Chapter 6: Groups and Teamwork Flashcards
Groups and example
Two or more people with a common relationship
Ex., co-workers, people meeting for lunch, hanging out
Teams
Small number of people with skills who are committed to a common purpose or goal and hold themselves mutually accountable
Teams Characteristics (3-5)
Leadership
Accountability
Purpose or Mission
Problem Solving Continuously
Effectiveness from team, not individual outcomes
Group refer to a collective of multiple individuals, teams add structure and purpose to this collective. Therefore all _______ are ________ but not all _______ are ______
all teams are groups but not all groups are teams
Why are teams popular? (3)
most popular way for organizations to organize employees
use of employee talents
flexible and responsive to changing environments
Capability to quickly assemble, deploy, refocus and disband
Four types of teams
Problem Solving, Self Managed, Virtual and Cross-Functional
Problem Solving Teams
- size?
- what they meet for?
- authority required to implement?
- 5-12 employees from department
- discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency and environment
- No authority to implement actions
Self-Managed Teams
- size?
- what they meet for? Responsibility?
- Effectiveness decreased when what rises?
- Cons of team result in high levels
- 10-15 people
- Take on responsibilities of their former managers, which include planning, scheduling work, assigning tasks, taking action on problems
- conflict in the team rises
- high absenteeism and turnover rate
Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
Cross-Functional Teams - Task force
Temporary cross functional team
Cross-Functional Teams - Committee
Group composed of members from different departments
Cross-Functional Teams - Skunkworks:
cross-functional teams (which usually exist outside of organizational structure) that develop spontaneously to create new products or work on complex problems
Virtual Teams
Describe it, benefits, why is it popular
Use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal. More and more popular due to effect on operation and travelling costs. Less Social and more task oriented
Virtual Teams to be effective (3)
- Ensure intra-team trust is present
- Team progress is monitored closely
- End result of team effort is publicized throughout entire organization
Individual vs Team Member Study
Focus on processes and mechanisms through which individuals become team members.
Roles
describe and can they influence behaviour?
Set of expected behavioural patterns associated with someone occupying a given position in a social unit. Roles can influence our behaviours
Role Expectation
How others believe a person should act in a given situation
Role Conflict
Situation in which an individual is confronted by a divergent role expectations (work vs family roles, role during merger and acquisition)
Role Ambiguity:
A person is unclear about his or her role
Role Overload
Too much is expected of someone and thus that person feels overworked
Role Underload
Too little is expected of someone and thus person feels underworked
Norms:
Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group shared by the group’s members
Display of Norms (3)
influencing the behaviours of group members.
Written up formally in organizational manuals as rules and procedures
Informally as shared understanding of patterns of behaviours in the workplace.
Workplace norms example
Performance?
Appearance?
Social?
Allocation of resource?
- work ethic, work quality, levels of tardiness
- personal dress, when to look busy, when to “goof off”, show loyalty
- Social arrangement: how team members interact
- pay, assignments, tools & equipment-
Where do norms come from (4)
initial patterns of behaviour, past behaviour carried over, critical events, influential member
Why do we need norms (4)
- Facilitate group’s survival.
- Make behaviors predictable.
- Minimize embarrassment.
- Facilitate the expression of central values and clarify the group’s identity.
Stages of Group and Team Development - Forming
Characterized by uncertainty about group’s purpose structure and leadership. Members “testing the waters” to determine what behaviour types are acceptable
Stages of Group and Team Development - Forming, when is it completed?
members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group
Stages of Group and Team Development - Storming
Members accept the existence of the group but resist the constraints that the group imposes on individuality
Stages of Group and Team Development - Storming Complete
relatively clear hierarchy of leadership will emerge within group
Stages of Group and Team Development - Performing
Significant task progress is being made. Structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to preforming the task at hand
Stages of Group and Team Development - Performing:
permanent vs Temporary
This is the last stage for permanent groups but Temporary move on
Stages of Group and Team Development - Adjourning
In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment
Punctuated Equilibrium Model: Phase 1
First meeting sets groups direction, first phase of group activity is one of inertia
inertia
a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged
Punctuated-Equilibrium Model - Transition phase when does it occur, how much time is used up, what does it initiate
Takes place at the end of the first phase, occurs when group has used up half of its allotted time. Transition initiates major changes
Punctuated-Equilibrium Model - Phase 2
Second phase of inertia follows the transition and then last meeting characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
Creating Effective Teams Factors (3) CCP plus description
Context: External Environment
Composition: How should be staffed
Process: Internal, External, Relation
Context: Adequate Resource Examples (3-5)
- Technology
- Staffing
- Administrative Assistance
- Encouragement
- Information
Context: Leadership and Structure examples (3-5)
- real team rather than a name
- Setting clear and meaningful direction
- structure supports working effectively
- supportive external environment for teams
- Provides expert coaching
Context: Climate of Trust
- when are members more likely to take risks?
- Promotes cooperation and inhibits free riding, take risk, be vulnerable
- Trust should exist between members as well as between team members and leader
Context: Performance Evaluation Rewards
And examples
- Focus on group rewards not individual
- Gainsharing, small group incentives
Composition of Teams (5)
Skills, Personality, Roles, Diversity, Size
Task-Oriented Roles
- Group members ensure that tasks are accomplished
- Initiators, information providers, information seekers, elaborators, summarizers and consensus makers
Maintenance Roles
- Group members maintain good relations within the group
- Harmonizers, compromisers, gatekeepers, and encouragers
Social Loafing
Tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually
Process - Common Purpose
Have clearly defined missions, goals and strategies. Provide direction and guidance under any and all conditions
Process: Specific Goals
Smart Goals
Process: Team Efficacy
Members believe that collectively the team can achieve its mission/goal
Process: Mental Models
Knowledge and beliefs about how work gets done
Process: Managed Level of Conflict (2)
- Effective teams resolve conflicts by explicitly discussing issues
- Teams should learn from conflicts to prevent conflicts from happening again
Accountability (2)
- Successful teams make members individually and jointly accountable for team’s purpose, goals, and approach
- Teams should have clear definition of personal and team responsibility
