Group process: navigating the dynamics

Question 1

What is a primary group

Answer 1

• Primary groups are spontaneous and have informal social processes and structures
• Membership is automatic, or freely chosen (family group, childhood peer group, neighbours, friendship groups)
• Our first primary group is our family
• RNs are both members of groups and facilitators/leaders of groups

Question 2

What is a secondary group

Answer 2

• Secondary groups exist for a specific purpose; emphasizing completing a job and/or accomplishing specific goals
• Membership is more selective and the group’s social processes and structures are formalized (a student council, an exercise group, a patients’ rights committee)
• Specific purpose
• Usually a selected leader
• Formal beginning, formal structure, formal end

Question 3

Definition of a group

Answer 3

• “A collection of persons who engage in repeated, face-to-face communication, identify with each other, are interdependent, and share a common purpose or purposes”
• Can meet basic individual needs for belonging, security, safety and the opportunity to help others
• Also shape their members’ thinking and behaviour through internal processes of acceptance and rejection
• We are all reliant on each other to create this climate of learning and achieve our common goal
• Can be both constructive positive force or a destructive force, or both

Question 4

Characteristics that influence/shape functionality of small groups

Answer 4

• Group purpose
• Group goals
• Group size
• Group member composition
• Group norms

Question 5

Group purpose

Answer 5

• Want to have a clearly defined group purpose; directs everything that will be going on in the group
• There are different kinds of purpose

Health education
– knowledge of skills; particular interventions, how to self manage particular issue

Support
– promoting health behaviours and preventing maladaptive coping habits among members; sense of community, compassion and empathy , having suffering witnessed

Socialization
– i.e. music group, help people who have difficulties making connections socially, expressing themselves interpersonally
– based on common interest, facilitate social connections

Psychotherapy
- intention is on having therapeutic benefit related to some sort of mental health issue
- Common experience of mental health issue
– can be health education group or psychotherapy group regarding mental health issues

Question 6

Group goals

Answer 6

• Achievable, measurable and within the capabilities of the group
• Goals are tied to particular group’s purpose
• Needs to be achievable
• Is it within the capabilities of this group; what do they want to accomplish, what do I want to accomplish
• Is it realistic given the time and space we have together
• Make sure it’s not too easy or difficult

Question 7

Group size

Answer 7

• Dictated by the purpose of the group
• 6-8 members ideal for therapeutic group
• 10 members for educational group
• Group too big; fish bowl effect
• Too small of a group; also feel on display; is somebody is away, more pressure in terms of participation
• 10 good for education; generally not disclosing the same intimate information as therapeutic group

Question 8

Group member composition

Answer 8

• Functional similarity of participants

Who the group members are plays a role in how the group interactions

• How similar are these participants
• How well will they be able to share emotionally, psychologically to what is happening to them
• Risk of functional similarity screening: you can segregate out people who need the service the most who are typically marginalized within society
• We live and work in a finite society; what are the implications of the people being excluded and where will they go
• Need to self interrogation of what is at the root of the decision making, what are the implications of the decision making and for whom?

Question 9

Group norms

Answer 9

• Unwritten behavioural rules of conduct expected of group members
• Universal norms vs. group-specific norms
• All about how we conduct ourselves within the group
• Universal norms – do they exist? Everything needs to be negotiated
• Our behaviour is governed by the particularities of the group

Question 10

Group dynamics

Answer 10

• Communication processes and behaviours occurring during the life of the group
• Both “individual” and “group characteristics” combined
• Group dynamics influence success of reaching goal, and/or membership satisfaction
• Can be both verbal and non-verbal things that are going on within the context of the group

Question 11

Group functions

Answer 11

• The behaviour of every small group serves two types of functions:

1) Task-related function
- Focus on completing the job
- Goal-oriented and instrumental

2) Group maintenance function
- Focus is on how members are interacting
- Member-related and interpersonal

• Have to have both functions attended to
• To only attend to one is at the detriment of the other

Question 12

Building group cohesiveness

Answer 12

• Group cohesion is that sense of unity or togetherness that is formed amongst its membership
• Sense of pride in membership
• Emotional commitment to members of the group (sense of loyalty)
• Allows groups to weather internal problems/conflict and prevent the group’s disintegration

