Formal and informal groups

TO UNDERSTAND
 Group Dynamics
 The Nature and Effects of Informal Groups
 Informal Leaders
 Differences Between Task and Social
Leadership Roles
 Brainstorming, Nominal, Delphi, and Dialectic
Techniques
 Weaknesses of Group Meetings

What is Group Dynamics?
- The social process by which people interact
face-to-face in small groups is called group
dynamics.
- The word “dynamics” comes from the Greek
word “force” hence group dynamics refers to
the study of forces operating within a group

 Elton Mayo showed that workers tend to
establish informal groups that affect job
satisfaction and effectiveness.
 Kurt Lewin showed that different kinds of
leadership produced different responses in
groups .

 Formal and Informal
-A key difference exists between formal
groups, which are established by organization
and have a public identity and goal to achieve.
- informal groups, which emerge on the basis
of common interests, proximity, and
friendships .

 Another fundamental distinction is between
two types of formal groups (TEMPORARY
AND PERMANENT )
- Some have a relatively temporary life; they
are created to accomplish a short term task
and them disband.
- the event at which group members discuss
ideas or solve problems is generally called a
meeting.
- the other type of formal group is a more
natural enduring work group,
- The type of group is formed a team .

 Informal Organization
-The informal organization is the interlocking
social structure that governs how people work
together in practice.

first, employees act different than required.
Second, employees often intract with different
people, or with different frequencies, than their
jobs require.
Third, workers may embrace a set of attitudes,
beliefs, and sentiments different from those the
organization expect of them.

 Member status & informal leaders
-The informal leader plays several useful roles
for a work unit. Informal leaders may help
socialize new members into the organization,
and they may be called upon by the group to
perform the more complex task.

-Informal groups overlap to the extent that one
person may be a member of several different
groups, which means that there is not just one
leader but several of varying importance.
 One Primary Leader
-usually one primary leader has more influence
than others.

 Better Total System – most important is that
they blend with formal systems to make an
effective total system.
 Lighter Workload for Management – when
manager know that the informal organizations
is working with them, they feel less compelled
to check on the workers to be sure everything is
working well.

Managers are encouraged to delegate and
decentralize because they are confident that
employees will be cooperative.
 Work Group Satisfaction – it is the means by
which workers feel a sense of belonging and
security, so satisfaction is increased and
turnover reduced.

 A Safety valve for emotions – employees may
relieve emotional pressures by discussing them
with someone else in an open and friendly
way. And one’s associates in the informal
group
 Cohesiveness – is indicated by how strongly
the employees stick together, rely on each other
and desire to remain members of the group.

 Resistance to Change – the group tends to
become overly protective of its way of life and
to stand like a rock in the face of change.
 Conformity – the informal side of organizations
is so much a part of the everyday life of
workers that they hardly realize it is there, so
they usually are unaware of the powerful
pressures it applies to persuade them to
conform to its way of life.

 Norms – these norms may be strong or weak
(depending on the importance of the behavior
to the group) and positive or negative
(depending on their impact on the
organization).
 Treatment of Non-conformers – non-
conformers may be pressured and harrassed
until they capitulate or leave.

 Role of Conflict – workers may want to meet
the requirements of both their group and their
employer, but frequently those requirements
are somewhat in conflict.

 Bases for Networks – they usually focus on
either interpersonal feelings expressed among
individuals.
Influencing Informal Organizations
- Management did not establish informal
organization and it cannot abolish them

1. Accept and understand informal organizations
2. Identify various levels of attitudes and
behaviors within them
3. Consider possible effect on informal systems
when taking any kind of action
4. Integrate as for as possible the interests of
informal groups with those of the formal
organization

5. Keep formal activities from unnecessarily
threatening informal organizations
 Formal and Informal Organizations
- appears to be a predominant formal system to
maintain unity toward objectives along with a
well-developed informal system to maintain
group cohesiveness and teamwork

- are established by organization and have a
public identity and goal to achieve.
Committees – is a specific type of group meeting
in which members in their group role have
been delegated the authority to handle the
problem at hand

 Size – the size of a group tends to affect the
way it works.
 Composition – leaders of committees, problem-
solving groups and task forces often have the
opportunity to select the members.

 Leadership Roles
Task Roles:
 Define a problem or goal of the group
 Request facts, ideas or opinions from members
 Provide facts, ideas, or opinions
 Clarify a confused situation
 Summarize the discussion
 Determine whether agreement has been
reached
 Check for consensus
 Test for ethicality

Social Roles:
 Support the contributions of others
 Sense the mood of the group and help members
become aware of it
 Reduce the tension and reconcile disagreements
 Modify your position, admit an error
 Facilitate participation of all members
 Evaluate the group’s effectiveness
 Deal with team stress

Structured Approaches
- four important alternative structures are
Brainstorming, Nominal Groups, Delphi
decision making and Dialectic Inquiry.

