There is no doubt that the productivity of the team or any other group is the key to the successful completion of the task. This is important even when colleagues work individually and practically do not engage in group activities. The psychological atmosphere among employees has a huge impact on the entire work process, and relationships will affect the overall result.
One can argue about the accuracy and reliability of psychology, but such an area as group dynamics is well researched, and scientists have gained a lot of knowledge and experience. The most accessible, easy and intuitive way to analyze group interaction is the method of sociometric measurements. With the help of it, the position of each element of the group in the system of relationships is determined, hidden assessments, sympathies and affection are revealed.
Method History
The technique (sociometry) was created and developed by the American psychologist J. L. Moreno. By this concept, he denoted social science, psychological theory and the empirical method of studying a group, which helps to explore and regulate relations between people.
Today , sociology, social psychology and psychotherapy use such a technique as sociometry to study and harmonize interpersonal relationships in small groups. How to process the results - both psychologists and HR managers ask this question. Opening the book with tests, you can find a detailed description and instructions on how and what to do.
The theoretical basis of this method was the desire of the scientist J.L. Moreno to explain all aspects (economic, political, etc.) of a person’s public life, to use such concepts as emotional relationships between people, likes and dislikes. The psychologist-researcher and his students suggested that the problematic situations of society can be solved not by class distribution, but by moving people because of their emotional preferences. Thus, a sociometric revolution will occur, which will make social relations harmonious.
J. L. Moreno introduced into his theory such a concept as the body, and considered it rather important. This concept means the simplest emotional unit that is transmitted from one person to another and thereby determines the number and quality of interpersonal relationships into which individuals enter.
General characteristics of sociometry
To obtain reliable data, it is not only the results of sociometry that are important. First, you need to collect preliminary information about the study group. Secondly, to prepare questions and conduct, in fact, the sociometric survey itself. Third, the data obtained should be analyzed and interpreted during the survey. Of course, this method also involves the use of other methods, such as observation and statistical processing of sociometry.
An important point that must be remembered in the process of compiling the questions is that they should not be abstract, but concrete, reflecting some real situation. Sociometry is carried out in teams where colleagues have been working together for a long time and possess sufficient information about each other. According to the time characteristics - they work about six months. The size of the study group is 12-15 people.
Participation in a sociometric study is only voluntary. The rules of behavior of respondents in psychological experiments are preliminarily discussed. The answers must be honest, because they will relate to the emotional side of the relationship in the team. It happens that the respondent has difficulties in filling out the form or does not want to answer at all. Remember that it is his right. But even such a result is important, as the methodology (sociometry) says. How to process the results in this case? To release this subject from the total result and conduct an individual conversation with him in order to understand the reason for the refusal.
Group Characteristics
The procedure of the sociometric technique is not difficult at all, but the rules and norms must be followed. The basic condition is the use of personalized questionnaires, because anonymous participation will not allow the subsequent interpretation of the results.
There are also some requirements for the composition of the study group. Firstly, it should have clear boundaries (employees of a certain department, brigade, etc.), and secondly, the duration of its existence should be at least 3 months, and best of all six months.
It will be a mistake to conduct testing after a celebration, a corporate party, because for another two or three weeks the group will have emotions associated with this event, and this will lead to a distortion of the survey data.
There are also certain requirements for a specialist conducting a sociometric study. In no case can he be a member of the collective, but the level of trust of the group in him must be high.
Research procedure
A sociometric survey is conducted in a separate room where all subjects gather. The manager reads instructions and questions, and respondents fill out the appropriate form. The question may sound like this: "Whom will you invite for your birthday, and who do not want to see at your holiday?" The subject selects three who are included in the group and three who are excluded. Variants of "nobody" and "all" are not accepted. Choosing one of the employees, the subject opposite his name writes why he did this and the characteristics of the person (in his opinion).
The essence of the question itself can be different, because the main thing is a clear, unambiguous and simple wording. The text should correspond to the age of the group members, their interests and level of development. Here is the procedure for a method such as sociometry. How to process the results, you can learn more. It is very important.
Building a sociometric matrix
Help on the processing of sociometry includes a special matrix, which is understood as a table with the results of the election of subjects. The names of employees are vertically entered on the left side and exactly horizontally from the top of the table.
Also, all additional information about the characteristics of the subjects is transferred to the table.
Sociogram - a graphic expression of sociometric data
Of course, the manager is unlikely to have a global scientific goal, so you do not need to calculate the sociometric status at all. It will be enough for the leader to derive the general values of the elections and refusals according to the Sociometry method. How to process the results in such a situation, will tell any psychologist. A sociogram is visualized survey results. It is convenient, because you can schematically see all the relationships in the team.
Conclusion
The presented method is simple and convenient to use, does not require additional financial or other costs. It was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by J. L. Moreno, and until today it is especially popular in social psychology.