Textbook Chapter 6: Groups and Teamwork

What are the three things management should ensure in order for virtual teams to be effective?

1) Management should ensure that trust is established amongst team members 2) Management should ensure that team progress is monitored closely (so sight of goals isn't lost and nobody disappears) 3) Management should ensure that the efforts and products of the virtual team are publicized throughout the organization (so that the team doesn't become invisible)

What are the four different types of teams?

1) Problem-solving (or process improvement) teams 2) Self-managed (or self-directed) teams 3) Cross-functional (or project) teams 4) Virtual teams

What negative (bad) rates are increased with teams in comparison to individuals?

Rates of absenteeism and turnover rates

What positive (good) rates are increased with teams in comparison to individuals?

Rates of job satisfaction

What is a key characteristic of a group with member commitment to a common purpose?

Reflexivity

What does research show in regards to how diversity affects affects team performance?

Research shows that diversity is either (1) esentially unrelated to team performance overall, and (2) race and gender diversity are negatively related to team performance

What are task-oriented roles?

Roles performed by group members to ensure that the tasks of the group are accomplished

What are maintenance roles?

Roles performed by group members to maintain good relations within the group

What is the extreme end of role conflict?

Situations in which two or more role expectations are mutually contradictory

What is the second stage of the five-stage model of group development?

Storming

What can role ambiguity lead to in teams?

Stress, confusion, and even bad feelings

Within any almost any group, what two sets of role relationships need to be considered?

Task-oriented roles and maintenance roles

What are mental models?

Team members' knowledge and beliefs about how the work gets done by the team

Which types of tasks do teams typically outperform individuals?

Teams typically outperform individuals when the tasks being done require multiple skills, judgement, and experience

What is the punctuated-equilibrium model meant for?

Temporary groups with deadlines

What trait of teams are groups lacking?

That groups do not necessarily engage in collective work that require independent effort

What can role underload lead someone to feel?

That he or she is not contributing to the group

What does a great deal of research in regards to role conflict demonstrate?

That role conflict between work and family roles is one of the most significant source of stress for most employees

What capabilities to teams have?

The capability to quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband

What is an example of a multiteam system?

The coordination of response needed after a major car accident; there is the emergency medical services team, an emergency room team, and a recovery team. All of these teams are technically independent, but the success of one team depends on the success of the other because they all share the common/higher goal of saving lives

What is organizational demography?

The degree to which members of a work unit share a common demographic attribute, such as age, gender, race, educational level, or length of service in an organization, and the impact of this attribute on turnover

What is cohesiveness?

The degree to which team members are attracted to one another and are motivated to stay on the team

What stages of development are the most time-consuming for cross-functional teams?

The early stages of development

What is forming?

The first stage in group development which is characterized by much uncertainty (e.g. testing the waters)

What is performing?

The fourth stage in the group development process in which the group is fully functional and significant task progress is being made

What is the importance of a supervisory position in a self-managed team?

The importance of supervisory positions take on decreased importance and may even be eliminated in a self-managed team

What is the one major difference between the processes that groups and teams go through within the workplace?

The one major difference between teams and groups and their respective processes in the workplace are that teams within the workplace are often set up on a nonpermanent basis in order to accomplish projects

What is the second phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model?

The phase that is sparked through a "transition" halfway between the first meeting and the official deadline

What is group diversity?

The presence of a heterogeneous mix of individuals within a group

For some teams, what may the adjourning stage lead to?

The renewal of the team to get a new project started

What is storming?

The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict caused by the constraints that the team imposes on individuality and hierarchical development

What is adjourning?

The sixth, and final, stage in the group development process for temporary groups, where attention is directed towards wrapping up activities rather than task performance

What may happen if a team stays forever planted in the storming phase?

The team may have less ability to complete the task because of all the interpersonal problems

What is social loafing?

The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually

What is norming?

The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships, cohesiveness, and a strong sense of team identity

What does the transition set a revised direction for?

The transition in the punctuated-equilibrium model sets a revised direction for Phase 2

During mergers and acquisitions, what may employees be torn between?

Their identities as members of their original organization and of the new parent company

How may group members in a diverse group differ from one another?

They may differ through functional characteristics (e.g. jobs, positions, work experience) and demographic or cultural characteristics (age, race, sex, and citizenship)

How is turnover affected by the experiences that co-workers have?

Turnover is greater among those with dissimilar experiences

What is a group?

Two or more people with a common relationship

What types of information are virtual team members better at sharing?

Unique information (information held by individual members but not the entire group)

Are most norms unspoken or written up in organizational manuals?

