Managing People

Note on Process Observation

• Formal group design makes a groups inefficient
• Each group member is a unique individual; they bring expectations, assumptions, and feelings to the group which results in interrelationships patterns which may become either beneficial or detrimental to the group’s purpose.   You can develop awareness of what is to happen in a group, and that of group capabilities.
• Aspects of group behavior that can furnish valuable clues:

1. Participation Those who are expressive participate more. Large disparity among respective contribution is an e.g.  

Reasons for unequal participation.

• Being squeezed out by high participators who dominate the meeting.  Valence effect 1 most frequently stated ideas tend to be adopted by the group, regardless of their quality.
• Low participators are likely to become frustrated and angry if they have tried to get into the discussion but have been ignored or cut off by high participators.
• People who have the most at stake in a given issue are more motivated to participate than others who may have better ideas to offer.
• Different people have different internal standards on which they judge whether or not an idea they have is worth offering to the group.
• People with higher internal standards may be less likely to contribute than with lower internal standards, with negative consequences for the quality of group’s discussion.

1. Interventions  There are a number of simple and unobtrusive process interventions that you can make, either as a group leader or group member, to bring about a better balance in participation.

1. Influence and participation are not the same thing. Some people may speak very little, yet capture the attention of the whole group when they do speak. Others may talk frequently but go unheard. Influence, like participation, is often a function of status, experience, competence, and to some degree personality. It is normal for some people to have more influence on a group’s process than others, and this fact is not necessarily a sign that a group is ineffective.

1. Interventions. If you observe that the opinions of an individual or subgroup of people appear to be unduly influencing a group’s progress, there are several brief interventions that can be made to open up the discussion.  I’d like to hear some differing opinions

1. Group Climate Members expectations of assumptions will be quite different from one member to another. After group members have tested each other’s assumptions early on in the group, a climate or atmosphere becomes established that may or may not facilitate effective group functioning.  

Interventions. Intervening to alter a group’s climate is more difficult than the previous interventions described. It can be done, however, by reinforcing and supporting desirable behavior, as well as by raising the issue directly.

1. Membership A major concern for group members is their degree of acceptance or inclusion in the group. Different patterns of interaction may develop in the group, providing clues to the degree and kind of membership:~subgrouping, insiders, outsiders etc

1. Feelings During any group discussion, feelings are frequently generated by interactions among members. These feelings, are seldom talked about. Observers may have to make guesses based on tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and other nonverbal cues.

Task Functions

In order for any group to function adequately and make maximum progress on the task at hand, certain task functions must be carried out. First of all, there must be initiation, opinion & information, clarifying/elaborating, summarizing, consensus testing