Group development and stages

• Group refers to two or more people socially connected.
• People are typically members of various groups.

Group Development

• Group development refers to growth and change within a group over time.
• The main models of group development:
• Sequential stage models
• Recurring phase models
• Equilibrium models

Sequential Stage Model of Group Development

• Development progresses through multiple stages that have different characteristics.
• Groups go through each stage.
• Group moves in order, step by step, in one direction.
• Example of sequential stages:
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning
• Stages of initiation:
• Initiation
• Planning
• Execution
• Event
• Evaluation
• Stages of the sequential stage model:
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning

Recurring Phase Models

• Groups may experience a variety of stages multiple times throughout their existence.
• The order of stages is not predetermined.
• Groups may not necessarily experience all stages.
• Groups can go through stages multiple times, and/or they can skip a step.
• Repeating every stage isn't essential for group development
• Groups go with the flow and can repeat sections
• Experience a stage multiple times or may not experience a stage at all.
• Examples of recurring phases include:
  • Group A: Coming together → Agreement → High Performing
  • Group B: Coming together → Conflict → Agreement → Conflict → Agreement → High Performing

Equilibrium Models

• Task and social elements of the group must maintain balance to succeed.
• Equilibrium models do not support the premise that groups progress through stages.
• Changes are minimal once a group is established to maintain balance.
• Group A might be too task-focused and is not as social or efficient.
• Group B might be too socially focused and doesn't complete tasks.
• Neither group balances task and social well, so they don't fit the equilibrium model.

Norms

• Norms are rules or parameters that guide behaviors in a group.
• Behaviors outside norms are not desired.
• Those who don't abide by norms are evaluated negatively.

Norm Development

• Leaders facilitate norm development using three techniques:
• Stating: Directly telling the group which behaviors are suitable and which are not
• Modeling: Consistently demonstrating prescribed behaviors
• Importing: Employing norms used in other situations/contexts.
• Taking something that has worked in one situation and applying it to a different situation.
• Example of a tour group going hiking:
• Stating: Before starting, the tour guide explicitly tells the group what the expectations are. For instance, always sticking with a buddy and respecting nature by taking out what you bring in.
• Modeling: The guide will do what the group was told to do - practice what you preach.
• Importing: The guide remembers that the buddy system has worked in swimming classes, so they import (apply) it to the hiking situation
• Norm adherence is centered on how group members adhere to established norms.
• Conforming to norms can be positive or negative.

Roles

• Roles: Set of behaviors expected from occupants of specific positions within the group.
• Social roles focus on supporting positive interactions and relationships (e.g., facilitator, mediator).
• Task roles focus on the direct pursuit of group goals and objectives (e.g., information seeking, evaluation).
• Formal roles are established by the group and promoted as positions of importance.
• Formal roles often have titles (e.g., lead, CEO).
• Informal roles grow out of experiences in the group and are created by the group (e.g., comic relief, group nurturer).

Potential Challenges Associated with Group Roles

• Role ambiguity: Lack of clarity regarding one's role in the group.
• Role ambiguity can be caused by a lack of information (ex. Someone doesn't know why they were hired/assigned that role).
• Role conflict: Incongruity between the requirements of two roles.
• An employee might experience conflict if required to perform tasks that contradict their personal values or if their job responsibilities overlap with another employee's.

Key Takeaways: Group Dynamics Part 1

• Group: Two or more people socially connected.
• Group development models include sequential stage, recurring phase, and equilibrium models.
• Norms: Rules/parameters that guide behaviors.
• Leaders facilitate norm development by stating, modeling, and importing.
• Roles: Social or task focus, formal or informal.
• Role ambiguity and role conflict: Challenges that impact group development and functioning.
• Group size: Influences how leaders interact with groups.

Joining a Group Process

• Leaders must consider positive individual and group experiences.
• A person's group entry, membership, and exit depend on a number of factors.
• Similar to models of group forming (i.e., sequential models).
• Process:
• Investigation
• Socialization
• Maintenance
• Resocialization
• Remembrance

Investigation

• Identifying and evaluating potential groups to join.
• Weigh costs and benefits.
• Leaders give potential members a realistic picture of costs and benefits.
• Groups often only share the benefits/don't provide sufficient detail about costs.
• Having all the information helps leaders, members, and potential group members to avoid future challenges

Socialization

• Understanding how the new member will fit.
• New member learns group's norms, standards, and communication.
• Socialization is compromised by negative perceptions of new and/or existing members.
• Negative perceptions can occur when joining a new group between both members and new members (ex. the new member might think the existing members are cold and cliquey whereas the existing members think the new member is reserved and not interested in them).
• Ensure new members become accepted within the group with approaches like full value contracts, teambuilding, mentors, discussions, etc.
• Help the new member understand the group and how they operate, assist in integrating new members, and create feelings of belonging as a leader.

