Exercise group dynamics
From WRIWiki
Contents |
Name: Group dynamics
Time:
Goal or purpose of the exercise:
Group dynamics exercises can be designed to explore many different issues: how a group uses its resources, its different kinds of leadership, how clear a goal is, and what roles members are filling.
How it's done
A specific description of a group dynamics exercise may help to clarify: participants are divided into small groups of about six members each. They are given a situation which they try to solve, not by acting in roles as in roleplaying, but by being them-selves. The situation might be one which examines resistance to change. The scenario might be a committee meeting when a per-son has just proposed a specific action campaign. For purposes of exploring resistance to change, the writer of the scenario would build into it examples of resistance, such as the necessity of immediate agreement, threat if agreement is not made, lack of any decision-making structure, and so on. When the exercise comes to a natural conclusion, or when many types of resistance have been uncovered, the director stops the exercise and evaluation begins. Through discussion, participants relate what they experienced to similar situations they have been in.
Trainers notes
We do not suggest here that, once a person is familiar with group dynamics, all conflicts will cease in group situations. We are suggesting, however, that a study of group dynamics can help groups function more effectively than when people are unfamiliar with it.
Group dynamics is rife with limitations, hence the occasional suspicion of organizers and activists toward its use in training. There is always a tendency to become enamoured with the technique, thus losing sight of larger goals. Since conflicts to some extent will always exist in an active group, people may be tempted to stay in the framework of group dynamics in an effort to 'solve' these conflicts. People may think that what happens in one exercise is universally true, when it may not be. But it is probably as unwise to ignore the field of group dynamics and undervalue what it can offer to social change groups as it is to heighten its importance at the expense of other issues.
