Group management in an organizational environment. Management of informal groups. How to set up work within a microholding

10.03.2020

Group is an association of people who are constantly interacting, interdependent and mutually influencing each other, performing various duties, coordinating joint activities to achieve specific common goals and considering themselves as part of a single whole.

Group- a community of people limited in number, distinguished from the social whole on the basis of certain signs (joint activity, identity of circumstances, etc.).

In an organization, group forms of work can be used in various areas of its activity, to achieve different goals, and created for different periods of time (Table 11.1).

Table 11.1. Types of groups in an organization

Signs of selection of the type of groups	Group types
Group size
Sphere of joint activity	managerial Production
	highly developed Underdeveloped
The principle of creation and nature of interpersonal relationships	Formal informal
Purposes of Existence	Target (project) Functional By interest Friendly
Period of operation	Permanent Temporary

Formal and informal groups in an organization

Every organization has formal groups, created by decision of management to perform tasks aimed at achieving the goals of the organization. They function in accordance with pre-established, officially approved regulations, instructions, charters. There are three types of formal groups: management teams (leader's group), working groups and committees.

group formal- a group created by the decision of the management in the structure of the organization to perform certain tasks.

management team, first of all, the top level, consists of the manager and his direct subordinates (deputies), who, in turn, can also be managers. Thus, the head of the organization and his deputies, who head various functional areas, represent a typical command group. At the shop level, the head of the shop and his deputy also form a command subordinate group. The commercial director and the heads of departments subordinate to him, for example, sales (sales) of finished products, marketing, advertising, also form a team group.

Working groups are formed and function as separate structural units created to perform specialized functions that emerged in the process of division of labor in production and management. These are functional working groups. Formal groups may also be formed to work on a specific project or problem. After the task is completed, they may be disbanded or assigned to work on another project, problem. These are task forces.

Both in the functional and in the target working groups, specialists are selected who have certain professional training, qualifications, experience and are ready to work in a joint labor system.

Committee- a formal group to which powers are delegated to perform a task or a series of tasks. Types of committees can be commissions, councils. The main thing that distinguishes committees from other formal groups is group decision making.

Thus, under the board of directors of any large company, committees for strategic planning, personnel and remuneration, and audit can be created.

Along with the formal in the organization arise and operate informal groups, created by members of the organization in accordance with their mutual sympathy, common interests, the same hobbies, habits to meet social needs and people's communication (Fig. 11.1).

Interest in informal groups was initiated by the famous Hawthorne experiments of Elton Mayo in the 1930s, when researchers found that informal groups arise spontaneously as a result of the interaction of employees and are not determined by formal organization. People know well who is in their informal group and who is not. Informal groups usually have their own unwritten rules and norms of behavior. There is a certain distribution of roles in them and the status of each member of the group is defined. In an informal group, as a rule, there is an explicit or implicit leader.

An informal group can manifest itself in two varieties. In the first, non-formalized service relations have a functional content and exist in parallel with the formal organization, supplementing it. An example is the system of business relations between employees, which has developed spontaneously in addition to the existing management structure in these cases, they speak of an informal structure.

In the second, interpersonal connections arise due to mutual attraction, sympathy, common views on life, habits, hobbies, etc. out of touch with the functional need. These can be partnerships, interest clubs, etc.

Interesting experience

Virtual team

This is a group of people with common goals, performing their functional roles, who in the process of cooperation rarely meet in person or do not know each other by sight, united with the help of modern information and telecommunications.

Rice. 11.1.

technology. Virtual teams can be made up of people separated by large distances.

Virtual teams are highly flexible and dynamic. These can be both temporary cross-functional teams, as well as long-term and even permanent self-managed teams. Such teams are created to develop projects in the field of high technologies, however, if the company needs, the sales department may well be virtual.

Highly evolved groups- groups that are distinguished by the unity of goals and common interests, the stability of relations between its members, high cohesion, etc. underdeveloped groups- groups characterized by insufficient development or lack of psychological community, established structure, clear distribution of responsibilities, low cohesion. These groups, which are at the initial stage of their existence, are also called diffuse.
Elton Mayo - American psychologist, founder of the school of human relations in management.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS.............................................. ................................................. ......................................... 2

INTRODUCTION .................................................. ................................................. ................................................. ........... 3

Chapter I. EFFECTIVE LEADER - WHO IS THIS? ......................... 5

Chapter II. MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATION - MANAGEMENT OF GROUPS.................................................. 8

Chapter III. MANAGER AND LEADER, POWER AND INFLUENCE........................................................... ............. eleven

CONCLUSION................................................. ................................................. ................................................. . 16

LIST OF USED LITERATURE .............................................................. ........................................ eighteen

GLOSSARY OF TERMS.

Power - the ability to act or the ability to influence the situation and behavior of others.

Group - two or more persons interacting with each other in such a way that each person influences and is influenced by the other.

Leader - the leader of a group or organization who has assumed the right, or is empowered by members, to take the initiative, impose sanctions, and who has sufficient power to do so.

Organization leader - a person who effectively exercises formal and informal leadership.

Leadership - relations of dominance and subordination, influence and following in the system of interpersonal relations in a group.

Manager - manager of a firm.

Managerial characteristics - a set of basic and most typical features of an "effective manager", acting as a function of abilities for managerial activity.

Motivation - one of the main functions of management, which consists in stimulating subordinates to achieve the overall goals of the organization.

Organization management - the ability to influence individuals and groups, inducing them to work towards the goals of the organization, and the process of this influence.

Management style - a system of generalized methods and forms of behavior of a leader in relations with subordinates in the process of achieving goals.

Management activities - a type of professional activity, the specificity of which is determined by the need to co-organize the activities of other people in the direction of achieving common goals (based on the principle of hierarchy).

"Effective Manager" a conditional concept denoting an ideal leader who knows the basic provisions of management theory, knows how to effectively implement them in practice and has high professional competence.

INTRODUCTION

Each of us simultaneously belongs to many different groups - from such elementary ones as a family or a group of friends to complex and crowded ones, like the state of which we are citizens and the organization where we work. Coming to a new company, we are forced to accept the rules and regulations, as well as the culture that exists in it, and in addition, to obey and fulfill the requirements and instructions of our immediate supervisor and senior management. In such a situation, of course, we are not at all indifferent to what kind of person will be our boss, who will lead us. And not just to lead, but also to lead effectively. G. Selye wrote in his work: "The choice of a place of work must begin with the choice of a manager." Indeed, very often the reason for the dismissal of an employee is

The main object of study in management are planned, consciously created organizations - formal organizations. Often the final step in the formation of such organizations is their state registration.

Formal registration is:

A means, a tool for achieving the goals of the organization and its participants, meeting their needs;

An environment where members of a formal organization interact.

A group is two or more interacting and mutually influencing individuals.

The organization includes various groups. The organization has a complex structure, which includes a number of divisions. Their collectives are also groups. The number and composition of groups, their number are determined by the main characteristics of the organization, the conditions of its functioning.

An important basis for the classification of groups is the way they arise. In accordance with this basis, formal and informal groups are distinguished.

A formal group is a group specifically formed by management through an organizational process. Its purpose is usually to perform a specific job.

