Paper: Organization Behavior

Module: 21, Formation of groups

Prof. S P Bansal
Principal Investigator Vice Chancellor
Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi

Prof YoginderVerma
Co-Principal Investigator Pro–Vice Chancellor
Central University of Himachal Pradesh. Kangra. H.P.

Prof. A. K. Saihjpal
Paper Coordinator School of Management,
Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, H.P.

Prof. Geeta Bansal

Content Writer Department of Commerce and Management Studies
University school of open learning, panjab university ,
chandigarh
Items Description of Module
Subject Name Management
Paper Name Organization behaviour
Module Title Formation of groups
Module Id Module no.-21
Pre- Basic knowledge of the group formation process and the stages of group formation
Requisites
Objectives To study the basic concepts of group formation
Keywords Stage model of group development, punctuated equilibrium model, group cohesion,
social loafing

QUADRANT-I

1. Module 1: Formation of groups

2. Learning outcome
3. Introduction
3.1 Why people join groups
3.2 Defining characteristics of groups

4. Understanding group behaviour :

4.1 group cohesion
4.2 social loafing

5. . Elements of group structure

6. Group formation and development

6.1 The Bennis And Shepard Four Stage Model Of Group Development
6.2 Bruce Tuckman’s Five Stage Model Of Group Development
6.3 Connie Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium Model Of Group Development

7. Summary

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

 Understand the nature and importance of people joining groups

 Define the characteristics of groups
  Understand the group behavior encompassing group cohesion and social loafing
 Outline the elements of group structure
 Delineate the stages in group formation and the stages in group development.

3. INTRODUCTION

A group is formed when two or more people come together for some activity, which may be either a
social activity or an anti social activity. The group usually has a common set of objectives and interact
for quite a long time .On the other hand teams are a group of people who have a combined pool of
knowledge skills and abilities and who come together for the achievement of a common goal or
objective .All work teams are groups but all the groups are not teams. This is to be understood more
specifically.

3.1 IMPORTANCE OF GROUPS : WHY PEOPLE JOIN GROUPS

The importance of groups can be understood by its very nature. Here people are associated with each
other because they have common interests as mentioned above. Apart from that , people join groups
for a multitude of reasons. A major reason is that group membership often results in some form of
need satisfaction on the part of the individual. These needs could be classified as following :

 Need for Companionship – groups provide the members an opportunity to be simply be in

the company of other people who share common interests.
 Need for Survival and security – being a part of a group satisfies the individuals need for
safety and security.
 Need for Affiliation and status – sometimes people do join the groups as they bestow them
with certain status and fulfils their need for affiliation.
 Need for Power and control– with group membership come the opportunity for assuming
leadership roles and to exert power and influence others.
 Need for Achievement – groups also helps the individuals in achieving more than they could
achieve alone.

Organizations typically form groups to accomplish work related tasks. However, a member of a work
group may unintentionally reap numerous benefits that are independent of the original group
construct.

3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS

A mature group of individuals will have the following four characteristics. See figure 1
 Well
A Clear Understood
Purpose And Norms And
Mission Standards Of
Conduct

High Level Of
Flexible Status
Group
Structure
Cohesion

Figure 1 : Characteristics Of Mature Groups

4. UNDERSTANDING GROUP BEHAVIOUR

Group behavior has caught the attention of social psychologists for a long time and they have outlined
two major aspects of group behavior which should be looked into to understand group behavior. These
are group cohesion and social loafing .

4.1 GROUP COHESION: this phenomenon can be understood in terms of interpersonal glue that makes
the members of a group stick together. It eventually leads to higher levels of job satisfaction and higher
productivity in the organization when the groups are cohesive in nature.

