Group Dynamics (PDF)

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:
A group consists of some people who interact during a certain time. The number of group members is that small that there is the possibility for every member to interact with every other group member face to face. If people meet by accident who are not close friends, it will be not a group.
If you want to learn more about the formation of groups you will find two leading models which display the phases of group formation. On the one hand there is the Bernstein and Lowy model on the other hand Bruce Tuckman also designed a phase model which shows the formation of groups.
Roles in groups can be positive and negative. They are supporting the group as collectivity and are not only the result of individual need, abilities and characteristics.
There are different ways for the classification of groups. Groups can be classified in general according to following characteristics: size, topic / task of the group. Also a way for classifying groups is the classification according the Riemann-Thomann-Cross. The next chapters this assignment shows a rough overview of the various possibilities for the classification of groups.
As there are many influencing facts for the effectiveness of groups and very contradictory interests, the advantages for one group of interest are the disadvantages for the other group of interest. The economical group of interest measures the effectiveness of a group by its productivity, flexibility and quality. The individual in a group identifies effectiveness in the group by reasonable tasks, feeling of togetherness in the group and diverse interpersonal relationships.
At workplaces, with friends together or even with complete strangers ¿ informal groups emerge nearly everywhere in real life. The aims of informal groups are usually ¿ but not always ¿ different from those of formal groups.
The development within the group is ¿ apart from small differences ¿ not much different from formal groups. The process of forming, storming, norming, performing and eventually adjourning, as Professor Tuckman has described, is nearly the same. One crucial point is that informal groups are NOT part of a formal organisation and members in most of these cases are free to leave whenever they want. Therefore it is unusual to undergo e. g. a destructive storming. Before it comes to such a storming, often one or more members will leave the group in advance.
Leadership is ¿ especially in informal groups ¿ a difficult topic. But [...]