Many things in life can be accomplished individually—putting things in order, cooking, taking care of pets, and a lot more do not require help from others. However, there are also many things that require collaboration among people in order to transpire. Providing assistance to young children in need is one task that needs group effort to reach the goal. Although it can be difficult, the work becomes easy when two or more heads work together. In this paper, I intend to analyze the factors that make a group successful based on Tuckman’s stages of group development. Relying on my own experience, I also attempt to discuss the factors that hinder a group from reaching its goal, as identified by Bion.
During my senior year in high school, I experienced working with a group to help educate young children in our community. This experience made me gain insights regarding group dynamics. At present, as I encounter the Four Stages of Group Development as proposed by Bruce Tuckman (2001) and the theories of group dynamics by Wilfred Bion (In Lipgar, 1997.; Schramm, 1998), I reflect back on the factors that made our group successful, and determine the aspects that went wrong along the way.
There are different youth groups in our community. Some work for a good purpose, while others are mere gangsters always seeking for thrill and fun. I chose to join one group that helped young children in their schooling. Just like others, I joined the group first, to gain more friends, and second, to help young children by sharing them what I know. During the time I joined, I never thought of anything but to work for everyone’s good, especially the children. Never did I anticipate anything wrong to happen along the way; all I thought was that if we have a common goal, we can make things easy, and everything will flow smoothly.
The first two months of our community service was great. We planned out everything first before visiting the areas. During planning, everyone was already excited to visit the community and get to know the children. When it was time to visit the community, we were happy and fulfilled by the warm reception each member of the community showed us, especially the children who benefitted from the tutorial sessions we carried out. Each was assigned with a partner, and the pairs took turns teaching the kids and playing with them. Others who were assigned of other committees aside from tutorial did their jobs in providing food and school materials, reserving venues, coordinating with the community head, and recording data. Each person worked with much enthusiasm to reach the goal. At the end of each service, all of us expressed our satisfaction for the simple yet remarkable deeds that we performed.
Teaching the children was really tiring but it was also very fulfilling at the same time. Based on the profile of the kids, we found out that most of them were raised by single parents, either their father or mother who worked and were not at home most of the time. Therefore, they had no time to follow up on their children’s studies. Considering this, our role was very important as we helped the kids do their assignments, and tutor them on areas they find difficult, especially Math, Science and Social Studies. Everything went smoothly at first, but later on, some children were unable to attend because they needed to take care of their younger siblings and do house chores.
To respond to the problem, some of us went earlier to the area to fetch up the kids, and though this worked for some time, those assigned for fetching up tarried. As weeks passed, lesser members attended the community service. Each had a different excuse, two were graduating from high school, and they needed time to complete school requirements, one was moving out, another was busy with work, while others just disappeared without excuse. Hence, from a group of 16, only six of us were left. Later, as I entered college, I also became too busy with school, so I also decided to quit the group. The remaining members tried to recruit new members, but failing to do so for another two weeks, they decided to separate ways. The experience I had with the group ended unhappily but it taught me a lot. Now, as I encounter the theories of Tuckman and Bion, I realize why things happened against what was planned.
Tuckman’s Four Stages of Group Development
In his theory of group development, Bruce Tuckman identifies five stages namely, forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. According to the author, every group undergoes these stages, but not all reach the fourth and the fifth stage, due to some outside or personal factors. In the first stage, group members behave in order to attain mutual acceptance with others, and avoid conflict. As much as possible, they try to hide disgust or dislike of other people and their ways, and focus on achieving the group’s goal. The members’ flexibility thus allows them to accomplish things and maintain order.
The second stage is storming. At this stage, individuals learn to admit their limitations, and start to address issues of conflict with others. However, they still try to keep a harmonious relationship, and in doing so, resolve issues quickly by dismissing personal issues or addressing the issues from a macro-level perspective. This way, they do not get too personal with each other, and avoid confrontations.
The third stage is norming. As the group members get to know each other better, they understand each others’ weaknesses and strengths. This allows them to work better together. This stage is characterized by harmony among members, and a sense of organizational maturity being achieved.
The fourth stage is performing. According to Tuckman, not all groups achieve this stage but for those who do, they reflect a great sense of interdependence and flexibility. At this stage, the level of relationship between individuals has become personal, to the extent that they know and trust each other well. These characteristics allow them to work comfortably with each other, and ensure achievement of goals.
The fifth stage is adjourning. This stage is not included in the original theory proposed ten years earlier by the author. In his view, Tuckman considers the stage of “completion and disengagement” where individuals feel proud of what they have accomplished as a group. Recognizing the good things they have done, the group continues their effort with a sense of completion.
Bion’s Theory
Wilfred Bion is considered as one of the most significant theorists of group dynamics According to Schramm (1998), Bion identifies some sources of conflict in groups, namely “ambivalence within individual group members between desires for autonomy vs. dependence,” and “differences between the needs of the group for the group’s sake, and the needs of its individual members.” These ideas center on the purpose of individuals for joining and remaining in the group.
Bion’s theories deal on the mental processes of human beings to explain group dynamics. He contends that humans find themselves in dual dilemmas of choosing between thinking and acting independently or as part of a group. These dilemmas, along with the person’s struggle to adapt to reality and ward off psychotic like anxieties or tensions cause conflict within groups.
Applying Tuckman and Bion
When I encountered the theories of the two well-renowned authors, I realized what actually went wrong with the group I joined few years ago. Applying Tuckman, I learned that all groups somehow go through as similar process; and as he claims, not all groups reach the fourth stage, which is performing. The group that I joined actually reached only up to the second stage. First, when the group was new, everyone was so excited that nobody seemed to ever feel tired of reaching out to the community. Although some conflicts arrived, we tried not to raise arguments, and kept the relationship in good terms.
However, as we dismissed all our personal feelings and tried to focus on the goal, we forgot the needs of each other to express fears, apprehensions, and difficulties. This caused others to feel they were being left behind, and before we noticed it, their individual conflicts pushed them away from the group. As Brion claims, the anxieties of the members, and their feelings of being neglected, non-belongingness, and other anxieties piled up in time, and become the very reasons for leaving the group. Since I was very young that time and did not know these theories, I thought that they each had a valid reason. However, now that I learned about these conflicts, I realized that the individuals’ personal conflicts were the main cause of their resignation.
Implications
Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development suggest one important thing: to deal with conflicts as early and honestly as possible. Members of the group should find courage to express any difficulty or problem that they are encountering, whether on a personal or group level. This will help the group realize their mistakes or improve their process and rules, and adapt changes if necessary.
Bion’s theory of conflicts in group dynamics teaches us that every member has personal needs that should be addressed in order to motivate them further to work well within the group. Although it may be difficult for some to address all these needs, the need to belong and feel secure in a group is probably the most fundamental of all. This implies that to ensure coherence, group members should be sensitive to the needs and emotions of others, and exert effort to make them feel they belong.
References
Famous models: Stages of group development. (2001). Retrieved May 10, 2009, from http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm
Lipgar, Robert M. (1997). Beyond Bion’s experiences in groups: Group relations research and learning. Retrieved May 10, 2009, from http://www.sicap.it/~merciai/bion/papers/lipgar.htm
Schramm, Marc G. (1998). Basic assumptions. Retrieved May 10, 2009, from http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/ppc/group/grpbasic.html
