R+J Chapter 9+10: Groups and Teams

Role expectations

How others believe a person should act in a given situation

Brainstorming

An idea generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while withholding any critisicm of those alternatives

Psychological contract

An unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa

Group

two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives

ingroup favoritism

Perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other people, and people not in our group as all the same

5. Cohesiveness

The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group

organizational demography

The degree to which members of. awork unit share a common demographic attribute; such as age, sex, race, educational levle or length of service, and the impact of this attribute on turnpver

6. Diversity

The extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from, one another

outgroup

The inverse of an ingroup, which can mean everyone outside the group, but more usually an identified other group.

Faultlines

The perceived divisions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on individual differences such as sex, race, age, work experience and education

Role perception

an individual's view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation

Cross functional teams

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

Work team

group who's individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs

self-managed work teams

groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former supervisors

Problem solving teams

groups 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

mental models

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

Virtual teams

teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal

Team efficacy

the collective belief among team members in the team's capability to successfully complete a task

team cohesion

the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members

Conformity

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

Group Properties

1. Roles 2. Norms 3. Status 4. Size 5. Cohesiveness 6. Diversity

Groupshift

A change between the group's decision and an individual decision that a member within the group would make; the shift can be toward either conservatism or greater risk but it generally is toward a more extreme version of the group's original position

Workgroup

A group that interacts primarily to share information and make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility

Informal group

A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.

Social identity theory

A perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves member of groups

Groupthink

A phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action

Punctuated equilibrium model

A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity

Role Conflict

A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations

3. Status

A socially defined position or rank given to group or group members by others

Status characteristics theory

A theory that states that difference in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups

2.Norms

Acceptable standards of behaior within a group that are shared by group's members

Reference groups

Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform

4. Social loafing

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

Interacting groups

Typical groups in which members interact with each other face to face

Deviant workplace behavior

Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members. Also called antisocial behavior or workplace incivility.

multiteam systems

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

Nominal group technique

a decision-making method in which individual members meet face to face to pool their judgements in a systematic but independent fashion

Formal Group

a designated work group defined by an organization's structure

1.Role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

interrole conflict

a situation in which the expectations of an individual's different, separate groups are in opposition

Reflexivity

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

team identity

a team member's affinity for and sense of belongingness to his or her team