Group Development

Term Paper Title	Group Development
# of Words	782
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.13

Group Development
Comm. 332

Dec 15, 2003

Group Development is the process a group experiences while forming.  All decision making groups operate on two dimensions, task and social.  Group development occurs in periodic stages.  There are four stages of group development, forming, storming, norming, and performing.   I will discuss all of these aspects of group development and then relate some personal experiences I have dealing with group development.

Groups that make decisions are impacted by two dimensions, social and task.  Task dimension is the actual work done by the group and the impact the task has on the group.    The social dimension is related to the relationships that form between group members and the group as a whole.  Because all aspects of a group are interconnected the degree of concern for a task will affect the social aspect of the group. Conversely the degree of concern for the group's relationship will affect the group's accomplishment of the task.  Each dimesion has an output to measure the groups interactions.  Productiveness is task related output, while cohesiveness is a social dimension output.  Both the task dimension and the social dimension must be recognized in order for the group to be successful. Groups that have higher cohesiveness are often more productive.

Group development occurs in Periodic stages, the first stage is Forming.  Groups form for several different reasons.  Interpersonal Attraction is a main reason why groups from. Humans are social beings and have a strong need to affiliate with others who they percieve as similar to themselves. Attraction to group activities and attraction to group goals are two other important reasons for groups to form.  Often groups are formed to help individuals make sense of the world, or to fill an unrelated need such as career advancement or out of direction from an authority figure.

The second periodic stage of group development is known as Storming.  Storming is social tension that all groups experience in two stages.  The first stage, primary tension,  occurs when people feel anxious or uneasy when they first meet.  Secondary Tension, the second stage, occurs within the group later in the group development process.  Secondary tension occurs because of decision making, or when group members struggle to agree on roles within the group.  Secondary tension often is manifested in ...

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