The Dynamics of Organisational Behaviour (Group Behaviour) Nature of Groups a. The Dynamics of Group Formation b.

Types of Groups The Dynamics of Informal Groups a. Norms and Roles in Informal Groups. b. Informal Roles and Informal Organisation The Dynamics of Formal Groups a. Positive attributes of committees. b. Negative attributes of Committees. c. Problems with committees and Groups. Teams in Modern a. Nature of Teams. b. Effectiveness of Teams c. How can teams are made effective. Group(s) Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives Formal Group A designated work group defined by the organizations structure Informal Group A group that is neither formally structured now organizationally determined; appears in response to the need for social contact. Command Group A group composed of the individuals who report directly to a given manager. Task Group Those working together to complete a job or task Interest Group Those working together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned Friendship Group Those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics. Why People Join Groups Security Status Self-esteem Affiliation Power Goal Achievement The Five-Stage Model of Group Development Forming Stage The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty Storming Stage The second stage in group development, characterized by intra-group conflict Norming Stage The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness. Adjourning Stage The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance

An Alternative Model: Temporary Groups with Deadlines Punctuated-Equilibrium Model Temporary groups go through transitions between inertia and activity. Sequence of actions: 1. Setting group direction 2. First phase of inertia 3. Half-way point transition 4. Major changes 5. Second phase of inertia 6. Accelerated activity Group Structure Roles Role(s) A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. Role Identity Certain attitudes and behaviors consistent with a role Role Perception An individuals view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation. Role Expectations How others believe a person should act in a given situation. Psychological Contract An unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from the employee and vice versa.

Role Conflict A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations Group Structure Norms Norms Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the groups members Classes of Norms: Performance norms Appearance norms Social arrangement norms Allocation of resources norms Conformity Adjusting ones behavior to align with the norms of the group Reference Groups Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform. Deviant Workplace Behavior Antisocial actions by organizational members that intentionally violate established norms and result in negative consequences for the organization, its members, or both Typology of Deviant Workplace Behavior Category Production Examples Leaving early Intentionally working slowly Wasting resources Sabotage Lying about hours worked Stealing from the organization Showing favoritism Gossiping and spreading rumors Blaming coworkers Sexual harassment Verbal abuse Stealing from coworkers

Property

Political

Personal Aggression

Group Structure Status Status A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others

Soc Loafing cial g The tendency for individuals to ex xpend less effort whe working collectively than when working en g indiv vidually Othe conclusio er ons: Odd num mber group do better than even. ps r Groups of 7 or 9 pe erform bette overall th larger o smaller g er han or groups.

graphy Group Demog mbers of a group shar a commo demogra re on aphic attribute, such a age, sex as x, The degree to which mem e, nal o f n nization, an the impa of this attribute on nd act n race education level, or length of service in the organ turno over. Coh horts Indiv viduals who as part of a group, h o, hold a comm attribu mon ute. Coh hesiveness s Deg gree to whic group me ch embers are attracted t each other and are motivated t stay in th group. e to to he Incre easing grou cohesive up eness: 1. 1 Make the group sm maller. 2. 2 Encoura agreem age ment with gr roup goals. 3. 3 Increase time mem e mbers spend together. d 4. 4 Increase group status and adm e mission diff ficultly. 5. 5 Stimulat competition with oth groups. te her 6. 6 Give rew wards to the group, no individual e ot ls.

7. Physically isolate the group. Group Tasks Large groups facilitate the pooling of information about complex tasks. Smaller groups are better suited to coordinating and facilitating the implementation of complex tasks. Simple, routine standardized tasks reduce the requirement that group processes be effective in order for the group to perform well. Strengths More complete information Increased diversity of views Higher quality of decisions (more accuracy) Increased acceptance of solutions Weaknesses More time consuming (slower) Increased pressure to conform Domination by one or a few members Ambiguous responsibility Groupthink Phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative course of action. Group-shift A change in decision risk between the groups decision and the individual decision that member within the group would make; can be either toward conservatism or greater risk. Symptoms Of The Groupthink Phenomenon Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have made. Members apply direct pressures on those who express doubts about shared views or who question the alternative favored by the majority. Members who have doubts or differing points of view keep silent about misgivings. There appears to be an illusion of unanimity. Group Decision-Making Techniques Interacting Groups Typical groups, in which the members interact with each other face-to-face Nominal Group Technique A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion Brainstorming An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives. Electronic Meeting A meeting in which members interact on computers, allowing for anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes Evaluating Group Effectiveness

