Chapter 13

Group

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

Team

defined as a small group of people working together with a common purpose, performance goals, and mutual accountability

Formal groups

group assigned by organizations or its managers to accomplish specific goals; may be a division, department, work group, committee, task force

Informal group

also called an affinity or employee resource group, is a group formed by people whose overriding purpose is getting together for friendship or a common interest

Types of teams

work, project, cross-functional, self-managed, & virtual

Cross-functional team

designed to include members from different areas within an organization, such as finance, operations, and sales

Self-managed teams

groups of workers who are given administrative oversight for their task domains.

Virtual teams

composed of members in different geographic locations who use technology to work together and achieve common goals

Benefits of virtual team

diversity, reduce travel & expenses, reduce conflict, & increased productivity

Disadvantages of virtual teams

physical & social distance, 24/7 accessibility

Five stages of group/team development

forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

Punctuated equilibrium

establish periods of stable functioning until an event causes a dramatic change in norms, roles, and/or objectives

Essential considerations in building a team

collaboration, trust, goals/feedback, motivation, composition, roles, & norms

Team member interdependence

reveals the extent to which team members rely on common task-related team inputs, such as resources, information, goals, and rewards, and the amount of interpersonal interactions needed to complete the work

Team composition

reflects the collection of jobs, personalities, values, kowledge, experience, and skills of team members

Task roles

initiator, information & opinion seeker/giver, elaborator, coordinator, orienter, evaluator, energizer, procedural technician, & recorder; focuses on work

Maintenance roles

encourager, harmonizer, compromiser, gatekeeper, standard setter, commentator, & follower; focuses on relationships

Conflict

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

Dysfunctional conflict

conflict that hinders the organization’s performance or threatens its interests

Functional conflict

benefits the main purposes of the organization and serves its interests

Four kinds of conflict

personality, envy, intergroup, & cross-cultural

Programmed conflict

designed to elicit different opinions without inciting people’s personal feelings

Career Readiness for Conflict

teamwork/collaboration, social intelligence, openness to change, emotional intelligence, oral/written communication

Five conflict-handling styles

avoiding, obliging, dominating, compromising, integrating