Tavistock Group Relations conferences are a distinctive form of experiential learning designed to help participants explore and understand the dynamics of groups, leadership, authority, and organisational life. These conferences are structured environments where participants engage directly with the processes and challenges of group work, offering unique insights into how individuals and groups function.

The two-week Leicester Conference, which the Tavistock Institute launched in 1957, was the origin of the format described here and is the beacon of the methodology, attracting a multidisciplinary global list of applicants every year. 

Our group relations team, who lead the Leicester Conference, also work with group relations practitioners all over the world and co-direct or consult to a global programme of group relations conferences.

Structure and Format of Group Relations Conferences

1. Conference Design

Time-Limited: Group Relations conferences are typically held over several days, ranging from a weekend to a full two weeks. The duration allows for an intensive experience where participants can deeply engage with the material.

Structured Events: The conference is divided into various events or sessions, each with a specific focus. These might include large group meetings, small study groups, inter-group events, and review and application sessions.

2. Roles and Authority

Participants: Attendees of the conference, often referred to as “members,” are the main actors in the process. They take on the roles assigned to them or assumed by them during the conference, and their experiences and actions become the primary data for learning.

Consultants: These are experienced facilitators, sometimes called “staff” or “consulting staff,” who observe and provide interpretations of group processes. They do not lead in a traditional sense but instead help members reflect on their experiences by offering insights into what might be happening in the group at unconscious or systemic levels.

Director: The conference director is responsible for the overall design and implementation of the conference. They oversee the consultants and ensure the conference’s structure is maintained.

3. Core Events

Plenary Sessions: These are large group meetings where all participants and staff come together. The focus is often on understanding how authority is taken up and exercised in a collective setting.

Small Study Groups: Participants are divided or self-divide into smaller groups where they can explore group dynamics in a more intimate setting. These groups often focus on the immediate emotional and psychological experiences of group members.

Inter-Group Events: These sessions allow different groups to interact with each other, often highlighting dynamics of inter-group relations, competition, collaboration, and conflict.

Review and Application Sessions: In these sessions, participants, with a consultant, reflect on the roles they have taken on, both consciously and unconsciously, during the conference. This reflection helps in understanding how they relate to authority, leadership, and group tasks in the conference and in their home organisations.

Social Dreaming: Some conferences include sessions where participants share and explore their dreams in a group context, using dreams as a way to understand unconscious processes within the group.

4. Experiential Learning

Learning Through Participation: The learning process is not didactic; there are no formal lectures or predefined outcomes. Instead, participants learn by being actively involved in the group dynamics and reflecting on their experiences with the help of the consultants.

Here-and-Now Focus: The focus is on what is happening in the “here and now” within the group. This immediacy helps participants to connect with the unconscious dynamics at play.

5. Themes and Exploration

Authority and Leadership: Participants explore how authority is assumed, given, or resisted in groups, and how leadership emerges or is challenged.

Boundaries: Attention is paid to the boundaries within the group—who is included or excluded, how time is managed, and how tasks are defined and approached.

Group and Organisational Dynamics: Participants gain insight into how groups function as systems, how roles are taken up, and how organisational life can be influenced by unconscious processes.

6. Outcomes

Self-Insight: Participants often leave the conference with a deeper understanding of their own behaviours in groups, particularly around issues of authority and leadership.

Enhanced Group Skills: The experience equips participants with skills to better navigate group dynamics in their professional and personal lives.

Organisational Insights: Many participants apply what they learn to their work in organisations, leading to more effective leadership and improved group and organisational functioning.

Tavistock Group Relations conferences are powerful tools for self-discovery and professional development. They provide a rare opportunity to explore the underlying forces that shape group behaviour and leadership, offering deep insights that can be applied in various organisational and social contexts.