2.4. Power

All human interaction involves power and influence.You should be aware of the influence you exert on others and how necessary and constructive mutual influence is in building effective groups and collaborative relationships among members.Each group member should be skilful in influencing other group members and taking responsibility for such influence.

The terms power and influence will be used interchangeably.

 

The trait-factor approach to influence

It states that certain individuals are somehow born with a self-contained capacity to influence others.

It is:

• Static – it focuses more on continuity than on change
• Atomistic – it assumes that complex phenomena can be analysed into their component parts
• Historical – it assumes that causation of present behaviour is a function of genetic and experiential factors acting cumulatively over relatively long periods of time
• Inductive – it stresses accounting for empirically observed phenomena more than seeking empirical validation for general theoretic statements

Trait factor researchers assume that people are rational in the way they process information and are motivated to attend to a message, learn its contents and incorporate it into their attitudes.

Credibility– the perceived ability to know valid information and the perceived motivation then communicate this knowledge without bias

 

Attractiveness– how attractive one person appears to another (how much he / she is liked)

1. Effects of the source:
   • Expertise relevant to the topic
   • Reliability as information source
   • Motives and intentions of the communicator
   • Warmth and friendliness
   • Dynamism (confident, forceful and active)
   • Majority opinion of others
2. Determinants:
   • Co-operativeness and goal facilitation
   • Physical appearance
   • Liking – if one person knows he / she is liked, that liking is tended to be returned
   • Similarity – people who feel themselves as being similar in basic values, like each other
   • Competence
   • Warmth
   • Familiarity and closeness – to know them is to love them
3. Effects of the message:
   • Self esteem – low self esteem members tend to be more persuadable
   • The receiver’s present attitudes
   • Forewarning – if a person is aware of the fact that you want to influence him / her, it creates resistance
   • Role playing
   • Inoculation – having receiver’s practice defending their position and then giving them additional arguments to support, it decreases their susceptibility to attempts to influence them
   • Intelligence – and influence are negatively related in the upper portions of the IQ distribution and positively in the lower portion

 

The dynamic – interdependence view of influence

Power is viewed as an aspect of a relationship between two or more persons.Relationships and the exertion of influence within them, according to this view, are constantly changing as the group members modify and adjust their behaviour to stay co-ordinated with one another.

Relationships between individuals are dynamic.The basis of influence within a relationship is the mutual dependence of group members as they strive to achieve their mutual goals.

Group members are interdependent and influence each other to the extent that they mediate or contribute to the attainment of important goals for each other.The degree of influence is dynamic.Costs and gains play an important role in this regard.

Power is seen as an attribute of a relationship not of a person.

The approach is:

• Dynamic – it focuses more on the changing nature of influence within a relationship as the members strive to achieve their mutual goals than on who possesses power
• Holistic – it assumes that power is a complex phenomenon that has to be studied as a whole and that cannot be meaningfully broken into components
• Phenomenonological – it stresses the immediate experience of group members and the ways they influence each other in the present rather than focusing on t heir history and genetic make-up
• Deductive – it attempts to apply and validate theoretical principles concerning the nature and use of power

Mutual power exists in a group to the extent that one member can affect the goal accomplishment of other members.

Decisions cannot be made without the one member influencing the other

Controversies and conflicts of interest cannot be resolved without the use of influence. Even communication cannot take place without mutual influence.  Thus, the use of power (influence) is essential to all aspects of group functioning.  Power cannot be ignored, abdicated or denied. The possession of power within a group is inevitable and it is through the exercise of mutual influence that co-operation takes place and the group effectively achieves its goals.

 

Power, influence and control – a definition

The three terms are sometimes defined differently and sometimes synonymously by social scientists.

For our purposes POWER and INFLUENCE is seen as:

One person’s control over resources valued by another

Person A                                             Person B

Controls resources                              perceives that A controls resources

Values these resources

B’s valuing of A’s resources depends on:

1. Power – has been defined as:
   • The actual control of another’s behaviour
   • The capacity to influence another’s behaviour
   • The capacity to influence another person’s rewards and costs
   • The ability of one person to get others to behave in a particular way or to carry out certain actions
   • The capacity to affect another’s goal accomplishment
2. Influence – has been defined as
   • An attempt to use power to change another person in a desired direction
3. Control – has been defined as
   • Having the influenced behaving as the influencer intended
   • The availability of alternative resources of these at the same or lower cost
   • The importance B attaches to the goals whose attainment is mediated by A’s resources

Remember that it is the PERCEPTION of B of the resources of A that affects the behaviour of B, not A’s actual resources

Social power and influence depends on a need-resource correspondence among group members.