Maintenance

• Continued accommodation and assimilation by all group members.
• The group operates effectively when considering tasks and relationships.
• Ongoing evaluation (costs and benefits).
• Checking in at the individual and group level promotes continued membership.

Resocialization

• Individual and group evaluate where they are now and where they are heading.
• Based on the group, there is convergence or divergence at this stage.
• Convergence: Individual re-committing to the group
• Divergence: Individual and group parting ways
• Resocialization stage can be a time to celebrate contributions, regardless of the outcome.
• The resocialization stage may be a good time to make adjustments to the group.

Remembrance

• Characterized by debriefing individually and collectively.
• Group members viewed positively “live on” through group history and tradition.
• Can potentially recommend the group to others, depending on positive or negative experiences.
• May approach or avoid group activities.
• Varying valence of memories.

Cohesion

• Cohesion: Tendency for groups to stick together when working toward shared goals.
• Cohesion is a dynamic process, and the group's goals may shift as groups change and evolve
• Groups remain together (demonstrating cohesion) for a variety of reasons.
• Cohesion reflects social and task-related bonds among members.

Common Issues: Groupthink

• Groupthink: Tendency for group members to seek agreement.
• The desire for agreement is so strong that any potential concerns about a decision from individuals in the group are pushed aside in favor of absolute consensus.
• There may be support or confidence for ideas that are problematic.
• Conditions that contribute to groupthink include:
• Separation from outside sources of information
• Leadership styles that repress people who disagree
• Lack of different ranges of experiences and backgrounds of group members
• Watch for warning signs that a group may be experiencing groupthink:
• Pressure on those who disagree with the majority's opinion
• Stereotyping dissenters
• Self-censorship to silence individual concerns (e.g., being cautious in expressing concerns)

Common Issues: Polarization

• Polarization: Tendency of groups to take a riskier or more cautious course of action than individual group members would.
• As discussion occurs, groups tend to assume more extreme positions.
• If the starting position is cautious, it will become more cautious over time.
• If the starting position is risky, it will become more risky over time.
• If you start cautious, you get more cautious. If you start risky, you get more risky. The decisions get more polarizing - you're pushing to one side/the opposite poles more and more as the discussion continues.
• Leaders should recognize initial attitudes toward a decision and encourage reconsideration if possible.

Common Issues: Social Loafing

• Social loafing: Group members contribute very little and assume that others will do more to complete the task.
• "Social loafers" tend to hide or remain invisible in a group and do not fully contribute.
• Free riding: An extreme form of social loafing where an individual claims membership in a group but doesn't contribute.
• Social loafing can occur due to low group cohesion, individual inputs are not recognized, group size is too large, and the perception that other members are not contributing.

Key Takeaways: Group Dynamics, Part 2

• The five sequential stages of joining a group are investigation, socialization, maintenance, resocialization, and remembrance.
• Cohesion: Tendency for groups to stick together when working toward common goals.
• Common group issues include groupthink, polarization, and social loafing.

Direct Leadership

• Direct leadership involves immediate face-to-face contact between leader and subordinate, affecting motivation and problem-solving.
• Group members are in contact with their leader at all times.
• Benefits include immediate productivity assessment, quick problem-solving, and more influence for leaders.
• Take away: Direct leadership is being directly with the group and physically face-to-face, not over Zoom.

Motivation

• Understanding motivations for participating in recreation/leisure activities and groups is important for leaders.
• Based on motivations, leaders can effectively anticipate needs and make adaptations.
• Leaders should foster intrinsic motivation to increase satisfaction.
• Provide opportunities for input, choice, and engagement.

Goal Setting

• Goals: Intended aims of an individual/group to meet certain targets.
• Objectives: Specific measurable actions that are building blocks for achieving the goal.
• Involving group members in goal setting positively impacts motivation and adherence.
• Goals should be appropriate for the group: too easy means the group may be less-motivated to perform and too difficult means the group may become frustrated due to lack of success.

SMART Goals

• S - Specific: Objectives are concise and deal directly with the main issue to ensure success.
• M - Measurable: Objectives contain a way to measure their level of progress or completion.
• A - Achievable: Objectives at an appropriate level, balancing challenge and quick success.
• R - Realistic: Objectives reflecting each group's unique circumstances since not all may be attainable by all groups.
• T - Time bound: Objectives can be completed in a certain time frame, stated clearly.

