If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.
Yogi Berra
the group development is a sort of direction on what steps is the group going to undertake, but not all groups are expected to undergo the same satges of group devlopment.
Group development
It is unclear of how many stages of development that a group has, however Toseland and Rivas (2009; 86) suggest that most models propose that all groups pass through a similar stages of development. Stages of the group may be affected by the needs of group members, the type of the group, the goals of the groups, the session in which the group meets and orientation of the leader (Shaw; 1976 and Smith; 1978 cited in Toseland and Rivas; 2009; 87)
Toseland and Rivas mentioned four stages of group development which were facilitated during the whole group process. They are the beginning, transitional, working and ending stages
Beginning stage
According to Becker (2005; 42) the beginning stage is also called orientation stage. It is concerned with the formation of the group as a unit. The themes are likely to be about trust, belongingness, acceptance and delinquency.
Transitional stage
The stage is characterized by lot of storms, sharing of roles which were accompanied by member status, eruption of conflict due to battle over positions and also called storming stage by various authors such as Becker. It is a time where conflict and anxiety arises within group members.
The stage is characterized by members influence, conformity, and cohesion and sharing. Members were participating, conforming to group culture and pressure and hence reached their climax during this stage. During these session members were reminded about the group termination phase on the next meeting of the group. There was a very high interaction and lot questions arising from members during this stage. Those who were assigned tasks gave their feedback during this phase
Termination stage
The stage is regarded as the ending phase of the group development process and this termination was well planned; since members are told about it from the initial phase. The worker also informed them during the contract phase. According to Becker; (2005; 43) termination refers to the completion of work as defined in the group purpose or contract. Termination occurs when the leader and members reached an agreement based on that they were then equipped with the relevant skills and ready to proceed on their own without the worker’s help and they were looking forward to thego on on their own
