Essay Sample: Usefulness of Group Dynamics to Modern Organizations Leaders

The argument of this paper delves into understanding the role group dynamics in modern organizational leaders as well as formulating an argument on the type of leaders who harness group dynamics effectively. The paper has three sections: the introduction, the argument body, and the conclusion. The introduction section entails the literature review on the importance of group discussion. The body section will discuss key points as to why group dynamics is important to modern leaders. The body section will argue supporting and giving credit to the benefits that group dynamics bring in a group context. Besides, the discussion will entail the type of leaders adept at harnessing group dynamics effectively. The last section of the paper will entail a conclusion that gives a summary of the points discussed in the body.

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Group dynamics is a concept that delves into studying the process and structure of how individuals behave while in a group. In a group, the group member`s dynamic expression is based on individual thought, feeling, the relationship between members, and by non-verbal cues. Notably, the dynamics in a group affect an individual as well as a group as a whole. Therefore, the group dynamic is a catalyst and a skill all leaders should possess so that they understand the conventions that exist in a group. Moreover, because companies rely on individual and collective effort, leaders who understand group dynamics nurture talent, experience, and skills of individual members. Thus, group dynamics is applicable to all the leaders because the concept helps the leaders to understand how individual actions make sense in the group context.

In brief, the concept of group dynamics emerged from systemic theory. From the concept of circular casualty, Ludwig spawned many ideas that led to the now present 'systemic theory.' According to Bertalanffy (1968), he developed the theory to highlight how living creatures organize themselves and act in a particular pattern. In the theory, Ludwig puts emphasis on encouraging leaders to consider a whole as greater than the subsets of the group. Therefore, the theory made a framework for group leaders to consider systemic behavior, that is, the patterns of interaction in a group with its subsystems, a tendency merged of treating group work as doing individual counseling but with some audience present. The systemic theory has provided a framework to guide leaders to understand group structures at group setting (Dallos & Draper, 2010). Therefore, most leaders have capitalized to the dynamics that prevail in a group considering the fact that people are different in various ways.

Harking back on the topic of research, the importance of leaders understanding group dynamics in the modern organization is far-reaching. The impact of understanding group dynamics is realized when you gauge the performance of an organization in tandem with the leadership approach the leaders use therein. As a fact, group dynamics determine whether an organization will succeed or fail in its ventures. A leader who has capitalized to understand the actions of individual members in a group and delve the reason for such actions is likely to foster teamwork and corporation among the group members (Forsyth, 2018).

When taking an eagle`s eye, leaders never Underestimate the importance of group dynamics if they want their groups to achieve the best result. Therefore, leaders ought to recognize the impulse of group dynamics. The critical information about group dynamics is that group dynamics require an analytical approach to delve on examining a group as a whole-the scientific approach of holism ("Understanding group dynamics," n.d.). Obviously, a competent leader must possess the quality of analytical skills. If we assume that all leaders have analytical skills, the leader has to identify how well a team is working to achieve its goals.

Furthermore, leaders achieve the analysis by putting into consideration three fundamental aspects; one, the leader has to check on the individual actions and accountability in the group. This is not an easy task to do, but the leader has to assess the contribution of each individual and other members of the group can hold their colleague`s accountability for achieving the group goals on time without compromising on quality. Therefore, the leader has to identify the commitment each member has made to the group. For example, members of a group exhibit different personality. Individuals have variations in terms of opinion, ethics, and behavior. Since a team comprises of these different personalities, it is important a leader should categorize members according to their personality. This is a cogent reason why leaders should understand group dynamics. Michael A. Olguin is his article, Building a Winning Team Dynamics he ascribes that when individuals understand their role in the organization, competition decrease among members, thus allowing the employees to embrace teamwork thus everyone`s opinion contributes to the overall goal of the team.

Another key feature the leader has to look into group dynamics is the relationship between each individual. Leaders unveil the interaction between different individuals in a group by understanding the process that happens in the group. The leaders assess the progress in order to reinforce that team and rejuvenate their effort to solve problems in an amicable manner. It is an illusion if the leader views group members as people with matching habits. By the fact that people have the different skill set, it is difficult for members of the team to cohabit and work together in harmony. In most groups, members differ in opinion and ideas. Actually, every group has its challenges-there is no group where every member agrees with an opinion every time. Therefore, when the leader understands group dynamics it is easy to help the group unite and formulate an effective unit to meet the goals of a group. Research shows that leaders who mind about the interaction of a group, the structure, trust, and communication process build great teams. From the above argument, observing interactions of a group have a positive impact on the organization and equally makes a meaningful part of leadership.

