Note
Studied by 4 peopleexam #2 prep
define groups, formal and informal groups, differentiate between different types of groups
a group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives
formal groups: those defined by organizations structure
informal groups: alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined
command groups: a group composed of individuals who report directly to a given manager
task group: those working to complete a job or task
interest group: thise working together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned
friendship group: those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics
social identity theory: considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups
people have emotional reactions to the failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the performance of the group
social identities help us understand who are and where we fit in with people
identify the five stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning)
forming stage: the first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty
storming stage: the second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict
normng stage: the third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness
performing stage: the fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully functional
adjourning stage: the final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance
role, role perception, role expectation, role conflict
role: a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit
role perception: ones perception of how to act in a given situation
role expectations: how others believe one should act in a given situation
role conflict: situation in which an individual faces divergent role expectations
we can experience interrole conflict when the expectations of our different seperate grooups are in opposition
norms and classes of norms
norms: acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the groups members
classes of norms:
performance norms
appearance norms
social arrangement norms
allocation of resources norms
status
status: a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others
status characteristics theory: status is derived from one of three sources
the power a person wields over others
a persons abiloty to controbute to a groups goals
an individuals personal characteristics
status and norms: high status individuals often have more freedom to deviate from norms
status and group interaction: high status people are often more assertive
status inequaltiy: perceived inequality creates disequilibrium and can lead to resentment and corrective behavior
size, social loafing
group size affects the groups overall behavior
large groups are good for gaining diverse imput
smaller groups are better doing something with input
social loafing: the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than alone
cohesiveness
cohesiveness: degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group
increasing group cohesiveness
make the group smaller
encourage agreement with group goals
icrease time members spend together
increase group status and admission difficulty
stimulate competition with other groups
give rewards to the group, not individuals
physically isolate the group
group decision making, (strengths and weaknesses), techniques (interacting, brainstorming, nominal group)
large group facilitate the pooling of information about complex tasks
smaller groups are better suited for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of complex tasks
simple, routine standardized tasks reduce the requirement that group processes be effective in order for the group to perform well
strengths of group decision making:
more complete information and knowledge
increased diversity of views
increased acceptance of solutions
group decision-making techniques
most group decision making takes place in interacting groups
members meet face-to-face and rely on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other
interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual members towatd conformity of opinion
brainstorming can overcome pressures for conformity
in a brainstorming session:
the group leader states the problem
members then “free-wheel” as many alternatives as they can
no criticism is allowed
one idea stimulates others, and group members are encourages to “think the unusual”
the nominal group technique: restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision making process
group members are all physically present, but members operate independently
permits the group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking, as does the interacting group
nominal groups outperform brainstorming groups
steps in a nominal group:
each member independently writes down his/her ideas on the problem
after this silen period, each member presents one idea to the group
the ideas are discussed for clarity
each group member rank-orders the ideas
the idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final decision
work groups and work teams, comparing work groups and work teams
work group: a group that interacts primarily to share informatioin and to make decisions to help each group member perfomr within his or her area of responsibility
goal: share information
synergy: neutral (sometimes negative)
accountability: individual
skills: random and varied
work team: a group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs
goal: collective performace
synergy: positive
accountability: individual and mutua;
skills: complementary
types of teams
problem-solving teams: groups of 5-12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment
slef-managed work teams: groups 10-15 people who take on the responsibility of their former supervisors
cross-functional teams: employees about the smae hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task
virtual teams: teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal
characteristics of virtual teams
the ansence of paraverbal and nonverbal cues
a limited social context
the ability to overcome time and space constraints
team effectiveness, model
creating effective teams: composition
abilities of members: need technical expertise, problem-solving, decision making, and good nterpersonal skills
personality of members: conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness all relate to team performance
allocating roles and diversity: many necessary roles must be filled; diversity can often lead to lower performance
size of team: the smaller the better: 5 to 9 is optimal
members preference of teamwork: do the members want to be on teams?