Co ommittee re efers to a formal group of people created to discuss, d f e o decide, and act in pat d tters related d to specific ar reas of wor assigned to them. Members of a comm rk d mittee gene erally are d drawn from m diff ferent depa artments, fu unctions in an organization, or m be from even diffe may m erent organizations. As s a result, usua they work part time for the wo of the co ally e ork ommittee, a represe the inte and ent erest of their par rent depart tment or or rganization in the com mmittee. A common f feature of committee is the join nt dis scussions and decision of the co ns ommittee in formal mee etings. The advantage of comm es mittee include the following. o Committees help to bring t together a variety views, intere ests, and e expertise t together for comple etion of task k. o Committees provi ide a mech hanism for d discussion and agreem ments base on cons ed sideration o of a wider range of in r nterests an alternativ nd ves. o Committee enables use of specialize manpower or ex f ed xpertise for a specifi task, by r ic y permitt ting such ex xperts to wo part tim on the co ork me ommittees. o Committees avoid the mistak d kes of hasty decisions taken with y s hout due consideration ns. o Decisio taken by committe are more easily ac on y ee ccepted by the all departments because o of represe entation of their intere ests and vie ewpoint in t decision making process by w of their the n way represe entative wo orking on the committe ee. Disa advantages of Comm s mittee inclu the following. ude o Committee dilutes the respo s onsibility for a task. No single pe r o erson can b held resp be ponsible for poor re esults produ uced by com mmittee. o Membe of the committee h ers c have dual loyalties - towards the parent department and toward eir d the committee. Because of this the m B f meeting of committee can deg es generate in a battle nto e ground for conflict d ting interests of differe departm ent ments, rathe than a for er rum for join action. nt o Work in a comm mittee bein part tim and an additiona responsibility beyo ng me n al ond norma al responsibilities within parent departmen member of the com nt, rs mmittee ma not take the work o ay of commit ttee very se eriously. o Committees take too much t time to dec cide and ac because committee often work part time ct ks e and the discussio and deci e on ision in me eetings of th committee is a time consumin process he ng s. Many t times comm mittees dela taking de ay ecision as th are not able to rea consen hey t ach nsus. o Committees in ad ddition to ca ausing dela in decisi and act ay ion tion, also c cause waste of time o e of people working on the comm n mittee.

Decisions of committee are frequently in the nature of recommendations and therefore cannot be enforced easily in the organization. Decisions of committees often lack the authority of decisions taken at higher levels of management within the regular organization structure.

Advantages of Committees Advantages of the use of committees, when each is designed and used well, can include that: 1. They efficiently match the most appropriate Board resources to each of the most important priorities of the nonprofit (for example, match members with financial skills to financial priorities and fundraising skills to fundraising), rather than inefficiently matching all Board resources on all priorities at the same time. 2. Collectively, committees can more fully engage all of the Board members when each member feels challenged and fully utilized on an appropriate committee. This is compared to trying to engage all Board members on the nature of the current topic on the agenda in a Board meeting. 3. Similar to the above point, if all Board members are engaged in focused committees, then the entire Board usually has strong understanding of the status of the most important management functions (for example, programs, marketing and facilities), which can be an advantage if the Chief Executive or another key staff member suddenly leaves and the functions need quick attention. 4. Committees can increase the likelihood of Board members understanding of the nonprofits various management functions, thereby increasing the Boards effectiveness in governing these functions. 5. Board meetings can be held less frequently if committees are productive between Board meetings. For example, Board meetings could be held every other month with committee meetings in between those months. 6. Committees can lower the likelihood of burnout among staff if the committees result in Board members assisting with activities that staff otherwise would undertake. 7. For nonprofits that value Board and staff members working together, committees can be an efficient means to organize members to work together in a focused and productive manner. Potential Disadvantages of Committees Many disadvantages of committees can occur if the committees are not designed and used well: 1. Board resources are very poorly used when committees are established merely for the sake of having committees. For example, new nonprofit leaders might hear that nonprofits usually have a Personnel Committee, so they might establish that committee and hope that its members somehow find something useful to do. That approach is rarely successful. 2. A similar situation exists if the original priority that the committee was meant to address is no longer a priority. Instead of terminating the committee, it struggles on, trying somehow to be useful. 3. Burnout can occur among committee members if too much is assigned to the committee. This can occur, especially during the early years of nonprofit when it has no, or few, staff members so that much of the nonprofits work is assumed by Board members. 4. If committees are not carefully chartered (with relevant, specific goals and timelines), then members of the committee can become frustrated and conflicted, wondering what their role is and not feeling useful on the Board. 5. Effectiveness of the Board can be damaged when there are too many committees, many of which are ineffective. That results in a large amount of wasted resources, including time in committees that do not seem to have any purpose. 6. Committees require additional workload on the Board to coordinate the work of all of the committees. This is often an additional responsibility of the Executive Committee. 7. A Board can become splintered if its various committees end up working apart from each other, without some Board function (for example, an Executive Committee) that monitors and integrates the work of the various committees.

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE TEAMS Ground Rules (so no one gets hurt) Focus on problems/difficulties for the team, not difficulties with individuals Keep in mind is this something we have control over? Listen to understand be flexible and open to others perceptions Focus on what you support before raising concerns/negatives Ask questions to clarify or probe to understand Always remember this is for the good of the team! Confidentiality - what is discussed here, stays here What Makes a Team? Common purpose or goals or objectives Awareness of membership and commitment Common operating norms A need for each other/interdependence Accountability to a higher level

Strategies for Building a More Effective Team Goals. clarify purpose or objectives link our purpose to organizational vision, mission, and values Roles clarify roles and responsibilities (e.g. what do I do?, what do you do?, what do I need from others to do my job?) Procedures change, modify, update procedures and systems, or develop ways to do so improve our meetings including: purpose, agendas, minute taking, timing or roles agree on a process for managing conflict agree on a model for problem solving clarify decision making methods and responsibilities (e.g. team vs small group vs individual vs executive decision) agree on some processes/tools for increasing our ability to innovate and experiment develop/clarify our processes for measuring our success Relationships Developing Effective Teams Workbook enhance our skills in: Assertive communication Conflict resolution Problem solving agree on ground rules for working together in order to modify some of our behaviours as agreed take time out to improve relationships, value differences and discover ways to use personal style differences for the good of the team