Section title: Human resources - Group behaviour Introduction What motivates workers? Further theories of motivation Group behaviour The group as an effective vehicle for decision making Leadership styles Glossary Test     What makes a good group? Photograph: CIMA Objectives: To understand what constitutes a group within a business To understand the role of groups in maximising a businesses’ productivity To understand why some groups arrive at bad decisions Groups Consider which groups you belong to at school/college. Which of these groups are formal groups and which are informal? How do these groups affect your behaviour? Groups are formed by any collection of people coming together with a common purpose. These groups can be formal groups set up by the organisation, such as the accounts department. Formal groups are formed for a specific purpose and members of the group each contribute to the completion of the task(s). Informal groups are those set up without any formal permission from the management. They often serve a social or a psychological function. For example, there is nearly always a group of smokers who gather together in any organisation. There may be other groups who always take breaks or go out to lunch with each other. The objectives of informal groups may clash with the formal objectives of the organisation. Individuals usually belong to several formal and informal groups and have to handle the groups' conflicting norms. This can create stress for the individual or result in them behaving differently in different groups.