Unspoken

What is an environmental benefit of virtual teams?

Virtual teams reduce our carbon footprint (e.g. less pollution as a result from less driving)

What is role underload?

WHen too little is expected of someone

What is role ambiguity?

When a person is unclear about the expectations of his or her role

When agreed to and expected by the group, what do norms act as a means of?

When agreed to and expected by the group, norms act as a means of influencing the behaviour of the group members, with a minimum of external controls

When is conflict beneficial and performance boosting in self-managed teams?

When team members feel confident that they can speak up without being embarrassed, rejected, or punished by other team members (e.g. when they feel psychologically safe)

When team members perceive that economic rewards (e.g. pay) are dependent on the input from their teammates, what happens to individual and team performance?

When team members perceive that economic rewards such as pay are dependent on the input from their teammates, individual and team performance is boosted

What is team efficacy?

When teams have confidence in themselves and believe they can be successful

What is managed level of conflict?

When the type of conflict that occurs within a group is managed to be the *proper* type of conflict (e.g. relationship conflict is bad, task conflicts (fights about what the group is to do) can lead to better team decisions)

What is role overload?

When too much is expected of a person

What is an example of role ambiguity?

When two group members think that the other one is responsible for preparing the first draft of the report, and at the next group meeting, neither brings a draft report, and both are annoyed that the other person did not do the work

Can groups be in two stages of the five-stage model at once?

Yes

Can groups regress to previous stages?

Yes

What is conformity?

Adjusting one's behaviour to align with the norms of the group

Why have organizations turned to teams?

As a better way to use employee talents

As organizations have restructured themselves to compete more effectively and efficiently, what have they turned to?

As organizations have restructured themselves to compete more effectively and efficiently, organizations have turned to teams

How does members' preference for teamwork affect team effectiveness?

Basically, high-performing teams consist of members who have a preference for teamwork

Why is turnover greater among those with dissimilar experiences?

Because communication is more difficult and conflict is more likely

Why are multiteam systems employed?

Because increases in team size are accompanied by higher coordination demands, creating a tipping point at which the addition of a team member does more harm than good

Why are the early stages of development the most time-consuming for cross-functional teams?

Because members are required to learn to work with diversity and complexity and because it takes time to build trust and teamwork with people from varying backgrounds with different experiences and perspectives

Why are group members susceptible to conforming to a groups norms?

Because of the importance of a desire to form accurate perceptions of reality based on group consensus, to develop meaningful social relationships with others, and to maintain a favourable self-concept

Why are teams more motivational than groups?

Because teams allow for greater task identity with team members working on tasks together

Why do teams take more effort than individual work?

Because teams have increased communication demands, conflicts to be managed, and meetings to be run

What are some of the reasons why virtual teams suffer?

Because there is less social rapport and less direct interactions amongst members, leaving some feeling isolated

Why is the understanding of role behaviour not as simple as we think it is?

Because we are required to play a number of diverse roles both on and off our jobs

Why is keeping teams small the key to improving group effectiveness?

Because when teams have excess members, cohesiveness and mutual accountability decline, while social loafing and lack of communication increase

How can virtual team leaders alleviate feelings of isolation in their team?

By communicating frequently and consistently with team members so none feel unfairly disfavoured

How do effective teams resolve conflict?

By explicitly discussing the issues

How do ineffective teams resolve conflict?

By focusing more on personalities and the way things were said

How is the performance of members on a self-managed team evaluated?

By the members of the team itself

How are members and leaders of fully self-managed teams selected?

By the team itself

How does accountability contribute to an effective team?

By undermining the tendency to social loaf (due to particular contributions not being able to be identified) by making individuals in the group individually and jointly accountable

What are some examples of groups?

Co-workers, people meeting for lunch, people standing at the bus stop

What is one of the main factors that helps teams build their efficacy?

Cohesiveness

What are cross-functional teams an effective means for?

Cross-functional teams are an effective means for allowing people from diverse areas within an organization (or even between organizations) to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems, and coordinate complex projects

What have organizations structured around multi-national operations been shown to lead to?

Dual identification with employees distinguishing between the local division and the international organization

How has team energy shifted in the performing stage?

Energy has shifted from getting to know and understand one another to performing the task at hand

What is the first stage of the five-stage model of group development?

Forming

What levels of information sharing are a result of low virtuality?

High levels of information sharing result from low virtuality

What happens to the performance of those with less sense of purpose and strategy?

High performance is not achieved and performance worsens over time

What happens to the performance of those with a strong sense of purpose and strategy?

