Overview

Relevant text includes

• Part IV: "Focusing on Group Processes" (p. 157)
• Chapter 7: "Group and Team Dynamics" (pp. 159–179)

Group issues are important to professionals in sport and exercise science because of the amount of time they spend working in groups. Part IV of the text, "Focusing on Group Processes," contains four chapters dealing with group interactions. Chapter 7 focuses on group and team dynamics, chapter 8 on group cohesion, chapter 9 on leadership, and chapter 10 on communication.

In chapter 7 students learn about the nature of groups, what they are, and how they are formed. The important concept of team climate is explained, as well as strategies to maximize individual performance within groups. Students also read about why some people loaf in groups and how to reduce this social loafing phenomenon in sport and exercise settings.

Key Concepts

• The four stages that groups go through to move from a mere collection of individuals to a team have been nicknamed forming, storming, norming, and performing. Sport and exercise groups are characterized by a collective sense of identity, distinctive roles, structured modes of communication, and norms.
• Two of the most important structural characteristics of groups are group roles (sets of behaviors required or expected of the person occupying a certain position in a group) and norms (levels of performance, patterns of behaviors, or beliefs held by the group). Effective teams possess clearly defined roles and norms of high productivity.
• Team climate develops from how players perceive the interrelationships among the group members; it is affected by social support, proximity, distinctiveness, fairness, and similarity.
• Social support functions to provide appraisal information, reassurance, and companionship; reduce uncertainty during times of stress; aid in mental and physical recovery; and improve communication skills.
• The abilities of individual team members are often not good predictors of how a team will perform. Some techniques to foster an individual's sense of contributing to the team effort are using videotape, helping players understand their roles, and increasing identity among the team members.
• The Ringelmann effect is the phenomenon in which individual performance decreases as the number of people in the group increases. Social loafing occurs when a group puts forth less than 100% effort due to losses in motivation—there is a diffusion of responsibility, and individuals feel that others within the group will pick up the slack.

Objectives

This chapter has six objectives. After completing this chapter students should be able to

1. discuss how a group becomes a team,
2. understand how groups are structured,
3. explain how to create an effective team climate,
4. describe how to maximize individual performance in team sports,
5. better understand the concept of social loafing, and
6. discuss the conditions under which social loafing occurs.

Chapter Outline

This outline corresponds with chapter 7 in the presentation package.

1. Lecture-presentation introducing part IV
   1. Return to the road-map model of the field.

   *Indicate that you are moving on to part IV, "Focusing on Group Processes." Mention that the focus of all four chapters making up the section is on groups and understanding how to better function within them.

   2. Introduce part IV of the textbook.

   *Identify the four chapters to be covered in this part of the book.

2. Session overview: Why study groups?
3. Lecture-presentation on "What Is a Group?"
4. Lecture-presentation on "Theories of Group Development"
   1. Linear perspective

   *Online study guide activity 7.1, Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing

   2. Cyclical (life cycle) perspective
   3. Pendular perspective
5. 5. Lecture-presentation on "Group Structure"
   1. Group roles
      1. Formal and informal roles
      2. Role clarity
      3. Role acceptance
      4. Role conflict
   2. Group norms
      1. Norms for productivity
      2. Positive norms
6. Lecture-presentation on "Creating an Effective Group Climate"
   1. Social support
   2. Proximity/Distinctiveness
   3. Fairness/Similarity
7. Online study guide activity 7.2, Developing Group Identity
8. Lecture-presentation on "Social Support"
   1. Define social support
   2. Functions of social support
   3. Seven types of social support
9. Lecture-presentation on "Individual and Team Performance"
   1. Basic principles
   2. Steiner's model
   3. Individual skills and group performance
   4. The Ringelmann effect
   5. Social loafing
      1. What is social loafing?
      2. Conditions that increase social loafing
      3. Eliminating social loafing
   6. Enhancing the desire for group success
      1. Definition
      2. Strategies for developing
   7. Transitions and disengagement for teams
      1. Key question
      2. Facilitating smooth transitions
10. Summary and review

Online Study Guide Activities

• Activity 7.1: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing
• Activity 7.2: Developing Group Identity

Recommended Activities to Incorporate Into the Lecture

Activity 7.1, Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing

• Objective: To help students better understand how groups are formed
• Time: 10 minutes
• Materials: A printout of completed activity 7.1
• Procedures: Have the students complete this activity online and bring their results to class. Ask several students to share their responses.
• Summary and integration points: Conclude the activity by discussing how most groups eventually follow these four general stages in their development. However, be sure to mention that although this usually occurs, it is not totally unusual for one stage to be skipped.

Activity 7.2, Developing Group Identity

• Objective: To help students understand how to facilitate the development of an "identity" in the groups they work with or lead
• Time: 20 minutes
• Materials: A printout of completed activity 7.2
• Procedures: Have the students complete this activity online and bring their results to class. Divide the class into groups of four or five individuals. Have the members of each group compare their answers. Allow 15 minutes for this portion of the exercise. Conclude by asking students from different groups to share their responses.
• Summary and integration points: Emphasize the importance of initiating specific strategies for developing group identity.