High-performance Organisation Flashcards
(29 cards)
What Is a High-Performance Organization (HPO)?
An HPO consistently achieves exceptional results, not just financially, but in innovation, adaptability, and human engagement.
These organizations redefine industry standards instead of simply meeting them.
Originating in the 1980s (e.g., Peters & Waterman’s study), HPOs showed that culture—especially experimentation, trust, and empowerment—was the key to excellence.
Employees were viewed not as a cost, but as a source of value.
What Makes HPO Culture Unique?
HPOs empower employees to act, decentralize leadership, and embrace learning through failure.
Daniel Denison’s research emphasized cultures where:
People at all levels are empowered.
There is a shared long-term vision.
Daily work feels meaningful.
High performance thrives not just on strategy, but on emotion, purpose, and human connection.
HPOs are not perfect, but they respond to difficulty with resilience, safety, and open communication.
What Are the Three Levels of High Performance?
To understand group performance, we examine three interconnected levels:
Microlevel: Individual behaviors and motivations.
Are team members empowered to speak up?
Mesolevel: Group dynamics and structure.
Is the team cohesive, diverse, and well-organized?
Macrolevel: Organizational culture and environment.
Does leadership encourage curiosity, trust, and support, or micromanage and punish mistakes?
What’s the Difference Between a Work Group and a Work Team?
Though often used interchangeably, work groups and work teams function differently.
Work groups are ideal for repetitive tasks, independent work, and speed.
Work teams are built for complexity, shared responsibility, and collaborative problem-solving.
Not every organization needs a team—sometimes, a group is what works best.
What Defines a True Work Team?
According to Katzenbach & Smith (1993), a real team is:
“A small number of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach, for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
True teams require:
Trust
Interdependence
Collective identity
In teams, people succeed or fail together, not individually.
How Do Work Groups and Work Teams Compare?
Work groups and work teams are not the same. Work groups focus on individual tasks, speed, and efficiency, often with one leader and independent roles. Work teams, on the other hand, involve shared goals, interdependent tasks, and collective responsibility. Real teams, as defined by Katzenbach and Smith, are built on mutual accountability, trust, and collaboration. While groups bring people together, teams bring people forward.
What Are Formal Groups in an Organization?
Formal groups are intentionally created by the organization to fulfill specific objectives.
They are part of the official hierarchy, defined by job functions (e.g., departments).
Their structure, purpose, and membership are usually fixed.
🦴 They form the skeleton of the organization.
What Are Command Groups and What Do They Do?
Command groups are temporary, cross-functional teams formed to accomplish specific tasks.
Examples: a project taskforce or crisis response team.
They cut across departments without replacing them.
💪 They are like muscles, coordinating movement when needed.
What Are Committees in Organizational Structure?
Committees consist of selected members focused on decision-making for specific issues.
Examples: ethics committees, promotion panels.
Their strength lies in consultation and judgment, not daily operations.
🧠 They act as the conscience of the organization.
What Are Informal Groups and Why Do They Matter?
Informal groups form spontaneously, based on trust, affinity, or shared experience.
Examples: colleagues who meet for coffee or support each other through tough projects.
They are unpredictable and not officially recognized, but deeply impactful.
❤️ They are the heart of the organization.
What Is Job Performance?
Definition: The total set of behaviours an employee exhibits that contribute to an organization’s goals.
It’s more than outcomes—it’s about ongoing actions, efforts, and engagement.
Example: A junior analyst works late to perfect a report, showing commitment—even if a small mistake occurs.
What Shapes Job Performance?
Performance is not a fixed trait—it changes with context, emotion, and social factors.
We are social performers: how we act depends on who is watching and how supported we feel.
Even skilled professionals may underperform in toxic environments, while others thrive when they feel trusted and safe.
What Is Social Facilitation?
Social facilitation is the phenomenon where the presence of others affects our performance.
Norman Triplett (1898) observed cyclists performed better when racing against others.
