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Essay on Group Process
The group development model shown below combines aspects of theories put forth by Jones (1973), Tuckman (1965), and Banet (1976). Jones describes a four-phase model, each phase of which is analyzed in terms of group members' concerns with personal relations (process) functions and task functions.
In the first phase, the needs of group members are to be oriented to the task, that is, to define the task, specify issues, identify expectations, and explore the nature of the work. This phase generally concludes when there is general agreement that the goals are achievable and that change is possible--whether it be changing behavior, making a decision, or solving a problem.
The variety of organizational concerns that emerges reflects the interpersonal conflict over leadership and leadership structure, power, and authority.Awareness of the possibility of change that was begun in Phase I, becomes a denial of the possibility of and the need for change; group members adhere instead to one or another extreme. The feeling level is marked by dependency on old ways and resistance to take the risks that work and change require.
This polarizing effect of early group interaction is documented in the work of Myers and Lamm (1975). After some initial effort to alter previously held positions, group members revert to their previous, pre-group stance and fight to maintain it........
