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Small Groups > Small Groups Test 2 > Flashcards

Small Groups Test 2 Flashcards

1
Q

leadership as a process, not a person

A

leaders and followers are interconnected parts of a system. Leadership is not well understood outside of the social context in which it occurs

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2
Q

leadership

A

a leader-follower social influence process, directed toward positive change that reflects mutual purposes of group members and it largely accomplished through competent communication

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3
Q

what are the key differences between managing and leading a small group

A

1) positional versus interpersonal influence
- a leader exercises interpersonal influence persuasively (leader-follower relationship), but a manager exercises positional influence, sometimes coercively (supervisor-subordinate relationship)
2) maintaining versus changing
- leaders work to change the status quo, managers typically maintain it

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4
Q

transformational leadership

A

leadership often associated with changing the status quo; frequently linked to charisma. Leaders that deal with change, inspiration, motivation and influence

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5
Q

transactional leadership

A

leadership often associated with management that typically strives to maintain the status quo efficiently

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6
Q

charismatic leadership

A

all leaders are transformational to some degree, but charismatic leaders are thought to be highly transformational

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7
Q

charisma

A

a constellation of personal attributes that people find highly attractive in an individual and strongly influential (highly subjective)

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8
Q

list the “thou shalt nots for being a leader

A
  1. exhibit a me-orientation
  2. be uniformed about problems and issues
  3. manifest sluggish participation
  4. dominate conversation
  5. listen poorly
  6. be rigid and inflexible when expressing viewpoints
  7. display emotional outbursts
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9
Q

what are the different perspectives on leadership

A
  1. traits perspective
  2. styles perspective
  3. situational perspective
  4. distributive or shared perspective
  5. ethical or servant perspective
  6. culture and leadership perspective
  7. communication competence perspective
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10
Q

traits perspective

A

views leadership as a person, not a process. Leaders are born not made

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11
Q

styles perspective

A
  1. autocratic: exerts control over group members (high task, low social)
  2. democratic: encourages participation and responsibility from group members (high task, high social)
  3. laissez-faire: a do nothing approach, no trying to
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12
Q

situational or contingency perspective

A

“it depends” approach
1. telling style (high task, low relationship)
2. selling style (high task, high relationship)
3. participating style (low task, high relationship)
4. delegating style (low task, low relationship)

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13
Q

distributive/ shared perspective

A

recognizes that “we are all in this together”. Leadership is a process, not a person. Group members step up to certain maintenance or task roles when needed

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14
Q

ethical/ servant perspective

A

a perspective on leadership that places the emphasis on the needs of followers and helps them to become more knowledgeable, “moral leader”

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15
Q

culture perspective

A

no universal theory. most leadership theories are distinctly American. Americans, Arabs, Asians, British, French, Latin American and Russian tend to idealize strong leaders. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia are generally more skeptical of strong leaders and fear their abusive power. Participative leadership style preferred in western cultures is questionable and effective in eastern cultures. Directive leadership is strongly favored in most middle eastern cultures

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16
Q

communication competence perspective

A

extraordinary leadership is the product of extraordinary communication

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17
Q

virtuous cycle

A

the more respect shown to those with power in the group the more the lower power members typically become engaged and motivated to improve and provide creative solutions to problems (communication competence perspective)

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18
Q

4 principal distinctions between small groups and teams

A
  1. level of cooperation (the working together imperative)
  2. diversity of skills (look for complementarity)
  3. group identity (operating as a unit)
  4. time and resources (commitment to the team)
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19
Q

team slayers

A

bad attitudes and behavior 1) egocentrism 2) cynicism vs optimism and 3) verbal/ nonverbal abuse

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20
Q

4 Cs of developing team goals

A
  1. clear goals (everyone is on the same page)
  2. cooperative goals (interdependent challenges)
  3. challenging goals (denting the universe)
  4. commitment to the goals (a passion to succeed)
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21
Q

team identity

A

the sense members feel that they are part of a group, that they belong

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22
Q

how does a team manifest an identity?

A
  1. symbolic convergence (communicating fantasy themes)
  2. solidarity symbols (unifying nonverbally)
  3. team talk (the language of “we”- we, us, let’s do this together)
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23
Q

how do roles develop differently in informal groups compared with teams?

A

role ambiguity develops with informal groups, causing confusion and duplication when team members are unsure with their roles. Teams usually require a formal designation of roles.

