There are several theories on why groups develop. The classic theory, developed by George Homans, advocates that group development is based on activities, interactions, and feelings. What it means is when individuals share common activities; they will have more interaction and will develop attitudes which could be positive or negative toward each other. The major element in this theory is what kinds of interaction are shared by the individuals involved in the group.

Social exchange theory offers an alternative explanation for group development. According to this theory, individuals form relationships based on the implied expectation of mutually beneficial exchanges based on trust and felt obligation towards each other. Thus, an insight that in relationships exchange of thoughts and ideas is positive and essential if individuals are to be attracted to and affiliate with a group.

Social identity theory suggests that individuals get a sense of identity and self-esteem based upon their membership in outstanding groups. The nature of the group may be demographically based, culturally suitable, or organizationally based. Individuals are motivated to belong to and contribute to identical as their character groups because of the sense of belongingness and self-worth membership in the group imparts.

Do you know that the study of group dynamics is dated back to 1960s by Bruce Tuckman. He said that groups do not usually perform at maximum effectiveness when they are first established. They come across several stages of development as they struggle to become productive and effectual. Often, groups experience similar developmental stages while they encounter conflicts and resolutions. According to Tuckman’s theory, there are five stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During these stages group members go through lot of pains as they need to address several issues and the way in which these issues are resolved decides whether the group will succeed in accomplishing its tasks or the group will break up.

Forming: This is the first stage. In this stage lot groups form temporarily; this stage is characterized by some puzzlement and lot of uncertainty. The group is not sure about their major goals. Leadership matters here a lot. Thus, forming is a direction period when members get to know one another and share expectations about the group. Members learn the purpose of the group as well as the rules to be followed. If the forming stage is rushed trust and openness cannot be developed. Individuals are often confused during this stage because roles are not clear and leadership matters to bring in a feeling of settlement. If the group is formed on basis of weak leadership, the group is far from being formed.

Storming: This stage is called storming because in this stage, the group is likely to see the highest level of incongruity and conflicts. Members in the group challenge group goals and struggle for power. Individuals often compete for the leadership position during this stage of development. This can be a positive experience for all groups if members can get organized through resolution. Members often voice concern and criticism in this stage. If members are not able to determine the conflict, then the group will often split up or continue in existence but will remain unproductive and never advance to the further stages.

Norming: This stage is categorized by the identification of individual differences and shared expectations. If in this stage the group members begin to develop a feeling of group unity and identity the group’s existence strengthens. They experience cooperative efforts which begin to yield results. In this stage usually responsibilities are divided among members and the group decides on evaluating progress. Roles and responsibilities are passed on to members in the group in norming stage.

Performance: Performance of group occurs when the group matures and attains a feeling of cohesiveness. During this stage of development, individuals accept one another and conflicts are resolved through group discussions. Members of the group make decisions through a sensible process that is focused on relevant goals rather than emotional issues.

Adjourning: This stage is not is not experienced by all groups, because it is characterized by the performance discharged by the group. Some groups stay relatively permanent. There are reasons why groups disband; they differ from group to group. Some common reasons are the achievement of the tasks or individuals deciding to go their own ways. Members of the group often experience feelings of conclusion and sorrow as they prepare to leave the group. The reasons could be rational or irrational.

We human beings don’t always make the right decisions because our rational judgment is influenced not only by our infatuations and emotions but we all have built-in biases and some other feelings as conceit, egos and illogical dogmas. We don’t understand sometimes why we behave in a fashion or why we take wrong decisions. One big factor affecting the quality of decisions is whether a decision involves a group.

Group dynamics can lead otherwise sensible individuals to agree or disagree decisions they might not come to on their own. At times the effects are positive, as when some group members help others overcome discrimination. But the dynamics of a group often have negative consequences. Since most organizations   rely on collective decision making in some contexts, managers must to be on the lookout for group biases and their undesirable results. There are again some common manifestations of the group effectiveness. Such as conformity – many people go along with the group regardless of what they themselves might think as individuals. Then comes group polarization – it’s a phenomenon which shows that deliberation can intensify people’s attitudes, leading to more extreme decisions. A study in US federal courts showed that judges working alone took a relatively extreme course of action only 30% of the time. When they were working in groups of three, this figure more than doubled, to 65%.

It has been observed that it is an elating feeling when like minded people come together in a group. It is an exhilarating to see when a team of dedicated people meet to discuss and decide a course of action which benefits each member in the group. If a group is given freedom to choose whom and whom not it can have in its team, positive performance can be observed. It is always gratifying to have likeminded people to form groups. They work together, though each of them coming from different backgrounds and levels of experience, but each with the same intellectual capacity to problem-solving and eventually come up with well executed outcomes. People with similar points of view can supplement and substantiate the perspectives which help in achieving organizations goals and objectives.

I like Margaret Mead’s quote “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has” this sums what group dynamics is all about beautifully.

Joseph Luft and Harrington Inghm – both American psychologists shaped a technique in 1955; this technique is famously called Johari Window. It helps people understand their relationship   with self and others. Please understand it is very important to have a good relationship with self; when we are at peace with self we can take precise decisions in life. It is the foundation of everything in our life. Having a good relationship with self helps us to improve our relationships with others. A good self-relationship enhances our capability to value our self as a person, which helps us to embrace our strengths and weaknesses easily. Johari Window helps people first to understand them better, and then improvising their vital relations in life.

