WOP: Team Dynamics

Question 1

Define teams

Answer 1

Teams are groups of two or more people who interact with and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization.

Question 2

How are different types of teams distinguished?

Answer 2

Different types of teams can be distinguished by team permanence, skill diversity and authority dispersion.

Question 3

What is meant by team permanence?

Answer 3

Team permanence refers to how long that type of team usually exists.

Question 4

What is meant by authority dispersion?

Answer 4

Authority dispersion refers to the degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team or is vested in one or a few members of the team.

Question 5

What are the three types of teams and their associated characteristics?

Answer 5

Departmental: TP: H SD: L/M AD: L
Task force: TP:L SD:M/H AD: M
Self Directed: TP:H SD:M/H AD:H

Question 6

Why do informal groups exist?

Answer 6

Informal groups exist because humans are social animals, they want to belong to a group, they accomplish personal objectives and we are comforted by the presence of others.

Question 7

Why are people more motivated in groups?

Answer 7

People are more motivated in groups because they have a drive to bond, because of the accountability to fellow team members and because co-workers are used for comparisons.

Question 8

What are process losses

Answer 8

Teams make use of process losses, which are resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task.

Question 9

What is the effect of process losses if a task can be performed alone?

Answer 9

If a task can be performed by one person, process losses can make a team less effective than an individual working alone

Question 10

When are process losses amplified

Answer 10

Process losses are amplified when more people are added or replace others on the team.

Question 11

What does brook’s law state?

Answer 11

Brook’s law states that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later.

Question 12

What is meant by social loafing

Answer 12

Social loafing is a problem that occurs when people exert less effort when working in teams than when working alone.

Question 13

When is social loafing more likely? (4)

Answer 13

Social loafing is more likely when individual performance is difficult to distinguish (1), the work is not very significant (2), employees lack motivation (3) and because of individual characteristics (4).

Question 14

Name five strategies to reduce social loafing

Answer 14

There are several strategies to reduce social loafing: form smaller teams (1), specialize tasks (2), measure individual performance (3), increase job enrichment (4) and select motivated, team-oriented employees (5).

Question 15

When is a team effective?

Answer 15

A team is effective when it benefits the organization and its members, and survives long enough to accomplish its mandate.

Question 16

What does the team effectiveness model include?

Answer 16

The team effectiveness model includes organizational and team environment, team design, team processes and team effectiveness.

Question 17

What is meant by the organisational and team environment?

Answer 17

The organizational and team environment represents all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence its effectiveness.

Question 18

Describe the environment in regards to drives

Answer 18

The environment is a drive but can also generate drivers for change within teams, such as societal expectations.

Question 19

Name three team design elements

Answer 19

Characteristics, size and composition

Question 20

How does task complexity effect process losses? Give an example of this

Answer 20

The more complex a task, the more process losses. This also includes task interdependence which refers to the extent to which team members must share materials, information or expertise in order to perform their jobs

Question 21

What are the three levels of task interdependence

Answer 21

pooled interdependence (1), this occurs when people share a common resource. Sequential interdependence (2), this occurs when the output of one person becomes the input for another person. Reciprocal interdependence (3), this occurs when work output is exchanged back and forth among individual

Question 22

How should team size be utilised efficiently?

Answer 22

Teams should be large enough to provide the necessary abilities and viewpoints to perform the work, yet small enough to maintain efficient coordination and meaningful involvement of each member.

Question 23

What is meant by team composition

Answer 23

qualities of the people who are members of those teams.

Question 24

When do teams perform better is regards to team composition? (3)

Answer 24

Teams perform better when their members are highly motivated, possess the required abilities, and have clear role perceptions to perform the assigned task activities.

Question 25

What are the 5 C’s of team member behaviour?

Answer 25

Cooperation, coordination, communication, comfort and conflict handling

Question 26

What is the advantage of team diversity?

Answer 26

The advantage of team diversity is that diverse groups make better decisions than homogeneous teams and diverse teams have a broader pool of technical abilities.

Question 27

What is the disadvantage of team diversity?

Answer 27

The disadvantage of team diversity is that it can lead to more conflict and effective problem solving and communication takes longer.

Question 28

What stages does team development consist of? Describe them

Answer 28

Forming; This is the first stage and it’s a period of testing and orientation in which members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership.
Storming; This stage is marked by interpersonal conflict as members become more proactive and compete for various team roles. Members try to establish norms of appropriate behaviour and performance standards.
Norming; This stage is marked by role establishments and consensus forms around group objectives.
Performing; Team members have learned to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts.
Adjourning; This stage occurs when the team is about to disband. Team members shift their attention away from task orientation to a relationship focus.

