04 Team Dynamics Flashcards
1
Q
3 concepts underlying the importance of groups
A
- information age
- more educated and trained workers
- rate of change in work activities
2
Q
4 criteria to be considered a group
A
- see themselves as a unit
- provide rewards to members
- actions of one affect the other
- share a common goal
3
Q
The minimum number of people to be considered a unit
A
2
4
Q
This refers to a group of people geographically close but does not meet the criteria for being a group
A
aggregate
5
Q
8 common reasons for joining groups
A
- assignment
- physical proximity
- affiliation
- identification
- emotional support
- assistance
- common interests
- common goal
6
Q
5 social skills involved in groups
A
- gain group acceptance
- increase solidarity
- be aware of group consciousness
- share group identification
- manage others’ impressions
7
Q
2 primary factors affecting group performance
A
- group homogeneity
- group cohesiveness
8
Q
This refers to the extent to which members are similar
A
group homogeneity
9
Q
This refers to the extent to which members like and trust one another
A
group cohesiveness
10
Q
Groups are said to be homogenous when (blank)
A
when they contain members who are similar in most ways
11
Q
Groups with members who are more different than alike are called (blank)
A
heteregenous groups
12
Q
Groups are said to be cohesive when (blank)
A
when they are committed to accomplishing a common goal and share a feeling of group pride
13
Q
3 positive outcomes of homogeneous groups
A
- higher member satisfaction
- higher levels of communication
- lower turnover
14
Q
3 positive outcomes of cohesive groups
A
- higher productivity levels
- higher member interaction
- higher member satisfaction
15
Q
Too much cohesiveness leads to (blank)
A
lower group performance, as they often lose sight of organizational goals
16
Q
This refers to the notion that the greater team cohesiveness, the greater the conformity of the members to team norms
A
rule of conformity
17
Q
5 other factors affecting group performance
A
- stability
- isolation
- outside pressure
- group status
- group ability and confidence
18
Q
True or False
Isolated groups tend to be less cohesive
A
false
isolated groups tend to be highly cohesive
19
Q
True or False
Group status inversely affects group cohesion
A
false
increasing group status increases group cohesion
20
Q
True or False
Groups facing external pressure tend to become highly cohesive
A
true
21
Q
True or False
Groups with high-ability members outperform those with low-ability members
A
true
22
Q
True or False
Groups whose members remain for long periods of time and have previously worked together perform better
A
stability
23
Q
This refers to groups existing primarily for the benefit of their members without being officially designated by the org
A
informal groups
24
Q
How are informal groups formed?
A
spontaneously, through personal relationships and special interests
25
2 types of informal groups
- friendship groups
| - interest groups
26
This is a tool used to identify informal groups and networks active in an org
social network analysis
27
Main benefit of social network analysis
speeds up workflow due to connections that cut across formal structures
28
This refers to groups officially designated to serve specific organizational purposes
formal groups
29
True or False
Formal groups are permanent
false
they may be permanent or temporary
30
3 types of formal groups
- cross-functional (parallel) teams
- virtual teams
- self-managing teams
31
This formal group type consists of members representing different functional departments or work units
cross-functional or parallel teams
32
This problem occurs when members of functional units focus only on their internal function matters and minimize their interactions with other members from other functions
functional silos problem
33
These teams are established to deal with specific problems or opportunities
problem-solving teams
34
These teams examine important workplace issues
employee involvement teams
35
These refer to small teams discussing and developing solutions to problems related to quality and productivity
quality circles
36
This formal group type have members convene and work together electronically
virtual teams
37
3 main advantages of virtual teams
- cost-effective
- focused task-accomplishment and decision-making
- reduced emotional consideration
38
Main disadvantage of virtual teams
lack of personal contact that could impair work relationship and productivity
39
This formal group type are small teams empowered to make daily decisions
self-managing teams
40
Self-managing teams are a form of (blank)
job enrichment
41
5 main advantages of formal groups
- improved quality and productivity
- production flexibility
- quicker response to technological chanes
- reduced absenteeism and turnover
- improve work attitudes and quality of work life
42
3 main disadvantages of self-managing teams
- eliminates the need for first-line supervisors
- managers need to learn to deal with teams
- displaced supervisors may feel threatened
43
This refers to groups of people with complementary skills brought together to achieve a common purpose
teams
44
Teams hold themselves (blank) for their common purpose
collectively accountable
45
3 components of the Open Systems Model of Team Effectiveness
- inputs
- thoughtputs
- outputs
46
4 main advantages of teams
- make better decisions
- develop better products/services
- better information sharing
- higher employee motivation and engagement
47
4 main disadvantages of teams
- individuals sometimes work better/faster alone
- process losses
- Brook's Law
- social loafing
48
This problem refers to resources being expended towards team development and maintenance rather than the tasks
process losses
49
This problem refers to team performance suffering when more members are added
Brook's Law
50
This problem occurs when people exert less effort when working with teams
social loafing
51
A team is said to be effective when it achieves high levels in these 3 factors
- task performance
- member satisfaction
- team viability
52
This refers to members attaining performance goals
task performance
53
This refers to members believing that their participation and experiences are positive and meet personal needs
member satisfaction
54
This refers to members being sufficiently satisfied to continue working together
team viability
55
This occurs when team members accept their collective responsibility to use their skills to actively work together to achieve goals
teamwork
56
This refers to the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts
synergy
57
This refers to individual behavior being influenced by other people in a group or social setting
social facilitation theory
58
The positive result of social facilitation theory
extra effort when the person has the skills required for the task
59
The negative result of social facilitation theory
increase in social loafing and withdrawal from the group
60
5 common team challenges
- social loafing
- personality conflicts
- uncertain/competing goals
- poorly defined agendas
- perceptions that the team lacks progress
61
Who first studied social loafing?
