Group Dynamics in a Business World
Group Dynamics in a Business World
Tammye Bass
MGT415: Group Behavior in Organizations
Dennis Lauver
January 30, 2011
Group Dynamics in a Business World The knowledge of group behavior can affect the way one performs in a group setting. Group dynamics is the scientific study of behavior in groups (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). A group is two or more individuals who have interaction with each other to achieve a goal (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). Many businesses depend on the high productivity that groups generate. In some organizations today, a valued employee is one who has the ability to work successfully in a small group or team. The knowledge of group dynamics is needed to be successful in a career. By examining valuable group behaviors and how they affect the outcome of group processes, we can better understand why this knowledge is important for a group to be successful. A valuable group behavior is positive interdependence. Positive interdependence is the perception that one is linked with others in such a way that success is impossible without the others and that group effort must be coordinated in order to complete a task (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). When you have positive interdependence, the actions of your group members will promote the success of others. The members are open to the influence of the others and the members can count on each other. It takes the actions of the whole group to achieve the mutual goals. John Maxwell has 17 undisputable laws in his book, Laws of Teamwork. One of them is the Law of Countability. This law states that teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts. Maxwell uses the following formula for countability: Character + Competence + Commitment + Consistency + Cohesion = Countability. When an individual has these qualities with himself and with others, then the team has what is necessary to successfully achieve their goals (Maxwell, 2001). Countability of an
Tammye Bass
MGT415: Group Behavior in Organizations
Dennis Lauver
January 30, 2011
Group Dynamics in a Business World The knowledge of group behavior can affect the way one performs in a group setting. Group dynamics is the scientific study of behavior in groups (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). A group is two or more individuals who have interaction with each other to achieve a goal (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). Many businesses depend on the high productivity that groups generate. In some organizations today, a valued employee is one who has the ability to work successfully in a small group or team. The knowledge of group dynamics is needed to be successful in a career. By examining valuable group behaviors and how they affect the outcome of group processes, we can better understand why this knowledge is important for a group to be successful. A valuable group behavior is positive interdependence. Positive interdependence is the perception that one is linked with others in such a way that success is impossible without the others and that group effort must be coordinated in order to complete a task (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). When you have positive interdependence, the actions of your group members will promote the success of others. The members are open to the influence of the others and the members can count on each other. It takes the actions of the whole group to achieve the mutual goals. John Maxwell has 17 undisputable laws in his book, Laws of Teamwork. One of them is the Law of Countability. This law states that teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts. Maxwell uses the following formula for countability: Character + Competence + Commitment + Consistency + Cohesion = Countability. When an individual has these qualities with himself and with others, then the team has what is necessary to successfully achieve their goals (Maxwell, 2001). Countability of an