Contents

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 GROUP DYNAMICS AND INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE: ---------------------------------------------------- 2 THE PROCESS OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT: -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 POWER IN GROUPS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 LEADERSHIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
REFERENCES: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:
Groups are a part of everyday life, whether in schools, hospitals, police stations or commercial companies. In this text, we have tried to show how groups are formed, their functionality and how individuals behave in a group. We have argued that the key to successful groups lies in a better understanding of the needs and motivations of the people within them. Understanding Groups offers an extended 'dictionary' of the key concepts - culture, motivations, leadership, role-playing, coordinating and consultation - and then shows how this 'language' can help us find new solutions to familiar problems. All groups need to select, develop and reward their people; to structure and design their work; to resolve political conflicts; to lay down guidelines for their groups; and to plan for the future. We have carried out this research as a group and compiled the different findings that we got from different authors.

GROUP DYNAMICS AND INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE:

a. GROUP - Its a collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals.
Types of Group:

1. Formal group - Formed to carry out specific roles or tasks. 2. Informal group - Created by individual members for purpose of sharing a common interest. 3. Primary groups - These a characterized by close, face to face interaction between members and they are small. 4. Secondary groups - These groups there is more interpersonal interaction between the members. A good example is a department in an organization.
Factors in Behaviors of Groups:

a. Size b. Leadership /management style c. Cohesiveness. d. Motivation of groups. e. Norms of group f. Group/team roles. g. Group task. h. The environment

The functions of Groups in Organization:

a. Distribution and control of work b. Spread of information c. Delegation of work. d. Analyzing and solving problems. e. Conflict resolution.
There are several reasons why groups are formed:

In a group, members have access to goods and services more easily than they would have on an individual basis; Group members pull together scarce resources, own and manage them themselves in order to fight against poverty, food shortage, powerlessness of an individual person against market forces, unemployment and low self-esteem.

Groups can be learning laboratories, promoting skills such as enterprise management and problem solving; It reduces on administrative transaction costs of lending; A group reduces default through collective risk taking; and Groups provide a channel for information.

THE PROCESS OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT:

In forming a group it goes through various stages;
1. Forming At this stage people try to share their ideas and see if they can work as a group

with a common goal(s).

2. Storming This a crucial stage where conflicts can emerge and depends on how they are

solved, if not do well some members can withdraw from the group.
3. Norming- Did you move on to agree methods of working?

Did you have a common goal?

 Did you cooperate with each other? Did you work out how to proceed at all? (If not, you were probably still storming.)
4. Performing-

Did everyone take on a functional role to achieve the task? Did you work constructively and efficiently? Did the group's activity focus on fulfilling the task? Did you experience a sense of achievement?
5. Retiring/Adjourning- Did you stop abruptly and all go your separate ways or did you finish

the task and then go off together and socialize? Did you talk about the group and your experience of it?

6. Mourning/Grieving- A t this stage the following questions are asked and answered;

Have you experienced the mourning stage following the completion of a show or project? Have you ever felt empty or sad when a group activity has finished Why might some people feel the mourning stage more acutely than others? How do you deal with your own feelings after the project or show?

POWER IN GROUPS
Some of the factors that make a group a social work group are the awareness and employment of the following principles: a. Inclusion and respect. Groups validate every persons voice and honor each participants view by exemplifying faith and belief in each individuals capability of constructive contributions. b. Mutual aid. Mutual aid involves fostering peoples ability to conceptualize and to articulate their own needs, and to recognize and respond to other group members needs. 2002). Mutual aid creates the conditions in which people can support and assist one another with their personal goals.

c. Stage Management. Effective social group workers recognize and make use of the various stages of group development, and use the products and by products of energy generated by the interactions of the group in beginnings, middles, and ends. d. Use of Conflict. Facing and exploring conflict is core to the expertise and effectiveness of group work or understanding euphemisms and codes that group members use, and helping members see contradictions, commonalities and differences. e. Conscious development, use, and implications of purpose. Skilled facilitators regularly bring members awareness to defining and developing the groups changing purpose .Consistent agreement and crystallization of purpose adds to group cohesion and the group sense of self determination. f. Breaking taboos. Group work practitioners develop the ability to say the things people have the hardest time saying. At times the things that some individuals regard as shameful, deviant, or abnormal are normalized by the practitioners ability to break taboos. g. Value of activity. Social learning theories have taught us that there are major differences in learning styles. Use of art, music, writing, Playing and acting are invaluable in reaching varied populations, Meeting people where they are at, and using clients strengths. h. Problem-solving. Practitioners regularly are called upon to guide the group through decision-making and problem-solving processes. A mistake commonly made by the non-educated group worker is to leap to resolution and solution of the presenting issue without benefiting group members with a proper exploration of the issue.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. According to a group of researchers they identify different styles of leadership; a. Authoritarian or autocratic b. Participative or democratic c. Delegative or Free Reign Two other approaches that leaders use are: Consideration (employee orientation) leaders are concerned about the human needs of their employees. They build teamwork, help employees with their problems, and provide psychological support. Structure (task orientation) leaders believe that they get results by consistently keeping people busy and urging them to produce.

A good leader uses all three styles i.e., Authoritarian or autocratic, Participative or democratic and or Delegative or Free Reign depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leader, and the situation. Some examples include:

Using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is just learning the job. The leader is competent and a good coach. The employee is motivated to learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for the employee.

Using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job. The leader knows the problem, but does not have all the information. The employees know their jobs and want to become part of the team. 3 Using a delegative style with a worker who knows more about the job than you. You cannot do everything and the employee needs to take ownership of her job! In addition, this allows you to be at other places, doing other things. 4 Using all three: Telling your employees that a procedure is not working correctly and a new one must be established (authoritarian). Asking for their ideas and input on creating a new procedure (participative). Delegating tasks in order to implement the new procedure (delegative).

Forces that influence the style to be used included:

o o o o o o o o

How much time is available? Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect? Who has the information you, your employees, or both? How well your employees are trained and how well you know the task. Internal conflicts. Stress levels. Type of task. Is it structured, unstructured, complicated, or simple? Laws or established procedures such as OSHA or training plans

The six leadership behaviors are:

(1) Encouraging self-reinforcement by team members. Through the reinforcement of high levels of group performance, the Super leader encourages the group to recognize and appreciate actions that lead to high performance. (2) Encouraging self-evaluation so that team members gather the relevant information to monitor and evaluate their performance. (3) Encouraging team members to be self-critical of their own performance. (4) By promoting a culture based on group outcomes the Super Leader helps assist team members to engage in behavior of self-goal setting. (5) Encouraging self-expectation among work team members so that the team has high expectations for group performance. (6) Encouraging the behaviors of task rehearsal so that the team practices a work activity before performing it.

CONCLUSION
From the research, we have found that for individuals to have a success in organizations they tend to form groups as their source of unity and strength. Groups create need for understanding other individuals and solving problems together. Its a source of strength and increase bargaining power. It simply concur with the saying unity is strength.

REFERENCES:
1. LAURIE J. MULLINS-Management and organization Behavior, Seventh edition. 2. CHARLES B. HANDY- Understanding Organizations, Fourth edition. 3. Szillagyi A. Jr and Wallace M. Jr., Organizational Behaviour and performance