5.1: Chapter 18: Managing Work Groups and Teams

Types of Groups and Teams

Groups:
-consists of two or more people who interact regularly to accomplish a common purpose or goal
Functional group:
-permanent group created by the organization to accomplish a number of organization purpose with an unspecified time horizon
Informal or interest group:
-created by its members for the purpose that may or may not be relevant to those of the organization
Task group:
-group created by the organization to accomplish a relatively narrow range of purposes within a stated or implied time horizon
-team projects, group disbands when complete
Team:
-group of workers that function as a unit, often with little to no supervision, to carry out work related tasks, functions, and activities

problem solving:
-most popular type, comprises knowledge workers who gather to solve a specific problem and then disband
management team:
-consists mainly of managers from various functions like sales and production, coordinates work among other teams
work team:
-increasingly popular, responsible for daily work of the organization; when empowered, they are self managed
virtual team:
-newer type, members interact in virtual area, enter and leave the network as needed, may take turns as leader
-team comprised of people from remote worksites who work together online
quality circle:
-declining popularity, comprising workers and supervisors, meet intermittently to discuss workplace problems

interpersonal attraction:
-people are attracted to one another, similar attitudes, personalities, or shared life experiences
group activities:
-appeal to them, book groups, interest groups
group goals:
-motivate them to join, save the whales, global warming
need satisfaction
-fulfills an individual’s need for affiliation, support groups, new to community, singles
instrumental benefits
-membership provides other benefits, professional networking groups, local civic groups

Forming
-get acquainted, test interpersonal behaviors, attempt to define task and how to accomplish it, try to figure out goals and parameters of assignment
Storming
-develop group structure and patterns of interaction, defensiveness, : comp, formation of factions, arguing, brainstorming, discussion, division of labor
Norming
-share acceptance of roles and sense of unity, establish and maintain ground rules, more friendly and confiding, begin to work toward goals
Performing
-enact roles and direct effort toward goal attainment and performance, ability of group to prevent or work through problems, develop close attachment to team, mechanism for accomplishing goals

Role: parts that individuals play in groups in helping group reach goals
-task specialist role: concentrating on getting group’s tasks accomplished
-socioemotional role: providing social and emotional support to others
Role structures: set of defined roles and interrelationships among the roles that the group members define and accept
-as a result of role episodes in which the expected role is translated and defined into the enacted role
role ambiguity: arises when sent role is unclear, individual does not know what is expected from him/her
-unclear instructions or lack of info
role conflict: occurs when messages and cues comprising the sent role are clear but contradictory or mutually exclusive
-finish assignment by friday but no overtime allowed
role overload: occurs when expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities to perform
-employee has several tasks that are all urgent

norms: standards of behavior that the group accepts for and expects of its members
-define the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behavior
-meetings start promptly and info will not be repeated
norm generalization: norms of one group cannot always be generalized to another
norm variation: norms and the application vary within a group or team
norm conformity: individuals conform as a response to:
-factors associated with the group/team (pressure to conform to group behavior)
-an initial (ambiguous) stimulus prompting group behavior (more ambiguous, more pressure to conform)
-individual traits that reflect propensity to conform (more intelligent people often less susceptible to pressure to conform)
-influence of situational factors (group size and unanimity)-(as person learns norms, they are more likely to conform)
conformity to group norms
-individual responses: adopt norms of the group, try to obey the “spirit” of the norms while retaining individuality
-socialization: generalized norm conformity that occurs as a person makes the transition from being an outsider to being an insider in the organization

extent to which members are loyal and committed to the group; degree of mutual attractiveness within the group

informal leader: person who engages in leadership activities but whose right to do so has not been formally recognized by the group or organization
-may also be the formal leader for the group or may supplement the formal leader in fulfilling leadership roles
-draw on referent or expert power as leaders
formal leader: a person who is elected or designated to engage in leadership activities by the group members
-formally appointed or recognized by organization as the leader of the group

conflict:
-disagreement among two or more individuals, groups, or organizations
-while generally view as something to be avoided, conflict can be beneficial
-(promotes research, study, analysis, and discussion, must be cordial and constructive)

interpersonal conflict:
-personality clash
-differing beliefs or perceptions
-competitiveness
intergroup conflict
-interdependence
-different goals
-competition for scarce resources
conflict between the organization and environment
-conflict with competition
-conflict with consumer groups
-conflict with employees

conflict can have negative and positive consequences
-increasing competition among individuals and teams
(differential rewards leads to conflict, those that are fair and equitable are constructive)
-hiring outsiders to shake things up
(promotes a new perspective but may lead to resentment
-change established procedures
(may cause resentment and turnover of valued employees
managing conflict
-stimulate conflict for constructive ends
-control conflict before it gets out of hand
-resolve conflict if it does get out of hand

ways to control conflict include:
-expand the resource base
-enhance coordination (managerial hierarchy, rules and procedures, liaison, task forces, integrating departments)
-focus on higher level goals instead of lower level conflicts
-match personalities and work habits of employees

conflict must be addressed if it is to serve constructive purposes and prevent destructive consequences
ways to resolve include:
-compromise
-interpersonal problem solving (allow each part to confront the other, requires maturity on each side)
-alternative dispute resolution (team or other employees arbitrate conflict)

negotiation: process in which two or more parties (people or groups) reach an agreement on an issue even though they have different preferences regarding that issue
approaches to negotiation:
-psychological: concentrates on personality traits of negotiators
-situational: context within which negotiation takes place
-mathematical: game theory, used to predict outcomes of negotiation situations
-cognitive: behavioral approaches, tries to predict when negotiators will depart from perfect rationality