Making the big leap in understanding group processes continues to be a challenge for a lot of HR professionals, especially those who are very action-oriented. Need not be so!! In fact in every interaction - even a simple greetings transaction - there can be multiple processes, and what behavioural specialists choose to focus on is one or two out of these several processes that exist. The process specialist then chooses to focus on these processes and tries to extract meaning from them, with the active support and participation of the group. In fact depending on the style of the facilitator the argument could even be that the specialistt does not derive meaning himself or herself, instead only helping the group arrive at some learnings. There are also underlying processes that come to light, for example the relationship of individuals and groups to the specialist, defense mechanisms, power and political relationships within the group and with the specialist, etc.

A good way of observing these processes is T groups. T groups are experiential learning processes where members share information and data on how they experience each other in the here and now. The fact that team members do not know each other from before - typically strangers at the start of the process - adds credibility to the feedback and the process. As the group evolves, the processes become more transparent and insights begin to emerge.

In India some agencies that offer T group training are ISABS (the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences) and Sumedha.