The main types of formal groups are:

1. Leader's group, including the leader and his direct reports.

2. Working (target group). It also has a leader, but the members of the group have more opportunities in determining approaches to solving the problem. This allows group members to satisfy the need of higher levels.

3. Committees - groups to which powers are delegated to solve a specific problem. Committees make decisions collectively.

Informal groups - spontaneously arising in the process of functioning of the organization of a group of people who regularly interact with each other.

An informal organization is a series of interacting informal groups.

Formal and informal groups are coevals of the organization. However, initially only formal groups were studied.

The starting point for the study of informal groups was the experiments of E. Mayo. In the process of their implementation, a new quality of communication was not only manifested, but also studied. People acted both as members of the formal groups of this organization and as participants in the experiment. Interest in its holding, novelty of conditions, increased and even excessive attention to the participants led to a sharp increase in the efficiency of their work. An important aspect of the experiment was the change in the form of control of performers. Giving them more freedom in decision-making led to the realization of social responsibility for the results of their activities.

In the course of the experiments, it was planned to give an assessment, to determine the threshold values of traditional efficiency growth factors taken into account when organizing motivation - working conditions and organization, forms and amounts of payment, types and forms of additional remuneration. In reality, during the experiment, there were changes in interpersonal relations, informal groups arose. In these groups, members of the organization satisfied their needs for belonging (experiment participants), getting help (from management, experiment organizers), communication (with participants, experiment organizers, organization leaders), protection.

The main characteristics of informal organizations are:

1. Implementation of informal control through the establishment and maintenance of norms of communication, behavior, the use of measures, sanctions.

2. Attitude towards change, including:

a) resistance to change, because, for example, the arrival of a new leader will lead to the emergence of new favorites; new technology will cause changes in the structure of the team, possible loss of jobs;

b) inadequate assessment of the consequences of changes, underestimation of one's own adaptive abilities, overestimated ideas about the requirements.

3. The presence of informal leaders who differ from the leader primarily in the mechanism of their appointment. However, the leader (formal leader) and the informal leader have much in common in terms of the means of influencing the group or organization.

The nomination of an informal leader is determined primarily by the degree of correspondence between the value systems of the group and the leader, as well as the leader's help in achieving the group's goals, its preservation and strengthening.

The management of an informal organization is carried out along the following chain:

Creation of a formal organization, including the definition of the value system of the members of the organization, the goals and activities of the organization necessary to achieve its goals;

Solving specific tasks that ensure the achievement of goals;

Interaction between performers in the process of solving problems;

Formation of a communication environment for performers that affects the performance of tasks, the achievement of the organization's goals;

The impact of the communication environment, as well as the goals of the organization on the interests of the members of the formal organization, the satisfaction of their needs;

The emergence of informal groups that influence the achievement of the goals of a formal organization;

The emergence of the leader of an informal group, reflecting the value system of the group members, ensuring the achievement of the group's goals (preservation and strengthening of the group, protection of its members);

Possible negative impact of informal groups on achieving the goals of formal organizations. It may be resistance to change. This is also facilitated by the lack or unreliability of information, rumors about the possible negative consequences of the changes (loss of a job, the requirement to increase the level of qualification requirements, a decrease in earnings, etc.). It is clear that under these conditions, workers are trying to find protection by uniting in informal groups.

In such a situation, the head of the formal organization should:

Give an objective assessment of the informal group, its activities;

Take into account (if possible) the proposals of the members of the informal group;

Make decisions taking into account their impact on the informal group and the influence of this group on the formal organization, its goals;

Involve informal group members in decision making;

Promptly disseminate accurate information.

The main form of work of a formal group is the general meeting, where decisions are made.

The effectiveness of the groups' activities is determined by a number of factors.

1. The optimal size of the group, taking into account the characteristics of the organization. When a group is large, it is divided into subgroups.

2. Composition of the group. With limited time for solving the problem, using the voting procedure for decision-making, it is advisable to have a homogeneous composition (for example, from representatives of the same specialty). For an expert evaluation of the project, it is possible to create a group that is heterogeneous in composition.

3. Group norms. Their implementation allows you to count on the support of the group. From the variety of grounds for the classification of norms, we single out: the attitude towards the management of the organization and the presentation of objective information; the importance of belonging to an organization and collective work; attitude towards innovation; protection against threats from the external environment.

4. The cohesion of the group, the coordination of its goals with the goals of the organization (for example, the organization of quality circles, joint recreation, etc.).

A negative aspect of cohesion can be group unanimity, the suppression of their views by individual members of the group in order not to fall out of the group. Unity can grow into unity. Without a variety of options, the desire for self-improvement is weakened.

5. Conflict, as another pole of cohesion, especially in the presence of destructive conflicts.

6. Status of group members: official position; formal signs (position title, cabinet size, etc.); an experience; general erudition; professional training.

7. The roles of the members of the group, including the target ones (selection of tasks, distribution of resources and maintenance of the life of the groups).

There are two types of groups: formal and informal. Both of these types of groups are important to the organization and have a great impact on the members of the organization.

Formal groups are usually distinguished as structural divisions in an organization. They have a formally appointed leader, a formally defined structure of roles, positions and positions within the group, as well as formally assigned functions and tasks.

Informal groups are created not by executive orders and formal resolutions, but by members of the organization in accordance with their mutual sympathies, common interests, the same hobbies, habits, etc.

Organization is a social category and at the same time a means to achieve goals. It is a place where people build relationships and interact. Therefore, in every formal organization there is a complex interweaving of informal groups and organizations that have been formed without the intervention of management. These informal associations often have a strong impact on performance and organizational effectiveness.

Although informal organizations are not created by the will of management, they are a factor that every manager must reckon with, because such organizations and other groups can have a strong influence on the behavior of individuals and on the work behavior of employees. In addition, no matter how well the leader performs his functions, it is impossible to determine what actions and attitudes will be required to achieve the goals in an organization moving forward. The manager and subordinate often have to interact with people outside the organization and with units outside their subordination. People will not be able to successfully carry out their tasks if they do not achieve the proper interaction of individuals and groups on which their activities depend. To cope with such situations, the manager must understand what role this or that group plays in a particular situation, and what place the leadership process occupies in it.

One of the prerequisites for effective management is also the ability to work in small groups, such as various committees or commissions created by the leaders themselves, and the ability to build relationships with their direct reports.

A person needs to communicate with his own kind and, apparently, receives joy from such communication. Most of us actively seek interaction with other people. In many cases, our contacts with other people are short and insignificant. However, if two or more people spend enough time in close proximity to each other, they gradually become psychologically aware of each other's existence. The time required for such awareness, and the degree of awareness, depends very much on the situation and on the nature of the relationship of people. However, the result of such awareness is almost always the same. The realization that others think of them and expect something from them causes people to change their behavior in some way, thereby confirming the existence of social relationships. When such a process occurs, a random gathering of people becomes a group.

Each of us belongs to many groups at the same time. Some groups prove short-lived and their mission is simple. When the mission is completed, or when the members of the group lose interest in it, the group breaks up. An example of such a group would be several students who come together to study for an upcoming exam. Other groups may exist for several years and have a significant impact on their members or even on the external environment. An example of such groups can be associations of teenage schoolchildren.

