COMM 3142 - Ch. 6

Question 1

pseudo-teams

Answer 1

small groups that only half-heartedly exhibit the several criteria that constitute a true team. They give the appearance of being teams and of engaging in teamwork without exhibiting the substance of teams

Question 2

team

Answer 2

a small number of people with complimentary 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

Question 3

cynics

Answer 3

they focus on the negative, predicting failure and looking for someone or something to criticize, sapping the energy from a team with their negativity

Question 4

charge

Answer 4

the task of a team, such as to gather information, to analyze a problem and make recommendations, to make decisions and implement them, or to tackle a specific project from inception to completion

Question 5

superordinate goal

Answer 5

a specific kind of cooperative goal that overrides differences that members may have because the goal supersedes less important competitive goals

Question 6

symbolic convergence theory

Answer 6

focuses on how group members communicating with each other develop and share stories (fantasies) to create a convergence or group identity that is larger and more coherent than the isolated experiences of individual group members

Question 7

fantasies

Answer 7

prime element of symbolic convergence theory; dramatic stories that provide a shared interpretation of events that bind group members and offer them a shared identity

Question 8

fantasy theme

Answer 8

a consistent thread that runs throug the stories that create a shared group identity

Question 9

fantasy chain

Answer 9

a string of connected stories that amplify fantasy; a fantasy theme

Question 10

team accountability

Answer 10

the team, rather than the individual members, assumes responsibility for success and failure

Question 11

group potency

Answer 11

(and empowerment) the shared belief among team members that they can be effective as a team

Question 12

meaningfulness

Answer 12

(and empowerment) a team’s perception that its tasks are important, valuable and worthwhile

Question 13

autonomy

Answer 13

(and empowerment) the degree to which team members experience substantial freedom, independence, and discretion in their work.

Question 14

impact

Answer 14

(and empowerment) the degree of significance that is given by those outside of the team, typically the team’s organization, to the work produced by the team

Question 15

quality circles

Answer 15

teams composed of workers who volunteer to work on a similar task and attempt to solve a particular problem

Question 16

self-managing work teams

Answer 16

teams that complete an entire task under self-regulation

Question 17

ad hoc teams

Answer 17

teams that are assembled to solve an immediate problem, then are dissolved once the solution has been implemented