Module 12: Group Processes and Work Teams
Groups in Organizations
Formal groups are those explicitly established by the organization to perform specific tasks or functions.
Informal groups develop apart from the official organizational structure and exist relatively independently of the organization.
Informal groups often form among individuals who work in close physical proximity or those who interact with high frequency.
Functions of Informal Groups
Informal groups satisfy social needs, providing friendship and companionship to members.
They satisfy security needs by making employees feel safe and connected within the workplace environment.
They facilitate cooperation among various employees.
They regulate social and task behaviors by sharing and reinforcing organizational norms and procedures.
Social Influence in Groups: Norms
Norms are shared expectations concerning the appropriate ways of responding and behaving within a group.
Descriptive norms represent what people actually do or think in a given situation.
Prescriptive norms represent what people should do or think.
Norms are developed gradually, passed down through generations of group members, and adjusted to by new members as they join.
Cultural tightness refers to the strength of a group's culture:
Strong cultures possess clearer norms and greater consequences for deviating from those norms.
Weak cultures have more ambiguous norms and demonstrate greater tolerance for deviance.
Social Influence in Groups: Roles
A role is a set of behaviors expected of a person who occupies a particular position within a group or organization.
Role concept refers to an individual's perception of the various situational forces acting upon them.
Role differentiation is the process by which a group or organization establishes distinct roles for various members of the group or organization.
Social Influence in Groups: Conflict
Relationship conflict involves disagreements based on interpersonal relationships.
Task conflict involves disagreements over different ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints regarding the work itself.
Process conflict involves disagreements about how the work should actually be done.
Social Influence in Groups: Cohesion
Cohesion is defined as the strength of members’ motivation to maintain the group.
Cohesive groups are generally more satisfied than non-cohesive groups according to Picazo et al. ().
Cohesive groups are more productive than non-cohesive groups according to Grossman et al. ().
Task cohesion, rather than social cohesion, is better for overall group performance according to Castao et al. ().
Tuckman's Five Stages of Group Development
Stage : Forming
Members get acquainted through interactions that are polite, tentative, exploratory, and occasionally guarded.
Stage : Storming
Interactions are characterized by disagreement.
Members begin to question one another more pointedly and some degree of conflict emerges.
Stage : Norming
Unity is established and members become more cohesive.
Roles, standards, and relationships develop as trust increases.
Stage : Performing
Members become focused on productivity and goal achievement.
Task orientation is high.
Stage : Adjourning
Roles are terminated and relationships weaken.
Members become much less dependent on one another or the group, and some degree of stress or tension is likely during this transition.
Social Loafing
Social loafing is the reduction in individual effort that occurs when people work in groups.
This phenomenon suggests that "the whole is less than the sum of its parts."
Examples of social loafing behaviors include people clapping or yelling less loudly or not tugging as hard on a rope when they are in a group compared to when they are alone.
Free riding occurs when employees perceive that their individual efforts are not necessary for the group to enjoy success and rewards.
The Sucker effect, also known colloquially as the "F' that effect," occurs when members decide they will no longer be a "sucker" and consequently reduce their own effort to match others.
Improving Group Work
Group work can be improved by ensuring every team member feels that their specific perspective and contributions matter.
Assigning each team member to a specific subtask can reduce loafing.
Allowing flexibility in the working schedule helps maintain engagement.
Highlighting individual achievements and accomplishments of team members reinforces value.
Explaining that others will be personally affected by an individual's effort increases accountability.
Five Steps to Effective Group Decision Making
Step : Diagnose the problem.
Description: Members must come to an agreement on the nature of the problem.
Common mistakes: Confusing facts with opinions or confusing symptoms with underlying causes.
Step : Generate solutions (brainstorming).
Description: Interaction is focused on understanding the problem to identify potential solutions.
Common mistakes: Suggesting irrelevant solutions or looking at what should have been done in the past rather than looking forward.
Step : Evaluate solutions.
Description: Consider each potential solution in terms of its pros and cons.
Common mistakes: Failing to consider the potential downside to each solution or attacking the person who proposed a specific solution rather than focusing on the solution itself.
Step : Choose a solution.
Description: Come to an agreement on the best possible solution.
Common mistakes: Allowing powerful group members to dictate the chosen solution or biasing a solution because it is politically correct.
Step : Develop an action plan and implementation.
Description: Determine the steps to follow in carrying out the decision and monitoring progress.
Common mistakes: Preventing some members from being involved in implementation even though they were part of the initial decision process.
Brainstorming and Communication
Brainstorming involves all members of a group generating potential solutions.
Brainstorming works best when members are honest and have no fear of having their suggestions criticized; otherwise, it can produce worse outcomes according to Kuhn ().
Electronic brainstorming uses technology to facilitate the process, allowing for anonymity and reducing production blocking, which is especially beneficial for larger groups.
Work-Team Effectiveness
Taskwork involves the task-oriented aspects of work.
Teamwork involves the process-oriented aspects of work.
Dimensions of work team effectiveness include:
Team performance: Measures of productivity, quality of output, and costs.
