Meeting 5 September 2006

Again a very interesting meeting. The starting conditions were the same as for the previous three meetings i.e. for each person to bring some theory on groups to discuss and for group members to be on time for the meeting. It was interesting that although everyone adhered to the punctuality-request, almost the entire group decided not to bring theory along. An interesting discussion on the group’s space, the group’s consciousness and the process of focusing on the group’s task (process vd content) ensued. As soon as we discovered that almost all of us ignored the request to bring theory, we reflected first on why that was so for this group and secondly on what that could tell us about groups in general. One of the interesting conclusions was that there is a circular relationship between the physical and psychological space of the group. Another reflection was that the group would not go where it didn’t want to go, whatever the agenda. The remark was also made that it is a pity that groups in organisations are often so content-driven that there is never a chance to reflect on / tap into the process in the group.

There were a few interesting “moments” in this session. The first was when Greyling posed the question about our expectation of the meeting in light of the previous meeting. This made the group reflect but this first reflection was a bit frustrating as it felt as if the group was talking about what it was supposed to talk about. Could this be called a Basic Assumption state? A BA state that was necessary for the group to get to the next “moment”? The next moment was when (and I can’t remember what exactly triggered this) the entire group realised that something strange happened in that almost everyone didn’t bring theory and that this is an interesting topic for discussion and learning about groups. Another almost “a-ha moment” was when Neo shared some theory that was applicable to the discussion of the moment and again almost everyone ignored the theory. She was even asked to read it again and again almost everybody missed it. Just proving that content was not going to be the content of this session…

At the end of the session, or actually after the meeting was adjourned, the remaining members immediately started to refer to theory again. Raymond made the comment that perhaps the group “breathed-out” during this session in order to enable it to “breath in” (and refer to theoretical content again) at the next meeting.

Meeting 25 July 2006

Again the stated task for this meeting was for everyone to bring some theory about groups. There was quite a number of people present and we had some interesting conversations. I can’t rememberall the theories that were discussed, so please help by adding those that I forgot. The following theories were discussed:

• Aiden: finding the Buddah as a group
• Esther: how to handle the aggressive, dominating person in a group by displaying the oposite behaviour than what the dominator or the group might expect
• Cecile: the influence a CEO can have on a company culture and how to thus recruit CEO’s that would have a positive impact
• Riana: Riana brought theory on open space technology to the group but she didn’t get a chance to discuss that with the group members
• Greyling: mirroring as therapeutic mechanism in groups

General consensus was that this was a very positive learning experience.

Meeting 13 June

At this meeting only Greyling, Andre and Jean attended. The task that was sent out via email before the meeting was that everyone needed to bring some theory on groups. Jean brought two popular group theories to the table (tuckman and belbin), Greyling brought something on people’s fear of groups and Andre brought something on group performance in a military setting. Although we were only three, this was a very good and positive experience.

Reflecting on our meeting held on 2 May

(The task we had for the meeting was to all read the article: Organisations, management and psychoanalysis. We discussed the article in the group. As we talked it did become apparent that we are all at very different starting points when it comes to groups and group theory. I remember there was one interesting paradox that Greyling pointed out, but I can’t remember what it was)
There’s a lot that can be discussed and reflected upon in terms of our previous meeting. For now I only want to note one or two things.

Firstly the fact that so many of us attended. We’ve been having a steady growth in numbers ever since we started in November last year. Let’s hope that we can stabilize as a group over the next few months so that we can create an increasing sense of continuity. One thing that I think definitely had a great impact on establishing the core of our group, is the fact a number of us participated in the Group Dynamics and Facilitation course in Frebruary. Hopefully some of the new members can secure themselves a place on the June course.

The second thing about Tuesday’s meeting that struck me is the extent to which everyone participated. I really look forward to learn more from everyone as our group develops.

I do have a concern that our hour-and-a-half meetings is a bit short to get a good discussion on theory and experiences going, let alone having time to reflect on our own dynamics as a group. Perhaps we should dedicate specific sessions to either talking about theory, practice, or ourselves as a group? I also think it could be helpful if we rotated the facilitation-role for each meeting. What do you think?

Anyway, seeing that we come from vastly different backgrounds I am satisfied that we are slowly making progress towards becoming a group that can really explore groups and the facilitation of group processes.

Group dynamics and facilitation course 5 – 9 June 2006

As promised the second course for 2006 is taking place 5 – 9 June. A number of us had already participated in this course and can highly recommend it to everyone that hasn’t. The facilitators are Greyling Viljoen (Clinical Psychologist) and/or Dr Drikus Kriek (UNISA SBL), depending on the size of the group. This course is unique in that it doesn’t start with facilitation tricks and techniques. It starts with the group. You cannot facilitate the processes, discussions and dynamics in a group if you don’t understand groups. A totally practical (and very intensive) process that will have a definite impact on your understanding of groups and of yourself. You need to be able to attend all 5 consequtive full days. Cost: R4000 ex VAT pp. Venue in Centurion/Midrand to be confimed. Book early as places are limited. If you are interested in this, please contact me at jean@tomorrowconnecting.biz or on +27(0)82 3349362.

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