Chapter 7 - Team Dynamic Flashcards
What are groups of 2 or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization?
Teams
What are the 3 characteristics of a team?
- Team permanence
- Skill diversity
- Authority dispersion
What refers to how long that type of team exists?
Team permanence
What refers to the degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team or is vested in one or a few members of the team?
Authority dispersion
List 4 reasons why informal groups exist
- Humans are social animals
- Individuals define themselves by the group affiliation
- They accomplish personal objectives that cannot be achieved by individuals working alone
- We are comforted by the presence of others and are motivated to be near them during stressful times
Why are teams not always as effective as individuals working alone?
Process losses
What are resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task?
Process losses
Does process losses include time and energy?
Yes
What type of tasks do process losses make teams less effective at?
Tasks that are performed alone
When are process losses amplified?
When more people are added or replace others on the team
What are the 2 reasons why process losses are amplified when more people are added to the team?
- New team members consume time and effort figuring out how to work well with other team members
- Current team members divert their attention to accommodating and integrating the new members
Why do process losses continue to increase after the new members have been integrated?
A larger team requires more time for coordination and conflict resolution
What occurs when people exert less effort when working in teams than when working alone?
Social loafing
When is social loafing higher?
When individual performance is hidden or difficult to distinguish from the performance of others
When does individual performance tend to be hidden?
When very large teams produce a single output
List 5 ways to reduce social loafing
- Make team member’s contribution more visible
- Enriching the job
- Make the work and team goals more important and valued
- Increase the extent to which members value team work
- Make team progress fair
What represents all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence it effectiveness?
The organizational and team environment
List the 5 key components of organizational and team environment
- Rewards
- Communication
- Organizational structure
- Organizational leadership
- Physical space
What is viewed as a resource pool that either supports or inhabits the team’s ability to function and achieve its objectives?
The organizational environment
List the 5 key components of team processes
- Team development
- Team norms
- Team cohesion
- Team trust
- Team interaction
List the 3 key components of team effectiveness
- Accomplish tasks
- Satisfy member needs
- Maintain team survival
What are 2 environmental conditions that generate drives for change within teams?
- External competition
2. Changing social expectations
What does task complexity demand?
Teamwork
What does complex work require?
Skills and knowledge beyond one person’s abilities
What is the main benefit of well-structured tasks?
Coordinating is easier
List the 3 key components of team design
- Task characteristics
- Team size
- Team composition
In what 4 instances is the task characteristic component of team design better?
- When tasks are complex but more structure
- When coordination is required
- When there is higher task interdependence
- When members share processes, goals, and outcomes
What is the extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise in order to perform their jobs?
Task interdependence
Which level of interdependence occurs when an employee or work unit shares a common resource with others employees or work unit?
Pooled interdependence
Which level of interdependence does the output of one person become the direct input for another person or unit?
Sequential interdependence
Which level of interdependence does the work output get exchanged back and forth among individuals?
Reciprocal interdependence
What is the highest level of task interdependence?
Reciprocal interdependence
What are the 3 benefits of small teams?
- They have less process loss and social loafing
- Members feel more engaged
- There is a greater sense of responsibility
Which component of team design deals with the Five Cs model?
Team composition
List the 5 Competencies in the Five Cs model
- Cooperating
- Coordinating
- Communicating
- Comforting
- Conflict resolving
What do effective team members possess?
The 5 Competencies in the Five Cs model
What is diversity an important dimension of?
Team composition
List 3 advantages of diverse teams
- They bring multiple perspectives to problem-solving
- They have a broader knowledge base
- They provide better representation of team constituents
List the 3 disadvantages of diverse teams
- They tend to develop more slowly
- They are more prone to faultlines
- They have a greater risk of dysfunctional conflict
What is an example of a team constituent?
Shareholders
What are hypothetical dividing lines that may slip the team into subgroups?
Faultlines
What is a set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in the team and organization?
A role
What is a process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team?
Team building
What attempts to speed up the team development process?
Team building
What are the 4 recommendations for team building?
- It should target the specific problem
- It should be ongoing and not a one time thing
- It should be job-related
- It should occur at the right time
What are the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members?
Norms
What do norms only apply to?
Behavior
When do team norms develop?
When the team is first formed
What refers to the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members?
Team cohesion
What tends to improve team cohesion?
Team development
List the 6 factors that influence team cohesion
- Member similarity
- Team size
- Member interaction
- Difficult entry
- Team success
- External competition and challenges
When does team cohesion have less effect on team performance?
When the team has low task interdependence
What are the 2 factors of high task performance?
- Team norms support company goals
2. High team cohesion
What are the 2 factors of moderately high task performance?
- Team norms support company goals
2. Low team cohesion
What are the 2 factors of low task performance?
- Team norms conflict with company goals
2. High team cohesion
What are the 2 factors of moderately low task performance?
- Team norms conflict with company goals
2. Low team cohesion
What are the 3 levels of trust?
- Calculus
- Knowledge
- Identification
What represents a logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because they face sanctions if their actions violate reasonable expectations?
Calculus-based trust
What is the lowest level of trust?
Calculus
What is the highest level of trust?
