MGMT 363 Chapter 12

how can groupthink be avoided?

- acknowledge detrimental aspects of cohesion - appoint a devil's advocate - assess a group's level of cohesion

team building

- fun activities that facilitate team problem solving, trust, relationship building, and the clarification of role responsibilities - normally conducted by a consultant - difficult to judge the effectiveness of team building activities on team performance

creative behavior

- generating novel and useful ideas and solutions - brainstorming

process gain

- getting more from the team than you would expect according to the capabilities of its individual team members - also called synergy - results in resources and capabilities that did not exist before the team created them

wheel network structure

- highly centralized - all communication flows through a central figure

transactive memory

- how specialized knowledge is distributed among members in a manner that results in an effective system of memory for the team - team members should possess both specialized knowledge that is useful to the team and meta-knowledge regarding who knows what

noise

- interferes with the message being transmitted - can take on several different forms: distance, obstructions, and physical noise

teamwork processes

- interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team's work but do not directly involve task accomplishment itself - create the setting or context in which taskwork takes place - involve a combination of types of behaviors

teamwork processes have a ______________________ relationship with team commitment

- strong positive - people tend to be satisfied in teams in which there are effective interpersonal interactions

all-channel network structure

- structure is highly decentralized - all members can communicate directly with each other

taskwork processes

- the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks - occurs any time that team members interact with the tools or technologies used to complete their work - relates to task performance aspect of job performance

information richness

- the amount and depth of the information being conveyed - includes both language and nonverbal information such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice

mental model

- the level of common understanding among team members with regard to important aspects of the team and its task - important for team members to share an understanding of one another's capabilities - important to anticipate when another member might need help - important to have shared understanding of how to resolve team conflicts

what are the different types of team process training? define them

1. action learning: a team has the opportunity to work on an actual problem within the organization 2. second type: involves experience in a team context when there are task demands that highlight the importance of effective teamwork processes

brainstorming

1. express all ideas that come to mind 2. go for quantity of ideas over quality 3. don't criticize or evaluate the ideas of others 4. build on the ideas of others

what are the different components of transition processes? define them

1. mission analysis: involves an analysis of the team's task, the challenges that face the team, and the resources available for completing the team's work 2. strategy formulation: the development of courses of action and contingency plans, and then adapting those plans in light of changed that occur in the team's environment 3. goal-specification: the development and prioritization of goals related to the team's mission and strategy

what are the different components of action processes? define them

1. monitoring progress toward goals: involves recording accomplishments on a progress chart or something similar 2. systems monitoring: involves keeping track of things that the team needs to accomplish its work 3. helping behavior: involves teams members going out of their way to back up other team members 4. coordination: synchronizing team members' activities in a way that makes them mesh effectively and seamlessly

what are the different components of interpersonal processes? define them

1. motivating and confidence building: things team members do or say that affect the degree to which members are motivated to work hard on the task 2. affect management: involves activities that foster a sense of emotional balance and unity 3. conflict management: involves activities that the team uses to manage conflicts that arise in the course of its work

what are the different types of cross-training? define them

1. personal clarification: training in which members simply receive information regarding the roles of the other team members 2. positional modeling: training that involves observations of how other team members perform their roles 3. positional rotation: training that gives members actual experience carrying out the responsibilities of their teammates

the communication process

Information > Sender > Encoding > Message > Decoding > Receiver > Understanding

why is brainstorming so widely adopted?

benefits include morale-boosting, buy-in, and idea sharing

what are the different team states?

cohesion, potency, mental models, and transactive memory

low information richness

computer-generated reports filled with numbers

what are the causes of process loss?

coordination loss, production blocking, motivational loss, social loafing

what are the different components of taskwork processes?

creative behavior, decision making, and boundary spanning

what are the factors that affect team decision making?

decision informity, staff validity, and hierarchical sensitivity

centralization

degree to which communication in a network flows through some members rather than others

cohesion

exists when members of teams develop strong emotional bonds to other members of their team and to the team itself

high information richness

face-to-face conversation

transition processes

focus on preparation for future work

consensus

general agreement among members in regards to a solution

process loss

getting less from the team than you would expect based on the capabilities of its individual members

action processes

important as the taskwork is being accomplished

task coordinator activities

involve communications that are intended to coordinate task-related issues with people or groups in other functional areas

transportable teamwork competencies

knowledge, skills, and abilities

boundary spanning

links internal networks with external sources of information

high potency

members are confident, focused

low potency

members are unfocused, lack confidence

groupthink

members try to maintain harmony by striving toward consensus without ever offering, seeking, or seriously considering alternative viewpoints

teamwork processes have a _____________________ relationship with team performance (includes transition, action, and interpersonal processes)

moderate positive

moderate information richness

personal written note

motivational loss

process loss due to team members' tendency to put forth less effort on team tasks than they could

coordination loss

process loss due to the time and energy it takes to coordinate work activities with other team members

ambassador activities

refer to communications that are intended to protect the team, persuade others to support the team, or obtain important resources for the team

team states

refer to specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together

scout activities

refer to things team members do to obtain information about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace

staff validity

refers to the degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader

hierarchical sensitivity

reflects the degree to which the leader effectively weighs the recommendations of the members

decision informity

reflects whether members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities

social loafing

results from members feeling less accountable for team outcomes compared with their independent work outside the team

production blocking

results from team members waiting on each other before completing their own team tasks

what are the drawbacks to brainstorming?

social loafing, hesitancy to express ideas in a group setting, and production blocking as members wait their turn to express ideas

team processes have a _____________ impact on team effectiveness

strong

what can lead to feelings of psychological safety?

supportive leadership and positive member interactions

nominal group technique

team members individually write ideas and then take turns sharing them with the group

potency

the degree to which members believe that the team can be effective across a variety of situations and tasks

team process

the different types of activities and interactions that occur within a team as the team works toward its goals

network structure

the pattern of communication that occurs regularly among each member of the team

communicator competence

the skills involved in encoding, transmitting, and receiving messages

team process training

the use of team experiences that facilitates the team's ability to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit

interpersonal processes

these are important before, during, or between periods of taskwork, and they relate to the way in which team members manage their relationships

cross-training

training team members in the duties and responsibilities of their teammates