Unit 3: Group behaviour & leadership

A group is two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who come together to achieve particular objectives. Group dynamics studies the forces operating within groups.

• Formal groups: command groups (manager and subordinates) and task groups.
• Informal groups: interest groups and friendship groups.

• Norms: acceptable standards of behaviour shared by group members (dress, output, punctuality).
• Roles: expected behaviour patterns of a person in a position — role ambiguity and role conflict cause stress.
• Status: the rank given to a person by others.
• Cohesiveness: the degree to which members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay. High cohesiveness with high performance norms gives high productivity; with low norms, low productivity.

Types of teams: problem-solving, self-managed, cross-functional and virtual. Effective teams need adequate resources, clear goals, trust, the right size and skill mix, fair evaluation and rewards, and good leadership.

Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards achieving goals.

• Trait theory: leaders have innate traits — intelligence, self-confidence, integrity, drive.
• Behavioural theories: Ohio State studies (initiating structure and consideration), Michigan studies (employee-oriented vs production-oriented) and the Managerial Grid (Blake and Mouton: concern for people vs concern for production; 9,9 team management is ideal).