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24
Q

role ambiguity

A

produces confusion and duplication when team members are unsure of the parts they are expected to play

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25
Q

what are the 4 dimensions of team empowerment?

A
  1. group potency: a team’s generalized confidence in its ability to perform across a variety of situations
  2. meaningfulness: a team’s perception that its tasks are important, valuable and worthwhile
  3. autonomy: the degree to which team members experience substantial freedom, independence and discretion in their work
  4. impact: the degree of significance given by those of the team, typically the team’s organization, to the work produced by the teams
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26
Q

what are the 4 impediments of team empowerment

A
  1. organizations sabotage their own teams
  2. not everyone embraces teams
  3. when participation in decision making is a sham
  4. when rewards are distributed based on the individual
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27
Q

team

A

a constellation of members with complementary knowledge and skills who act as an interdependent unit, are equally committed to a common mission, subscribe to a cooperative approach to accomplish that mission and hold themselves accountable for team performance

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28
Q

pseudo teams

A

those small groups that only half-heartedly exhibits the several criteria included in the team definition

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29
Q

information overload

A

occurs when the rate of information flow into a system and/ or the complexity of the information exceeds the system’s processing capacity

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30
Q

consequences of information overload

A
  • critical thinking impairment (separating wheat from chaff)
  • indecisiveness (conclusion irresolution, faster is the new norm)
  • inattention (difficulty concentrating)
  • diminished creativity (preoccupation with the mundane)
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31
Q

what are ways to cope with information overload?

A
  • ruthlessly filter information (scan for spam)
  • “eat the frog” (tackle the unpleasant tasks first)
  • shut down technology (hitting the off switch)
  • become selective (on a need to know basis)
  • limit the search (when enough is enough)
  • discern patterns (recognize irrelevant information)
  • focus (don’t multitask)
32
Q

confirmation bias

A

our strong tendency to seek and attend to information that confirms our beliefs and attitudes and to ignore information that contradicts our currently held beliefs and attitudes

33
Q

how to combat confirmation bias

A
  1. seek disconfirming information and evidence
  2. vigorously present disconfirming evidence to the group
  3. play devils advocate
34
Q

false dichotomy

A

the tendency to view the world in terms of only 2 opposing possibilities when the other possibilities are available, and to describe this dichotomy in the language of extremes

35
Q

how to combat false dichotomy

A
  • recognize polarization in language
  • be suspicious of absolutes
  • employ provisionalism
36
Q

correlation

A

a consistent relationship between 2 or more variables

37
Q

causation

A

one thing causes another

38
Q

groupthink

A

a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action

39
Q

how to prevent groupthink

A
  • vigilant interaction theory
  • recognize groupthink
  • minimize status differences
  • develop norm that legitimizes disagreement
  • assign devil’s advocates
  • institute dialectical inquiry (set up debate)
40
Q

multiple sequence models for decision making

A
  • decision making exhibits recognizable phases
  • groups move along 3 activity tracks: task, relational and topic
  • unitary sequence: step-by-step
  • complex cycle: focus on problem, solution and then back to problem
  • solution oriented: group jumps prematurely to solution
41
Q

functional perspective on decision making

A
  • systematic procedure results in better decision making
  • system procedure does not guarantee effectiveness
  • can stifle discussion
  • steps should be viewed as guidelines not commandments
  • key accomplishment: problem analysis, criteria, alternative solutions, pros and cons of solutions (standard agenda)
42
Q

standard agenda

A
  • problem identification (what is the question: fact, value or policy)
  • problem analysis
  • problem criteria
  • solution criteria
  • possible solutions
  • evaluation by criteria/ pros and cons of solution
  • best solution(s)
43
Q

majority rule

A

follows the will of the majority. Pros: quick, efficient, practical in large groups. Cons: minorities are vulnerable, might not be most accurate

44
Q

minority rule

A

small number of members make decision on behalf of the group

45
Q

unanimity rule

A

consensus. pros: quality decisions, commitment and satisfaction. Cons time consuming, difficult, tension producing, harder as groups grow larger

46
Q

how would you go about evaluating information and countering truth decay?

A
  • credibility (is it believable?)
  • currency ( is it up to date?)
  • relevance (looking for logical connections)
  • representativeness (reflecting the facts)
  • sufficiency (when enough really is enough)
47
Q

in statistics, what does representativeness mean?

