Benedictine University
Ph.D. Program in Organization Development

Group Dynamics

January 2001

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SYLLABUS

Instructor:
James D. Ludema, Benedictine University

Distinguished Scholar:
Ronald Fry, Case Western Reserve University

Overview

Groups are the core unit of interaction and analysis in all organizations and interorganizational networks. Groups are everywhere in our society and organizations. Most people belong to several groups -- family, sports teams, church group, fraternity or sorority, work groups at the office, professional associations worldwide. Some groups are formally established in a work or formal association, others are more loosely knit associations of people. We cannot study organizational development and behavior without understanding the behavior of people in group settings. As the work of organizations becomes more complex, cross-functional, and varied, groups and group dynamics become even more prominent and important to understand. Similarly, as organizations become more diverse and global, group membership becomes more heterogeneous, and the complexities and challenges of good group process increase. All of this occurs in a global context of cooperation and competition in which virtual groups are emerging, group size is growing, and demands for high performance are ever increasing. Scholars and practitioners will have to be able to understand and help create constructive group processes in the face of these challenges if they are to make a positive contribution to the performance of organizations and the future of the planet.

Although most of us have been in various kinds of groups throughout our lives, we seldom take time to systematically observe and analyze how groups of all sizes function and consider how they could be shaped and structured to function better. Yet observation and analysis are the first steps in understanding groups, shaping their dynamics, and ultimately improving their performance. In this course, you will have the opportunity to analyze your own group processes, while learning from and applying the best of the group process and development literature.

Course Readings

• Goffman, E. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
• Bion, W. Experience in Groups.
• Smith & Berg, Paradoxes of Group Life.

• Gibbard, G. S., et al. "Individual and the Group."
• Hartman, J. and Gibbard, G. S. "Anxiety, Boundary Evolution, and Social Change."
• Gemmill, G. "The Mythology of the Leader Role in Small Groups."
• Gibbard, G. S. "Group Process and Development."
• Bennis, W. & Shepard, H. "A Theory of Group Development."
• Brower, A. "Group Development as Constructed Social Reality."
• Gersick, C. "Time and Transition in Work Teams."
• Srivastva, S. et al. "Organizational Analysis Through Group Process."
• Verdi, A. & Wheelan, S. "Developmental Patterns in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Groups."
• Tuchman, B. "Development Sequence in Small Groups."
• Wheelan, S. & McKeage, R. "Developmental Patterns in Small and Large Groups."
• Srivastva, S. & Barrett, F. "The Transforming Nature of Metaphors in Group Development."
• Bouwen, R. & Fry, R. "Facilitating Group Development: Interventions for a Relational and Contextual Construction."

Preparation for January 5-7 Weekend

Part One: The Group as Context for Interaction

• Structure and Function of Dialogue

• The Autobiographies of your class mates.
• Goffman, E. Presentations of Self in Everyday Life.

 

Part Two: Nascent Nature of Groups

• Themes Generated by Group Members
  Read:
  • Gibbard, G. S., et al. "Individual and the Group."
  • Bion, W. Experience in Groups.

• Evolution of Group Experience
  Read:
  • Hartman, J. and Gibbard, G. S. "Anxiety, Boundary Evolution, and Social Change."
  • Gemmill, G. "The Mythology of the Leader Role in Small Groups."

Assignment:

1. Prepare a 1-2 page "conversation starter" based on any of the readings or ideas you were attracted to across the readings. You might include key quotes or points raised by the author, questions raised for you from the reading, some examples in your experience to support or contradict the reading, and a key topic or invitation to others to join in a dialogue about. Bring 15 copies of your "starter" to hand out to others in your break out group.
2. Bring one, most provocative or relevant quote from your reading to put up on flipchart paper during the weekend.

Preparation for January 26-28 Weekend

Part Three: Life in Groups

• Knowledge in Context
  Read: Smith & Berg, Paradoxes of Group Life.
  
  

Part Four: Group Development

• Theories of Group Development
  Read:
  • Gibbard, G. S. "Group Process and Development."
• Bennis, W. & Shepard, H. "A Theory of Group Development."
• Brower, A. "Group Development as Constructed Social Reality."
• Gersick, C. "Time and Transition in Work Teams."
• Srivastva, S. et al. "Organizational Analysis Through Group Process."
• Verdi, A. & Wheelan, S. "Developmental Patterns in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Groups."
• Tuchman, B. "Development Sequence in Small Groups."
• Wheelan, S. & McKeage, R. "Developmental Patterns in Small and Large Groups."

Part Five: Social Construction of Group Realities

• Beyond Task and Maintenance
  Read:
  • Srivastva, S. & Barrett, F. "The Transforming Nature of Metaphors in Group Development."
  • Bouwen, R. & Fry, R. "Facilitating Group Development: Interventions for a Relational and Contextual Construction."

Assignment (come prepared to discuss):

1. Create your own Paradox! Using Smith and Berg, and your experience, describe in your own words a dilemma or paradox you experience in group life; preferably one that you have experienced with others in groups in this program.
2. OD is well known for and heavily used to "develop" people and groups in organizational contexts. From this body of literature, what is "development"? Is it good, worthy, and right in all cases? Do people and groups develop on their own, or must they use facilitation? Why worry about "development" in a group?

Course Paper (due February 18)

Write a 15-20 page paper (word-processed, double-spaced) that allows you to do three things: (1) reflect on your in-class group experience, (2) interpret your experience using the relevant literature from the readings, and (3) craft your own imaginative mini-theory of healthy group dynamics for today’s organizations/world. In the first part of the paper, select an event, a turning point, an observation, a recurring theme, an experience, whatever, from your in-class group dynamics activities and write about it. Reflect on it, analyze it, ponder it, appreciate it, look at it from multiple perspectives, describe it. The key point it to dig deeply into your in-class/in-group experience and tell about it in "full living color." Become the storyteller and make the experience come alive for the reader. In the second part of the paper, discuss, analyze, and interpret your in-class experience using the literature from the readings. Summarize the authors and key concepts that were most interesting and relevant to you and then apply them to your in-class experience. The purpose of this part of the paper is to connect your experience to the literature and to make sense of it with relevant group dynamics theories. In the third part of the paper, let your imagination take over! Based on your experience, your understanding of the literature, and your understanding of the most important group dynamics challenges we face in our organizations today, invent your own mini-theory of healthy group dynamics and development for the 21^st Century. If you wish, consider (but certainly don’t be bound by) some of the following questions. What do your experience and the literature tell you about the most important "group dynamics" we face in our world today? What are the core "basic assumptions," "key paradoxes," "developmental challenges," "opportunities for relational construction," etc. that we face? Are these dynamics different today than they were five, ten, or twenty years ago? Will they be different yet again in the near future? What are the "essential ingredients" of a healthy human group? What does a healthy, high-functioning group look like and how can it be encouraged and nurtured? As organizational members and OD professionals, what can/should our role be? What are the theories, principles, and practices of group dynamics and development that we can/should bring to bear? What new ones need to be created? The key point here is to draw on your experience (both in class and in your organizations) and on the literature to create fresh insight into healthy group functioning in the 21^st Century. Make the paper a 15-20 pager (word-processed, double-spaced), and feel free to link it to your emerging dissertation interests if you wish