Luft and Ingham called their technique/model Johari Window model ‘Johari’ after merging their first names, Joe and Harry. The Johari Window soon became a widely used model for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships. This model is used primarily in groups especially in corporate settings as a heuristic exercise. ‘Heuristic’ means enabling a person to discover or learn something for himself/herself. In corporate culture and societies group dynamics matters for success of business or scheme; because group dynamics  can be useful in understanding decision-making behavior, tracking the spread of diseases, wrong information in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies.

When performing this exercise, subject (group member) is given a list of 57 adjectives and they are supposed to pick five or six that they feel illustrate their own individuality. Peers of the subject are also allowed pick five or six adjectives each that describe the subject. These adjectives are then mapped on a grid (framework). There are four Johari Window perspectives; they are called ‘regions’ or ‘areas’ or ‘quadrants’. Each of these quadrant or region contains and represents the information, knowledge, feelings, motivation, etc known about the person, in terms of whether the information is known or unknown by the person and others in the group.  It is observed that the exercise helps in understanding some inherent, instinctive potential of a person which the person himself or the group was not aware of.

Charles Handy, an Irish philosopher specialized in Organizational Behavior calls this model as Johari House with four rooms.

Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see. It is also called Open Area or Arena. Adjectives that are selected by both the participant and his or her peers are placed into the Open Area quadrant. In short, this quadrant represents information what you know about yourself and others also know about you. There are some character traits about us which are apparent, and even if we decide we can’t veil them. We work better when there is nothing to hide.

Room 2 is the characteristics that others see in the subject which he/she is not aware of. They are called Blind Spots. This quadrant uses adjectives used by the peers. The subject is not aware some of his characteristics which other see in him. This quadrant helps in making the subject aware of some of his characteristics which he has not realized, but others have seen it in him. This quadrant helps the subject to realize some of his unsighted characteristics. We often don’t see some of our traits which are “too close” to be properly seen; our ego and our self-worth covers up our deficiencies especially those that only the people closest to us can notice. There are people who keep rebuffing about their blind spots when brought to their attention. They react harshly, and do not acknowledge and correct their faults; such people eventually end up being hit with much bigger problems. Wise people accept their blind spots and try to correct them.

Room 3 is our private space; there are many things about us which we hide from others. It is called Hidden or Façade. This quadrant represents adjectives selected only by subject, but not by any of his peers. This information is private only to the subject; it is up to the subject to disclose this information or not.

Room 4 is the most mysterious or baffling room. In this quadrant the unconscious or subconscious part of the subject rests which neither he sees nor others. It is also called Unknown. Adjectives those were not selected by either subjects or by his peers remain in this quadrant; which represent the unknown characteristics of the subjects. This quadrant informs the group regarding behaviors or motives of the subject which were not recognized by anyone participating. This may be because they do not affect anybody or it can also be because of collective ignorance of the existence of those traits.

What is interesting about this quadrant is that the human potential of the subject which neither he nor his colleagues realize are veiled. It remains unknown. Human potential is limitless. It is sad that till end some people do not unleash their potential which is perhaps the biggest tragedy. When potential of some people remain underutilized it has reasons. Sometimes their ability is under-estimated, untested due to lack of opportunities, lack of encouragement, lack of confidence and training. Some lack the natural ability or aptitude to realize their potential that they possess. Some people have fear or an aversion to tap their natural instinct.  Some people repress their subconscious feelings, and some are conditioned to wrong outlook.

The aim in any group should always be to develop the ‘open area’ for every person, because when we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive self and the group becomes most productive too. The open free area, or ‘the arena’, can be seen as the space where good communications and cooperation occurs and is free from distraction, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.

When Johari Window technique is used in an organization for bringing in healthy work atmosphere, it is seen that established and mature team members tend to have larger open areas because of their experience and acumen than new team members. New team members start with relatively small open areas because comparatively new team members tend to share little knowledge. The size of the open area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by motivating and speaking actively by listening to feedback from other group members. This process is known as ‘feedback solicitation’. This exercise becomes effective when group members decide to use the opportunity for self help and helping other team members to expand their open area.  This they can do by offering response, perceptively of course. The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the hidden or façade space by the person’s disclosure of information regarding his experience in life, circumstances and feelings etc. Group members can help a person expand his/her open area into the hidden area by allowing the person talk freely by pay attention to him. Team leader thus play an important role in facilitating feedback and confession among group members, and in directly giving feedback to individuals.

Don’t we all need somebody to tell us our blind spots? Johari Window will give you many “blind spot checkers.” Once these are identified, we can work out an action plan together. Organizations prosper when they promote a culture and expectation for open, honest, positive, helpful, constructive, sensitive communications, and the sharing of knowledge throughout the organization. If you look at successful organizations around or the best performing groups, departments, you will observe that they have a culture of open positive communication. So the moral of this article is to encourage individuals and organizations to work more in ‘open area’ to get best results. Open area stimulates better communication, resolves conflicts, reciprocation and gratification. And friends, healthy relationship with your colleagues can be one of the best supports in life. Good relationships strengthen our wellbeing and when relationships do not work, it drains us tremendously.