Attitudes: Quality of work life, trust in management, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction.
Withdrawal behaviors: Rates of turnover, absence, and lateness.
Team Member Selection
Characteristics of a productive team member include a trait-based preference for working in a group.
Productive members generally have high levels of general mental ability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability.
Research indicates that just team member who is low on agreeableness, conscientiousness, or extraversion can result in increased stress and decreased performance among all team members.
The Team Role Experience and Orientation (TREO) assessment measures orientations, past behaviors, and behavioral predispositions to help people identify the role that best fits them.
The TREO contains self-report items, such as "I learn how to get outside resources that our team needs to be successful" or "I like it when we keep busy and get things done."
Specific Team Roles and Descriptions
Organizer: Someone who acts to structure what the team is doing. They keep track of accomplishments and how the team is progressing relative to goals and timelines.
Doer: Someone who willingly takes on work and gets things done. They can be counted on to complete work, meet deadlines, and take on tasks to ensure the team’s success.
Challenger: Someone who pushes the team to explore all aspects of a situation and consider alternative assumptions, explanations, and solutions. They often ask "why" and are comfortable with debating and critiquing.
Innovator: Someone who regularly generates new and creative ideas, strategies, and approaches. They offer original and imaginative suggestions.
Team Builder: Someone who helps establish norms, supports decisions, and maintains a positive atmosphere. They calm stressed members and motivate those who are down.
Connector: Someone who helps bridge and connect the team with people, groups, or stakeholders outside of the team. They ensure good working relationships with "outsiders."
Work-Team Diversity
Demographic diversity is unrelated to team performance.
Diversity related to the task, such as differences in expertise or education, is positively related to team effectiveness.
The best teams have members with complementary skills rather than members who are simply clones of the best team member.
Diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams when they engage in information elaboration, which is the sharing of relevant information and ideas among team members.
Diversity helps most when the work is complex, members rely on each other to solve problems, members are motivated with required skills, and leaders value outside perspectives in an inclusive environment that discourages stereotyping.
Ineffective Decision Making Processes
Process loss refers to any non-motivational element of a group situation that detracts from the group’s performance.
Shared information is information held by all group members, while unshared information is information held by only one member.
Ineffective groups fail at pooling unshared information; decisions in these groups tend to be determined primarily by shared information.
Groupthink
Groupthink is a mode of thinking that individuals engage in when the desire to agree becomes so dominant in a cohesive group that it overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative choices.
Historical examples of Groupthink include:
The Bay of Pigs (): A botched attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
The Space Shuttle Challenger (): The shuttle exploded after takeoff, killing all astronauts aboard.
Symptoms of Groupthink:
An illusion of the group's invulnerability: "We can't possibly fail!"
An illusion of the group's unanimity: "Obviously, we all agree."
An unquestioned belief in the group's moral correctness: "We know we're on the right side."
Conformity pressure: Pressure on members to go along with everyone else; "Don't rock the boat!"
Stereotyping of the out-group: Caricaturing the enemy; "They're all morons."
Self-censorship: Tendency for members to keep their mouths shut even when they have doubts.
Mindguards: Self-appointed individuals who stifle disagreement; "Oh, you think you know better than the rest of us?"
Reducing Groupthink
Groupthink can be treated by encouraging dissent.
Appointing a "devil's advocate" or engaging in a "kill the company" exercise helps.
Having an independent expert evaluate decisions and holding follow-up meetings can reduce bias.
Brainstorming groups generate more ideas when members are encouraged to criticize one another according to Nemeth et al. ().
Heterogeneity in the group reduces Groupthink. In a mock jury deliberation study by Sommers (), mixed White and Black groups discussed cases longer and considered a broader range of evidence than all-white groups.
Diversity results in different perspectives according to Bang and Frith ().
Group Polarization
Group polarization occurs when a group's decision is more extreme than the initial decisions made by individual members.
These extreme views can be either positive or negative.
This effect is used to explain why some CEOs are highly overpaid according to Zhu ().
Virtual groups are more prone to group polarization compared to face-to-face groups according to Sia et al. ().
Self-Managed and Virtual Teams
Self-Managed Work Teams (SMWTs) function autonomously, monitoring and controlling their own processes or products.
SMWTs can be productive because autonomy and empowerment are positively related to effectiveness and positive attitudes.
Virtual teams consist of members in different cities or countries communicating via email and videoconferencing.
Advantages of virtual teams include collaboration regardless of location/time zone and easier creation of diverse teams.
Disadvantages of virtual teams include the erosion of work-life balance, less information sharing, and reduced informal mentoring or team engagement.
When more than of communication is virtual, teams become less effective. Even a small amount of face-to-face time can enhance performance.
Multiteam Systems (MTS)
Multiteam Systems consist of individual teams that work independently toward a collective goal.
An example is the streaming platform Hulu, which involved parties such as NBCUniversal (Comcast), Fox, and Disney pooling resources to compete with platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video by offering a diverse content library.