BUA 325 Chapter 17 Questions
What are the differences between a group and a team?
- A group consists of any number of people who interact with one another, are psychologically aware of one another, and think of themselves as a group. - A team is a group whose members influence one another toward the accomplishment of an organizational objectives. - Not all groups in organizations are teams, but all teams are groups. A group qualifies as a team only if its members focus on helping one another accomplish organizational objectives. * Teams have emerged as a requirement for success, so good managers constantly try to help groups become teams.
In the mini-case study, "Leading Group Development," a number of writers' opinions about how to lead a group are presented. Discuss the five points.
1. Give the group meaningful goals. Employees will be more committed to the group if they see that it does something important. 2. Provide the group with the resources it needs to achieve its goals. 3. Cross-train employees- that is, teach them to carry out tasks and make decisions related to more than a single, specialized job. This gives group members a broader perspective on the company's goals, a better understanding of its customers or products, and a greater ability to understand their coworkers in the group. 4. Encourage disagreement as long as it is respectful and the team unites to implement its decisions. 5. Be a role model for contributing to the group, treating others respectful, and especially listening to other people's ideas.
On pp. 397-398, the authors offer advice for building collaboration. Explain how that helps us understand the relevance of collaboration.
Collaboration: the ability to work with others in accomplishing a task. Within work teams, collaboration is a key factor in building team success. - Managers desiring to build a collaborative team environment must focus on tasks like 1. helping team members to trust one another 2. develop positive personal relationships with one another 3. avoid defensive body language * Although technology tools that better enable collaboration can be valuable, collaboration is mostly a people issues. It helps us understand you need to establish a positive and trusting relationship to succeed in collaboration. Only if managers are successful in helping team members in such ways will team members share thoughts honestly and openly, which is a prerequisite of collaboration.
Three elements of what makes up a group were discussed at the top of p. 383. Explain those elements.
Group: any number of people that 1. Interact with one another 2. Are psychologically aware of one another 3. Perceive themselves to be a group Are characterized by frequent communication among members over time and by a small enough size to permit each member to communicate with all other members on a face-to-face basis. Each group member influences and is influenced by all other group members.
What are the benefits of informal group membership? Four points are presented on p. 389.
Informal group: is defined as a collection of individuals whose common work experiences result in the development of a system of interpersonal relations that extend beyond those established by management. Benefits: 1. Perpetuation of social and cultural values that group members consider important 2. Status and social satisfaction that people might not enjoy without group membership 3. Increased ease of communication among group members 4. Increased desirability of the overall work environment
Team effectiveness is discussed, with Figure 17.7 showing people-related factors, organization factors and task-related factors which contribute to that effectiveness. Select two points from each set of factors and discuss.
- People-related factors: 1. Trying to make the team's work satisfying 2. Developing mutual trust among team members and between the team and management 3. Building good communication-from management to the team as well as between team members 4. Minimizing unresolved conflicts and power struggles within the team 5. Dealing effectively with threats toward and within the team 6. Building the perception that the jobs of team members are secure - Organizational-related factors: 1 Building a stable overall organization or company structure that team members view as secure 2. Becoming involved team events and demonstrating interest in team progress and functioning 3. Properly rewarding and recognizing teams for their accomplishments 4. Setting stable goals and priorities for the team - Task-related factors: 1. Developing clear objectives, directions, and project plans for the team 2. Providing proper technical direction and leadership for the team 3. Establishing autonomy for the team and challenging work within the team 4. Appointing experienced and qualified team personnel 5. Encouraging team involvement 6. Building visibility within the organization for the team's work
Three types of teams are discussed. What are key features of each? Discuss.
- Problem-solving teams: A team set up to eliminate a specified problem within the organization. Typically has 5-12 members and is formed to discuss ways to improve quality in all phases of the organization, to make organizational processes more efficient, or to improve the overall work environment. After reaching a consensus, they will make recommendations to management. After problem is solved, the team will be disbanded. - Self-managed team: (self-managed work group/self-directed team) is a team that plans, organizes, influences, and controls its own work situation with only minimal intervention and direction from management. Involves a highly integrated group of several skilled individuals who are cross-trained and have the responsibility and authority to perform a specified activity. Activities typically include creating work schedules, establishing work pace and breaks, developing vacation schedules, evaluating performance, determining the level of salary increases and rewards received by individual workers, and ordering materials to be used in the production process. Are generally cross-functional. - Cross-functional team: is a work team composed of people form different functional areas of the organization (marketing, finance, human resources and operations). May or may not be self-managed. Examples of a cross-functional team may include teams formed to improve marketing effectiveness within the organization, and teams established to control production.
In the Challenge Case, teamwork was an issue until Carla Altepeter addressed the performance issues within the groups. How did she address those issues?