Question 29

What are the two sets of team processes that are essential for team development?

Answer 29

Group identity and developing team mental models

Question 30

When does team development occur

Answer 30

Team development occurs when employees make the team part of their social identity.

Question 31

What does team development include regarding mental models?

Answer 31

Firming shared mental models of the work and team relationship

Question 32

What is meant by a role?

Answer 32

A role is a set of behaviours that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization.

Question 33

What are the functions of roles?

Answer 33

Roles can help the team achieve its goals or maintain relationships within the team.

Question 34

What is meant by team building?

Answer 34

Team building is a process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team.

Question 35

How are team building interventions often organised?

Answer 35

Team-building interventions are often organized in four categories and activities can include two or more of these categories: goal setting (1), problem-solving (2), role clarification (3) and interpersonal relations (4)

Question 36

When are team building interventions most effective?

Answer 36

When they receive training on specific team skills

Question 37

What is meant by norms?

Answer 37

Norms are the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behaviour of their members.

Question 38

Why do norms develop in teams?

Answer 38

Norms develop during team formation because people need to anticipate or predict how others will act.

Question 39

What is the best way to establish desirable norms?

Answer 39

The best way to establish desirable norms is to clearly state them when the team is created or to select people with appropriate values

Question 40

How can leaders influence norms?

Answer 40

Leaders can introduce new norms or alter existing norms and team-based rewards can be used to subdue dysfunctional norms while developing useful norms.

Question 41

What is meant by team cohesion?

Answer 41

Team cohesion refers to the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members.

Question 42

What category of experience is team cohesion?

Answer 42

Emotional experience

Question 43

What are the six important influences on team cohesion?

Answer 43

Size, similarity, member interaction, somewhat difficult entry, team success and external competition and challenges

Question 44

What is the benefits of high team cohesion?

Answer 44

Teams with higher cohesion tend to perform better than those with low cohesion. A team’s existence depends on a minimal level of cohesion.

Question 45

What does the relationship between team cohesion and performance depend on?

Answer 45

The relationship between team cohesion and team performance depends on task interdependence and whether the team’s norms are compatible with the organizational objectives.

Question 46

What is meant by trust?

Answer 46

Trust refers to positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk.

Question 47

What is trust based on?

Answer 47

Knowledge, calculus and Identification

Question 48

Describe these three types of trust

Answer 48

Calculus-based trust represents logical calculations that other team members will act appropriately because they face sanctions if their actions violate reasonable expectations. Knowledge-based trust is based on the predictability of other team members’ behaviour. Identification-based trust is based on mutual understanding and an emotional bond among team members

Question 49

What is meant by swift trust?

Answer 49

Swift-trust is an initial trust and exists because people usually believe fellow team members are reasonably competent.

Question 50

What are self directed teams?

Answer 50

Self-directed teams are cross-functional workgroups that are organized around work processes, complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks

Question 51

What does the success of self directed teams depend on?

Answer 51

The successful implementation of self-directed teams depends on several factors. They should be responsible for an entire work process (1), they should have sufficient autonomy (2) and when the worksite and technology support coordination and communication among team members and increase job enrichment (3).

Question 52

What are virtual teams?

Answer 52

Virtual teams are teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks.

Question 53

How do virtual teams differ from traditional teams?

Answer 53

Virtual teams differ from traditional teams because their members are not co-located and the members depend primarily on information technologies.

Question 54

When does high virtuality exist?

Answer 54

High virtuality exists when team members are spread around the world.

Question 55

Describe the four common problems of team decision making

Answer 55

Time constraints; teams take longer to make decisions than individuals.
Evaluation apprehension; afraid to look silly
Pressure to conform
Overconfidence (team self efficacy

Question 56

What is meant by production blocking?

Answer 56

Production blocking is a time constraint in a team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time.

Question 57

How can team self efficacy be a problem?

Answer 57

Teams make worse decisions when they become overconfident and develop a false sense of invulnerability.

Question 58

Describe the four team structures that encourage creativity in a team setting?

Answer 58

Brainstorming refers to a freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where members aren’t allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely generate as man ideas as possible and build on the ideas of others. Brainwriting is a variation of brainstorming whereby participants write and share their ideas. Electronic brainstorming is a form of brainwriting that relies on networked computers for submitting and sharing creative ideas. Nominal group technique is a variation of brainwriting and consists of three stages. In the first stage, participants silently and independently document their ideas. In the second stage, participants collectively describe these ideas without critique and in the third stage participants silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented.