By Risa G. Merl

Your group may not be able to build unity in a day or even a year. It takes more than time to achieve trust, respect, friendship, and the other important factors that make up a group dynamic. Many leaders say successful group cohesions can make or break a group, or at least decide the fate of the group’s future potential. “I think [unity] is essential to the strength, effectiveness, and overall success of the organization,” says Bren Romney, president of the Caribbean Students Organization at Midwestern State University in Texas. “If a group isn’t unified, they may survive, but they’ll never realize their full potential, and the members will never be satisfied; you’ll never get complete participation from the members without unity.”

Sounds like fairly foreboding news for a new group that’s struggling with the process of unification, but veteran leaders say groups can attain unity if they’re willing to work at it. “Group unity is something that can absolutely be achieved in any situation, but sometimes it’s more or less difficult depending on how dedicated the individual members are,” says Jayme Rubright, 2002 Dance Marathon overall chair at Pennsylvania State University.

Though achieving unity may be hard, surviving without it may be even more challenging. “When groups don't work together, the meaning of what they’re trying to accomplish becomes lost. If the group does work as a team, getting to that final goal is much easier, less stressful, and more fun,” says Joe McKenna, Residence Hall Association representative at the University of Idaho. Whether it’s with common goals or fun activities, there are many different ways to build unity; it’s just a matter of finding what’s right for your group.

Nothing can be accomplished if the group members don’t see the benefit of working toward goals. “If [group members] see the benefits, they’re going to participate, they’re going to contribute, and that leads to unity,” Romney says. “One of the goals of our organization is to provide affordable housing to its members. That’s a common goal that all the members benefit from.”

Participation and Possession
For members to feel unified, student leaders recommend encouraging participation at every level. “I always tried to remind everybody that what they were doing was important. Even if [their task] seemed individual or isolated, it attributed to the success of DM year after year,” Rubright says. Other leaders say that members should feel no less important than their peers on the executive board. “In the CSO we go under the belief that the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. Each individual has something essential to contribute to the development of the organization,” Romney says. The CSO assigns all 185 members to committees giving each a sense of ownership.

Leadership Styles
The group leader’s style can dictate much about the success and unity of the group. Vaughn subscribes to the technique of “servant leadership,” which states that the best way for a leader to achieve their goals is to let others achieve their goals. By assisting others you ultimately reach your goal because you’re all connected by a common purpose. Another way to avoid a dictatorship is to act as a counselor to your group. “I never considered myself a director,” Rubright says. “I always called myself a facilitator, meaning my purpose in DM was to provide suggestions, feedback, and availability to all my members.”  Both of these styles convey the idea of the leader serving the group and building it toward unity free of executive hierarchy. Having a laid-back approach to leadership can also help break down barriers between leaders and members. “I use my sense of humor as much as possible,” McKenna says. “My style usually helps to keep the group smiling.” A happy team can’t hurt in trying to build a unified group.

Communication and Credit
“Communication is the one element that if you don’t have it, you can’t build unity. How can you be unified if you can’t communicate with your team?” Vaughn asks. To have open communication between group members, it’s important that members feel free to express their views without being attacked or judged. “There needs to be an exchanging of ideas with an open mind. If one person on the team doesn’t feel safe they will never communicate freely,” Vaughn says. A way to add to that unified atmosphere is to have a common work area for the members. DM members had a safe haven to work on common tasks that they also turned into a sort of social area for the group.

A valuable part of members feeling valuable is recognition, which can’t occur without proper communication. Whether a note of thanks or a certificate at an awards ceremony, as long as recognition is personalized, members will appreciate it. Rubright has an innovative way of communicating recognition to her group: After reading her weekly report aloud she handed out individual memos for each member giving them feedback, suggestions, and questions that might make them reconsider certain issues. McKenna swears by giving credit where credit is due. “If your group doesn’t feel appreciated, the motivation, dedication, and unity of your group may break down.”

Merriment and Reflective Musings
Fun activities let group members learn about each other’s likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. “Going out to eat, going bowling, and going to social events on campus together can build group unity faster than most serious activities,” McKenna says. There should be a balance within a group between everyone getting down to business and blowing off some steam. Vaughn suggests eating together because it gets everyone talking. Romney suggests that playing sports together can build competitive comraderie. On a social level, having parties or just hanging out to talk can be simple ways to build friendships that will strengthen your group in the long run.

Sometimes the best way to get to know your group is to immerse yourself in it. “We had retreats at a local hotel where we’d play games and do other activities to get to know each other,” Rubright says. Camacho’s sorority goes on retreats during which they would reflect on why they joined the sorority, what they liked about it, and what they didn’t. “Whenever we leave a retreat I feel so much more connected to my group and I’m much more willing to go back and do the work,” Camacho says. During her group’s retreats Rubright used essential questions to get her group to learn about one another. On poster board she wrote down questions such as, “What are you most afraid of happening during DM weekend?” She then hung the answers in the DM office so members were aware of what the others were thinking. “These reflection exercises let the members take an introspective look at themselves and the group at the same time,” Rubright says.

Bringing It Together
There isn’t just one surefire way to build group unity; a group should start with the basics, such as common goals, then experiment with different techniques to find the ones that work best for them. Leaders agree that building unity is an ongoing task. “If you stick with it, good things will come,” McKenna says. If you persist, the greatest benefit is knowing that you possess a shared experience that no one else can touch.

Top Five Challenges to Building Group Unity 1.) Becoming too self-involved. Some members may become to focused on themselves and forget the group’s purpose. “Keep asking essential questions and reminding everyone of the common goal,” Rubright says. “When members start thinking of themselves only as individuals group unity is hard to achieve.” 2.) Negative people and ideas. “A few negative people can disrupt group unity,” Camacho says. “We have a rule: If you’re going to bring something negative, you also have to bring a solution.” 3.) Inactive members. “How do you get a person who’s probably never been active to be active?” Camacho asks. “I wasn’t active and what got me to be passionate was my sisters saying, ‘We need help and you seem to be good at this.’ I realized that I can do something that I never thought I could. Making people realize qualities they have in themselves gets them involved and adds to overall unity.” 4.) Not knowing or listening to your members. “You have to know the people in your organization; if you don’t you’re fooling yourself,” Romney says. “You must know their likes, dislikes, and views on different topics.” Many times a member doesn’t feel unified with the group because they don’t feel they are being listened to. “That can be very easily repaired if you just take the time to listen to each of your members and hear what each is saying,” Camacho says. 5.) Cliques. Friendships should grow in a group. But when friendships lead to smaller groups that splinter the organization, disaster can strike. Those gaps can tear a group apart. “It’s important to watch for smaller groups forming within your group,” McKenna says. “Bridge those gaps early to retain group unity.”