Spring 2007Groups and Teams1. Spring 2007Groups and Teams2 What are Groups and Teams Group: Two or more people working together Team: “... intact social

Spring 2007 Groups and Teams 1

Groups and Teams


What are Groups and Teams

• Group:• Two or more people working together

• Team:• “... intact social system complete with boundaries and

differentiated roles among members...[with] one or more tasks to perform, resulting in discernable and potentially measurable group products...within an organizational context”

• “A group of individuals within a larger organization, that has a common goal, whose tasks and outcomes are interdependent, and whose members view themselves and are viewed by others as a team.”


Why Do Groups Matter to People?

• Social needs (think back to Maslow…)

• Interest in the group’s activities

• Agreement with group’s goals / values

• Extrinsic benefits


Why do Teams Matter to Organizations ?

• Teams are “the fashion”

• Why?• Synergy• Need for coordinated cross-disciplinary

activities• Self-management


Kinds of Groups and Teams

• Functional groups• The boxes we see on organizational charts

• May or may not be a team or include teams

• Task groups / teams• Temporary vs. standing

• Managed vs. self-managed

• Purpose• Management

• Work tasks

• New products

• Organizational change

• Single-function vs. cross-functional

• Virtual teams

• Informal groups


Team Performance

• Assessed by team, by outsiders, or both?

• Team performance (Hackman,1987)• Organizational outcomes • Group members’ outcomes• Team’s future viability


Sources of Group Effectiveness

• Organizational context• Goals• Resources

• Group resources• Knowledge• Motivation• Leadership

• Group structure• Formal structure• Group roles

• The task• Extent of

interdependence• Complexity


What Is An Effective Team?

1. All group members understand group roles and expectations.

2. Group members have developed a good working relationship.

3. Group members are attracted to the group and are loyal to the leader.

4. Group members have a high degree of trust and confidence in one another.

5. Group activities such as decision making and problem solving occur in a supportive atmosphere.


An Effective Team (Continued)

6. The group leader’s role is to create a supportive atmosphere in which group work occurs. The leader should

• Seek information from group members about decisions that will affect them and

• Provide information that they need to do their jobs better.

7. The group should attempt to develop each member’s full potential.


More On an Effective Team

8. The process for selecting a group leader should be based on the qualities that the individual brings to the group that encourage a supportive and open atmosphere.

9. Communication among members and the leader should be encouraged. If problems exist, free and open communication will bring problems to the surface.


Stages in Group Development

• Forming• Members begin to become acquainted and try out behaviors; basic norms are

establishes

• Slow evolution to…..

• Storming• Members struggle to set group goals, patterns of behavior and there is a competition for

leadership

• Rapid transformation to…..

• Norming• Members develop sense of cohesion and settle into their roles

• Slow evolution to….

• Performing• Now, the work gets done, tasks are accomplished

• Adjourning• This stage occurs only if the group will dissolve or disband


Group Roles: Task-Oriented Behavior (I)

• Initiating Activity• Helping the group get started; proposing solutions,

suggesting new ideas; new definitions of the problem, new attacks on problem, or new organization of what has already been discussed.

• Seeking Information/Opinion• Asking for additional input or clarification of ideas and

opinions that have been presented.

• Giving Information/Opinion• Offering facts, beliefs, or additional useful information,

relating one's own experience and/or feelings to group to illustrate a point.


Group Roles: Task-Oriented Behavior (II)

• Elaborating• Offering further clarification of points; trying to "spell out"

what other members have already said, or trying to help the group imagine how a proposal would work if adopted.

• Summarizing• Pulling together related ideas or suggestions, restating

suggestions after the group has discussed them; or trying to organize the ideas so the group will know what has been said.

• Testing Workability • Making application of suggestions to real situations,

examining practicality and workability of ideas; trying to help the group test a proposed decision for workability.


Group Roles: Group-Oriented Behavior (I)

• Encouraging• Being friendly, warm and responsible to others;

accepting others and their contributions; regarding others by giving them an opportunity or recognition.