Dimensions of Leader Behavior

• Training and instruction: Teaching and guiding for improved performance and opportunities
• Democratic behavior: Involving participants in decision-making and goal-forming to allow member involvement
• Autocratic behavior: Demanding compliance and issuing orders, often in emergent safety-required situations
• Social support: Interpersonal relationship between leader and member(s)
• Positive feedback: Complimentary remarks and genuine appreciation

Multidimensional Model of Leadership

• Antecedents: What leads to specific leadership behavior.
• Situational characteristics: Characteristics associated with the environment/context (e.g., goals, tasks, group size, norms)
• Leader characteristics: Characteristics of the leader.
• Member characteristics: Characteristics unique to group members individually or as a collective (e.g., age, ability, needs, preferences)
• Leader Behavior
• Required: Behavior necessary for dealing with situational demands and constraints.
• Actual: How the leader actually chooses to manage the situation.
• Preferred: Behaviors participants/group members want from leader
• Consequences: Outcomes of the way leader behaves
• The leader's performance and participant's satisfaction depends on the degree to which the three states of leader behavior align.
• The leader's performance and participant's satisfaction provide feedback by impacting the leader's actual behavior.
• Group leaders must be flexible and adaptable to manage demands.

Key Takeaways

• Direct leadership involves face-to-face relationships affecting motivation/problem-solving.
• Motivation can be extrinsic or intrinsic, but leaders should foster intrinsic motivation for participation satisfaction.
• Use SMART goals to build motivation.
• Individuals have different preferences surrounding leadership behavior.
• The 5 dimensions of direct leader behavior: training/instruction, democratic/autocratic behavior, social support, and positive feedback.
• The multidimensional model considers antecedents to influence leader behaviors, that leads to consequences.

Supervision

• Supervising Staff and Volunteers
• Supervision: Directing, supporting, and monitoring those for whom a supervisor is responsible.
• Supervisory duties include: training new staff, developing and assigning projects/tasks, verifying proper plan execution, supporting, assisting, and providing discipline if needed.

Relationship Between Leadership and Supervision

• Leadership centers on influencing others.
• Supervision is more about delegating tasks to subordinates and then following their progress.
• Supervision is an integral leadership component using similar skills and overseeing people.

Importance of Supervisors

• Supports and values supervisees, enhancing organizational effectiveness.
• Clearly explains expectations.
• Provides support.
• Problems can be recognized and addressed.

Expectations of Supervisors

• Supervisors are caught in the middle between administrative/senior management and front-line employees.

Highlights of Different Expectations of Supervisors

• Managers expect supervisors to demonstrate loyalty, understand management's philosophy, follow policies, delegate, perform evaluations, keep updated, and enforce discipline.
• Employees expect supervisors to provide goals, delegate, support, demonstrate respect, and provide feedback.
• To be successful as a supervisor, motivate, train, represent interests, defend when needed/recognize successes

10 responsibilities of supervisors

• Problem Solving, which determines correct discrepancy solutions. As well as Decision Making, which is choosing from two or more alternaties.

Two types of decisions

• Programmed: Routine decisions based on policies that are less time consuming and easy to make.
• Non-programmed: require new, unique, and often unexpected circumstances, which means they consume more time and are difficult to make.
• Orientation and training: A mentor can supplement orientation.
• Evaluation: Help to assess employee performance to develop improvement plan as needed and help employees understand how to improve.
• Discipline: 4-step format:
• Verbal warning: Address the employee directly, identify the problem, acceptable behavior, and outlining potential consequences.
• Written warning: If the problem occurs again, document it. The employee should have an opportunity to respond.
• Intervention: Develop an employee improvement plan, with employee input.
• Termination: Great documentation is required, and it must adhere to policies and procedures.
• Communication/meetings: Promote ongoing internal comms so that all employees are up-to-date.
• Supporting personnel/organizational policies: Ensure that employees follow organizations policies and procedures.
• Observing, monitoring, and providing feedback: Supervisors must keep track of all employees progress.
• Encouraging professional development: Supervisors should encourage supervisees to attend professional development to gain skills/knowledge and to remain current with issues. Earning relevant certifications should be encouraged.
• Delegation: It involves assigning supervisees tasks for which the supervisor has the ultimate responsibility, and it can help improve sense of ownership.
• Motivation: The drive to work toward goals to expend considerable energy in reaching them.

