Group watching …

Groups deliver the software. Although a group consists of individuals, a group can also develop a personality of its own.

Because a group consists of an number of individuals, it is possible for a single idea to start with a small subset and then gain momentum and gain the support of the group even though only one or two people support it. As an IT risk manager it is crucial that you monitor the behaviour of the group and ensure that it does not fall victim of group think. Some types of group think are quite subtle such as the Abilene Paradox.

Apart from group think, you need to think about the behaviour of a healthy group.

• You will hear laughter from team members.
• Team members have lunch or socialise with each other.
• Team members might engage in non aggressive banter.
• People smile.
• People can have a vigorous argument about something but it does not affect the way they treat each other.
• Everyone is informed of and working towards the group’s goal.
• Everyone feels valued.

Once again, if anything changes, you may have an issue you want to investigate as it could have an impact on your ability to deliver.

Issues with groups have been around since the dawn of time. Some IT team experts are now studying shamonic practices from a scientific perspective to see what can be learned.

Once agin, happy to hear of anything people do to deal with groups.