Ch.12-Managing Groups and Teams

team contract

A contract that includes agreements on established ground rules, goals, and roles.

Groupthink

A group pressure phenomenon that increases the risk of the group making flawed decisions by allowing reductions in mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment.

Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing Model

A model proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965 involving a four-stage map of group evolution.

outcome interdependence

A time when rewards that an individual receives depend on the performance of others.

product development teams

A type of team that may be either temporary or ongoing.

Self-managed teams

a new form of team that rose in popularity with the Total Quality Movement in the 1980s. Unlike manager-led teams, these teams manage themselves and do not report directly to a supervisor. Instead, team members select their own leader, and they may even take turns in the leadership role. Is also have the power to select new team members. As a whole, the team shares responsibility for a significant task, such as assembly of an entire car. The task is ongoing rather than temporary such as a charity fund drive for a given year.

compensation based on shared outcomes

*blank* of individuals must be based primarily on a shared outcome, not individual performance.

The fundamental factors affecting group cohesion include the following:

-Similarity=the more similar group members are in terms of age, sex, education, skills, attitudes, values, and beliefs, the more likely the group will bond. -Stability=the longer a group stays together, the more cohesive it becomes. -Size=smaller groups tend to have higher levels of cohesion. -Support=when group members receive coaching and are encouraged to support their fellow team members, group identity strengthens. -Satisfaction=cohesion is correlated with how pleased group members are with one another's performance, behavior, and conformity to group norms.

Questions that can help to create a meaningful team contract include the following:

-Team values and goals=What are our shared team values? What is our team goal? -Team roles and leadership=Who does what within this team? (Who takes notes at the meeting? Who sets the agenda? Who assigns tasks? Who runs the meetings?) Does the team have a formal leader? If so, what are his or her roles? -Team decision making=How are minor decisions made? How are major decisions made? -Team communication= Who do you contact if you cannot make a meeting? Who communicates with whom? How often will the team meet? -Team performance=What constitutes good team performance? What if a team member tries hard but does not seem to be producing quality work? How will poor attendance/work quality be managed?

Idea generation tasks

Creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process.

sequential interdependence

If one person's output becomes another person's input, the team would be experiencing this.

Top management teams

Teams that are appointed by the chief executive officer (CEO) and, ideally, reflect the skills and areas that the CEO considers vital for the company.

cross-functional teams

Teams that involve individuals from different parts of the organization staff.

Traditional or manager-led teams

Teams where the manager serves as the team leader.

trust

The belief that the other party will show integrity, fairness, and predictability in one's actions toward the other.

adjourning

The fifth and final stage of the Tuckman model.

collaborative action

The key properties of a true team include this where, along with a common goal, teams have collaborative tasks. Conversely, in a group, individuals are responsible only for their own area.

reciprocal interdependence

The point at which team members work on each task simultaneously.

Norming

The stage in which participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules (or norms) and define their operating procedures and goals. Feeling energized, group members are now ready to get to work. Finding themselves more cohesive and cooperative, participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules (or norms) and define their operating procedures and goals. The group tends to make big decisions, while subgroups or individuals handle the smaller decisions. It is hoped at this point the group members are more open and respectful toward each other and willing to ask one another for both help and feedback. They may even begin to form friendships and share more personal information.

punctuated equilibrium

The theory that change within groups occurs in rapid, radical spurts rather than gradually over time.

Pooled interdependence

This exists when team members may work independently and simply combine their efforts to create the team's output. For example, when students meet to divide the sections of a research paper and one person assembles the sections together to create one paper, the team is using the pooled interdependence model. However, they might decide that it makes more sense to start with one person writing the introduction of their research paper, then the second person reads what was written by the first person and, drawing from this section, writes about the findings within the paper. Using the findings section, the third person writes the conclusions.

group

a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the others. In organizations, most work by necessity is done within groups. How groups function has important implications for organizational productivity. Groups where people get along, feel the desire to contribute, and are capable of coordinating their efforts may have high performance levels, whereas those characterized by extreme levels of conflict or hostility may demoralize members of the workforce.

Informal work groups

are made up of two or more individuals who are associated with one another in ways not prescribed by the formal organization. For example, a few people in the company who get together to play tennis on the weekend would be considered an informal group.

creator role

deals more with changes in the team's task process structure. For example, reframing the team goals and looking at the context of goals would fall under this role.

sacrifice for the common good

in which individuals give up scarce resources for the common good instead of competing for those resources. For example, teams occur in sports such as soccer and basketball, in which the individuals actively help each other, forgo their own chance to score by passing the ball, and win or lose collectively as a team.