High performance is rapidly achieved and they improve over time

What level of productivity does high cohesiveness and high performance norms translate into?

High productivity

What are role expectations?

How others believe a person should act in a given situation (e.g. how a manager should act at work)

What do members of problem-solving teams share during meetings?

Ideas or suggestions on how to improve work processes and methods

In what types of companies does gender and ethnic diversity have *more* negative effects?

In companies dominated by white or male employees

In what types of companies is diversity less of a problem?

In demographically balanced organizations

Where is diversity positively related to group performance?

In function, education, and expertise

In which type of team system is leadership important?

In multiteam systems

In order for teams to be effective, what must mental models between group mates be?

In order for teams to be effective, the mental models between group mates must be similar to one another

What's an example of a situation in which leaders are not always needed?

In self-managed teams

What is one way to think about the differences between the ways individuals act in a team/group?

In terms of the possible pressures that individual group members put on one another through roles, norms, and status expectations

When is the team's direction identified?

In the first meeting

In what sector does teamwork increase turnover?

In the manufacturing industry

In what sector does teamwork lower turnover?

In the service industry

What type of balance must be achieved for the individuals of a group/team in order for the group/team to function?

Individuals must achieve some balance between their own needs and the needs of the group

Similar to the first phase, the second phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model is a new phase of i___________?

Inertia

What type of information are virtual team members worse at sharing?

Information overall

Once the team's direction is set, what happens to it?

It becomes "written in stone"

What levels of information sharing are a result of high-virtuality?

Low levels of information sharing result from high virtuality

What level of productivity does high cohesiveness and low performance norms translate into?

Low productivity

What is the only thing a problem-solving team can do?

Make recommendations

What has management found in regards to teams' flexibility and their responsiveness to changing events?

Management has found that teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than are traditional departments or other forms of permanent groupings

What level of productivity does low cohesiveness and high performance norms translate into?

Moderate productivity

What level of productivity does low performance norms and low cohesiveness translate into?

Moderate to low productivity

How do groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to achieve the performing stage?

More rapidly

Are cross-functional teams easy to manage?

No

Once a team's direction is written in stone, is it likely to be re-examined throughout the *first half* of the team's life?

No

Is there a requirement of distance for members in a virtual team?

No, members of a virtual team can either be rooms apart or continents a part

What previously discussed topic can push us towards conformity?

Norms

What are norms?

Norms are acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the groups members

How do norms *typically* develop?

Norms typically develop gradually as group members learn what behaviours are necessary for the team to function effectively

Not all _________ are __________, but all _________ can be considered __________ ?

Not all groups are teams, but all teams can be considered groups

How do virtual teams communicate?

Online using communication links such as wide-area networks, videoconferencing, instant messaging, and email

What responsibilities of their former managers to self-managed (or self-directed) teams take on?

Planning and scheduling of work, assigning tasks to members, making operating decisions, taking on problems, and working with suppliers and customers

What are some examples of problem-solving teams?

Planning teams, task forces, or committees that are organized to get tasks done

What is executed in the second phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model?

Plans created during the transition period

What are problem-solving teams rarely given the authority to do?

Problem-solving teams are rarely given the authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions

What can proper leadership improve in diverse teams?

Proper leadership can improve performance in diverse teams

What are the process factors/variables that make up team effectiveness?

- Member commitment to a common purpose (e.g. sharing a common goal) - Establishment of specific goals - Team efficacy - Shared mental models - A managed level of conflict - Accountability

What issues do some of the most common norms have to do with?

- Performance (e.g. how hard to work, the level of output, what kind of quality, levels of tardiness) - Appearance (e.g. dress codes, when to look busy, when to "goof off," how to show loyalty) - Social arrangement (e.g. with whom to eat lunch, whether to form friendships on and off the job) - Allocation of resources (e.g. pay, assignments, allocation of tooals and equipment)

What conditions must groups meet to become teams?

- Team members share *leadership* - Both individuals and the team as a whole share *accountability* for the work of the team - The team develops its own *purpose* or *mission* - The team works on *problem solving* continuously, rather than just at scheduled meeting times - The team's measure of *effectiveness* is the team's outcomes and goals, not individual outcomes and goals

When individuals come together to form groups and teams, what do they bring with them?

- Their personalities and all of their previous experiences - Their tendencies to act in different ways at different times, depending on the effects that different situations and different people have on them

What are the reactions that may occur in the adjourning stage?

- Upbeat (basking in the group's accomplishments) - Depressed (due to the loss of camaraderie and friendships gained during the work group's life)

What are the three questions that should be asked when determining if forming a team is necesary for the situation?