A
  1. the sample size (in polls, surveys and studies) must be adequate
  2. the sample must be randomly selected, not self-selected
48
Q

random sample

A

a part of the population chosen in such a manner that every member of the entire population has an equal chance of being selected

49
Q

self-selected sample

A

one in which the most committed, passionate, or otherwise atypical parts of the population studied are more likely to participate

50
Q

how can you develop creative problem solving in groups?

A
  • brainstorming
  • nominal group technique
  • framing/ reframing
  • expanding the pie
51
Q

brainstorming

A

a creative problem-solving technique that promotes plentiful, even zany, ideas in an atmosphere free from criticism and with enthusiastic participation from all group members

52
Q

nominal group technique

A

individuals work by themselves generating lists of ideas on a problem, then convene in a group where they merely post their ideas

53
Q

framing/ reframing

A

another perspective or viewpoint

54
Q

expanding the pie

A

adding resources

55
Q

power

A

the ability to influence the attainment of goals sought by you or others

56
Q

what are 3 forms of power?

A
  1. dominance
  2. prevention
  3. empowerment
57
Q

dominance

A

the active exercise of power over others

58
Q

prevention

A

It’s power from the efforts of others to influence; when someone tries to dominate us, we try to prevent the dominancy; it’s also a competitive form of power, where you’re striving not to lose to dominators; it’s reactive

59
Q

powerless verbal communication

A

ways we talk that make us seem less powerful- women more so then men
- hedges “perhaps the best way is”
- hesitations
- tag questions “this probably won’t work will it?”
- disclaimers “this is probably silly, I haven’t worked on it”
- excessive politeness

60
Q

powerless nonverbal communication

A

gestures that indicate a lack of power
- clothing
- touch (lack of)
- eye contact
- space

61
Q

“powerless” is a false dichotomy

A

no group member is completely powerless. the interconnectedness of components in a system means that all group members have some degree of influence, even if they defy or resist the group

62
Q

power resource

A

anything that enables individuals or groups to achieve their goals, assists others to achieve their goals, or interferes with the goal attainment of others

63
Q

5 power resources relevant to group situations

A
  1. information (good and plenty)
  2. expertise (information plus know-now)
  3. legitimate authority (you will obey)
  4. rewards and punishments (pleasure and pain)
  5. personal qualities (a powerful persona)
64
Q

resistance strategies

A
  1. sluggish effort (how slow can you go)
  2. strategic stupidity (smart people acting dumb)
  3. loss of motor function (conscious carelessness)
  4. the misunderstanding mirage (confusion illusion)
  5. selective amnesia (fake forgetfulness)
  6. tactical tardiness (late by design)
  7. purposeful procrastination (deliberately delays)
65
Q

alliances

A

associations in the form of subgroups entered into for mutual benefits or achievement of a common objective

66
Q

assertiveness

A

the ability to communicate the full range of your thoughts and emotions with confidence and skill

67
Q

aggression

A

behavior that is intended to harm another person

68
Q

conflict

A

the expressed struggle of interconnected parties who perceive incompatible goals and interference from each other in attaining those goals (negative connotation)

69
Q

destructive conflict

A

characterized by dominating, escalating, retaliating, competing and acting defensively and inflexibly

70
Q

destructive conflict examples

A
  • dominating discussion
  • personal attacks
  • acting defensively
  • retaliation
  • inflexibility
  • conflict spirals
71
Q

conflict spiral

A

the escalating cycle of negative communication that produces destructive conflict

72
Q

constructive conflict

A

characterized by we-oriented, de-escalating, cooperative, supportive, and flexible communication patterns

73
Q

constructive conflict examples

A
  • foster individual and group growth
  • promote creative problem solving
  • encourage power balancing
  • prevent groupthink
  • enhance group cohesiveness
74
Q

conflict management styles

A
  1. collaborating (high task, high social)
  2. accommodating (low task, high social)
  3. compromising (moderate task, moderate social)
  4. avoiding (low task, low social)
  5. competing (high task, low social)
75
Q

ways to manage your own anger

A
  1. reframe self talk (ex: don’t think the person is talking about you)
  2. listen non-defensively
  3. wag more bark less (ex: responding with anger builds anger)
  4. deliberately calm yourself (ex: count to 10)
76
Q

ways to manage the anger of others

A
  1. be asymmetrical (counter rage with calm)
  2. validate the other person
  3. probe (understand their anger by seeking information)
  4. distract
  5. assume a problem orientation (what would you like to see occur)
  6. refuse to be abused
  7. disengage

Small Groups (1 decks)

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