Picture this. You are in a meeting where a serious issue is under discussion. You have expressed your opinion. But you get the uneasy feeling that what you have said is not what you believe in. No, there is no pressure or diktat; yet, you cannot express yourself freely. Something seems to hold you back. You come out of the meeting only to find that a few others in the group too feel the same way. A
group is two or more individuals who are connected to each
other by social relationships. Because they interact and influence
each other, groups develop a number of dynamic processes that
separate them from a random collection of individuals. These
processes include norms, roles, relations, development, need
to belong, social influence and effects on behavior.
Committees
and task-forces have, over the years, become indispensable
to an organization. And for good reason too. They bring to
the table an eclectic mix of ideas and multi-disciplinary
expertise. They also help in cutting through the maze of complex
hierarchies and rigid functional compartments that large organizations
are saddled with. However, in spite of the obvious advantages,
they are not always as effective as they can be. There have
been instances—and some famously so—where the group
has made terrible decisions that defy logic or reason. Not
because the group was incompetent or irresponsible but because
of certain negative dynamics that surreptitiously come into
play to affect the way a group thinks. This mysterious virus
goes by the name groupthink. |