Robert Zajonc (1965) explained that others’ presence increases physiological arousal, which amplifies dominant responses (our most practiced behaviors).
How Does Task Difficulty Influence Social Facilitation?
If a task is simple or well-practiced, arousal improves performance.
E.g., a dancer shines on stage.
If a task is complex or unfamiliar, arousal can impair performance.
E.g., a novice forgets lines during a speech.
This dual effect is called social interference: prescence of other disrupts rather than facilitates.
What Is Evaluation Apprehension and the Co-Action Effect?
Evaluation apprehension: we feel anxious when we believe we are being judged, which can hinder performance (Cottrell, 1972).
E.g., a student freezes during a presentation despite rehearsing well.
Co-action effect: performance improves when others are present doing a similar task, even without interaction.
E.g., friends motivating each other at the gym or coworkers typing side by side.
How Does Social Facilitation Apply in the Workplace?
Experienced employees may perform better when observed—arousal activates confidence.
Newer or less confident workers may underperform due to social pressure.
High-Performance Organizations (HPOs) design spaces accordingly:
Open areas for co-action and collaboration.
Private rooms for focus and deep work.
The goal is to match the social setting to the task’s nature.
What Is Social Loafing and Where Does It Show Up?
Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to put in less effort in group tasks than when working alone.
Example: In group projects, some members contribute less but still get equal credit.
First studied by Max Ringelmann in the 1910s—found people pulled less forcefully in larger groups.
Also confirmed by Latane, Williams & Harkins (1979)—people shouted less loudly in groups.
Why Does Social Loafing Happen and How Can It Be Prevented?
Sometimes due to poor coordination (overlap, confusion, unclear roles).
Other times due to free-riding—when individuals intentionally rely on others’ efforts.
High-Performance Organizations (HPOs) prevent loafing by:
Keeping group sizes appropriate
Making roles clear
Ensuring everyone’s contribution is visible and valued
When people feel seen, they are more likely to give their best.
What Is Decision Making and Why Is It Complex in Groups?
Definition: The cognitive and behavioral process of selecting a course of action among alternatives.
While individual decisions can be tough, group decisions are often more complex.
Groups can combine diverse perspectives—but they also risk making bolder or worse choices due to dynamics like pressure, shared responsibility, or a desire for harmony.
What Is the Dual-Process Model of Thinking?
Psychologists describe two systems we use to make decisions:
Reactive system (fast thinking):
Based on habits, intuition, and heuristics.
Fast and efficient in familiar or high-pressure situations.
Vulnerable to bias, emotions, and stereotypes.
Reflective system (slow thinking):
Deliberate and logical.
Used for unfamiliar, complex, or high-stakes problems.
Can be overridden under pressure or in group settings.
Daniel Kahneman helped popularize this model.
What Are Common Group Decision-Making Traps?
Groups are prone to cognitive and social pitfalls:
Risky shift: Groups take more risks than individuals would alone.
Group polarization: Discussions push members toward more extreme views.
Bandwagon effect: People conform because others agree.
Suppression of dissent: People stay silent to avoid conflict.
Groupthink: Desire for unity overrides critical thinking.
Awareness of these helps improve group decision processes, even if we can’t eliminate the effects entirely.
What Is Brainstorming and When Should It Be Used?
A creative technique to generate as many ideas as possible, without judgment.
No criticism or filtering at first—encourages divergent thinking.
Motto: Quantity first, quality later.
What Is the DELPHI Method and Why Use It?
Participants submit opinions anonymously, often via questionnaires.
A facilitator summarizes and shares responses, and the cycle repeats.
Ideal for expert input, sensitive topics, or avoiding dominant voices.
Focuses on refined consensus over multiple rounds.
What Is the Role of a Devil’s Advocate?
A designated person who challenges the group’s ideas.
Asks critical questions: “What if we’re wrong?”
Prevents groupthink and premature agreement.
Encourages healthy skepticism.