According to Marvin Shaw, "a group is two or more persons who interact with each other in such a way that each person influences the others and is simultaneously influenced by other persons."

formal groups. Based on Shaw's definition, an organization of any size can be considered to consist of several groups. Management creates groups of its own accord when it divides labor horizontally (divisions) and vertically (management levels). In each of the numerous departments of a large organization, there may be a dozen levels of management. For example, production in a factory can be divided into smaller divisions - machining, painting, assembly. These productions, in turn, can be further divided. For example, production personnel involved in mechanical processing can be divided into 3 different teams of 10 - 16 people, including foremen. Thus, a large organization can literally consist of hundreds or even thousands of small groups. These groups, created at the behest of management to organize the production process, are called formal groups. However small they may be, these are formal organizations whose primary function in relation to the organization as a whole is to perform specific tasks and achieve specific, specific goals. There are three main types of formal groups in an organization: leadership groups; production groups; committees.

The command (subordinate) group of the leader consists of the leader and his direct subordinates, who, in turn, can also be leaders. The company president and senior vice presidents are a typical team group. Another example of a command subordinate group is the captain of an airliner, co-pilot and flight engineer.

The second type of formal group is the working (target) group. It usually consists of individuals working together on the same task. Although they have a common leader, these groups differ from the command group in that they have much more autonomy in planning and carrying out their work. In such companies, management believes that the target groups are breaking down barriers of distrust between managers and workers. In addition, by giving workers the opportunity to think about and solve their own production problems, they can meet the needs of higher-level workers.

The third type of formal group, the committee, will be discussed below.

All command and working groups, as well as committees, must work effectively - as a single well-coordinated team. It is no longer necessary to argue that the effective management of every formal group within an organization is critical. These interdependent groups are the building blocks that make up the organization as a system. The organization as a whole will be able to effectively fulfill its global tasks only if the tasks of each of its structural units are defined in such a way as to support the activities of each other. In addition, the group as a whole influences the behavior of the individual. Thus, the better the manager understands what the group is and the factors of its effectiveness, and the better he knows the art of effective group management, the more likely he will be able to increase the productivity of this unit and the organization as a whole.

informal groups. Despite the fact that informal organizations are not created by the will of the leadership, they are a powerful force that, under certain conditions, can actually become dominant in the organization and nullify the efforts of the leadership. Moreover, informal organizations tend to interpenetrate. Some leaders are often unaware that they themselves are affiliated with one or more of these informal organizations.

Long before Maslow's theoretical explorations of human needs, the Hawthorne Experiment provided evidence for the need to take into account the social relationships between employees. The Hawthorne Study systematically applied the sciences of human behavior to organizational effectiveness for the first time. It demonstrated the fact that in addition to the economic needs of the earlier authors, workers also have social needs. The organization came to be seen as more than a logical arrangement of workers performing interrelated tasks. Theorists and practitioners of management have realized that the organization is also a social system where individuals, formal and informal groups interact. Referring to the Hawthorne study, management theorists Scott and Mitchell wrote: “These scholars have made a compelling case that, according to classical theory, even in well-designed organizations small groups and individuals can appear whose behavior does not fit within the rational from the point of view of an economist. framework".

Of course, one can criticize the methodology of the Hawthorne Study, but still, thanks mainly to research in the behavioral sciences, we now have a much clearer understanding of the nature and dynamics of formal and informal groups in the work collective.

Development of informal organizations and their characteristics. The formal organization is created by the will of the leadership. But once it is created, it also becomes a social environment where people interact in ways that are not dictated by management. People from different subgroups socialize over coffee, during meetings, at lunch, and after work. From social relationships, many friendly groups, informal groups, are born, which together constitute an informal organization.

An informal organization is a spontaneously formed group of people who interact regularly to achieve a specific goal. As with formal organizations, these goals are the reason for the existence of such an informal organization. It is important to understand that in a large organization there is more than one informal organization. Most of them are loosely connected in a kind of network. Therefore, some authors believe that an informal organization is, in essence, a network of informal organizations. The working environment is especially favorable for the formation of such groups. Due to the formal structure of the organization and its objectives, the same people usually come together every day, sometimes for many years. People who otherwise would hardly even meet are often forced to spend more time in the company of their colleagues than in their own family. Moreover, the nature of the tasks they perform in many cases causes them to communicate and interact with each other frequently. Members of the same organization depend on each other in many respects. The natural result of this intense social interaction is the spontaneous emergence of informal organizations.

Informal organizations have much in common with the formal organizations in which they are included. They are in some way organized in the same way as formal organizations - they have a hierarchy, leaders and tasks. Spontaneous (emergent) organizations also have unwritten rules called norms that serve as standards of behavior for members of the organization. These norms are supported by a system of rewards and sanctions. The specificity is that the formal organization was created according to a premeditated plan. Informal organization is rather a spontaneous response to unmet individual needs.

The structure and type of a formal organization are built by management consciously through design, while the structure and type of an informal organization arise as a result of social interaction. Describing the development of informal organizations, Leonard Seilis and George Strauss say: “Employees form friendly groups based on their contacts and common interests, and these groups arise from the very life of this organization. However, once these groups have formed, they take on a life of their own, almost completely divorced from the labor process from which they arose. It is a dynamic, self-generating process. Employees, united by the framework of a formal organization, interact with each other. Increasing interaction contributes to the emergence of friendly feelings in relation to other members of the group. In turn, these feelings form the basis for an ever-increasing variety of activities, many of which are missing from job descriptions: dining out together, doing work for a buddy, fighting non-group members, gambling with check numbers. etc. These enhanced interactions contribute to building stronger interpersonal bonds. Then the group begins to represent something more than a simple collection of people. It creates traditional ways of performing certain actions - a set of stable characteristics that are difficult to change. The group becomes an organization."

Why do people join organizations? People usually know why they join formal organizations. As a rule, they either want to fulfill the goals of the organization, or they need to be rewarded in the form of income, or they are driven by considerations of prestige associated with belonging to this organization. People also have reasons for joining groups and informal organizations, but they are often unaware of them. As the Hawthorne Experiment showed, belonging to informal groups can provide people with psychological benefits no less important to them than the salary they receive. The most important reasons for joining a group are: a sense of belonging, mutual assistance, mutual protection, close communication and interest.

Affiliation. The very first reason for joining an informal group is to satisfy the need for a sense of belonging, one of our strongest emotional needs. Even before the Hawthorne Experiment, Elton Mayo discovered that people whose jobs prevent them from making and maintaining social contacts tend to be dissatisfied. Other studies have shown that group membership and group support are strongly associated with employee satisfaction. And yet, despite the fact that the need for belonging is widely recognized, most formal organizations deliberately deprive people of opportunities for social contact. Therefore, workers are often forced to turn to informal organizations in order to gain these contacts.

