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What is the importance of group dynamics
What is the importance of group dynamics
Leadership style
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Introduction A leader is the key element that affects the overall group’s success by inspiring members to collaborate to achieve a common goal. The approach that the leader takes to lead a group (i.e., leadership style) plays a significant role in group decision-making process and decision quality. Effective leadership encourages members’ participation in decision-making process, and promotes cooperation and motivation among group members. On the other hand, ineffective leadership, which lacks impartiality, can be a great risk factor for groupthink; a phenomenon refers to poor decision process and decision quality (Chapman, 2006). Groupthink is undesirable for groups because it is detrimental to group development. In order to demonstrate the effect of leadership style on groupthink, the paper will first explain groupthink and the factors that contribute to this phenomenon; then it will discuss the characteristics of different leadership styles and how they affect group’s decision-making process; and finally it will provide several remedies to guard against groupthink in groups. Groupthink Groupthink, a term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when the group members strive for consensus at the expense of rational decisions. In other words, groupthink takes place in groups in which the group members’ desire for concurrence becomes more important than evaluating problems and solutions realistically (Chapman, 2006). There are several factors that contribute to groupthink, but the two most important ones are directive (i.e., promotional) leadership and the lack of consideration of alternatives (Ahlfinger & Esser, 2001). If the group’s leader is controlling and promoting his or her favored solution without consul... ... middle of paper ... ... a significant role in group’s decision-making process and affects the quality of decisions. Participative leadership emphasizes participation of group members in decision-making process for the highest quality and the best solution, and encourages productivity, creativity and motivation of group members. On the contrary, authoritarian leadership prevents considering alternative viewpoints and limits member’s contribution which in turn increases risk for groupthink, causes a decline in group’s productivity and performance, and leads to unmotivated group members. In order to avoid groupthink, there are three important factors to be considered: impartial leadership, group synergy and dialectical inquiry. Adapting these elements would prevent any group from irrational decision-making process and promote collaboration, collectivity, and high quality of group decisions.
The topic of this paper is Irving Janis’s concept of groupthink. There has been an increase in the utilization of groups or teams of people who come together in the decision-making process. There are many benefits to group decision-making with each member brings their own perspectives, beliefs, and ideas to the table. However, there are also negative dynamics such as groupthink that can hinder this process. Groupthink can lead to members believing that their opinions don’t hold as much weight as their peers, a group becoming overconfident in their knowledge of what is right, and the minimization of threats. Lack of thorough analysis of all available options or opportunities can have costly and long reaching negative consequences. Proactive
Delegating leadership responsibilities to in-groups poses a challenge of building a strong structure with a clear understanding of procedure. On the other side, if the leader cuts followers out of the decision making process, the newly formed relationships will suffer. The Normative Decision Model offers a recommendation for the ways leaders “adjust their decision style depending on the degree to which the quality of the decision is important and the likelihood that employees will accept the decision (Nahavandi, 2015).” An easy first step for leaders is to understand how many people will be effected by the decision (Nahavandi, 2015). Does it only concern an individual or is the whole group going to be impacted? Using the decision tree on page 76 of Nahavandi’s The Art and Science of Leadership (2015), leaders can effectively identify the appropriate decision style needed. A leader must adopt an autocratic style when the quality of the decision is not significant, when employees disagree, and when the employees don’t see eye to eye with the organizations goals (Nahavandi, 2015). While a consultative style is necessary when the employees will hold the responsibility of implementation; especially when employees agree with the overall goals of the organization (Nahavandi, 2015). Finally, “group oriented decision style should be used when the leader does not have all the information, and
In 1972, Irving Janis presented a set of hypothesis that he extracted from observing small groups performing problem solving tasks; he collectively referred to these hypotheses as groupthink¹. He defined groupthink as “a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action²” A successful group brings varied ideas, collective knowledge, and focus on the task at hand. The importance of groups is to accomplish tasks that individuals can not do on their own. The Bay of Pigs, Watergate, and the Challenger disaster are all forms of failure within a group. Specifically, you can see the effect of groupthink of Americans before September 11, 2001. The thought of harm to the United States was unfathomable, but only after the attacks did they realize they were not invincible. When a solid, highly cohesive group is only concerned with maintaining agreement, they fail to see their alternatives and any other available options. When a group experiences groupthink, they may feel uninterested about a task, don't feel like they will be successful, and the group members do not challenge ideas. Stress is also a factor in the failure of groupthink. An effective group needs to have clear goals, trust, accountability, support, and training. Some indicators that groupthink may be happening are; making unethical decisions, they think they are never wrong, close-minded about situations, and ignore important information. Many things can be done to prevent groupthink from happening. One way is to make each person in the group a “critical evaluator”. The leader must ...
There are eight symptoms of groupthink. The first symptom is when all or most of the group view themselves as invincible which causes them to make decisions that may be risky. The group has an enormous amount of confidence and authority in their decisions as well as in themselves. They see themselves collectively better in all ways than any other group and they believe the event will go well not because of what it is, but because they are involved. The second symptom is the belief of the group that they are moral and upstanding, which leads the group to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of the decisions. The group engages in a total overestimation of its morality. There is never any question that the group is not doing the right thing, they just act. The disregarding of information or warnings that may lead to changes in past policy is the third symptom. Even if there is considerable evidence against their standpoint, they see no problems with their plan. Stereotyping of enemy leaders or others as weak or stupid is the fourth symptom. This symptom leads to close-mindedness to other individuals and their opinions. The fifth symptom is the self-censorship of an individual causing him to overlook his doubts. A group member basically keeps his mouth shut so the group can continue in harmony. Symptom number six refers to the illusion of unanimity; going along with the majority, and the assumption that silence signifies consent. Sometimes a group member who questions the rightness of the goals is pressured by others into concurring or agreeing, this is symptom number seven. The last symptom is the members that set themselves up as a buffer to protect the group from adverse information that may destroy their shared contentment regarding the group’s ...
