Conceptual scheme of a basic social system. Source: Adapted from Homans, G. (1950)..
The human group. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; and Homans, G. (1961). Social behavior: Its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt Brace. By permission of Transaction Publishers.
148 PART 2 • LEARNING KEY SKILLS IN NURSING MANAGEMENT
deal with absences that affect the workload of colleagues. Norms may include not calling in sick on weekends, readily accommodating requests for trading shifts, and returning from breaks in a timely manner. In a team environment, norms are more likely to be linked to each team member’s expected contribution to the performance and products of the team’s efforts. If an individual agrees to take on a specific assignment on the team’s behalf and fails to complete the assignment on time, a group norm has been violated.
Group norms are likely to be enforced if they serve to facilitate group survival, ensure predict- ability of behavior, help avoid embarrassing interpersonal problems, express the central values of the group, and clarify the group’s distinctive identity.
Groups go through several stages in enforcing norms with deviant members. First, members use rational argument or present reasons for adhering to the norms to the deviant individual. Second, if rational argument is not effective, members may use persuasive or manipulative tech- niques, reminding the deviant of the value of the group. The third stage is attack. Attacks may be verbal or even physical and sometimes include sabotaging the deviant’s work. The final stage is ignoring the deviant.
It becomes increasingly difficult for a deviant to acquiesce to the group as these strategies escalate. Agreeing to rational argument is easy, but agreeing after an attack is difficult. When the final stage (ignoring) is reached, acquiescence may be impossible because group members refuse to acknowledge the deviant’s surrender. A nurse manager has a responsibility to help groups deal with members who violate group norms related to performance, including counsel- ing the employee and preventing destructive conflict.
Roles Norms apply to all group members, whereas roles are specific to positions in the group. A role is a set of expected behaviors that fit together into a unified whole and are characteristic of persons in a given context. Roles commonly seen in groups can be classified as either task roles or socioemotional (nurturing) roles. Often, individuals fill several roles. Individuals performing task roles attempt to keep the group focused on its goals.