Help. Ideally, subordinates should be able to feel free to turn to their direct superiors for advice or to discuss their problems. If this does not happen, then the boss should carefully examine his relationship with his subordinates. In any case, right or wrong, many people believe that their boss in a formal organization will think badly of them if they ask him how they can do a certain job. Others are afraid of criticism. Moreover, every organization has many unwritten rules that deal with minor procedural issues and protocol, such as how long the coffee break should be, how the boss should treat chatter and jokes, how to dress to earn everyone's approval, and to what extent these rules are mandatory. It is clear that the employee will still think about whether it is worth asking for help from the authorities on all these issues. In these and other situations, people often prefer to resort to the help of their colleagues. For example, a new worker in production is more likely to ask another worker to explain to him how to perform this or that operation. This leads to the fact that new workers also tend to participate in an already formed social group, where there are experienced workers. Receiving help from a colleague is beneficial to both: the one who received it and the one who provided it. As a result of helping, the one who gives it acquires prestige and self-respect, and the one who receives it acquires the necessary guidance for action. Thus, the need for help leads to the emergence of an informal organization.

Protection. People have always known that strength is in unity. One of the primary reasons that prompted prehistoric people to unite in tribes was additional protection from the hostile manifestations of their external environment. The perceived need for protection continues to be an important reason for people to join certain groups. Although it is very rare these days to talk about the existence of real physical danger in the workplace, the very first trade unions originated in social groups that met in pubs and discussed their grievances with superiors. Even today, members of informal grassroots organizations protect each other from harmful rules. They may, for example, join forces to protest harmful working conditions. Not surprisingly, this protective function becomes even more important when superiors are not trusted.

Sometimes managers also form informal organizations to protect their colleagues. Their goal is usually to protect their zone from intrusion by other parts of the organization.

The problem of informal organizations also indicates the need to integrate the goals of departments and direct efforts for the benefit of the organization as a whole.

Communication. People want to know what's going on around them, especially if it affects their work. And yet, in many formal organizations, the system of internal contacts is rather weak, and sometimes management deliberately hides certain information from their subordinates. Therefore, one of the important reasons for belonging to an informal organization is access to an informal channel for receiving information - rumors, gossip and other information that either does not come from official sources at all, or goes through formal channels too slowly. This can satisfy the individual's needs for psychological protection and belonging, and provide him with faster access to the information he needs to work.

Close communication and sympathy. People often join informal groups simply to be closer to those they like. For example, department clerks or engineers often work in large rooms where there are no partitions between desks. These people have a lot in common and like each other partly because they do similar jobs. So, they can go out to lunch together, discuss their work and personal affairs during coffee breaks, or ask their superiors for a pay raise and better working conditions. At work, people tend to interact with those around them. People are generally drawn to those who they think can satisfy their needs for belonging, competence, protection, respect, and so on.

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INTRODUCTION

1. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS IN ORGANIZATION

2.1 Leadership styles

2.2 Group leadership

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

group leadership leader conformism

INTRODUCTION

The management of the organization is satisfied if the organization continues to exist as a single organism. However, almost always the real stereotypes of the behavior and attitudes of the members of the organization deviate slightly or very far from the formal plan of the organization's management.

The informal groups that form in organizations are a powerful force that, under certain conditions, can actually become dominant in the organization and nullify the efforts of management. Informal groups can also carry a positive influence on the activities of a formal organization.

Leaders need to reconcile the demands of the informal groups of the organization with the demands of the governing apparatus above them. This need encourages the manager to look for non-standard methods of managing people or use existing methods more effectively in order to use the potential benefits and reduce the negative impact of informal groups.

The purpose of the work: to consider the group and group dynamics in the organization.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved in the work:

1. Consider the concept and types of groups in the organization;

2. Consider group management styles in the organization;

3. Consider group leadership.

The relevance of the work lies in a deeper consideration of the theoretical foundations of the group in the organization.

1. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS IN ORGANIZATION

1.1 The concept and types of groups in the organization

A group is a socially stable association of individuals who have common interests, values and norms of behavior that develop within a particular organization. In a group, the behavior and (or) activities of one member are influenced by the behavior and (or) activities of other members of the group. The degree of this impact and its form determines the concept of "Group dynamics".

Group dynamics - a set of intra-group relations, socio-psychological processes and phenomena occurring in the process of group life. This concept characterizes the interaction of group members, which is based on a certain common interest and may be associated with the achievement of a common goal.

Groups arise in an organization and function as separate structural units due to the fact that, as a result of the division of labor, separate specialized functions are distinguished that require for their performance a certain set of people with certain qualifications, having a certain profession and ready to perform certain work in the system of joint activities.

Another important reason for the formation of groups is the natural desire of a person to unite with other people, to form stable forms of interaction with people. The group gives a person a sense of security, from the group he expects support, help in solving his problems and warnings. In a group, it is easier for a person to achieve “reward” in the form of recognition, praise, or material incentives. By uniting in groups, people feel stronger and more confident in the face of difficulties and obstacles.

In addition, belonging to a certain group, such as a professional association, may provide a member with a prestigious position in society, c. group, among friends and relatives. At the same time, the need for self-esteem will also be satisfied. Grouping can also increase the power of its members: what is sometimes difficult to achieve alone is much easier to achieve together. In addition, the group provides a person with the opportunity to spend time in a pleasant environment for him, the opportunity to avoid loneliness.

Modern management practice more and more confirms the undoubted advantages of the group form of labor organization over the individual one. Mutual support based on sympathy and friendship, contributing to the cohesion of the group, can generate a synergistic effect that significantly increases the effectiveness of the work.

However, with an undoubted advantage over other forms of work organization, the group form can also carry a number of negative aspects for the organization. One of these negative manifestations is the processes of group dynamics, which take shape under the condition that, on the whole, the management of the group is incorrectly set and its functioning in the organization is incorrectly organized. This is expressed in the fact that:

In the group, there is a tendency to moralize processes, accompanied by the presentation of oneself and one's actions in the best light from a moral point of view.

Secondly, the group begins to feel invulnerable and even invincible in conflict clashes.

The group develops an atmosphere of conformism, the desire to force everyone to agree with a single opinion, unwillingness to listen and discuss other opinions, etc.

The group develops unanimity. People are starting to think more and more like the rest. And even if they have other opinions, they do not express themselves, believing that the general opinion is true.

The group refuses to consider opinions from outside if they do not agree with the opinion of the group.

Formal groups

Formal groups are “institutionalized” groups that usually stand out as structural subdivisions in an organization. They have a formally appointed leader, a formally defined structure of roles, positions and positions within the group, as well as formally assigned functions and tasks.

In everyday speech, the word “formal” has a negative connotation, meaning not interested in the results, indifferent attitude to the performance of official duties. Indeed, the abuse of formalities leads to various kinds of bureaucratic perversions. However, the formal has a number of advantages:

makes the acquired knowledge and, based on it, advanced technologies and methods of work, common property;

establishes uniform norms and rules for everyone, which excludes arbitrariness and contributes to the objectification of activities;

provides "transparency" of the case for control and publicity for interaction with the public, which is certainly important for the democratization of management.

Thus, a formal group has the following features:

it is rational, i.e. it is based on the principle of expediency, conscious movement towards a known goal;

In a formal group, only service connections between individuals are provided, and it is subject only to functional goals. The formal groups are:

A vertical (linear) organization that unites a number of bodies and departments in such a way that each of them is located between two others - higher and lower, and the leadership of each of the bodies and departments is concentrated in one person;

Functional organization, in accordance with which, management is distributed among a number of persons specializing in the performance of certain functions and works;

Formal groups may be formed to perform a regular function, such as accounting, or they may be created to solve a specific task, such as a commission to develop a project.

informal groups

Informal groups arise as a result of the fundamental incompleteness of formal groups, since it is simply impossible to foresee all possible situations that can happen by job descriptions, and formalizing all subjective ideas as norms for regulating social relations is possible only under totalitarian political regimes.