Outcome-dependence is a function of the ability of others to affect one’s costs of engaging in goal-directed behaviour and the benefits of that behaviour.

Information-dependence is a function of the ability of others to supply one with the information one needs for determining which strategies to use in attempting to achieve one’s goals, the costs of each strategy and one’s ability to implement the strategies.

Resistance is the psychological force aroused in a person that keeps him or her from accepting influence

 

Aversion to the use of direct influence

Some persons are averse to the planned use of direct influence.

A group member consciously planning how best to influence other members may seem to some of us to be violating their freedom of choice and selfdirection.

<p”>There are at least three rules that oppose the influencing of other’s behaviour:

 

• The rule of con-coercion – people should not be forced to do what others want them to do, but should be free to refuse them
• The rule of explication – people should not be seduced into compliance, but should be told what is wanted of them
• The rule of self-direction – people should be free to decide for themselves how they want to guide their lives

For some persons words like power or influence seem to violate these rules.

The use of influence and manipulation may be confused in this case.  All human interaction involves mutual influence;  manipulation is a certain type of influence.

Manipulation is the managing or controlling of others by a shrewd use of influence, especially in an unfair or dishonest way and for one’s own purposes and profit. It is the influencing of others in ways they do not fully understand and with consequences that are undesirable for them but highly desirable for oneself.  It is the use of power for one’s own benefit at the expense of others.

Reactions when manipulation is uncovered are typically resentment, anger and retaliation.

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The bases of power

You have reward power over people when you have the ability to deliver positive consequences or remove negative consequences in response to their behaviour.The more the group values the reward, the greater the power.

Too many rewards or the development of suspicion on the part of the group members that they are being bribed or conned into going along can lead to a ‘moving away’ or ‘moving against’ the person.

A person has coercive power when he can measure out negative consequences or remove positive consequences in response to the behaviour of group members.

Coercive power frequently causes the group to avoid the person and to like him less.Only when coercive power brings a conflict out into the open to be resolved can it have many positive effects.

Group members believe a person ought to have influence over them because of his / her position (employer) or because of his / her special role responsibilities (policeman).Group members believe it their duty to follow the commands of a person with legitimate power, even when it means restricting themselves to a limited set of behaviours.

Group members identify with or want to be like him and therefore do what he wants out of respect, liking and wanting to be liked.Generally, the more a person is liked, the more group members will identify with him.

A person is seen as having some special knowledge or skill and as being trustworthy.They believe he is not deceiving them for selfish purposes. The successful use of expert power results in ‘movement toward’ the person.It will have negative effects in the group if they feel that he fosters feelings of inadequacy.

Group members believe that he has resources of information that will be useful in accomplishing the goal and that are not available anywhere else. It has effects similar to those of expert power.

1. Reward power:
2. Coercive power:
3. Legitimate power:
4. Referent power:
5. Expert power:
6. Informational power:

 

Power and problem solving

Every group member has some power;every group member is able to influence other group members in some way.Different group members will have different bases of power, e.g. informational power, legitimate power. How a group manages the element of influence in member relationships has an important bearing on group effectiveness.

The effectiveness of any group is improved when:

• Power is relatively balanced among its members
• Power is based upon competence, expertise and information

When members have equal power they are more co-operative in their interactions and more responsive to the co-operative initiatives of other members.

Unequal power interferes with the trust and communication necessary for managing group conflicts constructively.

The problem-solving capacity and ability of a group is seriously damaged when the member with the most authority is most influential at a time that calls for expertise and accurate information as the bases of power.

 

Unequal power

When the distribution of power within a group is obviously unequal both the high and low power members have troubles.Group effectiveness suffers, the gains members receive from being members decrease and severe maintenance problems result.

 

High power/low power members

Life generally seems good for high power members.

