaged then they get more out of, say the conference they are taking part in that day. • Ice breakers are a great source of community, and development for of people of all ages. They’re important activities that should always be used when first dealing with groups of new people. You can use them with all ages, all group sizes, how ever needed. Ice breakers help to relax people and get them motivated. Return to HOME

26. Applications for Group Dynamics • When you think of ‘groups’ you usually think of school, in a classroom. What most people do not realize, is that groups are also formed in their workplace, as well as in their families. • In your workplace, working with your co-workers is a form of group dynamics. Creating a bond and developing a relationship with your co-workers to form a healthy working group will provide you an effective working line. • It is important that everyone works his or her best within a workplace because it affects your company and the employees. When one person slacks, it loses money for the company, and it creates more work for your co-workers. • Developing a fine role in the workplace is important. Being a leader will help you succeed in many different ways. It can offer promotions and many different beneficial options that can help further your career. • Group dynamics in a workplace is crucial (if you are in a workplace that you work with others). Learning to become a people person will help you in all areas.

27. Applications for Group Dynamics • Not only does group dynamics apply to a classroom and the workplace, but it also applies to families. • Your family is one big group dynamic. To constantly operate everyday, you are using your group skills. • If you need to go pick someone in your family up, you are communicating with another family member to take on that responsibility. • Your families operational system is all based on working together and communication, this is all part of group dynamics. Of course, the loving bond you share helps with all this but it still is a tough job and everyone oversees the difficulty in it. • The special bond you share in a classroom, workplace and a family is all apart of group dynamics and offers such a valuable skill. Return to HOME