Contingency Variables Affecting Group Behaviour

Concept

Contingency factors are situational variables. They have a variety of effects on group dynamics. They are group efforts that have synergistic effects. The principal random factors affecting group behavior include

Communication

Information transmission and meaning comprehension are two aspects of communication. It is the foundation of group dynamics. It regulates group member behavior, offers data for making decisions, allows for the emotional expression of sentiments, and encourages motivation. It has a favorable impact on team performance. Information transfer from one person to another is referred to as communication. It also involves comprehending meaning. The received message's meaning should reflect the intended meaning as closely as feasible. A dynamic interpersonal process, communication is.

According to Moorhead and Griffin, "Communication is the process in which two or more parties exchange information and share meaning."

According to Stephen p. Robbins, "Communication is the transference and understanding if meaning."

Messaging is an aspect of the communication process between two parties. Understanding of meaning is the result.

The key to managing, inspiring, organizing, and making decisions in group behavior is communication. People are connected through communication. For OB, it is essential. In organizations, it is a constant process.

Transmitting information and meaning from one person to another is the process of communication. It involves the exchange of knowledge and comprehension between the sender and the recipient.

The act of communicating information in a way that the recipient can understand its meaning is known as effective communication. The message conveyed should have a meaning that is as close as feasible to what was intended.

Barriers to Group communication:

• Information transfer from one person to another is referred to as communication. It also involves comprehending meaning. The received message's meaning should reflect the intended meaning as closely as feasible. A dynamic interpersonal process, communication is.
• Transmitting information and meaning from one person to another is the process of communication. It involves the exchange of knowledge and comprehension between the sender and the recipient.
• The act of communicating information in a way that the recipient can understand its meaning is known as effective communication. The message conveyed should have a meaning that is as close as feasible to what was intended.
• The caliber of the message received is a key indicator of effective communication. Communication is interfaced with by barriers. They contribute to the explanation of why the decoded message differs from the encoded message. They restrict how people communicate. As a result, communication barriers and breakdowns. They ought to understand how to control the flow of information and reduce any potential issues. In this section, we'll give a brief overview of the main issue preventing smooth communication within a business.

Group performance is negatively impacted by obstacles to good group communication. They include:

• Filtering: The sender modifies the information such that the recipient will view it favorably.
• Selective perception: As the recipient decodes the message, he selectively sees and hears what he wants to see and hear.
• Information overload: A person cannot process the amount of information coming in.
• Language: Various persons may interpret the same words in different ways. Specialized language or jargon obstructs communication.
• Noise: It obstructs communication and lessens its efficiency.

Leadership

Management is centered on leadership. Basically, it meant starting an activity. Employees must be given instructions by someone within the company. The employee must perform their duties to the best of their abilities, and someone must ensure this. Additionally, someone needs to motivate, guide, and oversee the employee. As a result, leadership entails setting the course, giving orders, and supervising others. The greater the contribution of subordinates to the objectives of the business, the more effective the leadership process.

Continuous innovation, creativity, and leadership with a clear vision are required given the rapidly evolving social, economic, political, and technical environment. The leadership of an organization must take on the duty of realizing the organization's objectives while also creating an environment that encourages excellent performance. Therefore, every firm requires capable and successful leaders at all levels, including strong supervisors, middle managers, and general managers. An essential component of effective management is leadership.

Leadership is the capacity to actively persuade people to pursue their objectives in a specific situation. In a given setting, it is directing and influencing followers' behavior toward goal achievement. Leadership is essential to comprehending and forecasting group behavior. The group's leader is the one who forges relationships of trust with the members and gives them guidance toward reaching their objectives.

According to Hersey and Blanchard, "Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts towards goal attainment in a given situation."

According to Stephen R. Robbins, "Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals."

In groups, leadership establishes a mission and goals. The task and performance standards are established. It emphasizes followers' needs and expectations. influences objective achievement above all. It serves as the initiator of reality.

According to Stoner, Freeman, and Gilbert (1992), "Leadership is the process of directing and influencing the task-related activities of a group member."

Each leader's and organization's leadership philosophies are very different. The ideology, opinions, personality, and experience of each leader vary greatly. Much also depends on the culture and characteristics of the organization; certain organizations are better suited to the growth of powerful leadership philosophies than others. There are four primary leadership philosophies:

Types of Leadership

The continuum of these leadership philosophies runs from one extreme to the other.

• Autocratic leadership style:
  • People follow autocratic leaders because they can be trusted. They direct with little to no chance of having an impact on the choice. They might make use of the power, status, and fear that come with being part of their group.
  • Position or the ability of the person to accomplish goals. They complete tasks in their own manner without worrying for the opinions or views of others. They frequently claimed credit for success while blaming their subordinates for failure.
  • Because autocratic leaders have unrestricted power, they have a natural tendency to retain a disproportionate amount of influence and power over decisions. The input from the subordinates is scant, if any. As a result, miscommunications can frequently happen, which can lead to expensive errors and wasteful practices, humiliating subordinates. This leadership style essentially kills initiatives and subordinates.
  • A team member would typically passively resist this technique, necessitating constant leadership push and direction to move things along. In general, the strategy is a bad way to get a team to perform at its best. However, this approach could be suitable when immediate action is required or when subordinates truly favor this approach.
• Democratic style:
  • Leaders who employ this method conduct themselves very differently. If you're lucky, your manager will tell you and your team, "These are the results we have to attain; this is the task to be done." Together, let's decide the best course of action. Let's decide what we're going to do, then. Such a leader runs their affairs democratically or collaboratively.
  • Leaders encourage open communication and conversation. Instead of using penalties, they rely on rewards. Trust in the connection grows, promoting two-way communication. Overall, democratic leadership encourages people to develop, take ownership of their job, and cooperate with one another. Subordinates have a great deal of power over their work, and there is mutual respect between them and their leaders at all levels of management.
  • By getting the greatest knowledge, suggestions, and experiences from their staff, these leaders have an advantage. As a result, their staff tends to have better attitudes or produce more effectively. The subordinates feel personally successful and accomplished. This technique runs the danger of being time-consuming at times. A complicated breakdown of management control may be the outcome of excessive debate and lack of agreement.
  • Leadership is the capacity to persuade people to work toward common objectives. It involves directing and influencing a group member's actions so they can gladly and willingly accomplish goals in a particular circumstance. It is crucial to comprehending how groups behave. The group leader must build a rapport of trust with each member.
  • Leadership style refers to the manner in which leaders shape group dynamics. With circumstances, it alters.

Power and Authority

Power

Power is the ability to shape other people's behavior. Power is a tool used by leaders to achieve group objectives. The choice of objectives and the mechanisms for allocating resources among group members are determined by power. The group's electricity sources include the following:

• Legal: It is based on one's place in the established group hierarchy. It comes from a formal source.
• Coercive: It is coercive and founded on fear. It has the power to impose penalties for noncompliance.
• Reward: This refers to the capacity to bestow praiseworthy rewards. Rewards can be extrinsic or intrinsic, financial or non-financial.
• Expert: Expertise is influence based on specialized knowledge and skills. This power has become more significant for collective behavior with the development of information technology.
• Referent: This refers to the capacity to connect with other power centers. Identification with someone who possesses attractive qualities or assets is what it is. In general, using expert and referent powers results in improved group performance.

Authority

Structures of authority specify who reports to whom and who makes decisions. Power with authority is legal power. It is proper to take action—or to order others to take action—in order to achieve objectives. It is rights that come with a job. Power comes from authority, which has an impact on group behavior. Group members' behavior is standardized by formal rules. The hierarchy's position determines who has authority. It is transferable to subordinates.

Conflicts

Conflicts result from interactions between behaviors. It comprises of various adversarial interactions of all kinds. It is a process that starts whenever one party hurts or is going to hurt something that the other party cares about.

The approaches to conflict are:

• The conventional view is that any form of conflict in a group should be avoided at all costs.
• Behavioural strategy: In any group, conflict is a normal and unavoidable result. The resolution of conflict should be accepted.
• Interactionist approach: Conflict is a motivating element in a group and is essential for productive teamwork. If there isn't already conflict, it needs to be sparked and managed.

Levels of conflict:

Group conflict can take place on two levels:

• Interpersonal conflict: This sort of disagreement arises between two or more group members. Such conflict is brought on by personality clashes, divergent goals, disparate roles, poor communication, and self-concept threats. It has a major emotional impact.
• Intergroup conflict: Conflict between groups (intergroup conflict) happens. It is a manifestation of group animosity and deliberate meddling in one another's affairs. Sources of conflict between groups include:
  • Task interdependence, task ambiguity, and varying work orientations are necessary for work coordination.
  • Resource distribution strategy: The reward system. Conflict results from competing reward structures.
  • Competition: Limited resources. Conflict results from competition over limited resources.