There are at least two strategies that high power members use to make it more difficult for low power members to reduce the differences in power between them:

• Institute norms or rules in the group that legitimise their power and make wrong any attempt by others to change the status quo
• Make the risk of attempting to change the status quo so great that the low power members are deterred from doing so – think about severe penalties against those who might attempt to change the status quo, or by offering low power members a variety of benefits or rewards on the condition that they refrain from rebelliousness.

The second seems to be more effective. It is called ‘this hurts me more than it hurts you’ strategy OR ‘if only you would behave neither of us would go through this suffering’ strategy.

High power easily results in arrogance and corruption:  “power corrupts”.

The more a person’s power, the more insufficient it is likely to seem, simply because the claims upon it increase faster than the power to fulfil them.

High power may also have difficulty in handling small problems:  it may become easier to drop an atom bomb on a mosquito than to use a can of bug spray.

Powerful members:  (research indications)

• Made more attempts to influence the behaviour of the low power members
• Devaluated the performance of low power members
• Attributed the efforts of the low power members to their own use of power rather than to the low power members’ motivation to do well
• Viewed the low power members as objects of manipulation
• Expressed a preference for the maintenance of psychological distance from the low power members
• Feel more secure than low power members
• Underestimate the low power members’ positive intentions
• Are inattentive to the communications of the low power members
• Are unresponsive to co-operative gestures by the low power members
• Attempt to protect their superior power by rejecting demands for change.

Low power members are apt to feel frustrated and uncertain about their future goal facilitation because they depend heavily on the unpredictable behaviour of the high power members.  These feelings of anxiety and uncertainty provoke:

• Increased vigilance and attempts to understand and predict the high power members’ behaviour
• Distorted perceptions of the positive intent of the high power members towards them
• Attraction to, mixed with fear of the high power members
• Stifling of criticism of the high power members
• Unwillingness to clarify one’s position to the high power members
• Ingratiation, conformity, flattery and effacing self-presentation so as to induce the high power members to like and to reward them
• The expectation of exploitation

Low power members in a group need to build enough cohesiveness and strength to function independently of the high power members if it is necessary.  In addition, the high power members must be motivated to co-operative with the low power members.  It means that the latter must find goals that are important to the high power members, especially goals they cannot accomplish without the co-operation of the low power members.

Strategies that low power members can follow to influence high power members:

• Build their own organisations and develop own resources
• Ally with third parties
• Use of existing legal procedures to bring pressure for change
• Made more obvious, could increase the latter’s positive feelings toward or outcome dependence upon the low power members
• Try to change the attitudes of those in high power through education or moral persuasion
• The use of harassment techniques in order to increase the high power members’ costs of staying with the status quo

Low power members should first clarify their goals, take stock of their resources and finally study how to make the high power members more aware of their dependence on them and of their compatibility (if any) of goals.

 

Power and conflict

An intimate relationship exists between power and conflict. The use of power is always present in personal and group interaction.Group conflict does not exist unless a member wants something to happen that he / she does not have the power to make happen. If a person wants group members to do something and they want to do it, there is no conflict, but if they do not want to do it, and the first person does not have the power to

Conflicts are increased when the desire to influence is not matched by the capacity to influence.

The use of a coercive power base is a destructive way to manage a conflict for many reasons.It intensifies the conflict, thereby increasing hostility, resentment, lies, threats, retaliation, revenge and distrust.Threats often lead to aggression and counter-threats.Coercion and threats can sometimes cut short or control a conflict simply by getting behavioural compliance or by forcing a group member to leave the situation, but it will never lead to a productive resolution and co-operation.

One central strategy to resolve or control a conflict is to re-establish mutual influence among all those in a group.

make them do it, or overcome their state of unwillingness, then a state of conflict exists.The successful attempt to use power can often end a conflict.

 

Team Building

A team is a set of interpersonal relationships structured to achieve established goals

Teams function as individual members interact. Successful team performance requires interpersonal competencies.  Small groups of motivated individuals are the secret to productivit

 

Essential element of effective teams

To function productively, teams should have the five following essential elements.

It is the belief that you ‘sink or swim together’

Where positive interdependence prevails, individuals perceive:

To obtain meaningful face to face interaction, group size needs to be small.A perception that one’s participation and efforts are needed increases as the size of the group decreases.

Members engage in team processing when they discuss:

Content is the WHAT they are discussing

Process is HOW the group members interact and whether effective leadership, communication, decision making, trust building and conflict management are being employed.

• Positive interdependence
  • Group members strive for mutual benefit
  • Group members share a common fate
  • The performance of group members is mutually caused – this results in mutual obligation (toward each other) and mutual investment (in each other)
  • Group members feel a shared identity
  • An expectation of joint celebration exists
  • Positive GOAL interdependence
  • Positive REWARD interdependence
  • Positive ROLE interdependence
  • Positive TASK interdependence
  • Positive RESOURCE interdependence.
• Individual accountability
  • Inform the group which members need more assistance or encouragement to complete their work
  • Increase members’ perceptions that their contributions to the group effort are identifiable and that they must fulfil their responsibilities in order for the group (and themselves) to be successful
  • It enables group members to clearly identify the contributions each makes to the overall work of the group
  • It decreases the likelihood of group members unknowingly duplicating each other’s efforts
  • It allows group members to provide needed support and assistance to each other
  • It highlights and clarifies the responsibilities of each group member
  • It minimises the likelihood of social loafing

 

• Face to face interaction
• Collaborative skills
• Group processing
  • Achieving their goals;  and
  • Maintaining effective working relationships among members
  • How well their team is functioning
  • How they may improve the team’s effectiveness
  • Describe what member actions were helpful and unhelpful;  and
  • Make decisions about what actions to continue or change.

 

Group processing

At least two models exist:

Self examination leads to insight, which leads to increased effectiveness

Group members analyse the groups functioning –

Self monitoring by observing the group’s functioning

Discussing the results of the observation

A heightened self awareness of the effective and ineffective actions taken during the group meetings

Public commitment to increase the frequency of effective actions

An increased sense of having the ability to be more effective if appropriate effort is exerted (that is, self efficacy)

Group processing is aimed at providing accurate and nonthreatening feedback concerning the procedures the group is using to achieve its outcome goals

The feedback gives the members information that helps them improve performance, and it reinforces members for engaging in collaborative skills.

Effective processing:

One of the aims of group processing is to empower group members to feel that they can increase their productivity

Self efficacy is the expectation of successfully obtaining valued outcomes through personal effort

Group efficacy is the expectation of successfully obtaining valued outcomes through the joint efforts of the group members

Individuals can focus on positive and effective behaviours or on negative and ineffective behaviours

Positive monitoring is linked to the emission of thoughts and statements that reflect positively on oneself and one’s collaborators

Negative monitoring is linked to negative statements about oneself and others

Reasons behind group processing:

1. Models
   • The counselling model
   • The feedback model
2. Effective vs ineffective processing
   • Promotes a sense of self efficacy
   • Focuses members on positive rather than negative behaviours
3. Importance of group processing
   • When groups first begin to work together, they tend to be very task oriented
   • Processing gives the groups the time they need to maintain effective working relationships
   • Processing helps members become aware of and develop the collaborative skills they need to work effectively in teams
   • Processing gives the members a chance to give each other positive feedback on their use of collaborative skills
   • Processing reminds individuals to practise their new collaborative skills consistently not just occasionally.

 

Procedures for processing

Scheduling group processing involves two main elements.

First, groups must set aside time to reflect on how well members are working together. Processing time (such as ten minutes) may be scheduled at the end of each meeting or periodically a longer duration of time (such as an hour) may be scheduled for an in-depth discussion

Second, groups must have a set of procedures for discussing how well the group is functioning and how well group members are using collaborative skills

Examples of such procedures:

• Group members decide on what collaborative skills they wish to emphasise in their meetings
• An observer is designated to collect information about how often and how well the skills are performed in the group
• At the end of a meeting group members assess how often and how well they performed the targeted collaborative skills
• The observer reports the information gathered to the group – each member receives feedback on his / her participation in the group
• Group members compare their observed behaviour with their own impressions of and expectations for their behaviour
• Group members provide some recognition for members who use the collaborative skills frequently and completely
• Each group member publicly sets a goal for behaving more skilfully in the next group session

 

Dealing with problem behaviours

There are a number of obstacles to effective team functioning:

