Group Norms

1. I interviewed my dad and aunt. The similarities between the groups that were discussed were minimal. They both consisted of no more than six people excluding them, they are both in the reinforcement phase as there has been little to no change to the groups, and they shared the norm of letting another member know if they were going to be late or unable to meet with the group. The differences between the groups were great. My aunt’s group was informal while my dad’s group was formal. The norms of my dad’s group were more business oriented e.g. one person talks at a time, pay attention to the current speaker, and do not interrupt unless it is urgent, the norms of my aunt’s group were friendly oriented e.g. speak about whatever came to mind, be funny and laugh, and come and go as pleased. They were also different types of groups; my aunt’s group is a group of her and her work friends while my dad’s group was a business group.

2. Group norms should be instituted once the roles of the group members and the rules have been well defined. If the group norms were to be

Conflict tends to rise in the second phase of group devolvement because the members of the group have already gotten used to working in a group with other individuals. When a group is first formed the members of the group may be shy or not used to working with others. Once the group has been established and everyone’s shyness has dissipated the members of the group feel more empowered and they voice their opinions. Both my dad and aunt’s group reached the last phase of group development. It was a lot easier for my aunt’s group to get there because the relationship between the members of the group were friendly and cared for on another. On the other hand, it was a lot harder for my dad’s group. Since his group was a business group there was a lot more disagreements and opinions from the members. Once all of the opinions were heard and the disagreements were settled everything moved along