Role of leadership in different stages of group management in SHGs

Puspita Das *

Self-Help Groups are voluntary gatherings of peers, who share needs or problems that are not being addressed by existing organizations, institutions or other types of groups. The broad goals of a SHG are to bring about personal and/or social change for its members and society.

All of these groups emphasize face-to-face interaction among members and a set of values or ideology that enhances a member’s personal sense of identity. SHGs are necessary to overcome exploitation, and create confidence for the economic self-reliance of the rural poor, particularly among women who are mostly invisible to the social structure.

These groups enable them to come together for a common objective and gain strength from each other to deal with exploitation which they are facing in several forms. These groups collect savings from their members and provide loans to them. Leadership is the capacity to inspire influence and motivate others for the attainment of a common objective.

According to GL Ray basic elements in leadership are i) The leader-who leads, ii) the followers who-allow themselves to be influenced by the leader, iii) the situation-the cultural context and iv) the task-the activities performed in common movement and achievement of the desired goals by the group.

In North Eastern States of the country in some areas SHG movement has taken up momentum but in other areas though SHGs are in existence the visible improvement has not been achieved so far. In the revolution of SHGs, leadership plays a prime role. Let us discuss the role of leadership in different phases of group management.

i) Forming stage: This is the first stage in which people become aware about the concept of Self- Help Groups. In this stage, fear and anxiety exist in the mind of the people and they start mental calculation. Here, leadership plays a key role. The leaders should have a clear concept about the formation of the group, then only they can convince and motivate the other people who come forward to the group.

He or she should be able to clear their doubts and be able to remove their fear. In this stage the group is trained by Extension functionaries regarding maintenance of accounts. Leaders should attend these training sessions; learn how to maintain accounts as book keeping and record maintenance is a vital part of group management.

Leaders also play a role in giving respect to the emotions of the members in naming the group and come forward to take them to the bank and help them to open accounts.

ii) Storming stage: This is a crucial stage of group management. In this stage, there will be a clash of individual interest and group interest. There will be a lot of arguments among the members as well as members and organizers. In this stage, leaders should help the extension functionaries to tackle the situation tactfully and make it clear that everyone is the owner of the group.

It should be clear that group work is a continuous process. The members have the full authority to decide about bye-laws, monthly contributions, bank loans, what action to be taken in case of any mishappening of members. A leader has to come forward and help the members to reach a common consensus.

iii) Norming stage: In this stage, members understand and internalize the usefulness and future prospects of the group. Leaders have to lead and arrange group meetings, settings of norms and procedures, encourage interactions, regulate contributions, help in managing savings and lending and promote contact with others and seek information for facilities available and collective activities to be undertaken.

iv) Performing stage: In this stage, credit sought for microenterprises, leaders have to come forward and contact bankers, microfinance institutions and initiate the process of starting up enterprises with trust, understanding, cooperation and coordination of members.

In this stage gradually group matures, besides IGA, they also discuss various gender issues, social issues, family problems and try to solve these things with the help of members at family and community level. Here, the leader has to show the right path and manage to get things done in a smooth way but not by provoking members.

Thus we can conclude that a leader has to play different roles as guide, advocate and consultant in different stages of the group management.


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CAU, Imphal.
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