Organizational Behavior Chapter 8 Study Guide (Team Dynamics)

teams vs. groups

- All teams are groups - Some groups are just people assembled together - Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not

Task Characteristics

- Better when tasks are clear, easy to implement - Share common inputs, processes, or outcomes - Task interdependence

5 C's of Team Composition

- Cooperating - Coordinating - Communicating - Comforting - Conflict Resolving

Ways to make individual performance more visible:

- Form smaller teams - Specialize tasks - Measure individual performance

Stages of Team Development

- Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing - Adjourning

Ways to increase employee satisfaction:

- Increase job enrichment - Select motivated employees

Norms develop through:

- Initial team experiences - Critical events in team's history - Experience/values members bring to the team

Why Informal Groups Exist

- Innate drive to bond - Social identity -- we define ourselves by group memberships - Goal accomplishment - Emotional support

Ways to change team norms:

- Introduce norms when forming teams - Select members with preferred norms - Discuss counter-productive norms - Reward behaviors representing desired norms - Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

Homogeneous Teams

- Less conflict - Faster team development - Performs better on cooperative tasks - Better coordination - High satisfaction of team members

Influences on Team Cohesiveness

- Member Similarity - Team Size - Member Interaction - Somewhat Difficult Entry - Team Success - External Challenges

Heterogeneous Teams

- More conflict - Longer team development - Performs better on complex problems - More creative - Better representation outside the team

Types of Teams (and Groups)

- Permanence - Skill differentiation - Authority differentiation

Levels of Task Interdependence

- Reciprocal - Sequential - Pooled

Members of cohesive teams...

- Want to remain members - Are willing to share information - Have strong interpersonal bonds - Resolve conflict effectively - Have better interpersonal relationships

The Trouble With Teams

-Individuals better/faster on some tasks -Process losses - cost of developing and maintaining teams -Companies don't support best work environment for team dynamics -Social loafing

Team Advantages

1. Make better decisions, products/services. 2. Better information sharing. 3. Increase employee motivation/engagement.

Authority differentiation

Degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team or centralized

Team Norms

Informal rules and expectations teams establish to regulate member behaviors

How to minimize social loafing

Make individual performance more visible and increase employee motivation.

Team Size

Smaller teams are better, but large enough to accomplish a task

Skill differentiation

degree of skill and/or knowledge diversity in the team

teams

groups of two or more people who are mutually accountable for achieving common goals and exist to fulfill a purpose. They perceive themselves as a social entity.

Permanance

how long a type of team usually exists

interdependent

interact and influence each other. A trait of teams.

Social loafing

members potentially exert less effort in teams than alone

Process losses

resources needed for team maintenance