Informal groups are created not by executive orders and formal resolutions, but by members of the organization in accordance with their mutual sympathies, common interests, similar hobbies, habits, etc. These groups exist in all organizations, although they are not represented in the diagrams that reflect the structure of the organization, its structure.

Informal categories are an unexpectedly (spontaneously) formed system of social relationships, generally recognized measures, acts that are the product of more or less long interpersonal communication.

It is a non-formal company, in which non-formalized state affairs have a highly functional (production) content, and is along with a formal organization. For example, a suitable system of business relationships that spontaneously develops between employees, any form of rationalization and invention, decision-making methods, and so on.

It assumes a socio-psychological company that acts as a repeating type of interpersonal relationships formed on the basis of the mutual enthusiasm of individuals for each other, regardless of the relationship with highly functional affairs, that is, a specific, spontaneously formed community of the inhabitants of our planet, based on an individual choice of relationships and associations between them, for example , friendly affairs, amateur categories, cases of pathos, leadership, sympathy, etc.

The picture of the informal category is very diverse and changeable in terms of the trend of interests, the nature of the work, age and social. composition. Based on the ideological and highly moral tendency, style of behavior, informal organizations can be classified into 3 groups:

Prosocial, that is, socially positive categories. These are socio-political clubs of international friendship, funds of public initiatives, categories of environmental protection and rescue of cultural monuments, club amateur associations and others.

They have, as a rule, a positive orientation;

Asocial, i.e. groups standing apart from social problems;

Antisocial. These groups are the most unfavorable part of society, causing him anxiety. On the one hand, moral deafness, inability to understand others, a different point of view, on the other hand, often their own pain and suffering that befell this category of people contribute to the development of extreme views among its individual representatives.

GROUP DEVELOPMENT STAGES

Each group is formed and developed in its own way. At the same time, some general patterns can be identified in the development of various groups.

Any group in its development goes through the following stages, which form a 5-step model of group development:

The initial stage of formation;

Intra-group conflict;

Ensuring the cohesion of the group members;

Stage of highest efficiency and productivity;

Final stage (for temporary groups).

Let us consider the stages of group development in more detail.

The initial stage of formation, as a rule, is characterized by uncertainty about the structure of the group, its goals. It is often not clear who is the leader of this group, and what type of behavior is most acceptable in it. This stage ends when the members of the group begin to clearly understand that they are part of this group.

Intragroup conflict. The second stage of group development is usually characterized by the development of intra-group conflict. There is a struggle for leadership and distribution of roles between group members. After this stage is completed, it becomes clear who is the leader in this group (if it is a formal group, then we are talking about an informal leader).

Ensuring group cohesion. At this stage, relations between group members become closer and more cohesive.

Informal group cohesion factors include:

Contacts and communication after hours, joint leisure activities;

The strictness of the rules of initiation (the more difficult it is to become a member of the group, the more cohesive this group becomes);

Group size (larger groups are less cohesive);

The presence of external threats;

Having successful joint activities in the past. At the same time, there is clarity about the informal norms of behavior and the distribution of roles in this group.

The stage of highest efficiency and productivity. At this stage, the group is fully functional. The energy of its members is no longer directed to the distribution of roles and the struggle for power, but directly to ensuring effective work and achieving high results.

Final stage. For temporary groups, for example groups designed to temporarily implement precise tasks, the execution of these tasks becomes the final stage of their existence. The closer it is to the end of work on the plan, or the closer to the fulfillment of the task assigned to the category, the more its members begin to think about the fact that this category itself will quickly cease to exist, and also about fresh prospects for their own work in a different team. The performance of the category during this period can noticeably decrease.

Undoubtedly, the actual stages of the formation of the category that we have examined give only a simplified idea of the rather difficult actions that take place in real life. In reality, it is quite difficult to isolate one stage of the formation of a category from another; from time to time several stages pass at the same time. A transition from the highest stage to the lowest is likely (for example, an incident about leadership and distribution of roles in a group can appear at any stage of its formation, even at the final one).

Experts who analyzed the stages of the functioning of groups discovered another interesting pattern in the formation of temporary groups. It was revealed that the actual performance of the category fluctuates in different periods, significantly increasing in the 2nd half of the period of its work. The 1st phase of the category's work on solving a certain problem is characterized by conditional inertia. Significant changes occur only at the end of this phase, after about half the time allotted for solving this problem has expired. During this period, it often becomes clear that the time itself, which is allotted for solving the problem facing the category, is cut down and, in order to successfully reach the finish line, it is necessary to concentrate efforts and speed up work. In phase 2, the performance of a category usually increases, in fact, in the end, it allows you to successfully achieve the intended goal.

1.2 Group dynamics in informal groups

The structure and type of a formal organization is built consciously by management through design, while the structure and type of an informal organization arises from social interaction. People who join a formal organization usually either want to fulfill the goals of the organization, or they need to be rewarded in the form of income, or they are guided by considerations of prestige associated with belonging to this organization. They also have reasons for joining groups and informal organizations, which include a sense of belonging, mutual assistance, mutual protection, close communication and interest, but people often do not realize them.

The very first reason for joining an informal group is to satisfy the need for a sense of belonging. People whose work does not provide the opportunity to establish and maintain social contacts tend to be dissatisfied. The ability to belong to a group, support from its side are closely related to employee satisfaction.

And yet, despite the fact that the need for belonging is widely recognized, most formal organizations deliberately deprive people of opportunities for social contact. Therefore, people are often forced to turn to informal organizations in order to gain these contacts.

Ideally, subordinates should be able to feel free to turn to their direct superiors for advice or to discuss their problems. If this does not happen, then the boss should carefully examine his relationship with his subordinates. Many people feel that their boss in a formal organization will think badly of them if they ask him how they can get a job done. Others are afraid of criticism. Moreover, every organization has many unwritten rules that deal with minor procedural issues, such as how the boss treats chatter and jokes, how to dress in order to earn everyone's approval, and also how mandatory all these rules are.

In these and other situations, people often prefer to resort to the help of their colleagues. For example, a new worker would rather ask another worker to explain to him how to perform this or that operation than turn to the manager. This leads to the fact that new workers also tend to participate in an already formed social group, where there are experienced workers.

Receiving help from a colleague is beneficial to both: the one who received it and the one who provided it. As a result of helping, the one who gives it acquires prestige and self-respect, and the one who receives it acquires the necessary guidance for action.

The need for protection is also considered a weighty reason for the preface of the inhabitants of our planet in any category. Wishing now occasionally we can talk about the existence of a real physical threat in the workplace, the very first trade unions originated specifically in social groups that intended to go to pubs and sorted out their own complaints to the leadership. And now members of informal organizations protect each other from the rules that hurt them. This protective function acquires even more actual value, as soon as the management is not trusted.

