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