Group Dynamics: Processing and Sharing of Information (Essay Sample)

GROUP DYNAMICS
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Abstract
This paper will provide a reflection of the group that I have ever worked in my place o employment by evaluating the dynamics of the group, carrying out an assessment on how information is shared and processed within the group and the larger organization. The paper will also analyze how the group generates its ideas and it will also provide a contrast of both positive and negative behaviors within the group.
Group dynamics
Group dynamics refers to that system of human behaviors as well as psychological processes that occurs within any social group or between various social groups. For instance, in my work place, Group dynamics are triggered by some factors that include; back sheep effect and this refers to how individuals in the group see their fellow workmates. This entails people upgrading those likable in the group and move away from those who seem to be unlikable members which make them a separate group hence creating an essence of lack of trust, (Greenlee & Karanxha, 2010). This type of member upgrade is based on the fact that those members who have different opinions to the one provided by the strong members or leaders of the groups as perceived to be critiques of the group and therefore they are separated and secluded by other members. This issues issue is mostly dominant in today’s life and for instance, those people who stand with integrity in the organization by ensuring accountability of every expense are seen to interfere with how others want the finance department to be operated and at the end such members will end up being voted out of the group or even the entire organization.
Another factor that leads to group dynamics include; group influence on individuals and this is whereby in personal behaviors are generally triggered by the behaviors of other members. Group members will tend to work hard when other members are around to show them that they are committed to the tasks assigned to them and conversely. On the other hand, personal performance will tend o degrade when other members create a situation of destruction or conflict that de-motivates the individual since other members sees themselves more worthy and reliable to the group than others. (Greenlee & Karanxha, 2010). Besides, the group can also influence individual decision making process whereby if the group entails principles of hatred and ethnicity or gender bias then the members who join such group or those who exists will uphold the same principles that will affect the general performance of the group and the organization. For example, if the finance department has one main group made up of people who are from one ethnic group, this will imply that any member who will join the department will have to conform to the principles of the group or else opt out.
Another factor that is crucial in determining group dynamics is the group structure. For instance, group structure refers to the internal frame work that defines the relationship of the members to one another over a period of time. Some of the elements of group structure include; roles which are the tendency to behave contribute as well as interrelate with other members and these roles are mostly assigned formally but defined through differentiation process. Groups might have either high level roles or low level roles based on the differentiation process and thus the assigning of roles is based on the skills, experience and qualification of the members. Highly skilled and experience members are assigned high level roles and conversely, however, at times due to favoritism, racism among other factors, the organization might assign high level roles to people of their choice who does not have required skilled and experience which will trigger conflicts within the group and beyond. Another element is the norms which are the rules that are adopted by the group in order to regulate members and they provide direction and motivation and some of the norms include; prescriptive, descriptive and injustice. For instance, failure to adhere to these norms will ultimately result to conflict of interest that will culminate to uncontrollable group dynamics.
Another factor that cause group dynamics is the communication pattern which describes the flow o information within the group as well the pattern can be centralized or decentralized (Greenlee & Karanxha, 2010. For instance, in centralized pattern, information is perceived to flow from the source to all other group members while in decentralized patter is where information is shared directly to between group members. Therefore, all these factors have played a significant role in changing the dynamic of the groups that I have involved in at my work place some of which changed for the better performance of the organization and some led to poor performance of the departments within the organization.
Processing and sharing of information
In group setting processing o information refers to the way information is acquired, recorded, organizes, retrieved displayed and finally disseminated. For instance, this information is share in two main level and these include centralized level and decentralized level. In a situation where the group uses the centralized method, then it implies that the information will be flowing from the senior members like the managers to their assistants and them the juniors which at times might take times since at this level, not all the information is shared due to filtering that takes places at various levels of communication. On the other hand in a situation where by the group uses decentralized method of sharing information, after processing of information, the person responsible ensures that every members is informed about the issue being communicated at the same time (Nazzaro & Strazzabosco, 2009). This entails sending multiples emails to the staff that contains same information or currently, due to advancement in technology, groups have investment in social media where they can share their information in much decentralized manner. In this case, the person conveying information say the manager just shares in on social platform at once and the members within the group can view it. Currently this is considered the most effective, less costly and time saving method of sharing information. However, the only demerit with it is that for those members who are not joined to the social platform or are not always online cannot be reached and the manager might think that they...