Chapter 15 Individuals, groups and teams

Qiang JiangSchool of Business

Sichuan University, Chinajiang.qiang@outlook.com

Topic list

1 Individuals2 Groups3 Teams4 Team member roles5 Team development6 Building a team7 Successful teams

1 Individuals

• Personality is the total pattern of characteristic ways of thinking , feeling and behaving that constitute the individual` s distinctive method of relating to the environment.

1 Individuals

• Managing personality– With the task – With the systems and management– With other personalities in the team

1 Individuals

• if incompatibilities occur, the manager or supervisor has three options– Restore compatibility– Achieve a compromise– Remove the incompatible personality

1 Individuals

• Perception is the psychological process by which stimuli or in-coming sensory data are selected and organised into patterns which are meaningful to the individual– The context– The nature of the stimuli– Internal factors– Fear of trauma

1 Individuals

• Attitude is a mental state __exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual` s response to all objects and situations with which it is related– Knowledge, beliefs or disbeliefs, perceptions– Feelings and desires – Volition, will or the intention to perform an action

• .

1 Individuals

• Behaviour will be influenced by: – Attitudes to work– Attitudes at work

1 Individuals

• Intelligence is a wider and more complex concept than the traditional view of IQ.– Analytic intelligence– Spatial intelligence– Practical intelligence– Intra-personal intelligence– Inter-personal intelligence

1 Individuals

• Role theory suggests that People behave in any situation according to other people` a expectations of how they should behave in that situation.– A role set – Role ambiguity– Role incompatibility or role conflict – Role signs – Role models

2 Groups

• Group is any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group.– A sense of identity– Loyalty to the group ,and acceptance within the

group– Purpose and leadership

2 Groups

• Why form groups?– A preference for small groups– The need to belong and to make a contribution – Familiarity– Common rank, specialisms, objectives and interests– The attractiveness of a particular group activity– Resources offered to groups– Power greater than the individuals could muster alone– Formal directives

2 Groups

• Group is any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group.– A sense of identity– Loyalty to the group ,and acceptance within the

group– Purpose and leadership

2 Groups

• Formal and informal groups• Individual and group contribution– Group dynamics have an effect on performance– Group offer synergy– Group dynamics and synergy may be negative

3 Teams

• Team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves basically accountable– Work organisation– Control– ideas generation– Decision making

3 Teams

• Limitations of the team working– Not suitable for all job– Teamwork introduced ,because of it better performance, not

people feel better or more secure– Team processes delay decision-making– Social relationships might be maintained at the expense of other

aspects of performance– Group norms may restrict individual personality and flair– Team consensus and cohesion may prevent consideration of

alternatives or constructive criticism– Personality clashes and political behaviour within a team can get

in the way of effective performance

3 Teams

• Organise team work– Multi-disciplinary teams– Multi-skilled teams– Virtual teams

4 Team member roles

• Who should belong in the team?– Specialist skills– Power– Access to resources– The personalities and goals

4 Team member roles

• Belbin: nine team role – Plant(ideas)– Resource investigator(find resources for the team)– Co-ordinator (organize tasks)– Shaper(question)– Monitor-evaluator(how do we do it)– Team worker(support)– Implementer(doer)– Completer-finisher(details)– Specialist(if needed)

4 Team member roles

• Balanced team– Individuals inclined towards some roles more than

others– Individuals tend to adopt one or two team roles

more or less consistently– Individuals are likely to be more successful in

some roles than in others

4 Team member roles

• Contribution– Proposing– Supporting– Giving information– Blocking/difficulty stating– Shutting-out behaviour– Bringing-in behaviour– Testing understanding– summarising

5 Team development

• Tuckman's stages of group development – Forming(get together)– Storming(competition for leadership)– Norming(agree what to do )– Performing(get task done)– Dorming– Moruning/adjourning

6 Building a team

• Team identity• Team solidarity• Commitment to shared objectives

7 Successful teams

• Evaluating team effectiveness– Task performance: fulfill of task and goal– Team functioning: maintenance of team working,

managing demands of team dynamics , roles and processes

– Team member satisfaction: fulfill of individual development and relationship needs

7 Successful teams

• Reward schemes– Profit sharing schemes– Gainsharing schemes– Employee share option schemes