Supervising Volunteers

• Volunteers perform services without pay.
• Can have roles like direct service with interacting with clients and Clerical or administrative.
• Motivations inclide: Self satisfaction, Altruism, Companionship/meeting others, Learning/training in a field, helping maintain an organization, developing contacts, getting ahead, providing entry.
• Benefits include Satisfaction of helping others, opportunity to offer expertise, serving as a link, and enjoyable activity.
• Considered with paid staffed:
• May need ongoing guidance, at least initially.
• Volunteers are not familiar with the inner workings of organizations.
• Often are not supervised or evaluated.
• Feedback can be helpful
• Evaluation should be a two-way process
• They may be retained through explicit recognition.
• Certificates, praise, awards, valuable feedback, and appreciation.

Problems and Challenges with Supervising Volunteers

• Dependability is the most common problem.
• Establish legal liability responsibility for working volunteers.
• Logistics around transportation
• Difficulties with assembling volunteers or organizing training.
• Developing or maintaining camaraderie: minimize different schedules to bond, share, and compare notes.

Behaviors of a Strong Supervisor

• Practice the Golden Rule
• Avoid perceptions of favoritism
• Manage emotions
• Know and care for your supervisees.
• Be an active listener.
• Set clear expectations.
• Provide appreciation, praise, and recognition.

Key Takeaways

• Recognize the different expectations that employees and managers have of supervisors
• List and explain the 10 different key responsibilities of supervisors
• Understand the roles, motivations, and benefits of volunteering
• Identify some of the problems and challenges in supervising volunteers
• Demonstrate behaviors of a strong supervisor

Teams as a System

• System: Entity made of interdependent parts forming a complex or unified whole.

Emotional Process: A Threat to Systems

• Humans assume anything new/unfamiliar is a potential threat.
• These can lead to failure, ridicule, or embarrassment
• See threats as opportunities to grow.
• Teams must embrace the unknown and make known individual viewpoints/explore new perspectives to operate effectively.

Factors Influencing Team Effectiveness

• Leaders must be aware of key team-impacting factors.
• Leaders should consider factors when the team is designed/put together.
• Internal and organizational contextual factors, conflict, trust, and size and diversity.

Size and diversity

• Team size has a practical concern and the levels of diversity pose many challenges.

Organizational Contextual Factors

• Structure: the way authority and roles are organized
• Differences in power addressed by changing structure or to create a culture of trust/empowerment
• Task design: the work or tasks for which the team is responsible

Culture

• Culture: Shared assumptions that lead to success within a team.
• Characteristics of cultures that value participation, flexibility, and expression.
• Team work is also characterized in this way.

Conflict and Trust

• Without trust, conflict may be feared and avoided.
• With trust, conflict may be used to consider issues more deeply.

Decision Making

• Team members may advocate for their positions.
• Effective decisions rely on open, diverse perspectives, well-understood issues, and space for potential solutions.
• It is crucial to know the four stages of Team Learning Dynamics.

Team Learning Dynamics

• The learning wheel model can help teams adjust to be more effective because teams can learn and respond quickly as a collective.
• Stages of the learning wheel model include:-
  • Disturbance
  • Chaos
  • Letting Go
  • Learning
• When things change, there is uncertainty and uneasiness.
• Willingness to move on helps teams learn new ways to approach problems.
• Learning begins with disturbance that creates the demand for change.
• Disturbance may be internal or external. Change is only sought when there is drive for change
• Disturbance does not necessarily result in learning.
• If teams ignore or avoid change due to surrounding uncertainty, it impacts learning.
• Chaos is a period of uncertainty as a person and team learn and change.
• The stage can be filled with anxiety, stress, and discomfort as teams seek new understandings
• Leaders must be aware of factors when chaos occurs in a team (Leaders must be present but not step in and help to the chaos to move forward)
• Letting go involves creating openness to consider new perspectives or a way of understanding and is a bridge between chaos and learning.
• Teams can let go of preconceived notions for a new path forward.
• If this stage can be quite difficult:
  • Demonstrate vulnerability
  • Make it clear that it's difficult
  • Share personal experience or current/difficult feelings around letting go Learning occurs when: There are three indicators of learning.
• Growing awareness and willingness to challenge assumptions and mental models. For learning to occur, assumptions must be recognized.
• Growing purposeful nature
• Open people challenges result in a broader perspective

Key Takeaways

• A system is an entity made up of interdependent parts that forn a complex or unified whole
• Leaders should see potential risks rather than opportunities for growth
• Team effective ness cab be impacted by internal factors as well as conflict and trust
• Four steps in team learning are disturbance, chaos, learning, and release

Effective Teams

• Leaders can develop effective teams through experiential learning, sustainability, and team infrastructure.
• Experiential learning learning involves learning in context, taking action, and reflecting on the process: Guided reflection after is an often missed component. Crucial learnings are taught through action not just words
• Transfer of learning also helps to learn through taking lessons in on context and applying them to another. Leaders can also provide ways to see the transfer with action and context.
• Sustainability is the capacity of the team to adapt and change in the future, this is achieved through learning as well as team infrastructure: Mindset, processes, Catalyst, opportunity.

Risk Management Strategies

• Includes: Reduction, avoidance, transfer, and retention and knowing the components can help in on putting out safety measures.
• Steps in reducing that it is centered to reduce accidents.
• Avoiding is the elimination process that can happen with temporarily suspension.
• Transfers can be used by a program or person, such as third party.
• Retainment can be an organizations' internal expense.
• High and Low levels of Risk can be identified in the Risk Matrix: Provide the necessary information, while maintaining assistance.
• Leaders must also ensure the safety of lower activities as well.

Domino Model

• Unsafe acts can add factors but a safe can take one away.
• Leaders do this in an attempt to recognize accident causation and make the activity safer.

Key Takeaways

• To ensure all things are safe
• The four componets need to be put into place while maintaining awareness as a supervisor.

Sucession Planning

• Sucession planning is a systematic process. Current talent within the organization is valuated to help grow needs: (longer term). Focus on future needs and develop staff.
• These may not be implemented because of time consumptions with short term results. They may come from 3 stems: agency development, assess job demands, talent pool.
• Can access or be used at a time. Where and org is to help identify.

Process

• Job and competencies can be needed to succeed which consists of: Educational components.
• Both soft skils should be considered.

Built the talent pool

• The workforce, they typically come from 4 areas: Advance two or three more levels within the organization, Have not reached a career plateau, Exceed expectation and are committed to Improving profesionally.
• These are then used with assessmens that are: Past appraisals, performance appraisals as well as centre to see where employees stand to prepare them for future levels of work with their talent tool.

Development

• A process that details where to learn and provide support, this consists of mentors, those that will provide the support and guidance needed: and is in 7 parts.
• Identify the job: (desires need to find what level the employee wants.
• Discuss competency gap Discuss the timeline
• Goals and Strategies Facilitate opps Establish. Timeline

The competency gap is the difference between the competencies the employer currently has and the need to obtain what is needed for what is required for success

Key Takeaways

• Follow the three steps to find the three main areas.

External Leadership

• Includes outside groups as an agency to help with goals or to benefit an issue. To solve problems or include deversity and share resources. To work with mutiple orgs: negociate the understanding to develop, is this to help relate those around that situation.

Develop a Communication Plan

• Honetly and tranparency helps include the:

Muliti

There are a range of challeges in benfits while working within Muti groups. The three stems help effecticely and organziations what they are.

Communities

• The commnuties help serve to benefit all through: Adviosory committees to make a a formal organizations and or make recommendations
• Foundation of non profit, raise private funds.
• Groups the typically cause issue where:Less formalities but are more specific to address to: Attend and review for public interest.
• They must be willing to adapt there is often: A need to train. Empowerment:

External Organization Leadership

: To help get others on bored the correct tone is key The following need to be shown: To promote, to demonstrate And to campaign.

External L: Leadershsip and Org:

:In contrast to community based : To help form the team/ set the ground work with: Purposes like. To build and share skills and goals.

L: Leaderwship

To help maintain the group/ to help with any future goals.

Internal factor

• To share new ways with the people.

Leaders In Profession

Leaders in profession:

Change is Inevitable

• Leaders should follow Change with: Leadership being comfortable.
• Trends tend to be longer lasting than fads: Treds may be demographic, technology or economic: Demgraphic : Adult population are growing more in 65 range. More time spent with caregivers. More to grow. This can be impacted by household incomes. To grow.

More use is technology and positive and negative, helps spread more and consumer is. To make decisions and to highlight to collect.

E trends

In times its more challenging to facilitate help with assistance:. In terms of value more value will be provided.

• To observe trades is to be helpful and aware as trades tend to.be long lasting and stable

• To provide leaders: leaders would need all the help possible to benefit from it and to have the means to get where it is: Acknowledige more and. .

Change model Clo

:to help get that the area is controlled and the people that have a say. This means the infkuenxe is increased. The vision is increased on the client side : can be built on: new skills with intelligent, issues.

Strategic thnikg

SWOT analysis:

is made so that it is possible. and also by making sure it's an. effort to improve, this can't be made with out weakness or the ability to overcome. The opps here helps what needs to be provided. and by removing threats. the areas where it is possible . to to create a new enviroment.