The need for conversation arises because people want to know what is going on around them, especially when it affects their work. Nevertheless, in almost all formal organizations, the system of internal contacts is rather frail, and from time to time management deliberately hides specific information from its own subordinates.

As a result of this, one of the important circumstances of adaptation to an informal organization is access to an informal channel for receiving information - rumors. This can satisfy the individual's needs for emotional protection and accommodation, and still provide him with the most rapid access to information suitable for work.

Among other things, people often join informal groups simply to be closer to those they sympathize with. They are given the opportunity to eat together, negotiate their own work and their own affairs during the breaks, or turn to management with a wish to increase pay and improve working conditions. People gravitate faster to establish the narrowest cases with other people who are in close proximity to them than with those who are at a distance of several meters. At work, people tend to interact with those around them.

Characteristic features of informal organization dynamics

The process of development of informal organizations and the reasons why people join them contribute to the formation of characteristics in these organizations that make them both similar and different from formal organizations.

The following is a brief description of the main characteristics of informal organizations that are of direct relevance to management, as they have a strong influence on the effectiveness of a formal organization.

Informal organizations exercise social control over their members, and the first step towards this is the establishment and strengthening of norms - group standards of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. To be accepted by the group and maintain its position in it, the individual must comply with these norms.

It is only natural, for example, that an informal organization has its own well-defined rules regarding the nature of dress, behavior and acceptable types of work.

To reinforce compliance with these norms, the group can impose fairly severe sanctions, and those who violate them can face exclusion. This is a strong and effective punishment when a person depends on an informal organization to meet their social needs, which happens quite often.

The social control exercised by the informal organization can influence and guide the achievement of the goals of the formal organization. It can also affect the opinion of leaders and the fairness of their decisions.

Resistance to change. People may also use the informal organization to discuss anticipated or actual changes that may occur in their department or organization. In informal organizations, there is a tendency to resist change. This is partly due to the fact that change can pose a threat to the continued existence of an informal organization.

Reorganization, the introduction of new technology, the expansion of production and, consequently, the emergence of a large group of new employees, can lead to the disintegration of an informal group or organization, or to a reduction in opportunities for interaction and satisfaction of social needs.

Sometimes such changes can enable specific groups to achieve position and power.

Since people do not react to what is happening objectively, but to what is happening according to them, the proposed change may seem to the group to be much more dangerous than it actually is. For example, a group of middle-level managers may resist the introduction of computing technology for fear that this technology will take their jobs just at the moment when management is about to expand their area of competence.

Resistance will arise whenever group members see change as a threat to the continued existence of their group as such, their shared experience, social needs, shared interests, or positive emotions.

Management can ease this resistance by allowing and encouraging subordinates to participate in decision making.

Just like formal organizations, informal ones have their own leaders. The informal leader acquires his position by seeking power and exercising it over the members of the group, in the same way as the leader of a formal organization does. As such, there are no major differences in the means used by leaders of formal and informal organizations to exert influence.

They are essentially different only in that the leader of a formal organization has support in the form of official powers delegated to him and usually acts in a specific functional area assigned to him. The support of the informal leader is the recognition of his group.

In his actions, he relies on people and their relationships.

The sphere of influence of the informal leader may go beyond the administrative framework of the formal organization.

Despite the fact that the informal leader is also one of the members of the management staff of a formal organization, very often he occupies a relatively low level in the organizational hierarchy there.

Significant factors that determine the possibility of becoming the leader of an informal organization include: age, position, professional competence, location of the workplace, freedom of movement in the work area and responsiveness.

The exact characteristics are determined by the value system adopted in the group. For example, in some informal organizations, old age may be considered a positive characteristic, while in others it may be the other way around.

The informal leader has two primary functions: to help the group achieve its goals and to maintain and strengthen its existence. Sometimes these functions are performed by different people.

If this is the case, then two leaders emerge in the informal group: one for fulfilling the group's goals, the other for social interaction.

2. GROUP MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATION

2.1 Leadership styles

The management of the organization is satisfied when the organization continues to exist as a whole. However, almost always the stereotypes of behavior and attitudes of members of the organization deviate far from the formal plan of the leaders of the organization.

A workable close-knit group does not appear immediately, this is preceded by a long process of its formation and development, the success of which is determined by a number of circumstances that little depend on whether it is formed spontaneously or is formed consciously and purposefully.

First of all, we are talking about clear and understandable goals of the forthcoming activity, corresponding to the internal aspirations of people, for the sake of achieving which they are ready to completely or partially give up freedom of decisions and actions and submit to group power.

Another important condition for the successful formation of a group is the presence of certain, even minor, achievements in the process of joint activity, clearly demonstrating its clear advantages over the individual.

Another condition for the success of the activities of the official group is a strong leader, and the unofficial leader, to whom people are ready to obey and go towards the goal.

Informal groups that form in an organization can, under certain conditions, become dominant.

Middle managers need to reconcile the demands of the organization's informal groups with the demands of the top management. This need encourages managers to look for non-standard methods of managing people or to use existing methods more effectively in order to use the potential benefits and reduce the negative impact of informal groups.

Allocate groups of leaders, working (target) groups and committees.

The group of leaders consists of the leader and his direct subordinates, who are in the zone of his control (the president and vice presidents).

Working (target) group -- employees working on a single task.

Committee - a group within the organization, which is delegated authority to perform any task or set of tasks. Sometimes committees are called councils, commissions, task forces. Allocate permanent and special committees.

Informal organizations carry out social control for its members. There are usually certain norms that each member of the group must comply with. In informal organizations, there is a tendency to resist change. Usually an informal organization is led by an informal leader. The informal leader should help the group achieve its goals and keep it alive.

The same factors affect the effectiveness of the work of formal and informal groups:

Group size. As the group grows, communication between members becomes more difficult. In addition, informal groups with their own goals may arise within the group. In small groups (of 2-3 people) people feel personally responsible for making a certain decision. It is believed that the optimal group size is 5 - 11 people.

Composition (or the degree of similarity of personalities, points of view, approaches). It is believed that the most optimal decision can be made by groups consisting of people who are in different positions (i.e., dissimilar people).

group norms. A person who wants to be accepted by a group must comply with certain group norms. (Positive norms are norms that support behavior aimed at achieving goals. Negative norms are norms that encourage behavior that is not conducive to achieving goals, such as stealing, being late, absenteeism, drinking in the workplace, etc.).

Cohesion. It is considered as a measure of the attraction of group members to each other and to the group. A high level of group cohesion can improve the performance of the entire organization.

Group consensus. This is the tendency of an individual to suppress his views on some phenomenon in order not to disturb the harmony of the group.

Conflict. Differences in opinion increase the likelihood of conflict. The consequences of the conflict can be positive, as they allow you to identify different points of view (this leads to an increase in the effectiveness of the group). The negative consequences are to reduce the effectiveness of the group: a bad state of mind, a low degree of cooperation, a shift in emphasis (giving more attention to one's "winning" in the conflict, rather than solving the real problem).

status of group members. It is determined by seniority in the job hierarchy, job title, education, experience, awareness, etc. Usually, members of a group with a high status have a greater influence on other members of the group. It is desirable that the opinion of high-status group members not be dominant in the group.