• Expressing Group Feelings• Sensing feeling, mood, relationships within the group;

sharing his/her feelings or affect with other members. This starts the group toward action.

• Harmonizing• Attempting to reconcile disagreement; reducing

tension through "pouring oil on troubled waters"; getting people to explore their differences.


Group Roles: Group-Oriented Behavior (II)

• Gate-Keeping• Attempting to keep communication channels

open; facilitating the participation of others; suggesting procedures for sharing opportunities to discuss group problems.

• Setting Standards• Expressing standards for group to achieve;

applying standards in evaluating group function and production.


How Roles Develop

Expected Role

Perceived Role

Sent Role

Enacted Role

Feedback


More About Learning Norms

• Norm generalization• Can you take norms from one setting and apply them to

another setting?

• Norm variation• Who can deviate from the norms?• How much deviation is acceptable?

• Norm conformity• How much pressure is there to conform to norms?

(groupthink…)• Socialization


Problems With Group Roles

• Role overload• Too much to do

• Role ambiguity• Uncertainty about what to do

• Role conflict• Incompatible demands

• All three are sources of stress


Group Cohesion

• Definition

• Types of cohesion

• Antecedents and consequences


What is Cohesion?

• “…The ‘cement’ binding together group members and maintaining their relationships to one another”

• “The resultant of all the forces acting on the members to remain in the group”

• The attraction of individuals to the team or group itself, where the individual defines herself as a member of a group, rather than as an individual


Types of Cohesion

• Interpersonal or social• The attraction between and among group

members• Liking, friendship

• Task• The ability of the group to facilitate

individuals’ goals• Not necessary for group members to like one

anotherThis is the cohesion that matters


Cohesion and Group Norms

Cohesion

HighLow

Performance Norm

High

Low


Cohesion: Antecedents and Consequences

• Where does it come from?• Propinquity and interaction

• Perceived similarities in personality, status, attitudes, demographics, etc.

• External frustration or threat

• Shared success or failure

• What are the results?• Higher perceptions of similarity

• Uniformity of thought / behavior

• Performance

• Better communications


Problems in Groups

• Anti-group behaviors

• Groupthink

• Conflict


Anti-Group Behavior (I)

• The Blocker• …tends to be negativistic and stubbornly resistant,

disagreeing and opposing without or beyond "reason" and attempting to maintain or bring back an issue after the group has rejected or bypassed it.

• The Recognition-Seeker• …works in various ways to call attention to

himself/herself, whether through boasting, reporting personal achievements, acting in unusual ways, struggling to prevent his/her being placed in an "inferior" position, etc.


Anti-Group Behavior (II)

• The Dominator• …tries to assert authority or superiority in manipulating

the group or certain members of the group. This domination may take the form of flattery, of asserting a superior status of right to attention, giving directions authoritatively, interrupting the contributions of others, etc.

• The Avoider• …makes a display of his/her lack of involvement in the

group's processes. This may take the form of cynicism, nonchalance, horseplay, etc.


Groupthink

• Pressures for cohesion and togetherness, resulting in poor decisions

• Symptoms:• Illusion of invulnerability

• Rationalizing signs of problems

• Belief in own moral justification

• Stereotyped view of opposition

• Pressure for conformity (group members and leader)

• Self-censorship

• Illusion of unanimity

• Mindguards


Conflict

• Disagreement about a goal or the way to reach a goal

• “A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about”

• Types of conflict• Task• Relationship• Process


Conflict: Good or Bad

• Traditional view: all conflict is negative and should be avoided

• Human relations view: Conflict is natural and inevitable

• Interactionist view: Conflict is necessary to prevent group inertia and self-criticism

Handling Conflict

Avoiding

Competing

Accommodating

Collaborating

Ass

ertiv

enes

s

Rel

atio

nshi

pCooperativeness

Goals

Compromising


Choosing A Style

• Personal preferences

• Importance of issue

• Cost / time

• Future relationship

Documents

Spring 2007Groups and Teams1. Spring 2007Groups and Teams2 What are Groups and Teams Group: Two or more people working together Team: “... intact social