lecture 11 : teams Flashcards
(15 cards)
what is a group?
two or more interdependent and interacting individuals who come together to achieve spesific goals
2 types of groups
- formal groups : groups defined in an organizational structure that has designated work assignments and tasks
- informal groups : groups that are independently created to meet the social needs of the members
stages of group development
- forming : the group members get to know each other and reach common understanding
- storming : the group experiences conflict because some group members does not want to submit to other group members’ demands
- norming : close ties and consensus begins to develop between group members, establishing relationships
- performing : a fully fuctional group structure allows the group to fully focus on the task at hand
- adjourning : the group prepares to disband and is not concerned about high levels of performance
advantage of small group size
- more interactions with each other and is easier to coordinate their efforts
- more motivated, commited, and satisfied
- easier to share informations
- better able to see the importance of personal contributions
advantages of large group size
- more resources at their disposal to achieve group goals
- enables managers to obtain division of labor advantages
disadvantages of large group size
- problem with communication and coordination
- lower level of motivation
- members might not think their efforts are really needed
potential limitations of teams
- social loafing –> the tendency for group members to do less than they are capable of individually, creating an inverse relationship between group members and their individual performance
how to reduce social loafing
- make individual contributions to group identifiable when possible
- emphasize on the valuable contribution made by individual members
- keep group size at an appropriate level
group think and decision making
- the tendency for members of highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluation capabilities
- related to norms of conformity in groups –> the desire to conform and avoid unpleasant diagreements that leads to over-emphasis on concurrence and under-emphasis on realistically appraising alternative courses of action
conflict management
conflict - perceived incompatible differences that result in interference or opposition
traditional view of conflict - every conflict is bad and must be avoided
interactionist view of conflict - some conflicts are necessary for groups to perform effectively
historically, conflict is seen as
dysfunctional, because :
- undermines relations
- wasted human energy
- more job dissatisfaction, turnover, and stress
- less productivity and information sharing
view of conflict in the 1970s-1990s
belief in an optimal level of conflict
some levels of conflict is good because :
- it energizes debate
- reexamines assumptions
- increase responsiveness to external environment
types of conflict
- functional conflict –> conflict that supports the group’s goal and improve its performance
- dysfunctional conflict –> conflict that prevents the group from reaching its goal
- task conflict –> conflict about the content and the goal of the work
- relationship conflict –> conflict based on interpersonal relationships
- process conflict –> conflict about how the work gets done
conflict styles
- avoidance –> people do nothing to satisfy themselves or the other party
- accomodation –> cooperating on behalf of the other party but not being assertive on their own interests
- compromise –> giving attention to both parties’ concerns
- competing –> a highly competitive response that emphasizes on their own interests and doesn’t care about the others’ concerns
- collaboration –> both cooperation and assertiveness, the goal is to maximize satisfaction for both parties
