Conditions Affecting

Group Function

Compiled By
Kusum Roy, Tutor, ACON
Types of Conditions

1. External Condition
2. Internal Condition
 External conditions affecting
the work group
Organizational structure
Resources of the organization
System of evaluation and promotion of the
employees.
Organizational culture
Potential of the group members
 Organizational structure

Organizations have formally established

rules (e.g., internal regulations), various
provisions and regulations in order to
standardize the behavior of the employees of
the organization.
 Resources of the organization

Available resources of the

organization have a significant impact on
the specifics of the organization and all its
departments.
 For example, the excess of the workforce is
usually accompanied by its irrational use and
decrease in the efficiency, while shortage of the
workforce may be accompanied by an excessive
increase in the intensity of labor, defects in work
and premature "deterioration" of the workforce.
 System of evaluation and
promotion of the employees.
Organizations that emphasize teamwork and
consider this factor in recruitment.
Preference in the selection of candidates is given
to those who can work in a team, have the skills
of group decision-making, negotiating and conflict
resolution. These factors can also be the basis
for personnel evaluation system, their promotion
and encouragement.
 Organizational
culture
The behavior of people in the group is often
determined by the unwritten rules and
regulations prevailing in the organization,
i.e. the organizational culture of the
organization to which the particular group
belongs.
 Potential of the group
members
Success of the group is determined by
the abilities of its members.
The potential of the working team shouldnt be
considered only as a sum of the potentials of
each member. However, the effectiveness of
the group depends on what each member of the
group can do individually and how well will he
do in the group.
 Internal conditions affecting
the work group
Roles
Norms
Conformity
Size
Cohesiveness
Group Composition
Group Decision making
Inter group conflict
ROLE

Every member in a group or team plays

a role. These roles are defined by the
quantity and quality of communication
that participants engage in with the other
members.
Each role has a label or title. They
usually end in er or or. (example
organizer)
Group Norms

Acceptable standards of behavior considered

appropriate
Vary from group to group
Leader:
Strives to understand norms
Ensures that group exerts pressure on members
to comply with norms
Deviation from norms
Leader interprets and makes recommendations for
positive change
Other members punish or correct
 Conformity
Conformity means going along.
Group conformity is realized when participants
abandon a particular position contrary to other
group or team members in favor of a majority
view.
 Group Size
Effect of size varies depending on the
purpose and goals
Smaller groups make Larger groups bring forth
decisions quickly more opinions
Less discussion Takes longer for decision
making
Group Cohesiveness

The degree to which individual members are attracted to

a group and each other
Varies between groups
Linked to the groups overall productivity
Recommendations for developing cohesiveness:
Smaller size
More time spent together
Buying into the groups goals
Physical isolation
Highlight valued status
Reward the group members equally
Encourage competition with other work groups
Group composition

Heterogeneous groups:
Composed of dissimilar individuals

Promotes group conflict

More likely to have diverse information and

abilities
Improved decision making and task completion

For team building each personality colour

should be represented
Depending on the reason for the groups
existence more or less members of a particular
colour can be included
Group Decision
Making Process
Individual decision making

Advantages:
Fast
Clearer accountability
More consistent decision
When the decision is relatively
unimportant and doesnt require
members input for success
When all the information required is
available
Group decision making

Almost always superior over individual

decisions
Advantages:
More complete information knowledge
Higher quality decisions
Group consensus is the optimum
Less efficient because they use up more
time and resources to come to an ultimate
decision
Brainstorming

Overcoming pressures to conformity and

generating ideas or alternatives
Members freewheel as many suggestions and
alternatives as possible
No criticism is allowed
Every alternative is recorded
Each individual in the group silently and
independently ranks different ideas presented
The final group decision = solution with the
highest aggregate rating
 Inter group conflict

Productive conflict is also crucial to effective

decision making in groups or teams. Without
debating and questioning key issues through
productive conflict, groups or teams may
make decisions that have not been thoroughly
tested or evaluated.
 On the other hand, competition within and
between groups and teams is often counter-
productive.
Although in the short-term, competition may be
invigorating, motivating, or serve as a spark
plug for improved performance, it is not healthy
for groups or teams to use this strategy in the
long-term.
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Collaborating
Competing
Compromising
Accommodating
Avoiding
THANK YOU