Max Ringleman
62
4 possible reasons for social loafing
- individual contributions are less noticeable
- free riding
- the sucker effect
- felt dispensability
63
This refers to the desire to benefit from the efforts of others
free riding
64
Free riding is likely to occur when members believe that (blank)
their own contributions cannot be identified
65
This refers to members reducing their effort to match the low level they expect from others
the sucker effect
66
This refers to members feeling dispensable when more able team members are available or when they believe their efforts are redundant
felt dispensability
67
How to minimize social loafing?
make individual performance more visible
68
True or False
Smaller teams are better
true
69
2 reasons why smaller teams are better
- less time needed to coordinate roles and resolve differences
- less time needed to develop member involvement, thus higher commitment
70
Effective team members possess these 5 specific competencies
- cooperating
- coordinating
- conflict resolving
- comforting
- communicating
71
3 advantages of a diverse team composition
- better for creatively solving complex problems
- broader knowledge base
- better representation of team's constituents
72
3 disadvantages of a diverse team composition
- requires more time to be a high-performing team
- more susceptible to faultlines
- increased risk of dysfunctional conflict
73
5 stages of team development according to Bruce Tuckman
1. forming
2. storming
3. norming
4. performing
5. adjourning
74
True or False
Bruce Tuckman's stages of team development is unidirectional
false
teams may regress to earlier stages
75
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
This stage is a period of testing and orienting members
forming stage
76
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
This stage is a period of high emotionality and tension marked by interpersonal conflicts
storming stage
77
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
What are the 2 reasons why conflicts arise in the storming stage?
- members become more proactive
| - members compete for team roles
78
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
This stage is where members come together as a coordinated unit as roles are established and a common team-based model is formed
norming stage
79
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
This stage is where members learn to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts
performing stage
80
[Tuckman's Stages of Team Development]
This stage occurs when the team is about to disband and members shift their attention away from task to relationship orientation
adjourning stage
81
This is a process consisting of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team
teambuilding
82
Teambuilding begins with a (blank)
sound diagnosis of the team's health
83
This refers to informal rules and shared expectations established by teams to regulate member behaviors
team norms
84
This conveys expectations about how hard team members should work and what the team should accomplish
performance norms
85
3 ways how norms develop
- initial team experiences
- critical events in team's history
- experience/values members bring to the team
86
5 types of team norms
- ethics norms
- organizational and personal pride norms
- high-achievement norms
- support and helpfulness norms
- improvement and change norms
87
5 ways to prevent/change dysfunctional team norms
- state desired norms at the forming stage
- select members with preferred values
- discuss counterproductive norms
- reward behaviors representing desired norms
- disband teams with dysfunctional norms
88
4 constraints to team decision making
- time constraints
- evaluation apprehension
- peer pressure to conform
- groupthink
89
This refers to the tendency of cohesive group members to lose critical evaluative capabilities
groupthink
90
Why does groupthink occur?
members seek conformity and become unwilling to criticize each other's ideas and suggestions
91
8 symptoms of teams displaying groupthink
- illusions of invulnerability
- rationalizing unpleasant and discomforting data
- belief in an inherent group morality
- stereotyping competitors negatively
- pressuring deviants to conform to group wishes
- self-censorship by members
- illusions of unanimity
- mind guarding
92
This refers to people focusing discussions on the issue while maintaining respect for other people's opinions
constructive conflict
93
One main problem with constructive conflict
easily slides into personal attacks
94
This refers to a meeting where members speak freely, generate ideas, and build on the ideas of others
brainstorming
95
This is a variation of brainstorming that involves structured rules for generating and prioritizing ideas
nominal group technique
96
When is it ideal to use nominal group technique?
when the team is large that open discussion and brainstorming is awkward to manage
97
3 stages of nominal group technique
1. participants silently and independently document their ideas
2. they collectively describe these ideas to other team members
3. they silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented
98
This is another variation of brainstorming for when members are unable to meet face-to-face
delphi technique
99
The delphi technique involves generating decision-making alternatives through (blank)
a series of survey questionnaires