Another fundamental aspect why leaders should understand group dynamics is because the skill set helps the leaders to break down barriers in a group. A normal group must experience some challenges. The challenges deter the progress of the group. The leaders take the stance to mitigate the effect of the challenges on the outcome so that the group proceeds towards meeting their goals. The leader has to come up with the action plan to counter the barriers that affect the effort of the group. The quality of establishing strategic plan is part of the work ethic and culture. Breaking down barriers is achieved when the leader understands the group dynamics.

On top of this, the leader identifies barriers if he understands what is taking place at the grass root levels of groups. For example, an organization might suffer from losses if they fail to respond to employees` grievances. If such a problem is not discovered during the early stages, the employees might opt to initiate strikes or performance of employees will start deteriorating. Addressing such barrier early enough prevents the spreading of the effect. Therefore, for the leaders who capitalize on group dynamics, they solve such a problem before it materializes. This proves as to why it is important to understand group dynamics in the modern organizational leaders.

On another perspective, understanding group dynamics makes leaders recognize that members of a group compete against one another. Generally, leaders establish groups to achieve a common goal. However, some groups instead of functioning cohesively to achieve a common goal, they compete against one another. There are many reasons why members of a group compete. One, the group member vie to look superior to others, some members compete to seek attention and approval from their leaders and sometimes compete to sabotage each other. An example of this scenario is a group of bikers. Consider family members (Father, mother, and two children) hiking with their bicycles, in the beginning, they start as a group, as the race progresses the race turns into a competition. The dynamic brings a linear causality where the action of one biker affects the behavior of the others thus triggering their response. In this case, the action of each other brings cause-effect thus sparkling a competition where the members compete against one another.

What type of leaders is most adept at harnessing group dynamics effectively?

Usually, many leaders lack the ability to harness group dynamics effectively. Sometimes leaders sideline the virtue of embracing group dynamics when undertaking the organization`s activities. The bottom line of the problem is the failure of leaders to align the team talents. However, leaders with adept at harnessing group dynamics effectively achieve the best result out of their team members. Adept leaders must embrace the following skills to ensure they harness group dynamics effectiveness:

Normally, an adept leader must have eloquent communication skills to harness group dynamics effectively. The leader who initiates an open communication through honest dialogue effectively align the team`s talent (Puccio et al.2010). Such a leader must welcome the opinion of other group members as well as maintaining a non-partisan tone. The leader hears the opinion of others and gives an equal participatory chance to everyone. Moreover, achieves effective results if he understands the internal processes and the dynamics of a group. Proper communication will help the team to work collaboratively thus creating an alignment of talent by discussing emerging issues and keeping every team member as par. A leader who encourages better communication expresses the big picture of the group in terms of team building. In summary, leaders with better communication achieve the following attributes: one. Communication attains an environment of trust and honesty. Besides, such leadership allows members to share openly, thus promoting the exchange of feedback. Lastly, communication helps a leader to know the approach to use to calm conflicts in a group.

Besides, a leader who focuses on the business objective is likely to harness group dynamics effectively. For that leader, he understands the role and the significance of understanding the group dynamics. In this case, leaders figure-out group dynamics as a business strategy to achieve the business objectives. The leader uses the talent of the group members to align their responsibilities. The adept leader must align and leverage the potential of each member-either the strength or preference. The leader who identifies different talents brings the best out of members because they are placed where they best perform (Puccio, et al. 2010). Ultimately, such alignment will help the organization to achieve its objectives. The common trait of these leaders is that they push the employees to understand their roles and makes the employees recognize their contribution to the success of the organization.

In the same perspective, a leader who puts the right people to take positions on where they have talent is likely to achieve the effectiveness of group dynamics. The basis of attaining a performing team relies on putting the right people is appropriate positions. A leader should discover what their employees like doing and understand what motives their employees (Puccio et al. 2010). All leaders require working with people who they are sure to have talent and passion for what they are doing. However, talent alone does not help an employee to achieve the best result...