Groups and Teamwork

Question 1

Group:

Answer 1

Two or more people interacting interdependently to achieve a common goal

Question 2

Why are groups important

Answer 2

• Groups can often accomplish things that individuals cannot
• Groups are becoming more and more necessary and prevalent as time goes on

Question 3

Some situations in which to use groups

Answer 3

• Relatively uncertain or complex problem (hard to identify expertise)
• Problem requires intergroup cooperation
• Acceptance of and commitment to decision are critical for implementation

Question 4

Types of Tasks

Answer 4

• additive
• disjunctive
• conjuctive

Question 5

Additive Tasks –

Answer 5

• sum total matters
• Tasks where group performance is dependent on the sum total of individual performances

Question 6

Disjunctive Tasks

Answer 6

• best contributor matters
• Tasks where group performance is dependent on the performance of the best group member

Question 7

Conjunctive Tasks

Answer 7

• worst contributor matters
• Tasks where group performance is limited by the performance of the worst performer

Question 8

Group Diversity Advantages

Answer 8

Multiple perspectives
Greater openness to new ideas
Multiple interpretations
Increased creativity
Increased problem-solving skill

Question 9

Group Diversity Disadvantages

Answer 9

Ambiguity
Complexity
Confusion
Miscommunication
Difficulty in reaching a single agreement
Difficulty in agreeing on specific actions

Question 10

Surface Diversity

Answer 10

For example: age, gender, or race

Question 11

Deep diversity

Answer 11

Differences in attitudes toward work or how to accomplish a goal

Question 12

Rule of thumb:

Answer 12

Include enough diversity to capitalize on different perspectives but not too much such that it hinders communication and performance

Question 13

Social Loafing

Answer 13

Tendency to withhold effort when performing a group task

Question 14

social loafing - Free riders

Answer 14

Lower effort to get a free ride at expense of others

Question 15

Sucker effect

Answer 15

People lower effort because they feel others are free riding (think Equity Theory)

Question 16

Combat Social Loafing

Answer 16

• Make individual performance more visible (Easier with small groups)
• Make sure work is interesting
• Increase feeling of indispensability
• Increase frequency/quality of performance feedback
• Reward group performance
• Change norms

Question 17

Typical stages of group development

Answer 17

Stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

Question 18

Forming

Answer 18

orient themselves

Question 19

Storming

Answer 19

conflict emerges, confrontation, and criticsm

Question 20

Norming

Answer 20

members resolve the issues that provoked the storming, and they develop social consensus

Question 21

Performing

Answer 21

task accomplishment

Question 22

Adjourning

Answer 22

define or disperse lifespan

Question 23

Group norms

Answer 23

collective expectations that members of social units have regarding the behaviour of each other

Question 24

Roles

Answer 24

positions in a group that have a set of expected behaviours attached to them

• Designated or assigned roles
  Emergent roles - develop naturally to meet social emotiaonl needs of group members

Question 25

Role ambiguity

Answer 25

lack of clarity or job goals and methods

Question 26

Role conflict

Answer 26

a condition of being faed with incompatible role expectations

Question 27

Intrasender role conflict

Answer 27

a single role sender provides incompatible role expectations to a role occupant

Question 28

Intersender role conflict

Answer 28

two or more role senders provide a role occupant with incompatible expectations

Question 29

Interrole conflict

Answer 29

several roles held by a role occupant involve incompatible expectations

Question 30

Person-role conflict

Answer 30

role deamds call for behaviour that is incompatible with the personality or skills of a role occupant

Question 31

Status

Answer 31

The rank or social position accorded to group members in terms of prominence, prestige, and respect

Question 32

Group cohesiveness

Answer 32

the degree to which a group is attractive to its members

Question 33

Factors Influencing Cohesiveness

Answer 33

• threat and competition
• sucess
• member diversity
• group size
• toughness of initation

Question 34

Psychological safety

Answer 34

a shared belief that it is safe to take social risks

Question 35

Team reflexivity

Answer 35

the extent to which teams deliberately discuss team processes and goals and adapt their behavior accordingly

Question 36

Shared mental modes

Answer 36

eam members share simlar inforamtion about how they should interact and what their task is

Question 37

Collective efficacy

Answer 37

shared beliefs that a team can successfully perform a given task

Question 38

Team resilience

Answer 38

a teams capacity to bounce back from setbacks or adversity

Question 39

Self managed work teams

Answer 39

work groups that have the opportunity to do challenging work under reduced supervision

• composition - stability. size, expertise, diversity

Question 40

Cross functional teams

Answer 40

work groups that bring people with different functional specialites together to better invent, design, or deliver a product or service

• Require formal leadership
• Diverse specialites are necessary and cross training is not feasible
• Composition, superdorinate goals, physical proximity, autonomy, rules, leadership