Intergroup conflict resolution techniques include

• Avoidance: Prevent the conflict from ever being in the open. Ignore the dispute or impose a resolution.
• Diffusion: Deactivate the conflict and calm the parties' heated feelings and animosity. Establish overarching objectives that call for collective cooperation.
• Conflict is contained, but some of it is allowed to erupt. It is restrained by strictly regulating both the topics to be discussed and the approaches to solving them.
• Confrontation: Every subject is discussed in the open.
• A compromise that appeases all parties is reached.

Conflict can be a good thing. A group cannot function properly unless there is an ideal level of functional conflict.

Group Decision Making

Collective decision-making occurs when a group of people chooses between two or more options. In organizations, group decision-making is frequently utilized. Situations vary. The following are the steps in collective decision-making:

• A proper diagnosis of the issue has been made. Information is chosen, arranged, and interpreted by group members.
• Creating Alternatives: Different sources are used to create alternatives. Members of the group's experience, thoughts, and proposals aid in the generation of more options.
• Assessing Alternatives: The benefits and drawbacks of pertinent alternatives are assessed. The committee creates the decision criteria for deciding on the alternative.
• Choice: The best option is chosen from among the available options. The choice may be made by unanimous vote of the members or by group consensus.
• mplementation: The group puts the selected alternative into practice and keeps an eye on it.

Strengths of Group Decision Making

• Information: Collectively, people produce more knowledge and information.
• Diverse perspectives: Groups present a range of perspectives. They give problem description and analysis a broader perspective. There are more options found.
• High-quality decisions are produced by the group as a result of involvement. They are frequently more accurate and original.
• Groups encourage member commitment to decisions.

Weaknesses of Group Decision Making:

• Groups take time, which is a time constraint. They take longer to come up with an answer.
• Conformity: Due to peer pressure, groups often conform. This is the result of a member's desire to fit in with the group.
• Domination: One or a small number of people control the group. Some participants are hesitant to share their ideas. This stifles originality.
• Groups struggle with uncertain duty.
• Group-think: This generates erroneous conclusions.

Improving Group Decision Making

The following methods can help groups make better decisions:

• Brainstorming:
  Through collective innovation, solutions to particular problems are found. Brainstorming is being used to solve the issue. There can be six or more group members. The rules followed are:
  • Freewheeling is permitted. Produce as many concepts as you can.
  • Idea generation via imagination and creativity is encouraged.
  • It is acceptable to combine, group, and extend concepts.
  • It is not permitted to criticize ideas. It is advised to listen carefully.
• Delphi Technique:
  It combines the opinions of a carefully chosen group of professionals. Members don't talk to each other in person. The rules followed are:
  • Members are chosen with care. They are authorities in the subject matter.
  • In the first round, the group is given a well crafted questionnaire.
  • A review and analysis of the first round's outcomes. In order to receive more feedback, they are fed back to the respondents.
  • Ideas are honed over the course of three to four rounds in order to obtain an acceptable level of expert agreement.
  • A time limit, usually one hour, is stated. Face-to-face interaction takes place.
• Nominal Group Technique:
  ​​​​​​​It tries to increase group members' involvement in decision-making. Individual members gather in person to methodically yet independently pool their judgment. They are as follows:
  • In the first step, each group member works independently to come up with written ideas. The concepts are gathered and recorded.
  • Group members collaborate as an interacting group in the second step to discuss and assess the ideas produced in the first stage.
  • Members rank their ideas in order to come up with a compromise.
• Reducing Status Quo Tendency:
  ​​​​​​​While making decisions, a group has a tendency to resist change. This propensity for the status quo can be curbed by:
  • Highlighting how good the decision was.
  • Supporting innovation and taking calculated risks.
  • Utilizing independent experts to assess choices .
  • Coming up with many scenarios, including worst case, likely case, and ambitious case.
• Electronic Meeting:
  Participants engage with computers. It permits the aggregate of votes and the anonymity of comments. On computer screens, participants write their responses to numerous questions.

Reference

AGRAWAL, DR. GOVIND RAM.Organization Relations. Bhotahity, Kathmandu: M.K. Publishers & Distributors , 2013. textbook.