Chapter 13 & 14 Management

Group

2+ interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve specific goals.

Formal groups (work group)

Work groups defined by the organization's structure that have designated work assignments and tasks.

Informal groups (social group)

Independently formed to meet the social needs of their members.

(Stage 1) Forming stage

First stage of group development in which people join the group and then define the group's purpose, structure, and leadership.

(Stage 2) Storming stage

Characterized by intragroup conflict; conflict over who will control the group and what the group needs to do.

(Stage 3) Norming stage

Characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.

(Stage 4) Performing stage

Group is fully functional and works on group task.

(Stage 5) Adjourning

Temporary groups during which group members are concerned with wrapping up activities.

Some groups are more successful than others due to:

• Abilities of the group's members

• Size of the group

• Level of conflict

• Internal pressures on members to conform to the group's norms

Work groups are affected by the external conditions imposed on it:

• Organization's strategy

• Authority relationships

• Formal rules and regulations

• Availability of resources

• Employee selection criteria

• Performance management system and culture

• General physical layout of the group's work space

A group's performance potential depends on:

• Knowledge

• Abilities

• Skills

• Personality traits

Role

• Behavior patterns expected of someone occupying a given position in a social unit.

• Ex.: Treasurer of a financial group.

Norms

• Standards or expectations that are accepted and shared by a group's members.

• Ex.: The deadline of the project is important for this group.

Groupthink

• When group exerts extensive pressure on an individual to align his or her opinion with that of others.

• Ex.: One person is forced to conform to the majority opinion.

Status

• Prestige grading, position, or rank within a group.

• Ex.: Leader of a group.

Social loafing

• Tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.

• Ex.: Four people carry a box, but one person isn't making effort in carrying it.

Group cohesiveness

Degree to which group members are attracted to one another and share the group's goals.

Group size:

• Small groups are faster at completing tasks

• Large groups consistently get better problem solving results

• According to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the "two-pizza" philosophy works where a team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas.

Advantages of group decision-making:

• More complete information and knowledge

• Diversity of experience and perspectives

• Increased acceptance of a solution

Disadvantages of group decision-making:

• Groups almost always take more time to reach a solution

• Dominant and vocal minority can influence the decision

• Groupthink

Techniques to help groups make more creative decisions:

• Electronic meetings

• Brainstorming

• Nominal group technique (NGT)

Nominal group technique

• Group members are presented with a problem.

• Each member independently writes down his or her ideas on the problem, and then each member presents one idea to the group until all ideas have been presented.

Conflict

Perceived incompatible differences that result in interference or opposition.

Traditional view of conflict

View that all conflict is bad and must be avoided.

Human relations view of conflict

View that conflict is a natural and inevitable outcome in any group.

Interactionist view of conflict

View that some conflict is necessary for a group to perform effectively.

Functional conflicts

Conflicts that support a group's goals and improve its performance.

Dysfunctional conflicts

Prevent a group from achieving its goals.

Task conflict

• Conflicts over content and goals of the work.

• Low-to-moderate levels of this conflict are functional.

Relationship conflict

• Conflict based on interpersonal relationships.
• Almost always dysfunctional.

Process conflict

• Conflict over how work gets done.

• Low levels of this conflict are functional.

Teams:

• Leadership role is shared

• Accountable to self and team
• Creates specific purpose

• Work is done collectively

• Meetings characterized by open-ended discussion and collaborative problem-solving

• Performance is measured directly by evaluating collective work output

• Work is decided upon and done together

• Can be quickly assembled, deployed, refocused, and disbanded

Groups:

• One leader is in charge

• Accountable to self

• Purpose is same as broader organizational purpose

• Work is done individually

• Meetings characterized by efficiency; no collaboration or open-ended discussion

• Performance is measured indirectly according to its influence on others

• Work is decided upon by group leader and delegated to individual group members

Creating effective work teams

• Clear goals

• Relevant skills

• Relevant skills

• Mutual trust

• Unified commitment

• Good communication

• Negotiating skills

• Appropriate leadership

• Internal and external support

Interpersonal communication

Communication between 2+ people.

Organizational communication

Patterns, networks, and systems of communications within an organization.

Functions of communication:

• Control

• Motivation

Control

Formal and informal communications act to control individuals' behaviors.

Motivation

For employees: what is to be done, how well they have done it, and what can be done to improve performance.

Emotional expression

Social interaction in the form of work group communications provides a way for employees to express themselves.

Information

Necessary to make decisions or to do their work.

Methods of interpersonal communication:

• Message

• Communication process

Message

A purpose to be conveyed.

Encoding

Converting a message into symbols.

Channel

The medium a message travels along.

Decoding

Retranslating a sender's message.

Communication process

Seven elements involved in transferring meaning from one person to another.

Noise

• Disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message.

• Ex.: Someone interrupting a speech.

Nonverbal communication

Communication transmitted without words.

Body language

• Gestures, facial configurations, and other body movements that convey meaning.

• Ex.: Facial expressions, hand motions.

Verbal intonation

• Emphasis given to words or phrases that convey meaning.

• Ex.: "There is NEVER a time where THAT THING was needed. AT ALL."

1. High feedback potential:

2. High complexity capacity:

3. High breadth potential:

4. High confidentiality:

• Face-to-face

• Telephone

• Computer conference

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• Face-to-face

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• Face-to-face

• Bulletin boards

• E-mail

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• Face-to-face

• Voice mail

1. Low feedback potential:

2. Low complexity capacity:

3. Low breadth potential:

4. Low confidentiality:

• Publications

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• Bulletin boards

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• Postal mail

• Audio-videotapes

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• Publications

• Bulletin boards

• Audio-videotapes

• Teleconference

1. High encoding ease:

2. High time-decoding ease:

3. High space constraint:

4. High cost:

• Face-to-face

• Telephone

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• Face-to-face

• Telephone

• Hotlines

• Voice mail

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• Face-to-face

• Group bulletin board

• Formal presentations

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• Group meetings