Teams and Group Behaviour

Question 1

Define a group. (3)

Answer 1

1. Two or more individuals,
2. interacting and interdependent,
3. who have come together to achieve particular objectives

Question 2

What are the two types of groups and what are the key aspects of each?

Answer 2

1. Formal
   - Defined by the organizational structure
   - Designated work assignments
   - Achieve organizational goals
2. Informal
   - Not organizationally determined
   - Activity many not be work-related
   - Social focus

Question 3

What are the strengths and weaknesses of group decision-making compared to an individual? (5)(4)

Answer 3

Strength
- Better information
- Increased knowledge
- Increased input
- View diversity
- Increased acceptance
Weakness
- Time-consuming
- Conformity pressures
- Individual(s) domination
- Ambiguous responsibility

Question 4

What are the stages of the five-stage group development model?

Answer 4

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing
5. Adjourning

Question 5

What are the key facts about the forming phase of group development? (5)

Answer 5

o Members become acquainted and start to establish ground rules through trial and error
o Formalities are preserved and members are treated as strangers
o Uncertainty on purpose, structure and leadership
o Members become comfortable with new situation
o Forming complete when individuals think of themselves as a group

Question 6

What are the key facts about the storming phase of group development? (4)

Answer 6

o Members accept the group but still view themselves
as individuals rather than part of the team
o They resist control by any individual and may show
hostility creating interpersonal conflicts
o Performance may be hampered
o Storming complete when relativity clear hierarchy of
leadership

Question 7

What are the key facts about the norming phase of group development? (4)

Answer 7

o First sense of cohesion as individuals feel part of the team
o Relationships develop, group identity forms, expectations on member behaviour set
o Clarification of norms, rules and expectations
o Norming is complete when the group has a common set of expectations on member behaviour

Question 8

What are the key facts about the performing phase of group development? (5)

Answer 8

o Fully functional group as members share specific purpose and vision
o Efforts are coordinated to achieve desired objective
o Individuals trust other group members
o Constructive conflict resolution
o Performing complete when objective achieved

Question 9

What are the key facts about the adjourning phase of group development? (2)

Answer 9

o With objective achieved, the group conducts an
assessment of the work
o In preparing to disband, may involve plans to recognize
members’ contributions and any helpful transitions

Question 10

Slides 11-12

Question 11

Slides 12-16
Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

Question 12

What are the six group properties?

Answer 12

Roles
Norms
Status
Size
Cohesiveness
Diversity

Question 13

Define roles as a property of a group and what the implication is for an organization. And what are the three aspects of roles?

Answer 13

• A set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to
  someone occupying a given position in a social unit
• What are the expected behaviours attributed to an individual

o Role perception – individual view on how they are supposed to act
o Role expectations – others view on how an individual should act
o Role conflict – difficulty complying with two roles

Question 14

Define norms as a property of a group and what the implication is for an organization. And what are the five aspects of norms?

Answer 14

• Acceptable standards of behaviour that are shared
  by the group’s members.
• Powerful means of influencing employee behaviour

o Performance norm – how an individual behaves in an activity
o Conformity norm – complying with group behaviour for acceptance
o Appearance norms – what members should wear
o Social arrangement norms – acceptable relationships
o Resource allocation norms – how things are distributed

Question 15

Define status as a property of a group. And what are the three aspects of status?

Answer 15

• A socially defined position or rank given to groups
  or group members by others
• Status determination
  o Power over others , ability to contribute to a group’s goals , personal characteristics
• Status and norms
  o High-status members often have more freedom to deviate from norms and are better able to resist conformity pressures
• Status and group interaction
  o High-status people are more assertive while low-status members may not participate
  o Group creativity may suffer and may impact perceived equity

Question 16

Define cohesiveness as a property of a group and what the implication is for an organization. And how can an organization do things that can be done to encourage cohesiveness?

Answer 16

• The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group
• Cohesiveness affects productivity, but it depends on performance norms. High cohesiveness with high norms gives higher productivity

To encourage cohesiveness: make the group smaller , encourage agreement with group goals , increase the time spent together, increase the status and perceived difficulty of group membership , stimulate competition with other groups , give rewards to the group rather than to individual members , physically isolate the group

Question 17

How does size impact a group and what is one issue with larger groups?

Answer 17

• Performance impacted by relationship between size and objective

-Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks – members perform better Larger groups are consistently better at problem-solving

• Social Loafing – tendency to expend less effort when working collectively Causes include Equity Theory & dispersion of responsibility Prevention possible though holding individuals accountable , setting group goals , increasing inter-group competition , engaging in peer evaluation , distributing group rewards based on members’ individual contributions , and setting groups not larger than necessary

Question 18

Define diversity and how does impact performance over the short and long term.

