BU288 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Hazing, Social Loafing
BU288 Lesson 8: Groups & Teams
Groups: A Definition
-Group: Two or more people who interact with one another such that each person influences and
is influenced by each other person
-Work Group: A group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to
help each other perform within his or her area of responsibility
Why do people join groups?
-Security:
• Being a part of a group reduces the fact of standing alone
• When you first join an organization, you’re feeling lost, but then you become part of a
group and you find your feet
• Organizations spend lots of time socializing
-Status:
• Being a part of a group viewed as important makes the members be viewed as important
as well
• E.g. being a part of SBESS Students’ Society makes the members be viewed as important
-Self-Esteem:
• In addition to status, membership can also increase worth in the group members
themselves
-Affiliation:
• Sometimes you’re part of a group because you enjoy the camaraderie of being a part of
the group
• E.g. people who work in a group setting tend to work happier than those who work in an
isolated situation
-Power:
• What can’t be achieved individually can be achieved as a team
• Being a part of a union, gives you power in counter measuring the demands of the
management, and negotiating the collective agreement
-Goal Achievement:
• Sometimes it takes more than 1 person to achieve a given task
• Pool the knowledge, the power, and the group to get task done
• E.g. if Honda wants to take over the market, they need help from accounting/finance,
sales, engineers, etc.
• Impossible for a single individual to do that
-Identification:
• We sometimes join a group to identify with a group or a cause
• E.g. Five Days for the Homeless – might join that cause because it’s an important cause
to you
• Might set the tone for how you dress, how you behave, etc.
Stages of Group Development
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-Groups go through stages over time
-With each stage, presents challenges that the group has to overcome before moving on to the
next stage
-Stage I: Forming
• Just becoming as a group or team
• Trying to orient yourself to the group and figure out the purpose of the group
• What are we supposed to do?
• Situation tends to be ambiguous – members will seek clarifications and rules, start to
figure out goals/purpose
-Stage II: Storming
• Conflict begins to emerge as people try to figure out with whether they’ll go along with
the group, agree with the group; might have different opinions of how to move the group
forward; what the various responsibilities are; who will emerge as the informal leaders;
how will the tasks be delegated and shared
-Stage III: Norming
• Issues that were in stage II become resolved
• Consensus begins to build around the group’s goal, and the process to achieve the goal
• Becomes cohesive
-Stage IV: Performing
• When the group is becoming to fire on all cylinders
• Group’s at the most creative and hardworking
• Goal is most focused on the task
-Stage V: Adjourning
• Disperse after goal has been achieved
• Quite often, there are little ceremonies that mark the success of the group
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Group: two or more people who interact with one another such that each person influences and is influenced by each other person. Work group: a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each other perform within his or her area of responsibility. Status: being a part of a group viewed as important makes the members be viewed as important as well, e. g. being a part of sbess students" society makes the members be viewed as important. In addition to status, membership can also increase worth in the group members themselves. Power: what can"t be achieved individually can be achieved as a team, being a part of a union, gives you power in counter measuring the demands of the management, and negotiating the collective agreement. Impossible for a single individual to do that. Identification: we sometimes join a group to identify with a group or a cause, e. g.
