sor who attempts to breach group norms, for example, when this
is required by the situation at an incident site, must be prepared
to encounter resistance. Potential conflicts are often held back
during ongoing response operations, but the effects of breaches
against group norms can reveal themselves long afterwards and
when they do, can entail exceedingly negative influences on the
group and its work.
Group size
The group’s size influences the group’s work. Among other things,
the relationships between leaders and other group members are
affected. A person in charge of a small group can influence, con-
trol and establish a perception of how each group member con-
ducts his or her work. A person working on a high decision level
with, for example, duties that affect several deployed units or de-
cisions that affect an entire municipality’s emergency response
operations and preparedness production, must have an overview
and a different degree of detail in the information flow.
According to Wessam and de Klerk (1987), the interaction pat-
tern changes, i.e. how influence is exercised in a group as it in-
creases in size from four up to ten or more members:
- It becomes more difficult to participate actively in the group
both because others want to assert themselves, and because
of the increased risk of ‘stage fright’ or the fear of failing in
front of the group (the fear of revealing one’s ignorance in a
larger context). - It becomes more difficult to affect the behaviour of others.
- The difference in the degree of participation between different
members increases. In large groups, the majority of group
members hardly speak at all. - The diversity of personalities and talents increases, and there
is a greater variation in behaviour. - Discussions become less limited and disunity is more easily
expressed in words and deeds. - If the group has a job to do, there is a tendency to rely on rules
and to divide up tasks.
The productivity and results of the group’s work is consequently
affected by the size of the group. When a group increases in size,
four different types of problems can arise.