Identification
List the 2 characteristics of calculus-based trust
- Based on deterrence
2. It’s easily broken by violation of expectations
List the 2 characteristics of knowledge-based trust
- Based on predictability and competence
2. Fairly robust/strong
List the 2 characteristics of identification-based trust
- Based on common mental models and values
2. Increases with person’s social identity with team
True or False:
Trust predictability only refers to positive expectations
True
Is knowledge-based trust more stable, why?
Yes because its developed over time
What is based on mutual understand and an emotional bond among the members?
Identification-based trust
When does identification-based trust occur?
When members think, feel, and act like each other
Which level of trust do high-performance teams exhibit?
Identification-based trust
Are people more reluctant to acknowledge a violation of identification-based trust, why?
No because it strikes at the heart of their self-concept
What are the 3 phases in team development?
- Launching a team phase
- Consulting at midpoint phase
- The endpoint phase
What is the main focus of the manager during the consulting at midpoint phase of team development?
Improving performance strategies
What is the main focus of the manager during the endpoint phase of team development?
Learning
What does KSA stand for?
Knowledge, skills, and abilities
What are the 3 actions that are important during the consulting at midpoint phase of team development?
- They diagnose what they’ve accomplished
- They identify what they did and didn’t do well
- They reflect, discuss, and create a new strategy
True or False:
Manager should avoid being too directive at the consulting at midpoint stage
True
What are the 2 actions that are important during the endpoint phase of team development?
- Managers help the team correctly identify the causes of good and poor performance
- Managers provide feedback to aid learning
What improves KSAs in the endpoint phase of team development?
Coaching and peer-learning
The extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise in order to perform their jobs refers to:
A. team cohesion
B. task interdependence
C. team composition
D. team process
B. task interdependence
Which of the following is a component of team design in the model of team effectiveness?
A. Team norms
B. Team development
C. Task characteristics
D. None are a component of team design
C. Task characteristics
According to the model of team effectiveness, cohesion and norms are:
A. team design aspects
B. team process aspects
C. team and organizational environment aspects
D. team effectiveness criteria
B. team process aspects
Resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than to the task refers to:
A. social loafing
B. production blocking
C. Brooks’s “Law”
D. process losses
D. process losses
People are more likely to engage in social loafing when the task they perform is not interesting or enjoyable. Which of the following would best address that issue?
A. Effective goal setting
B. Increasing expectancies for performance
C. Enriching the job
D. Providing an equitable distribution of rewards
C. Enriching the job
Cooperating, Conflict Resolving, Coordinating, Communicating, and Comforting are:
A. group norms.
B. group roles.
C. the main influences on team cohesion.
D. desired team member competencies and behaviors.
D. desired team member competencies and behaviors.
In the team development process described by Wageman, Fisher, and Hackman, the main focus of the manager during the launch phase is to:
A. help the team diagnose the effectiveness of its performance strategies.
B. help the team learn the necessary skills and abilities.
C. help the team arrive at a shared understanding of purpose and expectations to motivate collective effort.
D. help the team select a team leader who will guide the team throughout the process.
C. help the team arrive at a shared understanding of purpose and expectations to motivate collective effort.
This refers to the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members.
A. team trust.
B. team composition.
C. team cohesion.
D. team effectiveness.
C. team cohesion.
Calculus-based, knowledge-based, and identification-based refer to:
A. types of team building activities.
B. levels of trust in teams.
C. factors that build team cohesion.
D. types of norms in teams.
B. levels of trust in teams.
Which of the following statements is not true of diverse teams?
A. diverse teams tend to develop more slowly than less diverse teams.
B. diverse teams tend to be more prone to faultlines than less diverse teams.
C. diverse teams tend to have greater risk of dysfunctional conflict than less diverse teams.
D. all of the above statements are true.
D. all of the above statements are true.
These are informal rules and expectations that teams create to regulate the behavior of team members.
A. Roles.
B. Norms.
C. Mores.
D. Cohesion.
B. Norms.
This type of trust is based on common mental models and values within the team.
A. Calculus-based trust.
B. Identification-based trust.
C. Knowledge-based trust.
D. Deterrence-based trust.
B. Identification-based trust.
True or False:
The higher the level of task interdependence, the greater the need for individuals working along rather than as team members working together.
False
According to our discussion of the relationship between team cohesion and team performance, high team cohesiveness will lead to lower performance when:
A. the team’s norms support the organization’s values and goals.
B. the team is lacking in any of the 5 team competencies.
C. the team is not addressing it’s relationship-related roles.
D. the team’s norms oppose the organization’s values and goals.
D. the team’s norms oppose the organization’s values and goals.
Creating a sense of shared identity and accountability within the team is an important action during:
A. the launch phase of team development.
B. the mid-point of team development.
C. the end-point of team development.
D. the evaluation of performance strategies.
A. the launch phase of team development.
List 4 factors that increase team cohesion
- Smaller teams
- Regular interaction
- Team eliteness
- Reasonable challenges
What increases social identity within teams?
Success
What lowers team cohesion?
Severe initiation
What is the main focus of the manager during the launching of the team phase of team development?
Motivating collective effort toward the task
What are the 5 actions that are important during the launching the team phase of team development?
- Articulate the team purpose
- Highlight the core capabilities of each team member
- Identify the main resources needed
- Put the values, norms, and expectations of the team members up for discussion
- Create a sense of shared identity and accountability
What is the experiential learning process useful for?
Deriving lessons learned