Groups differ in their cohesiveness, “the degree to which members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in
the group.”
Cohesiveness is important because it has been found to be related to the group’s productivity.
The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the performance-related norms established by the group
 If performance-related norms are high, a cohesive group will be more productive.
 If cohesiveness is high and performance norms are low, productivity will be low.
group cohesiveness can be enhanced by the following methods;
 Establishing smaller groups with limited members having some commonalities in their approach and behavior.
 Encouraging the members to be in agreement with the established group goals.
 Allowing the group members to spend more time together.
 Making the group membership quite difficult by adopting strict membership norms and enhancing the group
status.
 Stimulating healthy intergroup competition.
  Rewarding group efforts rather than the individuals.

4.2 SOCIAL LOAFING

The phenomenon can be understood in terms of lack of concerted effort on the part of individuals to
contribute their time energy and efforts to the common goals of the group, whereby they can easily bask
in the glory of others without doing anything for the group. This happens when the individual thinks that
his contribution is not measurable and observable directly and also when he feels isolated and has a sense
of inequity in the group. It is detrimental to the group in the terms that the group loses on the contribution
of the persons abilities to the achievement of the goals.
However this problem can be controlled by identifying the individual’s contribution and by also fixing up
individual responsibilities in the group and submitting self evaluations for the assigned responsibilities
.this will lead to less social loafing in the organization.
Thus understanding group behavior in terms of its cohesiveness and social loafing are of paramount
importance in the group which should be well taken care of before group formation.

5. ELEMENTS OF GROUP STRUCTURE

A group's structure is the internal framework that defines members' relations to one another over time.
The most important elements of group structure are;

1. Roles
2. Norms
3. Values
4. Communication Patterns
5. Status Differentials

A "role" can be defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular
way. Roles may be assigned formally, but more often are defined through the process of role
differentiation. Role differentiation is the degree to which different group members have specialized
functions. Functional (task) roles are generally defined in relation to the tasks the team is expected to
perform. Other types of roles are the socio-emotional role, which helps maintain the social fabric of the
group, the individual role and the leader role.

Group "norms" are the informal rules that groups adopt to regulate members' behavior. Norms refer to
what should be done and represent value judgments about appropriate behavior in social situations.
Although they are infrequently written down or even discussed, norms have powerful influence on group
behavior.

Group "values" are goals or ideas that serve as guiding principles for the group. Like norms, values may
be communicated either explicitly or on an ad hoc basis. Values can serve as a rallying point for the team.
However, some values (such as conformity) can also be dysfunction and lead to poor decisions by the
team.

Communication patterns describe the flow of information within the group and they are typically
described as either centralized or decentralized. With a centralized pattern, communications tend to flow
from one source to all group members. Centralized communications allow consistent, standardization
information but they may restrict the free flow of information. Decentralized communications make it
easy to share information directly between group members. When decentralized, communications tend to
flow more freely, but the delivery of information may not be as fast or accurate as with centralized
communications. Another potential downside of decentralized communications is the sheer volume of
information that can be generated, particularly with electronic media.

Status : it is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Status is
usually derived from one of three sources: the power a person wields over others; a person’s ability to
contribute to group’s goals; and individual’s personal characteristics.

6. GROUP FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Group formation

The group formation can assume either a formal connotation or an informal nature depending upon its
objectives.

The official groups are called the Formal groups which are defined by the organization’s structure, with
designated work assignments establishing tasks where the individual behaviors are well stipulated by
and are directed towards the achievement of the organizational goals.
The unofficial groups which are formed in the organizations are called Informal groups which are also
called alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. These are basically
formed to satisfy the individual needs which are not fulfilled in the formal groups.
Another important feature of group formation is that it has diversity which enhances group performance.
The diversity may be in the nature of gender, ethnicity, cultural or interpersonal. The interpersonal needs
are indicated by the individual’s need for inclusion, control of people and events and positive affirmation
of their activities by others.
Group development

Group development focuses on the somewhat unique way groups are formed and the way they may
change over time. There are a variety of development theories and some suggest that groups develop
through a series of phases culminating in effective performance. The group undergoes predictable stages
of development after its formation and leads to the creation of mature groups if all the stages of its
formation have been negotiated successfully.

