Chapter 5

Role Episode

Role expectations are communicated to individuals during a role episode, which is the interaction between role senders and the person receiving the role.

triad

a three person group

dyad

a two-person group

Virtual teams

a virtual team is a group that relies on technology to interact and accomplish its tasks

Role overload

his cause by the conflicting demands of too many roles (also called inter-role conflict). These multiple roles contain conflicts of time, interest, and loyalty, because they cannot all be filled simultaneously

A role episode

is a continuous process of evaluating each other's behavior and communication's state of role readiness

Potential performance

is used here instead of actual performance b/c the actual performance is usually something less than the potential performance

Role sender

may be anyone attempting to change the behavior of another individual, called the focal person.

Separation ("adjourning")

some groups go through and it joining stage by consciously deciding to disband, usually because the group has completed its task or because members choose to go their separate ways

There are three situational factors that alter the relationships among group members

• Group size • social density • nature of task

3 Major kinds of group roles

work, maintenance, blocking

effective teams shared several important characteristics

• all members participate in the group • all members are committed to the team's goals • members listen to each other and share information • decisions are made by consensus • conflict is dealt with openly and resolved • members receive Frank and Jacob feedback and feel free to express their feelings openly • there is a division of labor with shared leadership

Disjunctive tasks

• are decision-making tasks that require the group to select the best solution. • include making simple dichotomous decisions (yes or no) as well as selecting the best solution from a list of alternatives. • require at least one individual with sufficient insight to solve the problem

the study of group dynamics is important for two reasons

1.groups exert an anonymous influence on the attitudes, values, and behaviors of individuals. Groups teach us how to behave and help us understand who we are. 2.Groups of powerful employment on other groups and organizations

Intersender role conflict

: occurs when two or more role senders communicate incompatible expectations to the focal person. 1st learned supervisors in most organizations typically experience, rather intense, inter sender role conflict

Actual performance

= (Potential Performance - Process Losses) Social Density

team

A cohesive group that has a common objective is often called a

Characteristics of effective teams

Douglas McGregor identifies 11 dimensions of group functioning and argues that these dimensions make the difference between highly effective teens and ineffective teams. 1. Atmosphere and relationships: what kind of relationships exist among team members? Formal and reserved close and friendly 2 Member participation: does everyone participating in the group activities and interactions? Some participate more than others equal participation. 3 goal understanding and acceptance: how well do members except he checked his of the team and commit themselves to them? No commitment total commitment. 4 listening and sharing information: are people willing to listen to each other or are they afraid of looking foolish receipt just in creative ideas? There is no sharing people listen and share 5 handling conflict and disagreements: our conflict and disagreement tolerated and used to improve the group or are they avoided, brushed aside, or flamed into conflict? If they are ignored, the resultant hostility conflict is dealt with and resolved 6 decision making our decisions made? How many members participate in making group decisions and have an opportunity to provide input? Autocratically buying consensus 7 evaluation of members performance: what kind of feedback do members receive about their performance? Criticism and personal attack Frank, frequent, and objective feedback 8 Expressing Feelings: Off Do Members Feel Free to Express Their Feelings Openly on More Than Just Task Issues? True Feelings Must Remain the open expression is welcome 9 division of labor: our task assignments clearly made and willingly accepted? Poorly structured job assignments effective job specialization 10 leadership: how are the leaders selected? Are the leadership functions shared? Leadership is lacking or dominated by one person leadership the shared and effective. 11 attention to process: is the group conscious of its own operations? Can it monitor and improve its own process?

THERE ARE FOUR MAJOR TYPES OF ROLE CONFLICT

Intrasender role conflict: this occurs when a single role sender communicates incompatible role expetations to the focal person. Intersender role conflict: occurs when two or more role senders communicate incompatible expectations to the focal person. 1st learned supervisors in most organizations typically experience, rather intense, inter sender role conflict. Person role conflict: occurs when people are asked to behave in ways that are inconsistent with their personal values. Employees experience person role conflict when they are asked to do something illegal or unethical, such as falsifying reports were lying to customers. Role overload; his cause by the conflicting demands of too many roles (also called inter-role conflict). These multiple roles contain conflicts of time, interest, and loyalty, because they cannot all be filled simultaneously

roles and norms

The major variables defining the structure are the groups

Social Density

The number of people physically located within a confined area

Nature of the Task

The relationships among group structure, the nature of the task, and task difficulty help to determine the best organizational structure

Conjunctive tasks

a group task that is divided into interdependent subparts and the successful completion of each subpart is necessary for overall task accomplishment

processed time

a significant part of the time, called processed time, can be wasted simply trying to decide who should participate next

Asynchronous technologies

allow members to rest on according to their own schedule, and include e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, and websites

Synchronous technologies

allow team members to communicate with each other simultaneously in real-time through teleconferencing, videoconferencing, instant messaging, and electronic meetings.

Blocking roles

are activities that disrupt or destroy the group, such as dominating the discussion, attacking other group members, disagreeing unreasonably with other group members, and distracting the group with irrelevant issues or unnecessary humor.

group norms

are general expectations about how members ought to behave

Assigned roles

are prescribed by the organization as a means of dividing the labor and assigning responsibility

Work roles

are task-oriented activities involved in accomplishing the work and achieving the group objective

Process losses

are the inefficiencies that arise from having to organize and coordinate larger groups.

Maintenance Roles

are the social-emotional activities of group members that maintain their involvement and personal commitment to the group

Group roles

are the task activities and responsibilities that group members perform

Group structure

as a group develops, a structure emerges that influences what it does and how well it performs.

Size and satisfaction

as the size of a group increases, satisfaction of the group members with the group and their involvement in it tend to increase

Role readiness

concerns the focal person's ability and willingness to accept the responsibility associated with a new role

The optimal social density

depends on the nature of the tasks, the amount of feedback members need from each other, and their needs for privacy

Emerging roles

develop naturally to meet the needs of group members or assist in achieving formal goals

Person role conflict

occurs when people are asked to behave in ways that are inconsistent with their personal values. Employees experience person role conflict when they are asked to do something illegal or unethical, such as falsifying reports were lying to customers.

Role Ambiguity

occurs when there is a discrepancy between the sent role and the received role. Ambiguity often comes from confusion when delegating job responsibilities.

stages of group development and the methods

orientation, confrontation, differentiation, and collaboration.

Orientation ("warming")

orientations stage: when members learn about the purposes of the group and the role of each member.

Why people join groups

people join groups for these primary reasons: 1. goal accomplishment. 2. Personal identity. 3. Affiliation. 4. Emotional support

group size

perhaps the most visible factor influencing group structure is the size of the group

A role

refers to the expected behaviors attached to a position or job

Size and participation

small groups provide opportunities for each member to be actively involved in the group

Additive task

the final group product is the sum of the individual contributions

Group development

the group consists of two or more people interacting dependently to achieve a common goal or objective. The principal characteristics of this definition are people, face-to-face interactions, and atleast one common goal.

Collaboration ("performing")

the highest level of group maturity is the stage of collaboration, where there is a feeling of cohesiveness and commitment to the group

Differentiation ("Norming")

the major issues at this stage of development are how the tasks and responsibilities will be divided among members and how members will violate each other's performance

Size and performance

the relationship between group size and performance depends on whether the task is in additive task, conjunctive task, or disjunctive task

Intrasender role conflict

this occurs when a single role sender communicates incompatible role expetations to the focal person

Confrontation ("storming")

this page contains complex, confrontation, concerned, and criticism. Struggles for individual power and influence are common