MGT 110 CH10.

Blues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific 'Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said 'Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which of the following disciplines of high-performance teams is met best by the team of Blue Lightning?

Size; The Blue Lightning team has only four members. So it meets the high-performance team discipline of size best (team size recommendation being 5 to 8).

Blues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific 'Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said 'Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which of the following is the biggest threat to performance for Blue Lightning?

Social Loafing by Amanda.

A climate of trust, open communication, and risk taking is a critical success factor that promotes more creativity in teams.

True

A high-performance scorecard includes dimensions of production output, member satisfaction, and capacity for continued cooperation.

True

Cohesive groups do not always result in high performance.

True

Communication skills are necessary for good teamwork.

True

Electronic meetings are appropriate when the goal is to reduce status effects or groupthink.

True

For teams that make or do things to be most effective, a relentless focus on performance is required.

True

Gatekeeping, encouraging all participants in a group to contribute, is an important interpersonal contribution that a team member can make to a team.

True

Groupthink is a phenomenon found in highly cohesive groups when team members strive to maintain harmony at the expense of quality decision making.

True

Problem reversal is a technique for generating creative ideas.

True

Teams are better than individual workers when risk is desirable.

True

Teams are unique because each member cannot complete the work without the work of other members.

True

Teams that make or do things are the most effective when they deal with "critical delivery points."

True

The main advantages of electronic meetings are anonymity, honesty, and speed.

True

The more difficult it is to get into a group, the more cohesive the group typically becomes.

True

A team is a group of people:

who share responsibility for producing something together

_____ is a common phrase in a team that is known for creativity.

"Who else can build on that?"

ATMs and open grills were conceived through which method for generating creative thought?

ATMs and open grills were conceived through the method of "problem reversal" for generating creative thought.

lues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific 'Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said 'Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which team KSA does Pat illustrate in her introductory comments to Blue Lightning before Toby showed up for the meeting?

Collaborative problem solving when she said the team had to figure out how to get better numbers on budget and output.

Nathan is one of six real estate agents assigned to a local office. He is not especially good at planning or problem solving, but whenever someone needs a sounding board or has an issue to vent, Nathan is there to pay attention, nod his head, refrain from giving biased advice, and be supportive. Nathan is demonstrating the teamwork KSA of:

Communication

Gary, the project leader of a team of software engineers, wanted to improve team performance. He gave each team member a checklist to complete about the project they just finished. Each team member answered these questions: "What do you think were the failures of the project? If there were failures, how can we avoid them? What are the areas that were good and what are the areas that can improve?" What kind of team intervention did Gary conduct?

Conducting AARs and process checks

Which of the following is a cooperative team reward?

Each member of the group that gave the best presentation in an MBA course receives an A in the course.

Which of the following is a competitive team reward?

Each year, a member of the faculty is chosen as the outstanding professor of the year.

Which of the following is the Ringelmann experiment that identified the social loafing tendency?

Rope Pulling

Convergent thinking involves recognizing links among remotely associated issues, and transforming information into unexpected forms.

False

Divergent thinking emphasizes speed, accuracy, and logic.

False

A sense of premature maturity prevails in the forming stage of team development.

False; A sense of premature maturity prevails in the norming stage of team development.

An extreme state of escalation of commitment is known as the innocent bystander effect.

False; An innocent bystander effect is an extreme state of diffusion of responsibility among people.

Storming is the first stage of team development.

False; Forming is the first stage of team development.

High-performing teams usually have between 12 and 15 members

False; High-performing groups rarely consist of more than 10 people and ideally are between 5 and 8 members. The larger a team gets, the harder it is for people to meet either in person or virtually, gain shared understanding and commitment, share leadership roles, and so on.

When people are alone, they make decisions that have more risks than when they are in teams.

False; In a group, people are likely to make riskier decisions, as the shared risk reduces personal risk. This is known as the risky shift.

Technical expertise is the most important team skill.

False; It is not enough for team members to simply perform their functional area of expertise. The team also needs task management and interpersonal skills.

Minority viewpoints and tendencies to deviate from or question the group direction are discouraged in the performing stage of team development.

False; Minority viewpoints and tendencies to deviate from or question the group direction are discouraged in the norming stage of team development.

Activity-based goals are more important than outcome-based goals in team performance.

False; Outcome-based goals are more important than activity-based goals in team performance.

The first team skill is the ability to assess whether or not a team will be cohesive.