Formal groups are usually distinguished as structural divisions in an organization. They have a formally appointed leader, a formally defined structure of roles, positions and positions within the company, as well as formally assigned functions and tasks.

A formal group has the following features:

it is rational, i.e. it is based on the principle of expediency, conscious movement towards a known goal;

it is impersonal, i.e. It is designed for individuals, relations between which are established according to a compiled program.

In a formal group, only service connections between individuals are provided, and it is subject only to functional goals.

The formal groups are:

A vertical organization that unites a number of bodies and a subdivision in such a way that each of them is located between the other two - higher and lower, and the leadership of each of the bodies and subdivisions is concentrated in one person.

A functional organization in which management is distributed among a number of individuals who specialize in certain functions and jobs.

Staff organization, characterized by the presence of a staff of advisers, experts, assistants, not included in the vertical organization system.

Formal groups may be formed to perform a regular function, such as accounting, or they may be created to solve a specific task, such as a commission for the development of a project.

Informal groups are created not by orders of the organization's management and formal resolutions, but by members of this organization in accordance with their mutual sympathies, common interests, the same hobbies and habits. These groups exist in all companies, although they are not represented in the diagrams that reflect the structure of the organization, its structure.

Informal groups usually have their own unwritten rules and norms of behavior, people know well who is in their informal group and who is not. In informal groups, a certain distribution of roles and positions is formed. Usually these groups have an explicit or implicit leader. In many cases, informal groups can exert equal or even greater influence over their members than formal structures.

Informal groups are a spontaneously (spontaneously) established system of social ties, norms, actions that are the product of more or less long-term interpersonal communication.

Depending on the style of behavior, informal groups can be classified as follows:

Prosocial, i.e. socially positive groups. These are socio-political clubs of international friendship, social initiative funds, groups for environmental protection and the rescue of cultural monuments, club amateur associations, etc. They, as a rule, have a positive orientation.

Asocial, i.e. groups standing apart from social problems.

The strength and influence of the team is largely given by the conformism (from Latin conformis - similar, similar) of its members, i.e. unconditional acceptance by them of the existing order of things prevailing in the group of opinions, adaptation to them on the basis of the rejection of independent thoughts and actions.

As a result, a group unanimity is formed, based on the suppression by an individual of his real views on any phenomenon and the support of a common opinion so as not to disturb the harmony of the group. Since no one expresses opinions different from others, and does not offer a different, opposing point of view, everyone assumes that everyone thinks the same way.

Conformism is based on the fear of spoiling relations with the group, of being rejected by it, of being excluded from it - ostracism, which in ancient times, for example, led to inevitable death.

The degree of conformity depends on the certainty and complexity of the problem being solved, the position of the person in the group, the significance of the group for him. So, individuals with a high status are subject to less pressure, and the more attractive the group for a person, the closer common goals are to him, the more he obeys it.

From the point of view of the interests of the team as a whole, conformism has many positive aspects: it ensures survival at critical moments, facilitates the organization of joint activities of people, saves you from thinking about how to behave, making behavior standard in ordinary situations and predictability in non-standard ones, and facilitates the integration of the individual in the team.

Without conformism, there can be no cohesive team, and therefore, newcomers, before being accepted into it, are tested for devotion to it, i.e. on the ability to conformist behavior. And if there is none, a person is unlikely to be able to find a place for himself in the team.

The degree of conformity of one or another subject is determined by a number of specific circumstances, and above all by the nature of interpersonal relations in the team (friendly, for example, require a person to be more compliant to others than strained ones).

Conformity is influenced by the ability to make independent decisions and freely express one's opinions: if a person acts under constant supervision and control, and his opinion is not supported by anyone, he is more likely to do what is required of him.

Conformism also depends on the size of the collective itself - it is strongest in primary groups, especially triads, in which everyone is constantly in front of each other. The reason is that conformist behavior stimulates a slight three-vote majority.

Conformism gives the team its own “face” in many respects, since all its members strictly adhere to a jointly developed system of common values and norms, which is created on the basis of assimilation and adaptation of what everyone brings to the “common piggy bank”. Norms are unwritten requirements, rules indicating what and how to do and what not, how to play a particular role, do work, behave; violation of the rules is usually severely punished. Without taking into account the influence of norms on the behavior of the group, the manager may make inadequate decisions.

Norms and rules increase intra-group pressure and create the basis for control by the team over the behavior of its members. As the cohesion of the group grows, its pressure and control intensify to a certain extent (though at the same time the very categoricalness of the requirements and norms decreases), and then they can gradually be transferred outside, to the surrounding teams and even the official leadership.

Group pressure is perhaps the strongest way to influence the behavior of a person within the framework of the team, and, being alone, he often succumbs to the latter, even if he is right, because otherwise the pressure can develop into open coercion. At the same time, a member of a high-status collective can afford to ignore norms to a large extent.

The world for a person is what he imagines it to be. Often he judges the validity of these views based on the fact that they are shared by others. Otherwise, he is lost and poorly oriented in the situation, since agreement with the group opinion stabilizes the image of reality, strengthens self-confidence. Usually a person accepts the views of the majority not so much under direct external pressure, but because of the fear of spoiling the relationship.

Depending on their character and other personal qualities, people have different attitudes towards the norms of behavior and group pressure. The probability of recognizing one or another value or choosing one or another position depends on the degree of adherence to it, trust in its bearers, self-confidence, firmness of convictions. Usually, positions are easier to form and change among young people, since it is easier to introduce something new into their value system.

Some accept them completely and honestly strive to live up to them; others, although inwardly rejecting them, in practice adhere to them so as not to lose the favor of the group, but only as long as it is beneficial; still others do not accept them inwardly and do not try to hide them. Of course, the group strives to get rid of such people, but this is not always possible, because certain qualities of them turn out to be necessary for it, and then it has to yield.

The other side of the coin is negativism. When a group member disagrees with the opinion of the group (sometimes even against logic), out of awareness of his own uniqueness and the uniqueness of the expressed point of view. Although often such a reaction is nothing more than a manifestation of the selfish nature of the individual and a biased attitude towards an alternative view of the problem.

In extreme forms, these two phenomena lead to the degradation of the group, and to a decrease in the effectiveness of its activities. Extreme conformism reduces the abilities of the group to the abilities of one person, usually the leader, while the abilities of the rest of the team members gradually atrophy. In turn, negativism is an excellent ground for the emergence of conflicts, the escalation of which leads to the destruction of ties within the group (unless, of course, one tries to manage conflicts).

In the case of a successful combination of conformism and divergence of views (a mild form of negativism) within the group, the latter is likely to work with progressive efficiency, constantly increasing its own experience and potential, which is essentially a positive phenomenon.

2.2 Group leadership

As the quantitative growth of the group and, most importantly, its stabilization, a rank hierarchy develops among the members of the group, and the role of the leader becomes crucial in the activities of the group.

The whole life of a person takes place in a social context, he lives and acts as part of various groups and, therefore, all his life is influenced by all kinds of formal and informal leaders; they can be people of different personal qualities and social status, a senior in the family, the captain of a yard hockey team, a teacher, a coach, the leader of a criminal group, an army foreman, a foreman, a head of a department, an artistic director, a head of a department, etc.

The personality of the leader and the style of his behavior as a dominant person largely determine the fate of each participant and the entire group as a whole. In other words, leaders influence the socialization of individuals.