1) Can the work be done better by more than one person? 2) Does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the sum of individual goals? 3) Are the members of the group interdependent? (e.g. does the success of one depend on the success of the other)

What are the 12 characteristics of an effective team?

1) Clear purpose (mission has been accepted; there is an action plan) 2) Informality 3) Participation 4) Listening 5) Civilized disagreement (no signs of avoiding, smoothing over, or suppressing conflict) 6) Consensus decisions (through open discussion of ideas, avoidance of formal voting, or easy compromises) 7) Open communication (no hidden agendas and communication takes place outside of meetings) 8) Clear rules and work assignments 9) Shared leadership 10) External relations (e.g. key outside relationships are established, resources are mobilized, and credibility is built with important players in other parts of the organization) 11) Style diversity (the team has a broad spectrum of team-player types) 12) Self-assessment (the team stops to examine how well it's functioning and what may be interfering with its effectiveness)

What are the four roles of a team leader?

1) Creating a real team rather than a team in name only 2) Setting a clear and meaningful direction for the team's work 3) Making sure that the team structure will support working effectively 4) Ensuring that the team operates within a supportive organizational context 5) Providing expert coaching

What are the stages in the punctuated-equilibrium model?

1) First meeting sets the group's direction 2) The first phase of group activity is one of inertia 3) A transition takes place exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time 4) This transition (step 3) initiates major changes 5) The group's last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity

What 4 types of maintenance roles?

1) Harmonizing (mediating conflict amongst others) 2) Compromising (admitting error at times of group conflict) 3) Gatekeeping (Making sure all members have a chance to express their ideas and feelings and preventing members from being interrupted) 4) Encouraging

What are the four criteria that determine if a norm is important or not?

1) If it facilitates the group's survival 2) If it increases the predictability of group members' behaviours 3) If it reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group members 4) If it allows members to express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive about the group's identity

What are 7 types of task-oriented roles?

1) Initiating (stating the goal or problem) 2) Seeking information and opinions (from the group) 3) Providing information and opinions 4) Clarifying 5) Elaborating 6) Summarizing 7) Consensus taking (testing whether or not the group is nearing a decision or needs to continue discussion)

What are the four contextual factors that contribute to team effectiveness?

- Adequate resources (including adequate staffing, administrative assistance, encouragement, and timely information) - Leadership and structure - Climate of trust - Performance evaluation and rewards

What is a multiteam system?

A collection of two or more interdependent teams that share a superordinate goal; a team of teams

In the norming stage, what has the team assimilated

A common set of expectations of what defines correct member behaviour

What is the transition that ends phase 1 characterized by?

A concentrated burst of changes, dropping of old patterns, and adoption of new perspectives

What is the teams last meeting characterized by?

A final burst of activity to finish its work

What emerges in the first phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model?

A framework of behavioural patterns and assumptions through which the team will approach its project emerges in the first phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model

What are cross-functional (or project) teams?

A group of employees at about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task

What is the model of team effectiveness?

A model that summarizes the context, the process, and the composition of a team that contribute to its overall effectiveness

What must be in place for self-managing teams to be advantageous?

A number of situational factors

What is the first phase of the punctuated-equilibrium model?

A period of inertia (e.g. it stands still and becomes locked into a fixed course of action)

What is a self-managed (or self-directed) team?

A self-managed (or self-directed) team is a group of 10 to 15 employees who take on many of the responsibilities of their former managers

What is a role?

A set of expected behaviour patterns of a person in a given position in a social unit

What is role conflict?

A situation in which an individual finds that complying with one role requirement may make it more difficult to comply with another

What is a team?

A small number of people who work closely together toward a common objective and are accountable to one another

What is reflexivity?

A team characteristic of reflecting on and adjusting the master plan when necessary

What are virtual teams?

A team that uses computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal

What is a problem-solving team?

A team typically made up of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment

What are the 6 team composition variables that contribute to overall team effectiveness?

1) Skills 2) Personality 3) Roles 4) Diversity 5) Size 6) Members' preference for teamwork

What are the four ways in which norms can develop?

1) Through explicit statements made by a group member 2) Critical events in a group's history 3) Primacy 4) Carry-over behaviours from past situations

What are the two main causes for social loafing?

1) You may view your groupmates as inept and therefore pull back your own personal efforts 2) There is a dispersion of responsibility which means that the relationship between individual efforts and the group's efforts are clouded so there is a reduction in efficiency when individuals believe that their own contribution cannot be measured