Module 20: Working and Writing In Teams

Question 1

People work in teams—including virtual teams

Answer 1

to create new products, streamline processes, hire employees, identify and solve problems, and brainstorm, articulate, and implement strategic organizational goals.

Question 2

Team members operate on two basic behavioural principles:

Answer 2

What gets rewarded gets repeated; what gets measured gets done.

Question 3

What Kinds of Communication Happen in Groups?

Answer 3

Different messages occur at different points in a group’s development.

Question 4

Group messages fall into three categories:

Answer 4

1) informational messages
2) Procedural messages
3) interpersonal messages

Question 5

Informational messages

Answer 5

focus on content: the problem or challenge, data, and possible solutions.

Question 6

Procedural messages

Answer 6

focus on method and process. How will the group make decisions? Who will do what? When will assignments be due?

Question 7

Interpersonal messages

Answer 7

focus on people, promoting friendliness, cooperation, and group loyalty.

Question 8

Stages of group development

Answer 8

Orientation
Formation
Coordination
Formalization

Question 9

What Roles Do People Play in Groups?

Answer 9

People play both group maintenance and task roles, and every role can be positive or negative.

Question 10

Listening actively

Answer 10

Showing group members that they have been heard and that their ideas are being taken seriously

Question 11

Encouraging participation

Answer 11

Demonstrating openness and acceptance, recognizing the contributions of members, calling on quieter group members

Question 12

Relieving tensions

Answer 12

Joking and suggesting breaks and activities

Question 13

Checking feelings

Answer 13

Asking members how they feel about group activities and sharing one’s own feelings with others

Question 14

Solving interpersonal problems

Answer 14

Opening discussion of interpersonal problems in the group and suggesting ways to solve them

Question 15

Positive maintenance roles and actions that help the group build loyalty, resolve conflicts, and function smoothly to achieve task goals include

Answer 15

Listening actively, 
Encouraging participation, 
Relieving tensions, 
Checking feelings, 
Solving interpersonal problems

Question 16

Positive roles and actions that help the group achieve its task goals include

Answer 16

Seeking information and opinions, Giving information and opinions, Summarizing, Evaluating,Coordinating

Question 17

Seeking information and opinions

Answer 17

Asking questions, identifying gaps in the group’s knowledge

Question 18

Giving information and opinions

Answer 18

Answering questions, providing relevant information

Question 19

Summarizing

Answer 19

Restating major points, pulling ideas together, summarizing decisions

Question 20

Evaluating

Answer 20

Comparing group processes and products to standards and goals

Question 21

Coordinating

Answer 21

Planning work, giving directions, and fitting together contributions of group members

Question 22

Negative roles and actions that hurt the group’s products and processes include

Answer 22

Blocking,
Dominating,
Clowning,
Withdrawing

Question 23

Blocking  

Answer 23

Disagreeing with everything proposed. Criticizing ideas is necessary if the group is to produce the best solution, but criticizing every single idea without suggesting possible solutions blocks a group.

Question 24

Dominating

Answer 24

Trying to run the group by ordering, shutting out others, and insisting on one’s own way. Active listening strategies (Module 19) build relationships, defuse conflict, and encourage participation. Authoritarian, tyrannical people don’t just alienate others; they reduce or eliminate productivity.

Question 25

Clowning

Answer 25

Making unproductive jokes and diverting the group from the task. Jokes can defuse tension and make the group more creative, but too many or inappropriate jokes can frustrate or offend team members, or impede progress.

Question 26

Withdrawing

Answer 26

Being silent in meetings, not contributing, not helping with the work, not attending meetings. Silently listening encourages others to contribute; passive-aggressive behaviours can create a dysfunctional team.

Question 27

Effective groups balance three kinds of leadership, which parallel the three group development dimensions.

Answer 27

Informational leaders
Interpersonal leaders
Procedural leaders

Question 28

Informational leaders

Answer 28

generate and evaluate ideas and text.

Question 29

Interpersonal leaders

Answer 29

monitor the group’s process, check people’s feelings, and resolve conflicts.

Question 30

Procedural leaders

Answer 30

set the agenda, make sure that everyone knows what’s due for the next meeting, communicate with absent group members, and check to be sure that assignments are carried out.

Question 31

In successful groups

Answer 31

Leaders set clear deadlines and schedule frequent meetings. Members spend more time analyzing and identifying the task. Members communicate more often with each other, and deal directly with conflict.

Question 32

In less successful groups,

Answer 32

members attempt to solve the task without discussing or defining it. Members depend on the leader for direction. Less successful groups meet less often, and they avoid talking about conflicts.

Question 33

Groupthink

Answer 33

is the tendency for groups to put such a high premium on agreement that they directly or indirectly punish dissent

Question 34

Group members who “go along with the crowd” and suppress conflict

Answer 34

Ignore the full range of alternatives

Seek only information that supports the positions they already favour

Fail to prepare contingency plans to cope with foreseeable setbacks

Question 35

The best correctives to groupthink are to

Answer 35

Brainstorm for additional alternatives.

Test assumptions against those of a range of other people.

Encourage disagreement, perhaps even assigning someone to be “devil’s advocate.”

Protect the right of people in a group to disagree.

Question 36

How Can Team Members Handle Conflict?

Answer 36

Listen actively to get at the real issue and repair bad feelings

Question 37

Try the following ways to reduce the number of conflicts in a group.

Answer 37

Make responsibilities and ground rules clear at the beginning.

Frame ideas positively.

Acknowledge verbal and non-verbal messages of discomfort, anger, or hostility.

Discuss problems as they arise, rather than letting them fester until people explode.

Realize that group members are not responsible for each other’s feelings.

Question 38

Steps in Conflict Resolution

Answer 38

1. MAKE SURE THAT THE PEOPLE INVOLVED REALLY DISAGREE
2. CHECK TO SEE THAT EVERYONE’S INFORMATION IS CORRECT
3. DISCOVER THE NEEDS EACH PERSON IS TRYING TO MEET
4. SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES
5. Repair bad feelings

Question 39

Constructive ways to respond to criticism and get closer to the real concern include

Answer 39

Paraphrasing

Checking for feelings

Checking for inferences

Buying time with limited agreement

Question 40

To paraphrase,

Answer 40

repeat in your own words, in a neutral tone, the verbal content of the critic’s message

Question 41

When you check the speaker’s feelings,

Answer 41

you identify the emotions that the critic seems to be expressing verbally or non-verbally

Question 42

When you check the inferences you draw from criticism,

Answer 42

you identify the implied meaning of the verbal and non-verbal content of the criticism

Question 43

Buying time

Answer 43

is a useful strategy for dealing with criticisms that really sting. When you buy time with limited agreement, you avoid escalating the conflict (as an angry statement might do) but also avoid yielding to the critic’s point of view.

Question 44

How Can Teams Co-Author Good Documents?

Answer 44

Talk about your purposes and audiences; discuss drafts and revisions as a group.

Question 45

Collaborative writing

Answer 45

can be done by two people or by a much larger group.

Question 46

Orientation

Answer 46

when members meet and begin to define their task

Question 47

formation phase

Answer 47

people use interpersonal communication to resolve the conflicts that surface. Good leaders clarify procedures and roles, so that each person understands what s/he is supposed to do

Question 48

Coordination

Answer 48

the longest phase, during which most of the group’s work is done

Question 49

formalization

Answer 49

the group seeks consensus. In this stage, the group tries to forget earlier conflicts as members focus on agreeing to the solution