Management Skills: Building Effective Teams, Understanding Self & Others, and Awareness of Others

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering team effectiveness, emotional intelligence, personality traits, MBTI preferences, and multicultural workplace diversity based on management lecture materials.

Groups (Katzenbach & Smith)

An assembly characterized by a single leader, individual focus, individual work products and accountability, short coordination meetings (discuss, decide, delegate), and a focus on sharing information.

Teams (Katzenbach & Smith)

A group with single or shared leadership roles, individual and mutual accountability, collective work products, longer meetings with open-ended discussions (active problem solving, collaboration), and performance greater than the sum of individual inputs.

Problem-Solving Team

A team that generates ideas on improving work processes or methods but lacks the authority to implement those ideas without approval from higher management.

Self-Managed Team

A team that solves problems and holds the decision-making authority to implement its own ideas for improvement.

Cross-Functional Team

A team composed of members from different functional areas of an organization (e.g., manufacturing, procurement, finance, fulfillment) brought together to solve a problem.

Virtual Team

A team composed of members who are not physically co-located and collaborate primarily through technology.

General Model of Team Effectiveness

A framework stating that team effectiveness is driven by four primary categories: Context, Composition, Work Design, and Process.

Team Context

A category of team effectiveness that includes organizational support factors: adequate resources (timely information, staffing, equipment), leadership and structure, a climate of trust, and appropriate performance evaluation and reward systems.

Team Composition

A category of team effectiveness encompassing member characteristics: member abilities, personality, role allocation, diversity, size (ideally 5 to 9 members), flexibility, and member preferences.

Work Design (Team Effectiveness)

A category of team effectiveness involving job characteristics: autonomy and freedom, skill variety, task identity (completing a whole task), and task significance.

Team Process

A category of team effectiveness that captures internal dynamics: common plan and purpose, specific SMART goals, team efficacy, managed conflict levels, and minimization of social loafing.

SMART Goals

An acronym defining goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Social Loafing

The tendency of certain individuals to withhold effort and not contribute or perform when working in a group or team setting.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

The capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others, which research indicates is more critical to leadership effectiveness than higher IQ after a certain threshold.

Self-Awareness

Having a deep understanding of one's emotions, needs, strengths, weaknesses, values, and goals—and their impact on others; characterized by self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, self-deprecating humor, and a thirst for constructive criticism.

Self-Regulation

The ability to control or redirect disruptive emotions or impulses; characterized by trustworthiness, integrity, and comfort with ambiguity and change.

Motivation (EQ Component)

A drive to achieve for the sake of achievement itself; characterized by passion for the work and new challenges, unflagging energy to improve, and optimism in the face of failure.

Empathy

Considering others' feelings, especially when making decisions; characterized by expertise in attracting and retaining talent, developing others, and sensitivity to cross-cultural differences.

Social Skill

Managing relationships to move people in desired directions; characterized by effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness, extensive networking, and expertise in building and leading teams.

Personality

The unique and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions shown by an individual.

Big 5 Personality Traits (OCEAN)

A personality framework evaluating five core dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (Emotionality).

Openness

A Big 5 personality trait contrasting inventive/curious behavioral tendencies with consistent/cautious ones.

Conscientiousness

A Big 5 personality trait contrasting efficient/organized behavioral tendencies with easygoing/careless ones.

Extraversion

A Big 5 personality trait contrasting outgoing/energetic behavioral tendencies with solitary/reserved ones.

Agreeableness

A Big 5 personality trait contrasting friendly/compassionate behavioral tendencies with cold/unkind ones.

Neuroticism (Emotionality)

A Big 5 personality trait contrasting sensitive/nervous emotional tendencies with secure/confident ones.

Type A Personality

A behavioral pattern marked by high achievement orientation, constant setting of higher goals, difficulty accepting failure, intense competitiveness, a sense of urgency regarding time, strong multi-tasking skills, and self-drive.

Type B Personality

A behavioral pattern marked by steady work toward goals, acceptance of failures, enjoyment of competition without the sole goal of winning, a relaxed demeanor, reflective/innovative thinking, and an even temper.

Positive Affectivity

A mood pattern disposition marked by high joy and enthusiasm (low apathy/sluggishness) and a general view that life is good, resulting in better decisions and superior relationships with leaders.

