Groups

For a collection of people to be a group there must, logically, be other people who are not in the group or people who are in a specific out- group. In an organization, group behavior progresses from immaturity to maturity in four stages. In the first stage, group members are unsure of themselves, the group and the structure, and need direction and guidance. Establishing a routine will help the members gain security in their roles and enable them to move to the next stage. Groups in the second stage of development are often easy to recognize: there are a lot of disagreements; subgroups and cliques emerge; some of the members hate the leader. The leader becomes frustrated with the team at this point because no matter what she tries to do, it is wrong. A group that survives stage two and matures into stage three has realized, to accomplish the task, they have to give equal weight to how they do the work and to what the work entails. During this stage roles are fine-tuned and positive coalitions and partnerships are formed. As they master this, the group now seamlessly moves on to stage four. Groups in stage four focus a proportionate amount of time carrying out the work, the task, as figuring out how to carry out the work, the process. Groups in the fourth stage of development are characterized by an independence from the leader. The leader at this point delegates to the team which has the authority to make decisions on their own. Of course, they have the maturity at this point to effectively wield that power. The group-leader relationship now resembles that of the adult child - older parent relationship. The leader is consulted, as needed, for feedback and clarification of the parameters of the responsibility, but the decisions rest in the hands of the group. Understanding the stages groups move through and their needs in a given stage will help one achieve an effective team.