What is a Group?

We define a group as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular common objectives. A group can range in size from two members to thousands of members. Or Everyone knows what a group is in general. When two persons or more come together and interact in one place it may be called a group. The group may be defined in various ways.

Features of Group

The important features of the group are:

One or more individuals come together and influence each other.

1. There are social interactions and relationships among the individual members of a group.

2. There exists some common motives, drives, interests, emotions etc. among group members.

3. There is communication among group members, both verbal and non-verbal.

4. The group members have some common object of attention and group members stimulate each other.

5. They have common loyalty and participate in similar activities.

6. There exists a feeling of unity in the group. Group members treat each other with respect and regard and have a sense of comradery that develops among them.

7. The action of the members is controlled by the group.

There are some customs, norms and procedures which are acceptable to everyone but if an exception happens, then the particular member will be ostracized from the group.

Types of Groups

One most common way to classify a group is ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ in nature.

Formal Group

Formal workgroups are created by the organization to achieve organizational goals. These groups are defined based on certain parameters or boundaries in a formal way e.g. Sales Department, HR department, South region etc. Formal groups may take the form of command groups, task groups, and functional groups.

Informal Groups

In contrast, an informal group is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined or defined. Informal groups are natural formations in the work environment that appears in response to the need for social contact. Three employees from different departments who regularly have lunch or coffee together are an informal group. However, these types of interactions among individuals, though informal, deeply affect their behavior and performance.

What is WhatsApp or Telegram Group?

A WhatsApp or Telegram group works like a chat room. Participants in the group can chat with one another and all messages sent to the group are seen by everyone else in the group. This is a great solution to communication barriers that may come with conversations involving multiple people.