Groups and Teams Flashcards
Analyse defining characteristics of ‘groups’ and ‘teams’. Explain the stages of team development Identify and understand the Belbin team roles within your SDLG. Explain and evaluate research on conformity. Identify problems for decision-making in teams. Identify solutions to help with decision-making Evaluate models of ‘successful teamwork’ and the contributing characteristics. Evaluate the usefulness of theory to help you with your groupwork
What is the definition of a group and who by?
Schein (1980) A group is a number of people who
- interact with each other;
- are psychologically aware of each other;
- perceive themselves aware of each other
- or perceive themselves to be a group.
What is the definition of a team and who by?
Brill (1976) A team is a group of people who: .together have common purpose . meet together to communicate and collaborate . together plans are made
Who came up with the stages of team development and when?
Tuckman and Jensen, 1977
What are the 4 stages of team development?
1- forming
2- storming
3- norming
4- performing
What are the characteristics of the forming stage of team development?
. Individualistic
. People withhold full participation
. Management give no real authority to act
. Mission is understood, but does not motivate
. Communication from leader to members, rather than members to members, little listening
What are the characteristics of the storming stage of team development?
. Honeymoon is over, energy dissipating . Stress over roles, over uneven contribution . Trust: working out who to trust . Purpose: slowly becoming clear . Communication: often aggressive . Dominant members take air time . Team processes start to be worked on
What are the characteristics of the norming stage of team development?
. Swear allegiance to team / team pride; rivalry with other teams
. Reluctant to challenge others
. Trust: developing, but not tested
. Clear focus on performance and goals
. Communication to each other as well as to leader
. Team processes well underway
What are the characteristics of the performing stage of team development?
. Team is pro-active; sets most of its own priorities
. Strong culture of “high accountability”
. Team share leadership: all involved
. Team prioritise what is good for the business as a whole
. Trust high: climate of support and challenge
. Team manages its performance as a team.
How long may it take to develop from forming to performing?
2 years
Who developed a model of team roles and when?
Belbin 1981
What are some of the Belbin team roles?
. THINKING -specialist -plant -monitor evaluator . PEOPLE -team worker -coordinator -resource investigator . ACTION - implementer -completer -finisher -shaper
Explain the action orientated Belbin team role of implementor?
- Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions.
- But somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities
Explain the people orientated Belbin team role of team worker?
- Co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction
- but Indecisive in crunch situations.
Explain the thinking orientated Belbin team role of specialist?
. Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply.
. but contributes only on a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities.
Name conformity experiments (ADD IN GREATER DEPTH )
. Asch, 1951
. The Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971)
. Electric shock experiments(Milgram, 1963)
What are the advantages of decision making in teams?
. More information from different sources
. Mutually acceptable solution
. Credibility / legitimacy of solution
. Commitment towards implementation
What are the disadvantages of decision making in teams?
. Takes more time . Lines of responsibility can become unclear . Pressures to conform . Social loafing . Extreme-decisions: - Polarised - Risky shift . Groupthink
What is the definition of groupthink? and who by?
“the psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses dissent and appraisal of alternatives in cohesive decision-making groups.” (Janis, 1982)
What are the symptoms of groupthink?
. Illusion of invulnerability . Collective rationalisation . Belief in inherent morality . Stereotyped views of out-groups . Direct pressure on . dissenters . Self-censorship . Illusion of unanimity . Self-appointed mindguards who protect group from problematic info
What suggestions by Janis were there to minimise groupthink?
.Impartial leader
. Critical evaluators
. Devil’s advocate
. Subgroup for policy evaluation
. Group norm – disagreement does not mean disrespect
. Climate of constructive controversy e.g. get someone to support a minority viewpoint
What is group polarisation and the shifts that can occur?
Opinions tend to be more polarised and extreme:
. Risky shift-We tend to take greater risks when we are with a group
. Cautious shift-groups can become more cautious in their decisions/preferred solutions
What was the Asch conformity experiment?
. Experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure can influence an individual and make him/her conform.
. Participants placed in a room with 7 other confederates
. Participant-led to believe they were part of the experiment, not the scenario
. but confederates response was already pre-determined
What is conformity?
Conformity is the term used for the convergence of individuals’ thoughts, feelings and
behaviour towards a group’s norms.
What was the outcome of the Asch experiment and why?
. 1/3 of subjects conformed
. why:
- To be liked (normative conformity)
- Belief that others are better informed (informational conformity)
- Difficult to maintain that you see something when nobody else does
What is the evaluation of the Asch experiment?
. Useful in theorizing why people conform
. Sampling was gender-biased: only male subjects
. The study was about perception of lines – this does not reflect complex, real-life decisions. e.g. highly moral decision
What was The Stanford Prison Experiment?
. simulated prison to see the psychological effects of being a prisoner or a prison guard
. the volunteers were divided by the flip of a coin
. prisoners were stripped on arrival, wore chains on feet etc
. each prisoner called only by ID number
. guards given free reigns within reason to do what they needed to do to enforce the law
. punishment initially push ups
. rebellion led to fire extinguishers asgainst prisoners and they were stripped naked with no bed
. guards tried to break prisoner solidarity
. potentially add more
Who came up with the three circles needed for members of a team?
Adair’s three circles (1997)
What are Adair’s three circles (1997)?
Task, team and individual
What are the advantages of Adair’s three circles (1997)?
. Simple
. Focuses on satisfying task needs, team maintenance needs and individual needs – all contribute to teamwork
. Overlapping circles is a good reminder that all three have to be paid attention
What are the disadvantages of Adair’s three circles (1997)?
. No recognition of different cultures.
. Group environment not considered
. Nature of the task ignored
. Leadership outside the immediate team ignored
Who came up with the attributes for successful teams and five factor model?
Hackman, 2002
What is the Five Factor Model for Successful Teams?
- Being a real team
- Compelling direction
- Enabling structure
- Supportive context
- Expert coaching
Evaluate the usefulness of theory to help with your groupwork
finish hi