There are three most commonly accepted models of group development which are discussed below ;

1. The Bennis And Shepard Four Stage Model Of Group Development

2. Bruce Tuckman’s Five Stage Model Of Group Development
3. Connie Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium Model Of Group Development

6.1 The Bennis And Shepard Four Stage Model Of Group Development

This model delineates four stages in the process of group development which follows the group
formation. These are :

1. Mutual acceptance of the common group goals

2. Decision making
 3. Motivation and commitment
4. Controls and sanctions.

Accordingly the group addresses three issues;

i. The interpersonal issues: this includes the matters relating to trust, personal comfort and
security for the group members.
ii. The task issues: this includes the setting up of the mission and purpose of the group, the
methodology of working by the group, the expected set of outcomes from the inputs by the group.
iii. The authority issues: this would include decisions pertaining to the leadership of the group, as to
who will influence power over whom and who will be guiding and telling others about their tasks
and responsibilities.

6.2 Bruce Tuck man’s Five Stage Model of Group Development

This group development model focuses on leadership and evolution of behavior in teams. It proposes that
the team behavior progresses through the five stages in its development starting with group forming,
storming , norming performing and finally adjourning which are briefly discussed below.

Before proceeding to understand this model , it is advisable to recall and visualize the scenes from the
movie ‘ chak de India’ which would very aptly make you understand the whole process in a very clear
manner.

 The Forming stage : dependence on the group leader for guidance and direction is very high in
this stage. The team members are unaware of their respective roles and responsibilities in the
organization and are looking upto the team leader for answering their various queries with regard
to the groups mission, purpose and objectives. As the group convenes, conflict is usually low to
non-existent as everyone tries to determine their individual role and the personalities of fellow
team members. This stage is often marked by agreeable neutrality while the group takes form and
begins to navigate the unknown. This stage makes the team members feel like a part of it .
 The Storming stage: this stage is marked by the members struggle for power and influence in
the team. Storming occurs after the group overcomes the sense of uncertainty and begins to
actively explore roles and boundaries. Chaos, pronounced efforts to influence others, and
instances of conflict and/or enthusiasm are common in this stage. In this stage the members get to
know and understand each other better especially with regard to their loyalty, trustworthiness,
honesty, responsibility, compassion, empathy and emotional intelligence to name a few aspects.
The leader usually adopts a coaching style in this stage as there are chances that he might be
challenged by the team members .
 The Norming stage : the team begin to show signs of agreement and consensus in this stage.
Norming in groups indicate that norms and role ownership are emerging. Generally this means
that conflict and chaos is decreasing or has ended with each member allocated his position role
and responsibility in the team. Here the group starts focusing on the strategies to achieve the
desired goals of the organization and start planning and organizing things in that direction.
 The Performing stage : As the team enters this stage , they are more aware of their purpose and
mission and are more committed to achieve them than ever before. The group has successfully
solved the problems pertaining to interpersonal, task and authority issues. This is a mature group
now which is striving towards the achievement of their goals with full energy and enthusiasm.
They have resolved their issues through the judicious application of positive and negative
sanctions based on the evaluation of specific member behaviors. Here the leaders role is to only
 delegate and oversee their performance as he has nothing more to contribute. Originally noted as
the final stage, performing occurs when the team completes their assigned task.
 The Adjourning stage : Tuck man (1977) refined the model to include a fifth stage to address
how the group begins to disengage and move on to new tasks potentially beyond the team. This is
the final stage where the task has been completed and the team is free to move to newer avenues
and things of their interest. Here the team members share an exhilarating experience of winning
or achieving the target and have a great feeling of accomplishment. Unless the team is a task
force, most of the teams remain in the performing stage and do not enter the adjourning stage.

Key Points & Critique of Five-Stage Model

• Group Effectiveness:
 Generally groups are more effective as they progress
 Reasons for this are complex
• Group Conflict:
 Some groups need conflict, most productive in Stage II
• Blurred Stages:
 Stages not always sequential
 Multiple stages may be taken simultaneously
 May regress a stage

While Tuckman's (1965) model is useful in describing developmental processes, there are instances when
groups do not strictly adhere to the exact sequence. Additionally, the storming stage may decrease but not
fully dissipate and continue across other stages.

6.3.Connie Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium Model Of Group Development

This model may be treated as a response to the inability of the five stage model to
be applicable in organizational settings owing to its unrealistic nature .this is
because the teams usually experience conflict at different times and contexts.

The punctuated model of group development proposes that the groups may not
necessarily follow a linear path in a predetermined sequence as outlined by
Tuckman ( forming , storming , norming , performing and adjourning ) but may
follow an alternate path with periods of inertia interspersed or punctuated by
visible bursts of energy from time to time. It is only during these bursts of energy
that the group’s objectives are fulfilled or accomplished. E.g a task force may be
given a period of twelve months to accomplish a particular task which may be too
long for it. They may spend the first six months in only choosing the group norms,
exploring the alternative courses of action and various other contextual issues
including the mode of communication between the group and they might be
spending another two months in finding out the feasibility of the task . and the
remaining four months may be actually used for the final execution of the task

This model may be treated as an Alternative Model For Temporary Groups with
Deadlines.

The punctuated-equilibrium model suggests that group progression is somewhat

more erratic, in that activity interspersed with periods of inertia and acceleration as
the deadline looms closer. This model characterizes groups as exhibiting long
periods of inertia interspersed with brief revolutionary changes triggered primarily
by their members’ awareness of time and deadlines. This model is limited to
temporary task groups who are working under a time-constrained completion
deadline.

7. SUMMARY

Behavior is constrained by the context in which it occurs. Organizations form groups that determine how
employees behave, which may be very different than how they would behave individually. Command and
task groups, both formal, are organizationally determined, whereas friendship and interest groups, both
informal, are loosely banded collections of individuals sharing commonalities.

Group formation and development has been discussed , where three models of group development have
been outlined after the successful formation of the mature groups.

 The Bennis And Shepard Four Stage Model Of Group Development

 Bruce Tuckman’s Five Stage Model Of Group Development
 Connie Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium Model Of Group Development

The Bennis And Shepard Four Stage Model Of Group Development delineates four stages in the process
of group development which follows the group formation which are 1.Mutual acceptance of the common
group goals ,2.Decision making,3.Motivation and commitment and 4.Controls and sanctions. Accordingly
the group addresses three issues; The interpersonal issues: this includes the matters relating to trust,
personal comfort and security for the group members. The task issues: this includes the setting up of the
mission and purpose of the group, the methodology of working by the group, the expected set of
outcomes from the inputs by the group. The authority issues: this would include decisions pertaining to
the leadership of the group, as to who will influence power over whom and who will be guiding and
telling others about their tasks and responsibilities.

Bruce Tuckman’s Five Stage Model Of Group Development model suggests that groups form through
the process of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. In the forming stage, there is a
great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. In the second stage
(storming), there is considerable intergroup conflict. In the norming stage, close relationships develop and
the group demonstrates cohesiveness. The model assumes that groups become more effective as they
progress through the first four stages. Stage four (performing) is the stage where group performance is the
highest. For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in development. However, for temporary
committees, teams, and task forces, there is an adjourning stage.

Connie Gersick’s Punctuated Equilibrium Model Of Group Development model suggests that group
progression is somewhat more erratic, in that activity interspersed with periods of inertia and acceleration
as the deadline looms closer. This model characterizes groups as exhibiting long periods of inertia
interspersed with brief revolutionary changes triggered primarily by their members’ awareness of time
and deadlines. This model is limited to temporary task groups who are working under a time-constrained
completion deadline.