4-10
As group leader, your actions say more than your words. It helps if you:
• Sit in the circle with everyone else, not apart or behind a desk.
• Dress simply in local style (especially if you are local).
• Listen more than you speak.
• Do not interrupt, especially when someone speaks slowly or has trouble
expressing himself.
• Invite criticism and admit your own mistakes.
• Be open and friendly. Show your personal side: your fears, weaknesses, and
pleasures.
• But do not overdo it Be yourself. Do not try to sell yourself.
• Laugh with people, but not at them.
• Encourage others to take the lead as much as possible, and at the same time
encourage them to give everyone else an equal chance.
Good group dynamics
means everyone feels
free to speak his mind,
but is ready to listen
earnestly to others. It is
essential for effective
learning and community
well-being.
GOOD GROUP DYNAMICS-EVERYONE INVOLVED
Help health workers
understand this
process, so they can
work toward good
group dynamics
with people in their
communities.
TEACHING ‘GROUP DYNAMICS’
At an ‘educational exchange’ for village
instructors of health workers in Mexico,
the group leader helped people look at
group dynamics in this way: Without
telling anyone why, he led two discussions
on vague subjects like “the meaning of
community health.”
In the first discussion, he allowed those
who tended to talk more to dominate the
discussion. He even encouraged this by
asking the same persons to explain things
further. By the end, one person talked for
15 minutes straight. Her ideas were good,
but the other people were falling asleep or
beginning to talk among themselves.
The second discussion was led in a way
that got everybody taking part, with no one
dominating. The discussion became lively
and the group was enthusiastic.
No one realized until afterwards that the
two discussions had been set up to study
group dynamics. Then the leader asked
the group to compare the two discussions,
including the role of the leader and the
responses of the group.
Everyone learned a lot, especially the
person who had talked so much. But she
took it well, and took care not to dominate
the discussion again.