Group Relations
Group relations is a method of studying and understanding group dynamics, leadership, authority and organisational behaviour through experiential learning.
Tavistock group relations thinking starts from the premise that much of what drives behaviour in groups - decision-making, conflict, the pull towards certain roles - is not immediately visible. Projections, transference and unspoken anxieties all shape how groups function, often more powerfully than any formal structure or stated intention.
Authority, leadership and role
Group relations provides ways of understanding how authority is taken up, the formal and informal roles that people assume, and how the boundaries of time, space and task affect how a group works.
Tavistock thinking views the group as part of a wider system, where changes in one part affect the whole. Rather than offering theory in the abstract, group relations work invites participants to learn directly from experience, observing and reflecting on group processes as they unfold in real time. It is this combination of depth, systemic perspective and experiential learning that makes the approach so distinctive.
The home of group relations
Since our founding in 1947, the Tavistock Institute has generated leading-edge thinking and research on how we humans behave in groups and organisations.
The ground-breaking group relations methodology for learning about leadership emerged at the first Leicester Conference we organised back in 1957, and the Conference - which, remarkably, has taken place every year since - remains the flagship of Group Relations Conferences (GRCs) and institutions around the world.
As the home of group relations, we offer a certificated training pathway for Group Relations practitioners.
The ground-breaking group relations methodology for learning about leadership emerged at the first Leicester Conference in 1957, and now there is a lively and dynamic global community of activity exploring and developing group relations and its application.
Applications
The Tavistock approach to understanding group relations is frequently used in organisational consulting, helping leaders and teams understand the deeper, often hidden dynamics that affect their work.
The Tavistock group relations model has influenced various fields, including organisational development, psychotherapy, and social psychology, providing a framework for understanding complex human dynamics in group settings.
During the last two decades, we have continued to share group relations and experiential learning in new and creative ways, taking the work further into the global east and south whilst building on our western and northern historic heartland.
In partnership with the Tavistock Institute
LinkedIn group
For previous and future members of the annual Leicester Conference – and also anyone interested in group relations and systems psychodynamics – you are invited to join the private Tavistock Group on LinkedIn. We post Leicester updates and all kinds of group relations news here and you can receive, post and share.