• Maturity
• History – norms rooted in past practice
• Mixed motives – individual’s motives are almost never purely co-operative
• Obstructive individual behaviour – some people talk too much, argue too often, intimidate unnecessarily over detail, stubbornly resist and generally behave in a very human fashion

Careful attention to positive interdependence, individual accountability, collaborative skills and group processing usually solve such problems.  There are however other common problem behaviour patterns.  This is what they are called and suggestions as to how to handle them:

Members turn away from the group, they don’t participate, don’t pay attention to the group’s work, saying little or nothing, showing no enthusiasm.Other members may wish to –

• Passive un-involvement
  • Jigsaw materials so that each group member has information the others need
  • Divide up roles and assign to the passive, uninvolved member a role that is essential to the group’s success
  • Reward the group on the basis of its average performance, which will encourage other group members to derive strategies for increasing the problem member’s involvement

When a member is talking about everything but work, leaving the group, attempting to sabotage the group’s work by giving wrong answers or destroying the group’s product, refusing to do work, or refusing to work with another group member.One may wish to give a reward that this member or group finds especially attractive and structure the task so that all members must work steadily and contribute in order for the group to succeed and attain the reward.Other possibilities are:

• Active un-involvement
  • Assigning the member a specific role to fulfil
  • Making the member a group observer with high accountability to collect data about group functioning
  • Sitting in on the group processing session and
  • Confronting the member

A group member working alone and ignoring the group discussion.

• Independence
  • Limit the resources of the group – if there is only one answer sheet or pencil, the member will be unable to work independently
  • Jigsaw materials so that the member cannot do the work without the other members’ information

When onegroup member is doing all the work, refusing to let others participate, ordering the members around, bullying other members or making decisions for the group without checking to see if the other members agree.You may wish to:

• Taking charge
  • Jigsaw resources
  • Assign roles so that other group members have the most powerful and dominant roles
  • Reward the group on the basis of the lowest two performances by group members.  This will place pressure on the person taking charge to encourage and help other members to learn the material and complete the task

 

Group cohesion

Cohesiveness = the term most frequently used to describe a sense of member liking for and commitment to the group. Group cohesion is the extent to which the influences on members to remain in the group are greater than the influences on members to leave the group.

(see Solidarity / Cohesion above for further details on group cohesion)

How to develop, foster and increase a group’s cohesion:

• Structure co-operation among its members
• Successfully meet the personal needs of members
• Maintain a high level of trust among members
• Promote group norms that encourage the expression of individuality, trusting and trustworthy behaviour and concern and affection among group members

 

Developing and maintaining trust

Developing and maintaining trust is an essential aspect of increasing a group’s cohesion.

Why is trust important?

Trust is a necessary condition for stable co-operation and effective communication.The higher the trust the more stable the co-operation and the more effective the communication.Group members will be more willing to openly express thoughts, feelings, reactions, opinions, information and ideas when the trust level is high.

What is trust?

It is a complex concept and difficult to explain.

It involves the perception that the choice to trust another member can lead to gains or losses. Whether you gain or lose depends upon:

• The behaviour of the other member
• That the loss will be greater or smaller than the gain

“If I openly express myself, will what I say be used against me?”

Openness:  the sharing of information, ideas, thoughts, feelings and reactions to the issue the group is pursuing

Sharing:  is the offering of your materials and resources to others in order to help them move the group toward goal accomplishment

Acceptance:  is the communication of high regard for another person and his contributions to the group’s work

Support:  is the communication to another person that you recognise his strengths and believe he has the ability and capabilities he needs to manage the productively the situation he is in

Co-operative intentions:  are the expectations that you are going to behave co-operatively and that every group member will also co-operate in achieving the group’s goals

Trusting behaviour: openness and sharing

Trustworthy behaviour:  the expression of acceptance, support and co-operative intentions

In considering trustworthy behaviour, you should remember that accepting and supporting the contributions of other group members does not mean that you agree with everything they say.  You can express acceptance and support for the openness and sharing of other members and at the same time express different ideas and opposing points of view.

This is an important point in building and maintaining trust.