In any niche of human civilization, there will always be groups. In those groups, there will always be those who are characterized as leaders and those who end up being characterized as followers. Most of these groups do not end up operating on any set dynamic, although some do. In an even smaller portion of these groups, a certain phenomena called ‘Groupthink’ occurs. The term ‘Groupthink’, coined by Yale research psychologist Irving Janis, occurs when a homogenous highly cohesive group is so concerned with maintaining unanimity that they fail to evaluate all of their alternatives and options.
Some of the characteristics seen in collaborative leadership are shared problem-solving and decision making. In order to come to a mutual decision between group members, the...
In Social Psychology, the extensive body of research on intra-group behaviours and small-group processes led to the discovery of a phenomenon that was at first described by Stoner (1961) as the risky-shift. The risky-shift phenomenon refers to the tendency toward riskier alternatives occurring when individuals make decisions as members of a group, rather than when individuals make decisions alone. Moreover, it was observed that members of a group tend toward more extreme alternatives before engaging in group discussion; this tendency is known as group polarization (Stoner, 1961).
Completing the first five weeks of the course Organizational Behavior, has been interesting. Learning about myself in my behaviors as well as classmates, how to conduct myself in meetings and group interactions, and how to create a better version of myself with stress. The purpose of this paper is to explain group process, synergistic decision making, and reflective thinking process. I will explain each topic with what the term is, why it is important, and how can one apply it to their own life with experiences.
Groupthink has been thought to be the reason for some of the famous decision-making fiascoes, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Watergate cover-up, and the Challenger disaster. Even today, groupthink theory continues to be seen as a "defective process" (Aldag & Fuller, 1993). In general, the groupthink theory states that a group decision making of individuals in a cohesive group usually enters a state where the member's determination to unite at a single solution overrides their motivation to thoroughly account for the alternative choices (Moorhead, Ference & Neck, 1991). Moreover, the groupthink is characterized by a deterioration of cognitive efficiency, moral judgment and reality testing, which results from the pressures from the cohesiveness of the group (Dattner, 2011). The term "groupthink" was chosen by Irving Janis, who conceptualized the groupthink theory, due to its Orwelian connotation (Aldag & Fuller, 1993).
The research article “Consequences of Differentiated Leadership in Groups” focuses on the issues of leadership as it needs to confront groups. The theoretical assumption is that individual and group level methods need to be applied for groups by the leadership of an organization. The researchers in the paper argue that group level methods lead to increased performance and output. Furthermore, there is a trend towards cohesive and disciplined work teams. The leadership on the contrary when it applies an individual approach towards groups will face formidable obstacles and problems. Leadership is determined to be a cohesive process that needs to have decisive goals and objectives. It should be implemented by creating smart and dynamic work teams. A comprehensive approach can always lead to superior outcomes. It can create a dynamic structure where work members develop confidence and trust towards each other. This paper will seek to conduct a critical appraisal of the article.
A definition of the ‘groupthink’ concept is “a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action”. The group’s thoughts are linked to a narrow set of options. The initial objects are never reviewed or challenged. External experts are not sought after. Which in turn leads to a poorer solution or
Group think affects how a person thinks and makes decision independently for themselves. There are symptoms of group think, effects of this concept, and remedies that will help fix it. Symptoms of group think occurs in a group that is trying to make a decision. An example of a symptom is when members in a group take extreme risks and do not consider the the consequences of the results that may occur afterwards (“What is Group think” 1). That leads to self-censorship where individuals cannot voice out their misgivings and doubts about the decision made. When a group makes a decision based in group think, the results of that are the products of poor decision making. Members will ignore facts and opinions that does not support their decisions,
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” (Helen Keller). Working alone can only get you so far, but with more minds being put together, there’s more opportunity for ideas. A group of people can get more done efficiently than alone. Working together is more effective than working alone because you can get stronger and better ideas. Authoritative leadership is less effective than collaborative leadership because fear and power create anarchy and dissent, while respect and decency create a harmonious society. This claim can be supported by Macbeth, Machiavelli, Crace, and Plato.
Working in groups is challenging at times. Other times it is very rewarding. We are so focused on life that we do not take time to reflect on things as much as we should. Being in a Groups class has opened my eyes to a whole new world. I have begun to question, explore, and even understand how things work. I even get how they work sometimes. Not only is there a process involved in making individual decisions, process is involved in group decisions as well. This paper attempts give insight into my reflection of my group decision process.
Participative leaders or better known as democratic leaders include team members and others, but making the final decision is up to the participative leader. Participative leaders build confidence and knowledge within team members because their inputs matter within decision making. It helps team members think their opinions help with decisions. If there is change that needs to be implemented a participative leader helps team members understand the change in positive way. I would definitely consider myself a participative leader because I love gathering as many opinions from people just in case I don’t see the situation from another point. It helps me put everything in a good perspective.