According to Rcnsis Likert, “cohesiveness is the attractiveness of the members towards the group or resistance of the members leaving it”. It refers to the attachment of members with the group.
According lo K. Aswalhappa, “cohesiveness is understood as the extent of liking each member has towards others and how far everyone wants to remain as the member of the group”. Attractiveness is the key to cohesiveness. Cohesiveness is the extent to which group members are loyal and committed lo the group and to each other. In a highly cohesive group, the members work well together, support and trust one another and are generally effective at achieving their chosen goals.
A group that lacks cohesiveness will not be very much coordinated. Its members will not support one another and they may face difficulty in reaching their goals.
Managers should develop an understanding of the factors that increase and reduce group cohesiveness.
Advantages of Group Cohesiveness
The advantages of group cohesiveness are as follows:
- The members of cohesive groups have high morale.
- The members don’t have conflicting views, which decreases the chances of in clash among the views of group members at the workplace or elsewhere.
- Individuals of cohesive groups have no anxiety at the workplace.
- Members of cohesive groups are regular at their work.
- Cohesiveness increases productivity.
- Organizations gain from the members of cohesive group because they communicate better they share ideologies and respect opinions of fellow employees.
The following factors can increase group cohesiveness:
- Competitiveness with other groups.
- Inter-personal attraction.
- Favourable evaluation from outsiders.
- Agreement on goals.
- Frequent interaction. The following factors decrease cohesiveness:
- Large group size.
- Disagreement on goals.
- Competitiveness within group.
- Domination by one or more members.
- Unpleasant experiences.
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