Question 13

Group think

Answer 13

• Risk with increased cohesion
• Group think: everyone is so invested in the group that everyone starts thinking in a particular way and starts suppressing other ways of thinking
• Flags that group think is happening; suppression of dissenting voice, self censor ship of members, self appointment mind guards (policing how others are feeling about things)
• These can work against achievement of particular goals

Question 14

Phases of group development

Answer 14

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Mourning

Question 15

Group development: forming

Answer 15

• everyone feeling it out
• getting to know each other
• playing nice

Question 16

Group development: storming

Answer 16

• when drama starts
• jockeying for power
• people want to assert themselves
• people fall into more submissive role
• who will do what kinds of tasks
• conflict around leadership, structure, power
• members testing one another
• more authentic in engagement (true lay of the land of how group will play out)

Question 17

Group development: norming

Answer 17

• group falling into a rhythm
• group cohesion and better understanding of group itself
• knowing how to engage with each other
• creativity high and productivity high

Question 18

Group development: performing

Answer 18

• not all groups reach this stage
• true interdependence
• group functioning really well
• robust
• most groups don’t last long enough to achieve this stage

Question 19

Group development: mourning

Answer 19

• sad that the group is coming to an end
• looking to leader about what happens next
• hopefully have achieved goal
• emotional work of disengaging with one another

Question 20

Leading role vs facilitating role

Answer 20

• Important distinction between role as a group leader vs. role as a group facilitator
• Leader is in a position of authority over the group that exerts a varying degree of control over both the content and processes of a group
• Facilitator is a “self-reflective, process-person who has a variety of human, process, technical skills and knowledge, together with a variety of experiences to assist groups of people to journey together to reach their goals”

Leader – you are opposing authority over group, determining the content, how it rolls out
Facilitator – resource to the group, brings a set of skills/knowledge that meets the groups, encourages the group to mobilize their own resources

Question 21

Types of communication

Answer 21

• Example of owl, peacock, dove, eagle
• People have different communication methods
• May need to adapt to meet other peoples needs
• Be mindful when communicating that others may communicate effectively in different ways

Question 22

Facilitator roles

Answer 22

• Designing an appropriate process to achieve the outcome desired by the group
• Observing what is happening, or not happening in the group and highlighting this to the group
• Identifying and raising problems that are holding the group back
• Challenging inappropriate behaviour
• Drawing out ideas
• Posing new approaches for problem-solving
• Mobilizing interventions to improve functioning

Question 23

Group member roles: task-related behaviours

Answer 23

• Initiator
• Information seeker
• Opinion seeker
• Informer
• Clarifier
• Summarizer
• Reality tester
• Orienter
• Follower

Question 24

Group members roles: maintenance-related behaviours

Answer 24

• Harmonizer
• Gatekeeper
• Consensus taker
• Encourager
• Compromiser
• Standard Setter

Question 25

Group member roles: idiosyncratic behaviours

Answer 25

- Aggressor - Blocker - Self-confessor - Competitor - Sympathy-seeker - Special pleader - Horsing around(er) - Recognition seeker - Withdrawer

Question 26

Characteristics of an ineffective group

Answer 26

- Goals are vague or imposed on the group without discussion - Communication is guarded and feelings are not always given attention - Power resides with the leader- it is not shared - Decision-making occurs with little or no consultation - Controversy and open conflict are not tolerated - There is a one-sided focus on task or maintenance role functions to the exclusion of the complimentary function - Individual resources are not used - Problem-solving abilities and interpersonal effectiveness are low - Or goals imposed on a group where there hasn’t been any participation on it; if there is no buy in - Need to have conflict out in the open so it can get resolved

Question 27

Ineffective groups: solution focused interventions

Answer 27

Guiding principles: - Assess what is happening - Identify the problem - Review the evidence for interventions that address your group’s specific problem - Identify some expected outcomes for your intervention - Ensure outcomes are specific, achievable & measurable - Evaluate your intervention and re-assess Relationship development - Icebreakers Idea generation - Brainstorming - Nominal group technique Capacity-building - Improving group relationships Adaptive learning - Appreciative Inquiry; what's going well and what can we keep doing