Chris Peck BSc (Hons) - www.chrispeck.co.uk

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26970 Management Skills

Groups

Definition of a group:

“any number of people who (1) interact with one another; (2) are psychologically aware of one another; and (3) perceive themselves to be a group.”

There are two types of groups: Formal groups and Informal groups.

Formal Groups

Formal Groups are created to achieve specific organisational objectives and are concerned with the co-ordination of work activities.
People are brought together on the basis of defined roles within the structure of the organisation. The nature of the tasks to be undertaken is a predominant feature of the formal group. Goals are identified by management, and certain rules, relationships and norms of behaviour established.

These groups tend to be more permanent.

Informal Groups

Informal groups are based more on personal relationships and agreement of group members than on defined role relationships. An informal group is a collection of individuals who become a group when members develop interdependencies, influence one another’s behaviour and contribute to the mutual needs satisfaction.

Teams and groups occur when a number of people have a common goal and recognise that their personal success is dependent on the success of others. In practice, this means that in most teams people will contribute individual skills many of which will be different.

Members of a group must work well as a team, and each group must also work well with other groups. Harmonious working relationships and good teamwork help make for a high level of staff morale and work performance. Effective teamwork is an essential element of modern management practices such as empowerment. Teamwork is important in any organisation but may be especially significant in service industries where there is a direct effect on customer satisfaction.

Reasons for formation of groups

As well as forming groups and teams to achieve work-based goals, individuals will fall into groups for a number of different reasons, such as:

Certain tasks can only be performed through the combined efforts of a number of individuals working together – Complex problems can only be solved using a variety of knowledge and experience found in a group.
Groups may encourage collusion between members in order to modify formal working arrangements.
To provide companionship and a source of mutual understanding between colleagues.
The group provides a feeling of identity and the chance to acquire role recognition.
For the maintenance of a communication system – groups will pass information amongst themselves from formal channels.
The provision of interest and fun in work life – Informal groups may be created to break up the monotony of work, by workers compensating by interpersonal relations provided by the group time wasting by talking, drinking, etc.