Working on a ship provides great insight into group dynamics
I have always been an observer of people and the group dynamic. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to just sit and watch. My grandmother was the chief housekeeper in a busy Johannesburg hotel. My greatest love was to go visit her and spend my time in the lobby and just watch people. I guess people watching is in my DNA…
The occupation of hospitality and basic human dynamics and psychology
I imagine it’s no surprise then, to those who knew me, that I found my way into the hospitality industry. I have always been fascinated in the human dynamic of inter personal relations.
As that 6 year old kid in the lobby, I would watch and try to imagine a story around the people I observed.
The hospitality industry offers some real insight into people. It’s a conditioned environment where most people tend to drop their alter ego clothing of the everyday and become more real as they relax.
Without their daily shields and social roles, people on vacation tend to revert to a childlike innocence, exposed and vulnerable.
Their social role is themselves and not that as boss, father figure, son etc. At the very least, that social role is dissolved to some extent. Personally, I think this is the only way to truly enjoy and learn from your new environment – just as we did as kids.
However, back to the point. The loss of the protective ego allows one to really understand the type of people we are surrounded by. It is not some voyeuristic psycho-analysis exercise but more so an incredible insight into the group dynamics and human condition. It is an opportunity to learn about ourselves as much as about others.
I have always believed that we are all those kids we were. Yes, we wear grown up clothes and take on grown up responsibilities and social roles, but, our base instincts and emotions are still that of the children we were.
The sandpit bickering, bullying, kindness, the crushes and loves…all of that from back then happens to us as adults. Only, the uniform of social acceptability and norms of expected adult behavior are worn to hide that, or at least, disguise it as something else.
Maturity and formalizing an understanding of group dynamics
I got older and more inquisitive. I started to read books on body language, read up on the human mind from titles like “Your mind can heal you” to “Psycho-cybernetics” and How to win friends and influence people“. My quest was insatiable to understand what people were all about.
For the longest time I felt almost like an intergalactic visitor to the planet, sent on a mission to observe and assimilate a blueprint of the human species behavior patterns. As time passed, I guess my fascination had become an integral thread of who I am.
My deep desire to observe and learn is unconscious now. But whether in London, Paris, Prague or Milan, I gravitate to the sidewalk cafe’s and less so to the landmarks. I guess, I just like to sit and watch the world as much as I like to participate in it.
So, working in the hospitality industry affords my compulsion great material. I am amazed by the group dynamics of those I meet and the ability of observing the interaction that goes on. By no means am I suggesting that I am some ninja-like guru on the human condition. I am not. Frankly, I don’t think anyone is.
I celebrate our diversity as a human species. I can never pretend to know exactly what each diversity is and how it may interact with another. I just take joy in, like the mad scientist who conjures up chemical brews, seeing the result of the ‘collision’ of compounds.
The Power of One
My first realization, which interested me in my school and early working days, was the power of one individual over the group.
One strong personality can change the group dynamics. I was the clown of the class and so for me, the environment was stimulating only by how much fun I could have. I imagine I was disruptive and annoying but my presence had an effect on the general mood.
Other kids would arrive as the years went by and they would replace me as they lead the mood when I vacated toward a more introverted role from my own self designated social functions.
I became the rebellious pubescent, which was a less popular pursuit for the group. Others then led by sports or academic prowess.
The pack mentality
The pack mentality still is prevalent and as much as we wish and believe in our individualism, it dilutes according to the dynamic.
I suppose this is nothing new. We all understand that pecking orders exist. Some by seniority (as in an office environment) and others by social authority.
The guy or woman who everyone wants at a party or social gathering is usually described as the life and soul of that interaction.
This is the person who we gravitate to, want to be around and enjoy. It does not always make them a leader, of course, just the court jester perhaps. However, it does influence the mood and that is powerful.
The work environment can be profoundly affected by the power of one individual. A new employee walks in and the happy/bad atmosphere can be changed by that one presence.
I have worked in a company that transferred from private to corporate literally overnight. The product was immediately affected. Not by new standards or mission statements but by one individual from the new parent firm who inflicted their mood and tone on a group of free wheeling, happy individuals working within a quasi socialist-creative atmosphere.
Corrupting or uplifting the many
Suddenly they were transformed and challenged by a sombre all business like approach from an individual.
The fun aspect was sucked from the core of who and what we were – not by rules but by tone. Our productivity dropped almost immediately. Within 2 weeks the water cooler – that fountain of laughter and good vibes was now just a place to get water.
The smiles and joie de vivre had gone. And, surprisingly, that individual was not a senior department head. They had no rank. They were an equal.
But the sheer magnitude of their personality had affected the group. They were like the broken link in a chain. The flow was gone and each individual link around her died.
Amazing. This was a sense or a mood that was projected and that was all it took. It reminded me just how fragile and delicate our workplace eco-system is.
One poisonous weed can kill off the flowers and strangle them to dead stalks. Of course the reverse can be true and one presence can uplift and motivate to flourish.
However, the hiring practice of just throwing so called qualified bodies to fill the gaps needs to be revisited. The group dynamics can be completely destroyed.
Applying the group dynamics to business
HR speak of a ‘good fit’. It is their favorite buzz word.But do they understand the group dynamics enough to know what a good fit would be?
Most HR companies are either on a different floor or even across the country or the world. How can they possibly know what the group dynamic is?
Personally, I think companies need to focus on the parts that make up the whole and understand that the bright, well qualified individual they are about to hire may or may not be the vital additive that ruins or improves the brew.
This is just one example of how powerful some personalities can be. I have seen an entire group of 190 guests start to get poisoned by one or two individuals on a cruise.
The dining room is the catalyst. The dinner conversations solidify the majority of opinion. It is this dynamic that makes or breaks the cruise.
Viking cruises has a great policy of free seating and this encourages a more diverse discourse. It also decreases the likelihood of a negative few contaminating the opinions of others as a captive audience.
However, that said, I am still aghast at the power of a few to affect the whole.
Group Personality
Guests usually ask me how I feel about doing the same thing all the time. The fact is, I don’t. The attraction of the career for me as a program director are the constant changes and challenges. And certainly, no group of guests are the same.
I experience all group personality types. We get the fun loving party animal crowd, the quiet and analytical, the enthusiastic, the disinterested, the non-participative, the joiners and the list goes on.
But, no one part is the same and yet the group dynamic becomes that one thing, barring a few. How is that so?
I have tried to identify this and the closest I come to it is that of the strength and volume of the few. The ambience is set by a small group. If that group are the party crowd who enjoy a good time and stay at the bar in the lounge, they tend to influence others to migrate to the lounge.
The energy factor is another great influencer. If I have a large group of quiet guests in the lounge, I can pretty much be sure this is how the presentations will go.
However, just that small minority in the corner that laugh or respond to a presentation immediately affects the whole. Applause is another good lead influencer.
If people start clapping, generally the room does but if no one dares to instantly, the applause is scattered or not existent. It is our collective sense of the energy that dictates our actions.
How to apply this knowledge
Know your people
The group dynamics and the influences around
For any group dynamic to happen, there has to be a common denominator. If things are not going well, those negative people will gather an audience fast. If things are going well, those same negative people will be shut down.
An interesting real world experience in our herd mentality and social influences
Before long, on at least 90% of the occasions, by the time I left, the place would have gathered many more patrons. It was not about timing or a sudden turn in patronage passing business.
Conclusion
Thoughts & opinions on posts