Group success

Group success

Imagine that you’ve brought together the brightest people together to solve a problem. You have high hopes for the group, so you feel frustrated when people can’t come to a decision. Several factors are holding the group back. For example, one person is very critical of colleagues’ ideas. You suspect that his fault-finding is discouraging others from speaking up. Another has hardly contributed to the sessions at all: when asked for his opinion, he simply agrees with a more dominant colleague. Finally, one group member makes humorous comments at unhelpful times, which upsets the momentum of the discussion.
These are classic examples of poor group dynamics, and they can undermine the success of a project, as well as people’s morale and engagement. Let us look at what group dynamics are, and why they matter. We’ll then discuss some examples of poor group dynamics, and we’ll outline some tools that you can use to deal with them.
What is Group Dynamics?
People in groups often take on distinct roles and behaviours when they work in a group. “Group dynamics” describes the effects of these roles and behaviours on other group members, and on the group as a whole. A group with a positive dynamic is easy to spot. Team members trust one another, they work towards a collective decision, and they hold one another accountable for making things happen. As well as this, researchers have found that when a team has a positive dynamic, its members are nearly twice as creative as an average group.
What Causes Poor Group Dynamics?
Group leaders and team members can contribute to a negative group dynamic. Let’s look at some of the most common problems that can occur:
● Weak leadership: when a team lacks a strong leader, a more dominant member of the group can often take charge. This can lead to a lack of direction, infighting, or a focus on the wrong priorities.
● Excessive deference to authority: this can happen when people want to be seen to agree with a leader, and therefore hold back from expressing their own opinions.
● Blocking: this happens when team members behave in a way that disrupts the flow of information in the group. People can adopt blocking roles such as:
● The aggressor: this person often disagrees with others, or is inappropriately outspoken.
● The negator: this group member is often critical of others’ ideas.
● The withdrawer: this person doesn’t participate in the discussion.
● The recognition seeker: this group member is boastful, or dominates the session.
● The joker: this person introduces humour at inappropriate times.
● Free riding: here, some group members take it easy, and leave their colleagues to do all the work. Free riders may work hard on their own, but limit their contributions in group situations; this is known as “social loafing.”
● Evaluation apprehension: team members’ perceptions can also create a negative group dynamic. Evaluation apprehension happens when people feel that they are being judged excessively harshly by other group members, and they hold back their opinions as a result.
Groups require good leadership, people responsibility. Individuals ideas ought to be listened to and decisions need to be taken collectively..