Factors considered in formation and organization of groups

Why form groups?

• to secure themselves as far as economic. social, psychological and spiritual security is concerned
• to satisfy their physiological need
• to satisfy their need for achievement
• to adopt new practices by convincing

Some factors to be considered while forming and organizing groups are;

1. Similarities of Attitudes and Values:

• People remain attached to the group who hold similar opinions, morals, beliefs and code of conduct.
• Similarity of interest is very important when the group’s primary goal is that of creating a friendly interpersonal climate.
• For example, if the army has to win a strategic battle, then the task accomplishment becomes important rather than the similarity of attitudes and values because the unit may consist of soldiers from different parts of the country who may not have much in common.

2. Size of the Group:

• Small groups are effective. The larger the size of the group, the less cohesive the group is. There will be high degree of interaction and communication with each other in small groups.
• In large groups, the possibility of interaction among members is less. As group size increases, it becomes more difficult to get the group to agree on common goals and activities and expression of disagreement and dissatisfaction increases.

3. Time and location:

• The more time people spend with one another, the more they will get to know each other and more tendency there will be to get closer to each other, thus, strengthening the degree of cohesiveness of the group.
• In a workplace, people who work near each other are more likely to spend more time together.

4. Inter Dependency:

• When each member of a group has independent activities, the cohesiveness among the members of such group will be less as compared to the group whose members are doing the operations which are dependent upon each other, thus, mutual dependency leads to greater cohesiveness.

5. Previous Successes and Shared Goals:

• The success is shared by all the members and each one feels responsible for the achievement.
• If the group agrees on the purpose and direction of its activities, this serves to bind the group together.