Why is group forming and group development crucial to the success of businesses?.
A group is "a collection of one or more interacting individuals who maintain stable patterns of relationships, share common goals and perceive themselves as being a group." Greenberg, J & Baron, R. A. (1997).
Within the context of this essay I hope to prove the following hypothesis, that group forming and group development are crucial to organisations. In all aspects of society whether at home, school or work we participate in and interact with members of groups. A large organisation can be viewed as a collection of small groups (Huczynski & Buchanan 1991.) If an organisation is made up of groups then the goals, performance and effectiveness of these groups will have a direct affect on the organisation they are involved with.
Content.
There are two types of groups formal and informal. Formal groups are created by the organisation and are intentionally designed to direct members. Informal groups develop naturally amongst organisations personnel without any direction from the management. (Greenberg, J & Baron, R. A. 1997).
According to Tuckman and Jenson (1977) there are 5 stages to group development.
1. Forming. In this stage the group is formed, members meet and ground rules are set out. Failure of the group even at this early stage to clarify goals and objectives can lead to the group not working at maximum efficiency (Tuckman and Jenson 1977).
2. Storming. In this stage the group show conflict and resist control from group leaders. (Tuckman and Jenson 1977).
"The good relationships and acceptance of the leadership helps the group perform well." (Greenberg & Baron 1997).
When an organisation creates a group, the leader has to be chosen not only considering the needs of the task but also the members of the group. Failure of a leader to recognise the needs of his group members could lead to a drop in performance (Rollinson, Broadfield & Edwards 1998).