Brainstorming-is a popular method of
encouraging creative in groups of about eight
people. It is built around four basic guidelines
for participants.
1. Generate as many ideas as possible.
2. Be creative, freewheeling and imaginative.
3. Build upon (piggyback), extend, or combine
earlier ideas.
4. Withhold criticism of others’ ideas.

2 Principles Underlie Brainstorming
 Deferred Judgement- by which all ideas- even
are unusual and impractical ones - are
encouraged without criticism or evaluation.
 Quantity Breeds Quality – as more ideas come
forth, eventually higher-quality ones will be
developed.

Electronic Brainstorming – The marriage of
computer technology and groupware programs
has allowed the development of a modified
version of the method.
Nominal Group Technique – A nominal group exists
in name only, with members having minimal
interaction prior to producing a decision. Here are
the steps that nominal groups often follow:
1. Individuals are brought together and presented
with a problem.
2. They develop solutions independently, often
writing them on cards.

3. Their ideas are shared with others in a
structured format (e.g. a roundrobin process
that ensures all members get the opportunity to
present their ideas).
4. Brief time is allotted so that questions can be
asked- but only for clarification
5. Group members individually designate their
preferences for the best alternatives by secret
ballot
6. The group decision is announced.

Delphi Decision groups – a panel of relevant
people is chosen to address an issue.
The Major merits of the process include:
1. Elimination of interpersonal problems among
panellists
2. Efficient use of experts’ time
3. Adequate time for reflection and analysis by
respondents
4. Diversity and quantity of ideas generated
5. Accuracy of predictions and forecasts made

Dialectic Decision methods – Some face-to-face
decision-making groups converge too quickly
on one alternative while overlooking others.
Group Decision Support System – These support
systems use computers, decision models, and
technological advances to remove
communication barriers, structure the decision
process, and generally direct the group’s
discussion.

Support for Decisions
 Probably the most important by product of face
to face group meetings is that people who
participate in making a decision feel more
strongly motivated to accept it and carry out.
Meetings
> Undoubtedly are one of the best means
available of committing people to carry out a
course of action

Group decisions also carry more weight for those
who are not group members.
Quality of Decisions
> Groups are often effective problem solving
tools. In comparison with individuals, groups
typically have greater information available to
them.

Individual Development
 Some individuals are naturally more passive
than others and may withhold their ideas.
Social Facilitation
> Group members often try harder to contribute
on a task just because other people are around.

CONSENSUS, a necessary prerequisite for
effective group decisions?
> Without total agreement, group members may
be expected to carry out decisions they did not
support. Divided votes also may set up
disagreements that carry beyond the meeting.

Is CONSENSUS Necessary?
 Organizations must get on with their work
rather than stop to engage in endless debates in
an effort to reach total agreement.
Weaknesses of Committees
> Meeting are an essential and productive part of
work organizations.

Slowness and Expensiveness
 Meetings of all types are sometimes a slow and
costly way to get things done.
Group think
> One of the most convincing criticisms of
meetings is that they often lead to conformity
and compromise.

Group think can be detected by watching for
some of its classic symptoms, which include:
 Self-censorship of critical thoughts
 Rationalization that what they are doing is
acceptable to others
 Illusion of invulnerability
 Reliance of unanimity within the group
without testing for it
 Stereotyping others outside the group

 Illusion of morality
 Pressure on dissidents to give in and conform
to the group
Group think is probably present when a group
acts as though it is above the law and could not
err and when it assumes it has total support for
its actions

Consequences of group think include a
deterioration in a group’s judgment, failure to
engage in reality testing, and lowered quality
of its decision making.
One effective method of reducing or preventing
group think is to designate a devil’s advocate.
Devil’s advocates are guardians of dear and moral
thinking and can help the group immeasurably
by providing it with a stream of constructive
criticism.

Polarization, in contrast to group think, an
alternative behavior that sometimes appears is
group polarization.
Groups may take more risks:
> Although group members’ attitudes can become
polarized in either direction (risky or
conservative), research suggests that some
groups tend to make a risky shift in their
thinking

This tendency means that they are more willing to
take chances if they were acting individually.
Escalating Commitment – problem of group think
is the idea that group members may preserve is
advocating a course of action despite rational
evidence that it will result in failure.
Divided Responsibility – management literature
has always recognized that divided
responsibility is a problem whenever group
decisions are made

- Actions that are several bodies responsibility
are nobody’s responsibility
- Overcoming the Weaknesses – the proper
group structures must be selected, that group
size is an important factor and that various
leadership roles must be played.

Formal and informal groups

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Formal and informal groups