Leaders of groups often become confused when arguments break out between themselves or certain people assume particular roles. This lecture will provide the basics of group dynamics and present some remedies for typical problems that occur.

1. Introduction: Why people take on leadership positions within groups

   
   
   

   1. Vision or Mission of the group
   2. Strong leader that they like and want to work with
   3. They want to change some aspect of that group; could involve positive contribution of skills the group needs
   4. They enjoy positions of "power" or think this will bring them prestige

   
   

2. Group Formation and Patterns

   
   
   

   1. Forming: The group comes together with some idea of what they want to accomplish. Everyone loves the other people there and you will often hear phrases

      like "I'm just so happy to be a part of this" and "Isn't what we're working towards such a wonderful idea."

   2. Norming: People establish the ground rules for the group. This may be as simple as figuring out who's bringing the food or as complex as writing a policy and procedures manual.
   3. Storming: People argue, often for no apparent reason. A type of catharsis occurs. I've seen people argue violently and insist on expelling a certain person and then, five minutes later, everyone is hugging and crying. Mystical and other worldly? No...
   4. Actual Work: People decide what roles they will play and begin to accomplish the objective they set out to do.
   5. Influx of new people into leadership positions will make the cycle repeat.

   
   

3. Normal Roles Based on Family Theories of Group Dynamics

   
   
   

   1. Mother and Father figures
   2. Oldest Child
   3. Middle Child
   4. Youngest Child
   5. Scapegoat or Black Sheep

   
   

4. Common Problems and Typical Remedies

   
   
   

   1. Group Storms

      
      

      1. Preparing for a storm
      2. Riding it out
      3. Repairing the damage

      
      

   2. Working with the "difficult one"

      
      

      1. Brief reasons why people are difficult (they feel unheard, they're power hungry, they're bored, they don't actually agree with the mission of the group, the "why not me syndrome", they feel the group is stagnant, etc.)
      2. The "I hear that you're saying...." trick - have the group practice this
      3. Finding out what they want to be working on and giving them a way to do it

      
      

   3. You're missing a certain "family" member like the "Mother figure"

      
      

      1. Recruiting certain types
      2. Refitting people for a different role

   
   

5. What do you see happening in your groups? Open question and answer if time allows.

   
   

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