Group dynamic

• Group


  A collection of people who both share similar goals and interact with one another
• Characteristics of a group opposed to a collection of individuals

  • They share a common goal
  • They communicate effectively
  • They have to work together to achieve a goal and they may have to perform different functions
• Collective identity


  • The team can be recognised easily as they are usually wearing the same kit. Often team members will feel a strong sense of pride when they wear the team clothing on the way to games. This affiliation brings motivation and a sense of belonging
• Interaction


  • Team members should operate in their own role successfully and also be able to link this role with other members of the team. Can be seen as the way in which team players work together to complete a task
• Communication


  • To help with interaction, the individual players in the team should talk to each other and communicate non-verbally in the way that Rugby players would use a coded call or hand signal to indicate where the ball is being thrown at a line-out
• Shared goal or purpose

  • The prospect of achieving success is often what keeps players in the team and working for each other. All team players should want to aim for the same goal to have maximum motivation
• Tuckman's 4 stages of group formation

  1. Forming

  2. Storming

  3. Norming

  4. Performing
• Forming


  High dependence on leader for guidance and direction. Members starting to know one another. Individuals finding out how they feel about the team and if they think they will fit in. An assessment is made of the strengths of the individual compared to the strengths of others in the team
• Storming


  Group decisions are difficult. Potential stage of conflict - Members jostle for position in the team to establish themselves, their position, status or role in the team. It maybe that two members of the team are competing for the same position and the coach or captain should resolve such issues as quickly as possible to ensure players may accept an alternative
• Norming


  Once conflicts have been resolved, the team begins to settle down and co-operate, with the intention of achieving their goals. Group standards are accepted and the cohesion of the team develops. More agreement and consensus of opinion in the team. Clearer roles and responsibilities generally accepted. Important decisions made through group agreement
• Performing


  All the players are now interactive and working together to achieve their goals. Team members support each other and understand their role in the team. Team has more strategies, clear vision and clear aims. No participation or interference from the leader, members are trusted to get on with their roles. Focused on achieving goals to meet the aim. Disagreements occur but now are resolved within the team positively with necessary changes made. No instruction or assistance needed
• Factors that can affect how long this process takes to complete: Size of the group, The difficulty of the task, The experience of the players
• Cohesion


  The tendency of members of the team to work together to achieve what they want to achieve
• Co-action


  When others do the task at the same time but separately
• Interaction


  When a group works together to produce results
• Carron's 4 antecedents (things that must be in place for cohesion to happen)


  • Environmental factors
  • Personal factors
  • Leadership factors
  • Team factors
• Environmental factors


  Size of group, time available, mix of age and gender
• Personal factors


  Similarity of group members in terms of aspiration, opinions and values, whether they are happy with their role and even how fit they are
• Leadership factors


  Leadership style chosen, how well the coach/captain gets on with others
• Team factors


  Team success, amount of shared success and failure, Length of time the team has been together, threats from other groups
• Task cohesion


  Individuals working together to achieve an end result
• Social cohesion


  Individuals relating to each other to interact in the group
• In terms of results, it is better if the team has both task and social cohesion
• Social cohesion can be a negative influence on the group as it might produce sub-groups or 'cliques' that mean some might not co-operate or contribute at team meetings or tactical discussions. Some may not even socialise outside of training and matches
• Task cohesion is really important and can over-ride the problems of social cohesion. The performance and results of the team may still be good, even if players do not socialise, but without task cohesion those results would be poor
• Steiner's model of group effectiveness

  Actual productivity = Potential productivity - Losses due to faulty processes
• Potential productivity


  The team's best possible outcome that could happen if everything goes perfectly to plan during the game. Group potential is affected by the skill level and ability of the players compared to the opponents and how difficult the task ahead may be
• Faulty processes


  Coordination problems (players fail to listen to the coach's instructions or employ the incorrect tactics, players in the team may also fail to communicate with each other) and Motivational problems (can affect performance when players suffer from too much or too little arousal or they lose the drive to win, with a resultant reduction in effort and concentration)
• Social loafing


  Players who are social loafers will often coast through the game and even hide behind other team members who they think might cover for them. They tend to take easy options in the game and make a limited contribution to the team cause
• Ringlemann effect


  As group size increases, individual performance decreases. Research showed that eight people pulled only four times as hard as one, not eight times as hard
• Social Loafing


  The tendency for individuals to work less hard in a group than when working alone
• Ringlemann effect


  As group size increases, individual performance decreases
• Research


  1. Rope pulling tug-of-war task

  2. Groups pulled with more force than an individual

  3. However, the individual effort reduced with increasing group size

  4. Eight people pulled only four times as hard as one not eight times as hard

  5. Coordination and motivational problems but mainly caused by individuals losing motivation UNLESS their efforts were highlighted
• Motivation losses as group get larger – social loafing
• Factors that might cause Social loafing

  • Loss of identity
  • Effort may not be recognised by those spectating or taking part
• Further example from sport where you have witnessed the Ringlemann effect

  • May be caused by a lack of confidence when the player does not believe in their ability to compete with the opposition
  • Players may develop a negative attitude, perhaps not liking the position they have been selected to play
  • Coach or captain may display poor leadership by not offering incentives and reinforcements such as player of the match
  • Player's may therefore think any effort will not be recognised or valued
  • The player may not understand the role they need to play in the team or may not accept that role with enthusiasm
  • Players may even lack fitness and therefore unable to fulfil their role
  • Goal set by coaches may be too general and lack meaning – Goal of just winning the game is too general a statement
  • Sub-group or cliques
• What can a coach do to avoid social loafing

  • Highlighting individual performance
  • Feedback
  • Support
  • Peer pressure
  • Cohesion
  • Practice methods
• Coach must ensure player efforts are recognised and rewarded
• Strategies to eliminate social loafing

  • Setting individual goals
  • Setting more challenging goals
  • Involve all players in goal setting
  • Give specific roles in team and ensure this is clear and accepted
  • Make tactics clear
  • Promote motivation with rewards
  • Establish a group identity
  • Use stats to highlight individual performance
  • Use team meetings to resolve conflicts
  • Maintain communication with open discussion
  • Reward exceptional contribution to the team
• Promoting cohesion, reducing social loafing and solving co-ordination problems

  • Reduce social loafing
  • Reduce co-ordination problems
  • Promote cohesion