The Group Process

( A group of Naturalists working on group development)

We all work with groups in some way shape or form. Those of you in the teambuilding realm may have groups that last a few hours, a day, several days, or several meetings over a prolonged time. You Naturalists or Outdoor Educators may have a single group of kids for up to a week or maybe only a nature hike. In every case, your group will be in some stage of the Group Process, and may move from one stage to another during your program. Having an understanding of the group process may not guarantee a successful group, but it can help you in understanding their behavior and help you be more intentional about activity selection.  

In 1965 Bruce Tuckman presented a model of group development that was composed of 4 stages. He named the stages Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. In 1975 he added Adjourning to the model. Some folks use the term Transforming rather than Adjourning to keep the flow smoother.  Here is a brief description of each stage:

Forming: 

The group comes together and gets to know each other initially and to form the group. People are usually acting civil, and often people are looking to discover where the physical and emotional boundaries are. 

Storming: 

A chaotic period with individuals vying for various positions, often with a good deal of conflict.

Norming: 

Agreements are reached on how the group will operate as a group with the task(s) presented.

Performing: 

The group implements the behavioral agreements and becomes effective in meeting its objectives.

Adjourning/Transforming: 

The process of transitioning the group into another form or disbanding the group all together and moving on.

At the link above, and here, there is much more on the Group Process model developed by Tuckman. However, in a more immediate sense, this information can be useful for you during programs. These 4-5 stages occur in many ways. If you are working with a group for any period of time, one or more of these stages will be occurring. In a multi-day program for example these stages can occur over the whole time the group is together. They can also occur over the period of a single day. And they can manifest within a single activity. The Group Process is not a simple 1 dimensional, linear process. It can be a multi-layered, constantly adjusting model. And, it does provide us as facilitators- on a challenge course, or with a environmental education group- with a template to work with when selecting activities. 

Do some research using the links provided to deepen your understanding of Tuckman's model. And with the next few groups that you work with keep your awareness on what level of the process your group may be in and which direction are they moving. Also keep your awareness on the behaviors you notice in each stage. Keep notes if you want to on your findings. Enjoy the process!

Some things to try: (remember to sharpen the saw)

Overhand Knot:

This is one of my favorite low prop initiatives. All you need is some space and a length of webbing or rope. I use a piece of cordage (again-webbing or rope) that is about 18-24" long depending on the group.  A 24" piece is good to have because it makes the activity a little easier if you have participants who are bigger than others. I also provide some other pieces of the same length for the group to practice with during the activity.

To start with I gather the group around and show them what an Overhand Knot looks like. If you don't know, it looks like this:

I tell this group that this is the knot they use when they first begin to tie their shoes. This is a hint to the solution. Have the group line up holding hands. Then in the middle of the line have the two middle people break their connection and give them each one end of the piece of cordage. The rest of the line remains holding hands.

The goal of this activity is for the group to tie an overhand knot in the cordage without breaking contact with each other. Also the people holding the cordage can also not let go of the cordage. That includes doing little finger dances to manipulate the cordage into a knot. The only hands that can be used to manipulate the cordage is the two free hands on each end of the group line.  

I do allow participants to break hands in order to plan and strategize with the extra pieces of cordage. Also let the group change who are the people holding onto the cordage and even the lineup as long as has equal numbers on each side of the piece of cordage. Allow this between attempts, not during.

Although this sounds rather simple I have seen groups take more than an hour to complete! Other groups have done it in less than 20 minutes. The key is to monitor the group and make sure they are following the guide lines around letting go of the cordage. There are at least 4 methods that I have seen work for this activity. Be forewarned that some groups can become very frustrated while doing this activity.

Disco Hike:

Todays activity is to take a walk through or around where you work with groups. A good Disco Hike lasts about an hour or 90 minutes. A Disco Hike is not some new dance craze. But come to think of it a Dance Hike could be a blast! A Disco Hike is a Discovery Hike. Your only goals, besides having fun, is to notice more and give your participants an opportunity to get passionate about exploration! If you want to make it more "formal" perhaps make an initial inventory of the things you notice so your group could explore more about the objects they discover later on in your program or when they get home. A Discovery Hike is not necessarily a naming or labeling hike. It is about walking around and looking for cool things to discover. Try and inspire before you label everything.

As you walk around, simply be on the look out for things that catch your attention, and more importantly-catch the attention of your group. It could be something you see, hear, or smell. Then go check it out. Try and resist naming the item. Sometimes I provide just a bit of info such as telling the group that a mushroom is a kind of decomposer. If you want to, write a description of the item or take a picture. That way you can look it up later. Just enjoy the process! Have fun, and maybe get a little dirty. As I am leading a Disco Hike I tell my participants that when they notice something they want to share with the group they should call out "Disco!" and then the group will come to them. I do take advantage of a Disco Hike to point out potentially harmful items such as poison oak/ivy/sumac, and other items like property boundaries or off limit areas.

While you are out on a Disco Hike try some of the following things:

-- Just walk and look. You could even try a walk without talking.

-- Listen for various birds.

-- Notice the birds flying overhead.

-- Look for all things red, or blue, or brown, or orange (natural or man made).

-- Count the conifers in the area.

-- See if you can notice tracks or trails.

-- See if you can notice 10 things you have never seen before.

-- Count cool insects.

-- See if the moon is still out.

You get the idea. If you can, try and make taking a Disco Hike a routine. Maybe take mini Disco Hikes everyday with your group if you have them for a few days, or when you get to a new place. I have also done Disco Hikes when a group returns to an area so we can explore and see if there are any changes or new things to discover.


Connections:
A couple of websites to check out this week:


This website, The Encyclopedia of Life, is the creation of E.O Wilson. Quite a cool place:
http://www.eol.org/


Want to learn some new knots, or forgotten a few? Animated Knots by Grog is the place to go!
http://www.animatedknots.com/

Have a wonderful week and if you have any comments, please feel free to leave them here. If you have any suggestions for future topics or other questions, please email me at:

asinglefootstep@gmail.com

As a self promotion bit:

I will be at the National Challenge Course Practitioners Symposium-NCCPS

 February 24-27th, 2010 in Boulder CO. 

On the 24th, as a pre-conference offering, I am running a workshop on 

Ecological Debriefing Methods and Metaphors. 

Contact me for more information.