Chapter 13: Groups and Teams

Group

Two or more freely interacting individuals who share norms, share goals, and have a common identity

Ex. Gym members in a fitness class

Team

Small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and mutual accountability

Ex. Philadelphia Eagles wanting to win Superbowl

• Continual Feedback is important

Formal Group

Group assigned by organizations or its managers to accomplish specific goals

Ex. Division of a department in a firm (accounting, finance, marketing, etc.)

Informal Group

Group formed by people whose overriding purpose is getting together for friendship or a common interest

Ex. Friends who hangout with one another

Work Team

A group of individuals who are permanently assigned to work together with a clear, shared purpose, and whose success depends on the full commitment and collaboration of all members

Ex. Any sports team

Project Team

A temporary group of individuals brought together to complete a specific task or solve a particular problem

Cross-Functional Team

A team that is staffed with members from different areas within an organization (finance, marketing, supply chain, etc.) pursuing a common objective

Ex. Surgical Team

Self-Managed Team

Groups of workers who are given administrative oversight for their task domains

Virtual Team

A team composed of members in different geographic locations who use technology to work together and achieve a common goal

Pros of a Virtual Team

• Less Real Estate

• Diversity of Knowledge

• Reduce Commuting Time

Cons of a Virtual Team

• Less team chemistry

• Inability to observe nonverbal cues

Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model of Group/Team Development

Stage 1: Forming
Stage 2: Storming

Stage 3: Norming

Stage 4:Performing

Stage 5: Adjourning

Stage 1: Forming

Getting orientated and getting acquainted

“Why are we here?” “Where do I fit in?”

Stage 2: Storming

Individual personalities, roles, and conflicts within the group emerge

“What’s my role here?”

Stage 3: Norming

Conflicts are resolved, lose relationships develop, and unity and harmony emerge

“Can we agree on goals and work as a team?”

Stage 4: Performing

Members concentrate on solving problems and completing the assigned tasks
“How can I best perform my role?”

Stage 5: Adjourning

Members of an organization prepare for disbandment

“What’s Next?”

Punctuated Equilibrium

Establishes periods of stable functioning until an event causes a dramatic change in norms, roles, and/or objectives resulting in the establishment and maintenance of new norms of functioning, returning to equilibrium

Collaboration

The act of sharing information and coordinating efforts to achieve a collective outcome

Trust

Reciprocal faith in others’ intentions and behaviors

Team Member Interdependence

How much team members rely on each other in terms of shared resources and how often and how closely they need to interact to complete the team’s task successfully

Team Composition

Reflects the collection of jobs, personalities, values, knowledge, experience, and skills of team members
Good Team Composition Includes:

• High tolerance of uncertainty

• High emotional stability

• Diverse Backgrounds

Roles

A socially determined expectation of how an individual should behave in a specific position

Task Roles

Consists of behavior that concentrates of getting the team’s tasks done
Ex. Initiator, Info Seeker, Coordinator

Maintenance Role

Consists of behavior that fosters constructive relationships among team members

Ex. Encourager, Harmonizer

Norms

General guidelines or rules of behavior that most group or team members follow

Why Norms Are Enforced

• Help groups survive

• Clarify role expectations

• Avoid embarrassing situations

• Emphasize important values and identity

Conflict

Process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party

Dysfunctional Conflict

Hinders the organization’s performance or threatens its interest

Functional Conflict

Benefits the main purposes of the organization and serves its interest

Too Little Conflict =

Negative Performance

High Conflict =

Positive Performance

Personality Conflict

Interpersonal opposition based on personal dislike, disagreement, or differing styles

Ex. Personality clashes, competition for scarce resources, time pressure, communication failures

Envy-Based Conflict

Sense of feeling inferior after comparing themselves to others who possess something they desire

Intergroup Conflict

Inconsistent goals, unclear boundaries, and status differences
Conflict within a group

Cross-Cultural / Multicultural Conflict

Frequent opportunities for clashes between cultures in the global economy

Stimulating Constructive Conflict

• Healthy Competition

• Change Culture and Procedures

• Bring Outsiders for New Perspectives

• Use Programmed Conflict

Programmed Conflict

Designed to elicit different opinions without inciting people’s personal feelings
Facts vs. Feelings

Devil’s Advocacy

Assigning someone to play the role of critic to voice possible objections to a proposal and thereby generate critical thinking and reality testing

Dialectic Method

Two people or groups play opposing roles in a debate in order to better understand a proposal