Groups and Work Teams Flashcards
Groups vs Teams
Groups are just a collection of two or more people while teams are people with complementary skills that are committed to a common purpose
Why have teams become so popular
Teams are more flexible than individuals, they can quickly assemble and adapt, typically outperform individuals, can be more motivational, and are a better way to use employee talent
Why ask groups to make decisions, why are group decisions good in theory and what actually happens
In theory group decisions are better because of pooling (putting ideas together and picking the best one) and elaboration (expanding on each idea). In reality there is conformity and common information bias which can leads to groups making worse decisions
What is common information bias
It’s when people hold the same information about something, so the group is naturally directed toward that information. Shared information is mathematically more likely to be brought up. The group prioritizes shared information over unique ideas. This is due to the social nature of people, we want to be liked by others so we don’t want to say something different from the group and not be liked by them. When information is shared by the group, it creates a false consensus of importance.
What is conformity and the Asch experiments, what are two points about how conformity is reduced
Conformity is going along with the group. Asch experiments are where there was a group of people asked the length of a line. In reality only one true participant, the rest were confederates who purposefully gave the wrong answer. In 12 of 16 rounds participants conformed to the group’s answer. Conformity is lower in individualistic cultures vs collectivist cultures and one ally drastically reduced conformity.
What NOT to do in terms of conformity
Avoid taking polls at the beginning of a meeting, don’t overemphasize getting along, remember that differences in opinions about a decision do not mean relationship conflict
What can you do to try and reduce conformity
Encourage people to speak up about unique preferences and information, assign someone to be devil’s advocate to reduce or eliminate conformity, embrace constructive conflict, bring in an unbiased outsider to check the process, caution group about forming a preference before discussion
What are the four types of teams
Problem solving teams: employees from the same department meeting to try and improve quality, efficiency, and their work environment
Self-managed teams: take on the responsibilities of their former managers such as scheduling and assigning tasks
Cross-functional teams: employees from about the same hierarchal level but different departments who come together to accomplish a task
Virtual teams: connect virtually to achieve a common goal
What are roles/role expectations and the 9 roles discussed in class
Roles/role expectations are a set of expected behavior patterns associated with someone occupying a given position in a social unit. The 9 roles are plant, resource investigator, coordinator, shaper, monitor/evaluator, team worker, implementer, completer/finisher, and specialist
What are the four issues with roles
Role conflict: a situation where a person is confronted by divergent role expectations
Role ambiguity: a person is unclear about their role
Role overload: too much is expected of someone
Role underload: too little is expected of someone, the person feels like they are not contributing
What are the five stages of team development and what is the movement between them
Forming (characterized by uncertainty and anxiety), storming (characterized by intra-group conflict), norming (characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness), performing (the stage where the group is fully functional), and adjourning (concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance for temporary groups)
You can move stages, skip past them, or move backward through them. For example surgeons and assistants can skip through some of these stages
What is the punctuated equilibrium model
Composed on phase 1, midpoint, and phase 2.
Phase 1 is the first meeting which sets the group’s direction, there is usually not much performance in this phase. The midpoint is at the end of phase one and occurs right when the group has used half of its allotted time, this transition initiates major change, phase 2 is a second phase of inertia after the midpoint. Not every team has a successful midpoint which will determine the success for the rest of the project.
What are advantages of small teams
Small teams: interact more with each other, easier to coordinate efforts, more motivated, satisfied and committed, easier to share information, better able to see importance of personal contributions
What are advantages and disadvantages of large teams
Advantages: more resources at their disposal to achieve group goals, enables managers to obtain division of labour advantages like increased output and efficiency
Disadvantages: lower level of motivation, problems with communication and coordination, members might not think their efforts are really needed
What is social loafing and how can you counteract it
Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually. Can counteract it by making individual performance more visible, making sure the work is interesting, increase feelings of indispensability, increase performance feedback, and award group performance