Answer 18

The degree to which members of the group are similar to, or different from, one another

• Can have negative effects in the short-term
  (lack of cohesiveness and conflict)
• Appears beneficial in the long-term

Question 19

What are the two main Group Objectivity Challenges? And define each.

Answer 19

Groupthink: Norm for consensus overrides
a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action
Groupshift: The tendency for teams to
make more extreme decisions than individuals working alone

Question 19

What causes groupthink? What kind of group is it most prevalent

Answer 19

Results from group pressure for conformity, refraining from expressing doubt or disagreeing or suppressing true feelings/belief
- Most prevalent when clear group identity, high
cohesiveness, protection of group image

Question 20

What causes groupshift? And what is the effect

Answer 20

Through discussion, members become comfortable with
extreme positions when they realize others hold the view
o Risky people end up taking more risks
o Risk averse people become more risk averse

Question 21

What are three Group Decision Making Techniques and give a brief explanation of each?

Answer 21

Interacting groups:
* Face-to-face meeting relying on verbal & non-verbal
communication
* Decisions possible from voting or consensus
* Subject to conformity pressures & dampened creativity
Brainstorming:
* Idea generation process voicing any and all alternatives
with no criticism
* Inefficient and challenging to arrive at a preferred solution (leader may choose)
* Everyone talking blocks thought process and idea sharing
Nominal groups:
* Face-to face meeting with pooling of independent ideas
* Discussion and ranking follows presentation of all ideas
* Group moves forward with highest ranked idea

Question 21

What are the mechanisms to alleviate Group Objectivity? (5)

Answer 21

o Open discussion
o Encourage disagreement
o Create safe and trustworthy environment
o Actively listen to feedback
o Devil’s advocate

Question 22

Define work group and work team.

Answer 22

work group: A group…interacts primarily to share information and…make decisions to help each member
perform within…area of responsibility

work team: A group…individual efforts result in performance…greater than the sum of the individual inputs

Question 22

Slide 27
Technique Effectiveness

Question 23

**Slides 28-30
Groups vs. teams

Question 24

What are the types of teams and give a brief explanation of each. (5)

Answer 24

1. Problem-solving: Departmental discussion of ideas/improvements
2. Self-managed: Team takes on supervisory responsibilities like assigning tasks, work planning and scheduling, operating actions, working with customers
3. Cross-functional: Cross departments at same organizational level
4. Virtual: On-line collaboration to achieve a common goal
5. Multi-team system: Collection of teams with distinct functions w/ communication between the teams

Question 25

Slides 31-32
More info on types of teams

Question 26

Define team effectiveness and what is the impact on an organization.

Answer 26

The capacity a team has to accomplish the goals or objectives administered by the organization

• An effective team is one in which the team produces more than the sum of its parts (collective contributions are more than the sum of individual member contributions)

Question 27

What is the formula for team effectiveness?

Answer 27

Team effectiveness = Individual productivity + process gain – process loss

Question 28

Slide 34

Question 29

What are the three components of the Team effectiveness Model?

Answer 29

Context
Composition
Process

Question 30

What are the five parts of the context aspects of the Team Effectiveness Model and briefly explain each?

Answer 30

Adequate Resources: Organizational support including timely information, equipment & staffing

Leadership & Structure: Agreement on work specifics & integrating individual skills

Climate of Trust: Facilitates cooperation, commitment to goals, and reduced monitoring. AND Symmetric and balanced trust levels reduce likelihood of coalitions

Performance Evaluation: Incorporate team component into performance evaluation to recognize team outcomes

Reward System: Well-designed team-based incentives reinforces team effort & commitment

Question 31

What are the six parts of the composition aspects of the Team Effectiveness Model and briefly explain each?

Answer 31

Member Abilities: High-ability teams better at applying existing knowledge to new problems and are more adaptable

Personality: Conscientious, openness to experience, and a degree of agreeableness

Allocating Roles: Assign the most able, experienced, and conscientious employees to central roles

Diversity: Diverse perspectives lend to creativity and innovation. AND Respect & strong communication required to negate negative potential effects of diversity

Size of Teams: Small teams aid coordination, cohesiveness, accountability, and diminished social loafing

Member Preferences: More effective when team members are employees who like being on teams

Question 32

What are the five parts of the process aspects of the Team Effectiveness Model and briefly explain each?

Answer 32

Common Purpose: Establish a clear sense of what must be done and how with adjustments as necessary

Specific Goals: Challenging, but achievable, goals raise team performance

Team Efficacy: Confidence in future success motivates team members to work harder

Conflict Levels: Moderate task conflict can raise performance but any movement towards relationship
conflict is almost always dysfunctional

Social Loafing: Make members individually and jointly accountable for team’s goals and approach

Question 33

What are the three ways to turn individuals into team players?

Answer 33

Hire
Reward
Train

Question 34

*Slide 40
Team misconceptions