 

Group norms

Norms: what are they

• The group’s common beliefs regarding appropriate behaviour for members
• They tell how members are expected to behave
• They are the prescribed modes of conduct and belief that not only guide the behaviour of group members but also help group interaction by specifying the kinds of responses that are expected and acceptable in particular situations
• Norms have a certain ‘ought to’ or ‘must’ quality
• Are formed only with respect to matters that have some significance for the group

Norms are set formally or informally.  They develop out of the interaction among group members and are social products.

Norms of any groups vary in importance. Some norms allow for more deviation by members than others.  Some norms require strict adherence to a rule, while others permit a wide range of behaviour that is regarded as acceptable

For a group norm to influence a person’s behaviour, the person must recognise that it exists, be aware that other group members accept and follow the regulation and follow it himself.

A norm may become internalised and a person will then conform to it automatically, even when no other group members are present.

Group norms help maintain behavioural consistency among its members

Norms may apply to all members or only to certain members.

 

Conforming to group norms

Conformity has been seen as:

• A blind, unreasoning, slavish adherence to the patterns of behaviour established by others or to the demands of authority
• Agreement with the majority for the sake of agreement
• Violating of one’s principles in order to obtain group acceptance
• Selling out of one’s individuality in order to get ahead

Conforming to group norms, however, frequently improves the functioning of a group at no expense to the individual’s principles or belief, e.g. conforming to the study group norm that one should provide help and assistance to group members as to accomplish group tasks, is beneficial for the group and the students involved.

There are conditions under which conformity to group norms may violate important values and principles of an individual and other conditions under which it will support these values and beliefs.

There are two dimensions:

Conformity – anti-conformity

The conformers and anti-conformers both react to the group norm and base their behaviour on it. The conformers agree with the norm, the anti-conformers disagree with the norm and both behave accordingly.

Independence – dependence

An independent person on the other hand, does not give excessive importance to the group norm in making his / her judgment

Norms and Power

Group norms often serve as substitutes for influence among group members.Both the weaker and the stronger members tend to gain from having mutually acceptable norms that introduce regularity and control into their relationship without making direct interpersonal application of power necessary

The high power members do not encounter the resistance and lack of wholehearted co-operation that often come from applying power in forceful ways

The low power members have more of a chance to influence the high power members through the norms that specify their expected behaviour and the limits of the use of power

Norms are a protection against the fanciful and inconsistent use of influence by high power members.

Norms free the high power members from constantly checking the behaviour of low power members to make sure they are conforming.

Norms carry weight because they embody some of the personal power given up by group members.Individuals let themselves be influenced by norms in ways that they never permit themselves to be influenced by others, for norms often take on the characteristic of moral obligations.

At the very least, conformity to group norms is a requirement for continued membership in the group.

 

Implementation of group norms

There are several ways in which norms can be started in a group.

• A frequent method is for a member to state it directly and tell other members to accept it, e.g. a member might say:  “I think we should express our feelings openly about this topic” and tell other members to do so.
• Norms can also be initiated through modelling, wherein members learn to conform to a group norm by watching others conform.
• Norms can also be imported from other groups. People usually learn cultural norms of social responsibility, fair play and reciprocity from others.
• The best way of starting group norms is through group discussion.

General guidelines for the establishment and support of group norms:

• For members to accept group norms, they must recognise that they exist, see that the other members accept and follow them and feel some internal commitment to them.
• Members will internalise norms to the extent that they see them as helping accomplish the goals and tasks to which they are committed.  It is helpful therefore for a group to clarify how conformity to a norm will help goal accomplishment.
• Members will internalise norms for which they feel a sense of ownership.  Generally, members will support and accept norms that they have helped set up.
• Group members should enforce the norms on each other immediately after a violation.  Enforcement should also be as consistent as possible.
• Appropriate models and examples for conforming to the group norms should be present.  Members should have the chance to practise the desired behaviours.
• Cultural norms that promote goal accomplishment and group maintenance and growth should be imported into the group.
• Because norms exist only to help group effectiveness, they should be flexible so that at any time more appropriate norms can be substituted.

 

Group Evaluation

A question frequently raised after a number of man-hours have been spent on a group:

Is all this worthwhile?

Sometimes – and more than often – this takes the form of frustration, or apathy, perhaps expressed as:

We just aren’t getting anywhere!