- She brought in a software company to set up a system called Connection Online (COL). This enabled all employees to look up the credit union's strategy and see all the goals aimed at carrying out that strategy. They can see what projects are under way, who is working on them, and what the status is. - The COL system makes project management more efficient and shows employees how each of them function as part of something bigger. Also helped with projects that span from different departments. - Reward programs help Numerica meet it's goals for improving how employees collaborate. Along with pay benefits, employees can earn rewards for behavior that supports the credit union's values and performance. - A recognition program called STAR (Service, Teamwork, Accountability, Reflect, Learn and Grow) acknowledges employees who do what the company refers to as good deeds. (Loans jumped 21% first year and 19% following year, Return on assets was exceeding goals)
Committees, as a special kind of task group, as noted by the authors, have several uses in organizations. Why are they viewed as useful? Four points are noted by the authors. Discuss.
1. Committees can improve the quality of decision making. As more people become involved in making a decision, the strengths and weaknesses of various alternatives tend to be discussed in greater detail, and the chances of reaching a higher-quality decision increase 2. Committees encourage the expression of honest opinions. Committee members feel protected enough to say what they really think because the group output of a committee cannot be associated with any one member of that group. 3. Committees also tend to increase organization members' participation in decision making and thereby enhance the chances of widespread support decisions. Another result of this increased participation is that committee members satisfy their social or self-esteem needs through committee work. 4. Committees ensure the representation of important groups in the decision-making process. Managers must choose committee members wisely, however, in order to achieve appropriate representation; if a committee does not adequately represent various interest groups, any decision it comes to may well be counter to the interests of an important organization group
Five strategies for building trust are noted on p. 397. Discuss 3 of them.
1. Communicate often to team members: This is a fundamental strategy. Keeping team members informed of organizational news, explaining why certain decisions have been made, and sharing information about organizational operations are examples of how managers should communicate. 2. Show respect for team members: Managers need to show team members that they are highly valued. They can demonstrate their respect for team members by delegating tasks to them, listening intently to feedback from the group, and appropriately acting on that feedback. 3. Be fair to team members: Team members must receive the rewards they have earned. Managers must therefore conduct fair performance appraisals and objectively allocate and distribute rewards. It should go without saying that showing favoritism in this area sows mistrust and resentment. 4. Be predictable: Managers must be consistent in their actions. Team members should usually be able to forecast what decisions management will make before those decisions are made. In addition, managers must live up to the commitments made to team members. Managers whose decisions are inconsistent and who fail to live up to the commitments they've made will not be trusted by their teams. 5. Demonstrate competence: To build trust, managers must show team members that they are able to diagnose organizational problems and have the skill to implement solutions to those problems. Team members tend to trust managers they perceive as competent and distrust those they perceive as incompetent.
The authors also note two different points which contribute to the success of committees. Choose characteristics from each point and discuss.
1. Procedural steps - The committee's goals should be clearly defined, preferably in writing, to focus the committee's activities and reduce the time members devote to discussing just what it is the committee is supposed to be doing. - The committee's authority should be specified. - The optimum size of the committee should be determined. - A chairperson should be selected on the basis of his or her ability to run an efficient meeting-that is to keep committee members from getting bogged down in irrelevancies and to see it that the necessary paperwork gets done - Appointing a permanent secretary to handle communications is often useful - The agenda and all supporting material for the meeting should be distributed before the meeting takes place - Meetings should start on time, and their ending time should be announced at the outset. 2. People-Oriented guidelines - Rephrasing ideas already expressed: this rephrasing ensures that the manager as well as the other people on the committee clearly understand what has been said. - Bringing all members into active participation: every committee member is a potential source of useful information, so the manager should serve as a catalysts to spark individual participation whenever appropriate - Stimulating further thought by members: the manager should encourage committee members to think ideas through carefully and thoroughly because only this type of analysis will generate high-quality committee output.
What are some key points to remember from the mini-case study, "Establishing Trust in International Teams?"
1. Team leaders should recognize that some ways in which teams develop, such as by getting acquainted and being assigned roles, may not naturally take place when coworkers are dispersed. Therefore, at the beginning, leaders should hold discussions to define roles, responsibilities, and norms, including expectations for when team members should be available. 2. Team leaders should ask members to describe their strengths and personal values so that leaders can learn how everyone can contribute to the team. 3. Team leaders should try to bring team members to the same location at least occasionally so that team members can build relationships face-to-face.
Which kind of formal group is best linked to the principles of agile management? Why?
Formal group: is a group that exists within an organization by virtue of management decree to perform tasks that enhance the attainment of organizational objectives. Types of formal groups: - Command groups: is a formal group that is outlined in the chain of command on an organization chart. Usually handle routine organizational activities. - Task groups: is a formal group of organization members who interact with one another to accomplish most of the organization's non-routine tasks. Usually made up of members in the same organization level, but they can consists of people from different levels in the organization hierarchy, A committee and work team is a type of task group. * A task group is best linked to the principles of agile management because task groups consist of many different people working together to achieve a certain goal or task at hand.