Negative Affectivity

A mood pattern disposition marked by fear, nervousness, and anger (low calm/relaxedness), a focus on mistakes and negative aspects, and a higher tendency to retaliate when experiencing perceived injustice.

Self-Esteem

The overall evaluation or value an individual places on oneself, influencing willingness to take on challenges and overall job satisfaction.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's belief in their capability to perform a specific task successfully.

Locus of Control

An individual's belief regarding the degree of control they have over outcomes: Internal (believing personal actions control outcomes) versus External (believing fate, luck, or external forces control outcomes).

Need for Achievement

A motivational tendency where individuals with a high need seek moderately challenging tasks and strive for personal success, whereas individuals with a low need choose easy or very difficult tasks.

Extrovert (MBTI)

A personality preference for focusing attention outward, favoring frequent social interaction, learning through discussion and action, and communicating primarily via speech.

Introvert (MBTI)

A personality preference for focusing attention inward, favoring quality interaction over frequency, learning through introspection and reflection, and communicating primarily via writing.

Sensor (MBTI)

An information-gathering preference that favors tangible, concrete, specific, detailed, and factual data, relying on experience and present reality.

iNtuitive (MBTI)

An information-gathering preference that favors possibilities, future orientations, and abstract or theoretical concepts, finding meaning in how data connects to theory.

Thinker (MBTI)

A decision-making preference that relies on detached, impersonal logic, reason, consistency, rule-matching, and cost-benefit analysis.

Feeler (MBTI)

A decision-making preference that relies on empathy, personal values, individual needs, tact, diplomacy, and achieving consensus and harmony.

Judger (MBTI)

An outer-world preference that values structured schedules, advance planning, order, organization, control, and closure.

Perceiver (MBTI)

An outer-world preference that values flexibility, spontaneity, adaptability, keeping options open, and thriving under last-minute pressure.

Diversity

The array of differences and similarities among people regarding ethnicity, race, culture, gender, age, functional/educational background, lifestyle, organizational tenure, personality traits, and ways of thinking.

Surface-Level Diversity

Easily observable demographic differences that reside above the waterline of visibility, including race, gender, skin color, age, nationality, physical ability, ethnicity, wealth, social status, and culture.

Deep-Level Diversity

Non-observable psychological and personal differences below the waterline of visibility, including value systems, learning styles, political views, personality profiles, life experiences, beliefs, work style, perspectives, and skills.

Fault Lines

Subgroups or coalitions that emerge naturally within teams along demographic or deep-level lines, often restricting knowledge sharing and reinforcing in-group versus out-group friction.

Excessive Homogeneous Teams

Teams with low member diversity that work well together and show short-term efficiency, but suffer from lower long-term learning and performance due to 'similar-to-us' selection biases.

Excessive Heterogeneous Teams

Teams with high diversity and rich talent that experience initial communication or thinking friction in the short run, but achieve a higher likelihood of creative solutions and accurate problem-solving in the long run.

Stereotyping

The act of assigning identical characteristics to any individual within a group, regardless of the actual variation existing among members of that group.

Discrimination

Occurs when employment or interpersonal decisions are made based on an individual's group identity rather than their individual skills, merits, or abilities.

Microaggressions

Everyday casual slights, indignities, put-downs, and insults experienced by marginalized individuals in day-to-day interactions, often delivered without conscious intent to cause harm.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

A cultural dimension contrasting the priority of individual interest over group interest (Individualism) against the priority of group interest over individual interest (Collectivism).

Power Distance

A cultural dimension contrasting high power distance (expecting social inequality and authoritative manager direction) with low power distance (expecting managers to empower employees and utilize their expertise).

High Context vs. Low Context Communication

A communication dimension contrasting high context (emphasizing underlying intent, body language, and non-verbal cues) with low context (emphasizing spoken words, explicit facts, and directness).

Monochronic vs. Polychronic Time Orientation

A time management dimension contrasting monochronic time (doing one task at a time, strictly adhering to schedules) with polychronic time (handling multiple tasks simultaneously, prioritizing relationships and fluid plans).

Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning

A reasoning framework contrasting inductive preference (focusing on empirical data, facts, proof, and logic) with deductive preference (focusing on theoretical abstraction, symbolism, analogies, and metaphors).

Uncertainty Avoidance

A cultural dimension contrasting high uncertainty avoidance (risk-averse preferences for structured, predictable environments) with low uncertainty avoidance (comfort with novelty, flexibility, and risk-taking).