Group and Team Dynamics

Group and Team Dynamics

Understanding Teams

• Teams consist of 2 or more people who:
  • Interact or influence each other.
  • Are mutually accountable for achieving common organizational goals.
  • Perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization.

Informal Groups

• Primarily benefit their members.
  • Exist for reasons such as:
  • Social needs
  • Social identity
  • Goal accomplishment
  • Informational and emotional support
• Improve employee well-being and reduce stress.

Benefits and Limitations of Teams

• Benefits:
  • Improved decision-making and product quality.
  • Enhanced information sharing and coordination.
  • Increased motivation from team membership.
• Limitations:
  • Individuals may outperform teams on certain tasks.
  • Process losses can occur from time and energy spent on team dynamics instead of tasks.
  • Social loafing can lead to less individual effort in teams.

Social Loafing

• Causes:
  • Indistinguishable individual performance.
  • Tasks lack intrinsic motivation.
  • Low conscientiousness, agreeableness, and collectivist values.
• Remedies:
  • Form smaller teams.
  • Establish individual accountabilities.
  • Implement individual and team-based rewards.
  • Select motivated, team-oriented employees.

Factors Influencing Team Effectiveness

• Organizational Context:
  • Adequate resources, supportive leadership, and trust.
• Team Composition:
  • Diverse skills and values, optimal team size.
• Team Processes:
  • Stages of development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust.

Stages of Team Development

1. Forming: Uncertainty and establishing expectations.
2. Storming: Interpersonal conflict and norm establishment.
3. Norming: Developing close relationships and cohesiveness.
4. Performing: High functionality and conflict resolution.
5. Adjourning: Disbanding and wrapping up activities.

Norms in Teams

• Informal rules governing behavior.
• Developed to improve performance and predictability.
• Can create conformity pressure among team members.

Roles in Teams

• Expected behaviors associated with team positions.
  • Taskwork Roles: Focus on task accomplishment.
  • Teamwork Roles: Support team relationships and maintenance.

Team Cohesion

• Degree of attraction and motivation to remain in the team.
  • Strengthened by member similarity, smaller size, frequent interaction, and success.

Trust in Teams

• Built through expectations regarding rewards and responsibilities.
  • Types of trust include:
  • Calculus-based Trust: Based on agreements and monitoring.
  • Knowledge-based Trust: Based on understanding and shared values.
  • Identification-based Trust: Anticipation of needs without verification.

Building Trust in Teams

• Foster psychological safety and authentic communication.
• Encourage destigmatization of failure and deep listening.

Team Mental Models

• Cognitive frameworks about tasks and relationships.
  • Shared Mental Models: Members have similar expectations.
  • Complementary Mental Models: Unique but compatible perspectives among members.