Production tasks

include actually making something, such as a building, a product, or a marketing plan.

critic role

includes "devil's advocate" behaviors, which go against the assumptions being made by the team.

communicator role

includes behaviors that are targeted at collaboration such as practicing good listening skills and appropriately using humor to defuse tense situations. Having a good communicator helps the team to feel more open to sharing ideas.

contractor role

includes behaviors that serve to organize the team's work, including creating team timelines, production schedules, and task sequencing.

consul role

includes gathering information from the larger organization and informing those within the organization about team activities, goals, and successes. Often the consul role is filled by team managers or leaders.

coordinator role

includes interfacing with others within the organization so that the team's efforts are in line with other individuals and teams within the organization.

cooperator role

includes supporting those with expertise toward the team's goals. This is a proactive role.

team

is a particular type of group: a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. Being on this does not equate to a total suppression of personal agendas, but it does require a commitment to the vision and involves each individual working toward accomplishing the team's objective. They differ from other types of groups in that members are focused on a joint goal or product, such as a presentation, discussing a topic, writing a report, creating a new design or prototype, or winning a team competition. Moreover, they also tend to be defined by their relatively smaller size.

calibrator role

is an important one and serves to keep the team on track in terms of suggesting any needed changes to the team's process. This role includes initiating discussions about potential team problems such as power struggles or other tensions. Similarly, this role may involve settling disagreements or pointing out what is working and what is not in terms of team process.

Process loss

is any aspect of group interaction that inhibits group functioning.

contributor role

is important because it brings information and expertise to the team. This role is characterized by sharing knowledge and training those who have less expertise to strengthen the team. Research shows that teams with highly intelligent members and evenly distributed workloads are more effective than those with uneven workloads.

formal work group

made up of managers, subordinates, or both with close associations among group members that influence the behavior of individuals in the group.

Performing

participants are not only getting the work done, but they also pay greater attention to how they are doing it. They ask such questions as, "Do our operating procedures best support productivity and quality assurance? Do we have suitable means for addressing differences that arise so we can preempt destructive conflicts? Are we relating to and communicating with each other in ways that enhance group dynamics and help us achieve our goals? How can I further develop as a person to become more effective?" By now, the group has matured, becoming more competent, autonomous, and insightful. Group leaders can finally move into coaching roles and help members grow in skill and leadership. These leadership shifts are essential for managers enacting the Leadership function to keep in mind. In fact, a manager who leads multiple teams may find it necessary to shift leadership styles not only over time but between teams at different stages.

Problem-solving tasks

refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions, both facets of managerial P-O-L-C functions (planning and leading). For example, a team may be charged with coming up with a new marketing slogan, which is an idea generation task, while another team might be asked to manage an entire line of products, including making decisions about products to produce, managing the production of the product lines, marketing them, and staffing their division. The second team has all three types of tasks to accomplish at different points in time.

Collective efficacy

refers to a group's perception of its ability to successfully perform well. A group with high *blank* is one whose members share a belief in the group's capability to pursue its agreed-upon course of action and attain its goals. s influenced by a number of factors, including watching others ("that group did it and we're better than them"), verbal persuasion ("we can do this"), and how a person feels ("this is a good group"). Research shows that a group's collective efficacy is positively related to its performance. In addition, this relationship is stronger when task interdependence (the degree an individual's task is linked to someone else's work) is high rather than low.

Task interdependence

refers to the degree that team members depend on one another to get information, support, or materials from other team members to be effective. Research shows that self-managing teams are most effective when their tasks are highly interdependent.

Virtual teams

teams in which members are not located in the same physical place. They may work in different cities, states, or even different countries. Some virtual teams are formed by necessity, such as to take advantage of lower labor costs in different countries; one study found that upward of 8.4 million individuals worldwide work virtually in at least one team.

task force

that addresses a specific issue or problem until it is resolved.

Cohesion

the degree of camaraderie within the group.

Forming

the first stage of team development, in which team members meet each other, form initial impressions, and begin to establish team norms. there is a level of formality, some anxiety, and a degree of guardedness as group members are not sure how they will fit into the group or how work will be conducted. Because of the large amount of uncertainty, members tend to be polite, conflict avoidant, and observant.

Storming

the second stage of development, characterized by conflict and disagreement, in which team members disagree over what the team should do and how it should do it. Participants focus less on keeping their guard up as they shed social facades, becoming more authentic and more argumentative. Group members begin to explore their power and influence, and they often stake out their territory by differentiating themselves from the other group members rather than seeking common ground. Discussions can become heated as participants raise conflicting points of view and values, or disagree over how tasks should be accomplished and who should be responsible for certain tasks. It is not unusual for group members to become defensive, competitive, or jealous. Group members may take sides or begin to form cliques within the group. Questioning and resisting direction from the leader is also quite common. "Why should I have to do this? Who designed this project in the first place? What gives you the authority to tell me what to do?" Although little seems to get accomplished at this stage, it actually serves an important purpose: group members are becoming more authentic as they express their deeper thoughts and feelings. What they are really exploring is "Can I truly be myself, have power, and be accepted?" During this chaotic stage, a great deal of creative energy that was previously buried is released and available for use.

Social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

completer role

where ideas are transformed into action. Behaviors associated with this role include following up on tasks such as gathering needed background information or summarizing the team's ideas into reports.