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Group Dynamics
A group is two or more persons who are interacting with one
another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each
other person (Shaw M E 1976, Group Dynamics).
For a collection of people to be defined as a group, the members
must:
- interact with one another
- be socially attracted to each other
- share goals or objectives
- have a shared identity which distinguishes them from other
groups
The social mixing of a sports club is termed "Social
Cohesion" and a group with shared formal goals who are normally successful
as a group (e.g. the 8 rowers in a boat race) is referred to as "Task
Cohesion".
Group development
The development of a group normally goes through the following
stages:
- Forming - the group gets together and a level of
formality is common
- Storming- heightened tension associated with competition
for status and influence
- Norming - rules and standards of behaviour are
agreed
- Performing - group matures to a point where it is able
to work together as a team
There are many different forms of interaction in a group. We have
social interaction (formation of friends) and task interaction (the way the
members co-operate to achieve goals)
Cohesion
This is the extent to which members of a group exhibit a desire to
achieve common goals and group identity. Research tends to support the view
that high interaction teams need high task cohesion to be consistently
successful, whereas for moderate or low interaction teams cohesion is less
important to success. Again, we have social cohesion, extent to which members
of the group get on with one another, and task cohesion, the extent to which
members cooperate to achieve the group's goals. The following factors affect
cohesion:
- Stability - Cohesion develops the longer a group is
together with the same members
- Similarity- Cohesion develops when the more similar the
group members are in terms of age, sex, skills and attitudes
- Size - Cohesion develops more quickly in small
groups
- Support - Cohesive teams tend to have managers and
coaches who provide support to team members and encourage them to support one
another
- Satisfaction- Cohesion is associated with the extent to
which team members are pleased with each others performance, behaviour and
conformity to the norms of the team
Carron (1980) defined a cohesive group as having the following
characteristics:
- a collective identity
- a sense of shared purpose
- structured patterns of communication
Loafing
Loafing is the tendency for individuals to lessen their effort
when they are part of a group - also known as Ringelmann effect. Causes of
loafing in a team have been attributed to individuals:
- perceiving others to be working less hard than themselves
thereby giving them an excuse to put in less effort
- believing that their own efforts will have little effect on the
outcome
- disliking hard work and assuming that their lack of effort will
not be noticed
- feeling "off form" and believing team mates will cover for
their lack of effort
Associated Pages
The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page:
Associated Books
The following books provide more information related to this topic:
- The Successful Coach, P. Crisfield et al., ISBN 0 947850 16 3
- USA Track and Field Coaching Manual, J.L. Rogers, ISBN0 88011 604 8
- Strength Training for Coaches, B. Pauletto, ISBN 0 88011 371 5
- Mental Skills - An Introduction for Sports Coaches, C. Sellars, ISBN 0 947850 34 1
- Advanced Studies in Physical Education and Sport, P Beashel et al., ISBN 0 17 4482345
- Physical Education and the Study of Sport, B. Davis et al., ISBN 0 7234 31752
- Essentials of Exercise Physiology, W.D. McArdle et al., ISBN 0 683 30507 7
- Physical Education and Sport Studies, D. Roscoe et al., ISBN 1 901424 20 0
- The World of Sport Examined, P. Beashel et al., ISBN 0 17 438719 9
- Advanced PE for Edexcel, F. Galligan et al., ISBN 0 435 50643 9
- Examining Physical Education, K. Bizley, ISBN 0 435 50660 9
- Sport and PE, K Wesson et al., ISBN 0 340 683821
- PE for you, J. Honeybourne, ISBN 0 7487 3277 2
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