Members are often unable to identify the sources of these feelings and lack the necessary skills to diagnose and correct the basic causes.

Failure to achieve group goals or to make satisfactory progress toward them usually lies at the heart of such dissatisfactions.

The process of assessing the degree to which a group is achieving its goals constitutes the heart of evaluation. Every group needs to use evaluation in order that it may be as productive as possible.

Random evaluation is always present in any group:its usefulness is strictly limited.

Random evaluation can also come from other sources than the group itself, e.g. the community.

 

Who should evaluate a group?

Will external evaluation be more useful and objective than internal evaluation?

Remember that only group members are fully aware of all the nuances of their process and only t hey can sense all the ramifications, even when well verbalised.Only the members can estimate the satisfactions they are receiving from the fact that they participate.Hence, the members themselves are the best evaluators.

You as an agricultural extensionist are not only part of, but the facilitator of many a farmer group and should be well equipped to make an evaluation of any of your groups.

 

Obstacles to effective evaluation

• Evaluation is a difficult process since it deals with people – human behaviour is always complex.  There is usually resistance to evaluation since the members are inclined to fear and resent it.  One of your tasks as a facilitator is to educate the group members to the necessity for evaluation.
• Another obstacle to evaluation is the difficulty in establishing standards upon which judgments are to be based.
• Judgments should be demanding, but at the same time be realistic, if they are to be of value to the group.
• The lack of suitable instruments of precision is a great obstacle to useful evaluation.

 

Preventing corrupted and unusable evaluation results

• Make sure evaluation is objective in character
• Make sure evaluation is meaningfully structured rather than unstructured
• Make sure the group members understand the purpose and intent of the exercise
• Make sure that the evaluation exercise is a means to an end rather than an end in itself
• Make sure that the results can be used to indicate changes for the future
• Make sure you can answer the question: “what are we evaluating?”

 

What are we evaluating?

All aspects of group functioning may call for evaluating – both process function and goal attainment. It is therefore obviously rather foolish to attempt to make judgments over such a broad and diffuse range at any one time.

It is necessary to select some facet of group process upon which the group needs to focus their attention.As facilitator it will be your duty, if the group is unaware of the need, to demonstrate to the group as a whole the need of the specific analyses and evaluation to be made.See to it that there is a clear definition of the purpose of any evaluation before a technique can be chosen, or a new one designed.

A referral to some of the elements of group functioning that can be evaluated:

THE GROUP AND ITS DYNAMICS

• Atmosphere or climate of the group
• Communication pattern of the group
• Involvement or participation pattern of the group
• Level of performance as compared to standards
• Degree of identification of members
• Degree of social control and conformity
• General role definitions of members
• Unit act roles
• Individual human relations skills
• Quality of resolution of individual differences
• Adaptation to group size
• Use made of evaluation
• Status of the group as related to others
• Community expectations and group goals
• Identity with institutional values
• The degree of positive interdependence
• The degree of individual accountability
• The degree of face to face interaction
• The use and distribution of power
• The negotiation skills of the group

Etc, etc

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• Effectiveness of goal consideration
• Degree of consensus in objective formulation
• Understanding and acceptance of goals
• Clarity of the statement of objectives
• The dynamic qualities of group goals
• The achievability of objectives
• Compatibility of goals with community values
• The developmental aspects of goals
• Co-operative determination of goals
• Competitive determination of goals
• Individualistic determination of goals
• Evaluation potential of goals

TECHNIQUES

• Appropriateness in relation to member abilities and skills
• Appropriateness in relation to internal dynamics
• Appropriateness in relation to external dynamics
• Compatibility with stated objectives
• Creativity as expressed by adaptation and invention

 

Evaluation method – remarks

Once a group obtains consensus on the need for evaluation and on an area suitable for its application, methods for carrying it out must be chosen.

The most elementary technique for evaluation is simply heeding the unstructured random criticisms which occur constantly.A first step in formalisation would be to request comments from the membership from time to time on specific items of group progress and process.It is quite common practice to pass out end-of-meeting slips, asking for written comments which can then be discussed.

More sophisticated and meaningful methods which involve the entire group can only be developed and applied as the group begins to see the value to be derived and to overcome their fears as to the results.

The development of better methods of whole-group evaluation, of which there are many, calls for a re-examination of the basic elements of group process.

There are two possibilities – the whole group can be involved in the procedure of evaluating OR there could be made use of an observer, or even an observer team.This may involve the use of personnel outside the membership, but usually and more effectively and usefully groups make use of artificially externalised group members who are assigned the responsibility for observing the reporting on the interaction and process of the group.

There are two principal forms of observer functions:

• An anecdotal observer:  he concentrates upon the group as a whole, how it functions, what difficulties it encounters and how these might be overcome
• The verbal interaction process observer:  he focuses attention on the individual participation of the group members, the pattern of interaction and qualitative aspects of participation, unit act roles of the members, etc – depending on the need of the group for specific evaluations.

Groups should develop and use their own tools for evaluating according to their own particular needs.

PLEASE NOTE

Any attempt to fit the group’s problems to the specific examples given can lead to a limiting of creativity and ultimately down-grade the quality of the evaluation.

 

Giving feedback

’Feedback’ is a way of giving another person information about his / her behaviour in a given situation.The person receiving the feedback is made aware of how this behaviour affects him / herself and others in the group.

Feedback helps individuals to keep behaviour ‘on target’ and focused on intended goals.The person receiving feedback can decide if a change of behaviour is desirable.

How feedback is received in part depends on how feedback is given.

Useful criteria when giving feedback:

Rather than evaluative – if you give feedback in an evaluative fashion the receiver will be tempted to react defensively.By describing one’s own reaction, it leaves the individual free to use it or not to use it as he / she sees fit

• Descriptive

Be specific rather than general. To be told that one is ‘dominating’ may not be as useful as to be told:“just now when we were deciding the issue, you did not listen to what others had to say and I felt forced to accept your arguments or face attack from you.”

• Specific

Take into account the needs of both the receiver and giver of feedback. Feedback can be destructive if it only considers your own needs

• Consider needs

Feedback should be directed at behaviour which the receiver can do something about

• Realistic request

Feedback should be solicited rather than imposed.Feedback is most useful when the receiver him / herself has somehow formulated the kind of questions which those observing him / her can answer

• Solicited

Feedback is most useful at the earliest opportunity after the given behaviour

• Well-timed

Check to ensure clear communication.Try to let the receiver rephrase the feedback he / she has received to see if it corresponds to what the sender had in mind

• Clear communication

Is the feedback the impression of one person or of the group as a whole

• Check for accuracy

Feedback is a way of giving help, it is a corrective mechanism for individuals who want to learn how well their behaviour matches their intentions, and it is a means for establishing one’s identity for answering “Who am I?”

 

Using evaluation

Evaluation seems prone to slip away from the main stream of the group process.With some it begins as an end in itself rather than a means to an end.To others it turns into a pleasant little parlour game which always amuses but never arouses the members. Improperly done, evaluation can be a real destructive force, destroying group unity and undermining useful traditions of all kinds.

Evaluation should call attention to the group’s weaknesses as well as strengths. It should allow the leadership to concentrate on the improvements of their groups

Evaluation has tremendous possibilities as an educational force and should therefore be of high quality.The information gathered from and through evaluation is not evaluation, but is only the raw materials for evaluation. It must be summarised, analysed and reported back to the group as a whole.The group as a whole should make the interpretations and decide upon a proper action.Obviously, time should be allocated for these evaluative functions.Evaluation should be kept as fundamental and uncomplicated, yet as effective and applicable as possible.

Selling, explaining and teaching evaluation is initially a function of the leadership, but the practice and interpretation of evaluation belongs to the group as a whole.

 

What is a ‘group technique’

Most people have ‘how to’ questions about the group process.

How to:

• Improve groups
• Develop leadership
• Secure group action
• Analyse groups and group processes
• Build a team
• Help groups set goals

Techniques have been likened to the vehicle which helps move a group towards its goals.

The specific, representative methods which will be presented here are merely examples of some of the most familiar of these vehicles.

The choice of these particular techniques does not imply that they are superior to any other techniques.

• Small group discussions
• The ‘huddle’ method
• The ‘buzz group’
• Brainstorming
• The committee hearing
• Farmer’s day
• Delphi technique
• Nominal group technique
• Problem conceptualisation