False; The first team skill is the ability to assess whether or not a team is even appropriate.

The forming stage of team development is the point at which a group begins to come together as a coordinated unit.

False; The norming stage of team development is the point at which a group begins to come together as a coordinated unit.

The opposite of social facilitation is free-riding.

False; choking

Subdivision is a technique used to stimulate convergent thinking.

False; divergent thinking

The best strategy to counter social loafing is choking.

False; identifiability

"Sucker aversion" is a direct result of social conformity.

False; social loafing

Is virtual team management different from traditional team management?

No. The five fundamental disciplines of high team performance remain the same.

Blues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific 'Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said 'Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which part of the high-performance team scorecard triggered Pat's request for an intervention?

Production output; Pat's request for an intervention was triggered by falling team output (the production output part of high-team performance scorecard).

Which of the following is a discipline of high-performing teams?

Productive team norms; Recent research on highly productive teams has concluded that the five disciplines essential to high performance are: (1) small size, (2) capable and complementary members, (3) shared purpose and performance objectives, (4) productive norms and working approach, and (5) mutual accountability.

Which of the following is an activity-based goal?

Reengineer the new software license process.

What is the best strategy to address social loafing?

The best strategy to address social loafing is identifiability. That simply means to find ways to get each member's contribution to a task somehow communicated or displayed where others can see it.

Which of the following should a leader consider to determine the appropriateness of competitive vs. cooperative rewards when matching rewards to contribution?

The degree of task interdependence.

Randy's race car was repeatedly having mechanical failures. His team had worked with the car for months, fine-tuning the engine and upgrading all faulty components, but it still continued to develop snags. Two weeks before a big race, the owner suggested starting with a new car. The team, to a man, promised to fix the old car and failed, as it went out in the second lap. This incident illustrates the group dynamic of:

The team had worked on Randy's car for months, fixing everything they could with little success. Even then they continued on this losing course of action, believing they could repair the car. This incident illustrates the group dynamic of escalation of commitment.

Which of the following statements is a myth of teamwork?

The team leader is the primary determinant of team performance.

Why is the term "disciplines" used to describe high-performance team characteristics?

These characteristics must be consistently applied to get high-performance results.

Judy, a team coaching expert, worked with a group of attorneys in an urban office. She administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to the entire staff. She subsequently facilitated discussions around such topics as communication misunderstandings, decision making, and conflict resolution. Judy conducted which of the following team interventions?

Understanding member profiles

Which of the following is an outcome-based goal?

Win three new accounts in the next quarter.

The single most important factor for effective teams is that they have a(n):

clear, compelling performance challenge.

Frank is a cook at a nonprofit shelter, a part of a seven-member crew. The crew prepares meals from donated items, often improvising or "improving" standard recipes based on availability. The credit of this transformation goes to Frank who taught the other members of the crew to not only improvise from routine but also to cook nutritious meals with the available items. Frank is demonstrating the teamwork KSA of:

collaborative problem solving.

A team should meet face-to-face when:

conflicts must be resolved.

A team with a high score for continued cooperation:

continually strives to learn from mistakes.

Kara's MBA class has to work in groups for a semester-long project. Her group met for the first time this week, working out questions of what project focus the group should take, which group members have what skills, and how much time will be required. Kara's group is in the _____ stage of team development.

forming; In the forming stage of group development, people are interested in discovering what acceptable behavior is, determining the real task of the group, and defining group roles. Since Kara's group has met for the first time this week and is trying to sort out topics like team member skills and estimating time required to complete the project, it is in the forming stage of team development.

Electronic meetings are good for:

generating innovative, high-quality ideas

Marc, a basketball team coach, gets the team to agree to work on free throws, passing patterns, new defenses, and generally all aspects needed to set and maintain the win percentage. Marc is exhibiting the teamwork KSA of:

goal setting and performance management.

Kara's MBA class had to work in groups for a semester-long project involving some aspects of organizational culture. Her group gave their first presentation tonight. Everyone was tense, checking that the other group members were doing their assigned roles, not leaving early, or saying the wrong thing. The major shared goal was that the group "be nice" to each other during the presentation. Kara's group is in the _____ stage of team development.

norming;is the point at which the group begins to come together as a coordinated unit. The group as a whole will try to regulate behavior toward a harmonious balance. In tonight's meeting, Kara's group accepted the goal of "being nice" to each other which implies that they are in the norming stage of team development.