By studying the social behavior of people, we can understand the dynamics of leadership and uncover the turning points in group life.

As diverse as people and groups are, so are leaders and their behavior.

Signs of leadership can be found in any group, even among random neighbors in a railway compartment; and in all cases one regularity can be traced: the person who has come forward as a leader and the style of his leadership reflect the circumstances, or rather the details, of his becoming a leader, the essence of the group he leads, as well as the personality traits of not only the leader himself, but also his followers.

But despite the obviousness of the phenomenon of leadership, it is practically difficult to establish who is the leader of the group. There are two main methods for identifying a leader in a particular group:

1) it is possible to find out by interviewing group members who they prefer as the most influential person in choosing the direction of the group's activities (self-report method);

2) you can ask outside observers (or specially invited consultants) to name those members of the group who have the greatest influence on others, or register the relative frequency of successful acts of influence of some members of the group on others (observation method).

A common criterion for these two methods of identifying a leader is the factor of influence exerted by a person on the surrounding group members. Therefore, initially we can define leaders as those who influence the activities of the group.

However, the simplicity and obviousness of this definition is misleading. There are at least three important implications of this formulation that are commonly overlooked in the study of leadership.

First, accepting this definition, we assume that all members of the group are leaders to some extent, since each participant to a certain extent and in some respect, even against his will, influences the actions of other members of the group. Therefore, it must be taken into account that leadership is a quantitative variable, and not the presence (or absence) of a certain quality. It would be more correct to speak not about the presence, but about the amount of ability (potential) for leadership of each member of the group, without dividing them fatally into leaders and followers.

So, those members of the group who significantly influence the activities of the group can be (although somewhat arbitrary, since they differ only in the amount of influence) called leaders.

The second consequence is the fact that the manifestation of leadership is an act of interaction between personalities: not only the leader influences the follower, but the follower also influences the leader.

The behavior of leaders is largely determined by the attitudes (value orientations) of the members of the group. Studies have shown that in groups with a predominance of tendencies towards equality, the leader is more democratic; on the contrary, in groups where strong power is important, the leader can become an absolute dictator.

Thirdly, we must consider the difference between the leader, as a person with a significant amount of influence, and the official head of the team, whose influence can sometimes be much less. In other words, not all formal leaders are actual leaders.

Taking into account the above general considerations, we can proceed to the proper socio-psychological analysis of the problem of the leader and leadership.

The emergence of leadership. The main idea of this paragraph can be formulated as follows: the emergence of leadership (informal leadership) and its functions in a group are determined by the structure, position and tasks of the group.

Now we will show the second side of the interaction "leader - group", since it is the structure, position and tasks of the group that determine the circumstances in which leadership arises and the purpose that it serves.

In most cases, as we have pointed out, influence in a group tends to be concentrated in the hands of one or a few persons, but not distributed evenly among all the members of the group. This manifests itself most clearly when, over time, the group stabilizes in the external environment.

Naturally, the history of the concentration of leadership in each group proceeds differently. Here we will outline only some of the starting points and major events in the growth and functioning of the group, as well as those significant characteristics of its members that contribute to the concentration of leadership and determine the distinctive features of this process.

Leaders and rank hierarchy of the group. In the process of quantitative growth, an increase in the number of functions and the specification of group goals, a hierarchy develops according to the degree of influence among group members.

On the top rung of the hierarchical ladder is the primary leader, in the middle are the leaders of the second and third levels, and on the lower rungs are the followers.

In small cohesive groups, as a rule, both intermediate leaders and followers represent at their levels the main features of the supreme leader. However, this does not apply to large and complex groups, where there are objective conditions for the nomination of many leaders.

Leader and critical situations. The need for an influential leader is especially keenly felt by the group in those cases when some obstacle arises on the way to achieving group goals or something threatens the group from the outside, that is, when a difficult, critical situation develops. This may equally apply to complex
combat conditions, natural disasters (for example, a group of climbers and a collapse in the mountains) and the ups and downs of institutional reorganization.

In such cases, there is always a lack of consensus among group members about what steps should be taken to achieve goals or ward off danger. If at the same time any individual manages to ensure the achievement of the goals, or the safety of the group due to his personal qualities (courage, skills, knowledge, self-confidence, etc.), then he is most likely to become the leader of this group.

The degree of danger or difficulty in overcoming the obstacle faced by the group determines not only the emergence of leadership, but also the volume and forms of its distribution. In the most critical situations, leadership is focused, concentrated in one hand.

Historical analysis of the emergence of dictators shows that they appear precisely in critical situations when instant changes in government are needed. Power-hungry political adventurers artificially create ostensible emergencies as a means of taking control of all state functions and prolong imaginary crises in order to maintain this control.

The American scientist Leighton studied the possibility of the emergence of a leader in a camp where people of Japanese origin were interned during the Second World War. He notes the blind, apathetic compliance of people under the influence of conditions of isolation, the destruction of the usual norms of life and a sense of the futility of existence. They seemed to follow any leader: "power lay in the streets of the camp, waiting to be picked up by someone."

If the problems faced by the group are very complex in their range, leadership functions are usually distributed among several individuals. As tasks are simplified, leadership becomes concentrated (but with difficulty not below a certain level). With easy group tasks, leadership is again scattered (the task is so simple that everyone can solve it on their own).

Leaders and group instability. A favorable environment for the nomination of a new leader can arise not only under the influence of an external threat, but also as a result of intra-group conflicts.

At some point, the leaders of the conflicting subgroups will assume a position of balance of power relative to the supreme leader; if the group does not disintegrate, then the leaders of the subgroups will be forced out by one supreme leader (the old supreme leader, however, may remain).

An employee of the University of Michigan (USA) Crockett (Crockett) experimentally proved that disagreements in groups create fertile ground for the usurpation of the roles of old leaders and the promotion of new ones. He studied 72 groups in government and industrial organizations, which led him to the following conclusion:

"Groups whose members have different opinions about the group's goals and means to achieve them are much more likely to nominate opinion leaders than groups that have no disagreement about the goals and means."

Leaders and Former Leaders. A new leader is likely to emerge at a time when the old leader is not up to his leadership position as a strategist, expert, planner, and administrator.

In the cited work of Crockett, it is indicated that in 83% of cases when the leader neglected or could not cope with the listed functions, someone else from the group members took over these functions. At the same time, in those groups where the formal leader effectively performed these duties, a new leader was nominated only in 39% of cases.

It has also been proved that if the leader does not cope with the function of representing the group in the external environment, does not know how to "speak on behalf of everyone", then the group puts forward a new leader.

Leaders and their needs. Like all members of the group, the potential leader strives to achieve group goals and at the same time has some own, additional needs.

What distinguishes the future leader is that these additional needs can best be met by taking on the role of leader (or informal leader). Depending on the degree of awareness of their needs, value orientations, the future leader can purposefully seek a leading role or this process can occur spontaneously, or rather, followers are engaged in his promotion, making sure that he has the sum of the necessary qualities.

Group management in an organizational environment. Management of informal groups. How to set up work within a microholding

Formal and informal groups in an organization

GLOSSARY OF TERMS.

INTRODUCTION

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