creating effective teams: process
common plan and purpose
create a common purpose that provides direction
have reflexivity: willing to adjust plan if necessary
establishment of specific team goals
must be specific, measurable, realistic, and challenging
team efficacy
team believes in its ability to succeed
team identity
recognizing individuals specific skills and abilities, as well as creating a climate of respect and inclusion
team cohesion
members are emotionally attached to one another and motivated toward the team because of their attachment
mental models
have an accurate and common mental map of how the work gets done
a managed level of conflict
task conflicts are helpful interpersonal conflicts are not
minimized social loafing
team holds itself accountable both individually and as a team
key roles of teams
creator: initiates creative ideas
promoter: champions ideas after they’re initiated
assessor: offers insightful analysis of options
organizer: provides structure
producer: provides direction and follow-through
controller: examines details and enforces rules
maintainer: fights external battles
adviser: encourages the search for more information
linker: coordinates and integrates
creating team players: selecting, training, rewarding
selecting: hire team players
training: create team players
rewarding: incentives to be a good team player
the challenges:
overcoming individual resistence to team membership
countering the influence of individualistic cultures
introducing teams in an organization that has historically valued individual achievement
communication, communication functions
communication: the tranference and the understanding
communication serves five major functions within a group or organization
management
feedback
emotional sharing
persuasion
information exchange
describe the functions of communication
communication acts to manage member behavior in several ways
authority hierarchies and formal guidelines
job descriptions and company policies
workgroup teasing or harassing
communication creates feedback by clarfying to employees what they must do, how well they are doing it, and how they can improve their performance
formation of goals, feedback on grogress, and reward for desired behavior all require communication and stimulation motivation
communication within the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members show satisfaction and frustration. therefore it provides for the emotional sharing of feelings and fulfillment of social needs
like emotional sharing, persuasion can be good or bad depending on if, say, a leader is trying to persuade a workgroup to believe in the organizations commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) or to, coversely, persuade the workgroup to break the law to meet an organizational goal
communiction provides the information by individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting the data needed to identify and evaluating choices
the communication process, elements of the communication process, model
channel
the medium selected by the sender through which the message travels to the receiver
types of channels
formal channels
are established by the organization and transmit messages that are related to the professional activities of members
informal channels
used to transmit personal or social messages in the organization. these informal channels are spontaneous and emerge as a response to individual choices
elements of the communication process
the sender — initiates message
encoding — translating thought to message
the message — what is communicated
the channel — the medium the message travel through
decoding — the receivers action in making sense of the message
the receiver — person who gets the message
noise — things that interfere with the message
feedback — a return message regarding the initial communication
direction of communication: upward, lateral and downward
downward communication: flows from one level to a lower level
assign goals, provide instructions, communicates policies and procedures, and provide feedback
downward communication must explain the reasons why a decision was made
one problem is the one-way nature of downward communication
upward communication: flows to a higher level in the group or organization
provides feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress, and rely current problems
communicate in headlines, not paragraphs
support your headlines with actionable items
prepare an agenda to make sure you use your boss’s attention well
lateral communication: takes place among members of the same work group, among members of work groups at the same level, among managers at the same level, or among any horizontally equivalent personnel
often necessary to save time and facilitate coordination
may be formally sanctioned
can create dysfunctional conflicts
three common formal small group networks
chain:
rigidly follows the chain of command
speed: moderate
accuracy: high
emergence of leader: moderate
member satisfaction: moderate
wheel:
relies on a central figure to act as the conduit for all communication
team with a strong leader
speed: fast
accuracy: high
emergence of a leader: high
member satisfaction: low
all channel:
all group members communicate actively with each other
self managed teams
speed: fast
accuracy: moderate
emergence of a leader: none
member satisfaction: high
grapevince characteristics
grapevine: the informal communication network in a group or organization
it gives managers a feel for the morale of their organization, identifies issues employees consider important, and helps tap into employee anxieties
oral, written, and nonverbal communication
oral communication: the primary means of conveying messages. speeches, formal one-on-one and group discussions, and informal rumor mills or grapevines are popular forms of oral communication
meetings
videoconferencing and conference calls
telephone
written communication
letters
powerpoint
e-mail
instant messaging
text messaging
social media
aps
blogs
nonverbal communication: includes body movements, the intonations or emphasis we give to words, facial expressions, and physical distance between the sender and receiver
body language conconvey status, level of engagement, and emotional state
physical distance also has meaning
what is considered proper spacing between people largely depends on cultural norms
a businesslike distance in some european countries feels intimate in many parts of north america
distance may indicate aggressiveness or sexual interest, or it may signal disinterest or displeasure with what is being said
channel richness, information richness of communication channels
the choice of channel depends on whether the mesage is routine
routine messages tend to be straightfoward and have a minimum or ambiguity
choose oral communication when you need to gauge the receivers receptivity
written communication is more reliable for complex and lengthy communications
know your audience and use good grammer
letters
text messaging
social media
blogging
information security
eletronic information
physical information
information that employees know
most companies monitor employee internet use and e-mail records, and some use video surveillsnce and record conversations
barriers in effetive communication
filtering: a senders manupulation of information so that it will be seen more favorable by the receiver
selective perception: people selectively interpret what they see on the basis of the interest, backgrounds, experience, and attitudes
information overload: a condition in which information inflow exceeds an individuals processing capacity
emotions: how a receiver feels at the time a message is received will influence how the message is interpreted
language: words have different meanings to different people
communication apprehension: undue tension and anxiety about oral cummunication, written communication, or both
men talk to:
emphasize staus, power, and independence
comlain that women talk on and on
offer solutions
to boast about their accomplishments
women talk to:
establish connection and intimacy
criticize men for not listening
speak of problems to promot closeness
express regret and restore balance to a conversation
certain words, stereotypes, intimidate, and insult individuals
in an increasingly diverse workforce, we must be sensitive to how words might offend others
remove: handicapped, blind, and elderly
replaced with: physically challenged, visually imparied, and senior
removing certain words from the vocabulary makes it harder to communicate accurately
removed: garbage, quotas, and women
replaced with: postconsumer waste materials, educational equity, and people of gender
communication global implications
cultural barriers:
caused by semantics — words mean different things to different people
caused by word connotations — words imply different things in different languages
caused by tone differences
caused by difference in tolerance for conflict and methods for resolving conflicts
high-context cultures: cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational