Textbook Chapter 7 "The Nature of Teams" Textbook Chapter 8 "Teamwork and Team Performance" Textbook Chapter 10 "Conflict and Negotiations" /Textbook Chapter 12 "Power and Politics"

Indirect conflict Management Strategies

"Chain of command" an indirect or structural approach to conflict management can often help. It uses such strategies as reduced interdependence, appeals to common goals, hierarchical "upward ' referral, and alterations in the use of mythology and scripts to deal with the conflict situation. Managed Interdependence: 1. When work flow conflicts exist, managers can adjust the level of interdependency among teams or individuals. - decoupling, or taking action to eliminate or reduce the required contact between conflicting parties. (The conflicting parties are separated as much as possible from one another). - Buffering, is another approach that can be used when the inputs of one team are the outputs of another. (Although it reduces conflict, this technique is increasingly out of favor because it increases inventory costs.) - linking-pin roles, are expected to understand the operations, members, needs, and norms of their host teams. (They are supposed to use this knowledge to help the team work better with others in order to accomplish mutual tasks.) Appeals to Common Goals: can focus the attention of conflicting individuals and teams on one mutually desirable conclusion. Upward referral:uses the chain of command for conflict resolution. Problems are moved up from the level of conflicting individuals or teams for more senior managers to address. Altering Scripts ans Myths: In some situations, conflict is superficially managed by scripts, or behavioral routines, that are part of the organization's culture. The scripts become rituals that allow the conflicting parties to vent their frustrations and to recognize that they are mutually dependent on one another.

Team composition

"If you want a team to perform well, you've got to put the right members on the team to begin with." It's advice we hear a lot. 1.) Team Composition - You can think of this as the mix of abilities, personalities, backgrounds, and experiences that the members bring to the team. NOTE: The basic rule of thumb for team composition is to choose members whose talents and interests fit well with the tasks to be accomplished, and whose personal characteristics increase the likelihood of being able to work well with others. 2.) FIRO-B Theory - (FIRO = fundamental interpersonal relations orientation) identifies differences in how people relate to one another in groups based on their needs to express and receive feelings of inclusion, control, and affection. NOTE: William Schultz states the management implications of the FIRO-B theory this way: "If at the outset we can choose a group of people who can work together harmoniously, we shall go far toward avoiding situations where a group's efforts are wasted in interpersonal conflicts." 3.) Status Congruence - occurs when a person's position within the team is equivalent in status to positions the individual holds outside of it. NOTE: Things may not go smoothly, for example, when a young college graduate is asked to head a project team on social media and whose members largely include senior and more experienced workers.

Team Building Alternatives

"We throw clients into situations to try and bring out the traits of a good team." 1.) Outdoor Experience Approach - The outdoor experience places teams in a variety of physically challenging situations. By having to work together to master difficult obstacles, team members are supposed to grow in self-confidence, gain more respect for each others' capabilities, and leave with a greater capacity for and commitment to teamwork. 2.) Formal Retreat Approach - team building takes place during an off-site retreat. The agenda, which may cover one or more days, is designed to engage team members in the variety of assessment and planning tasks. Formal retreats are often held with the assistance of a consultant, who is either hired from the outside or made available from in-house staff. Team-building retreats are opportunities to take time away from the job to assess team accomplishments, operations, and future potential. 3.) Continuous Improvement Approach - the manager, team leader, or group members themselves take responsibility for regularly engaging in the team-building process. This method can be as simple as periodic meetings that implement the team-building steps; it can also include self-managed formal retreats. In all cases, the goal is to engage team members in a process that leaves them more capable and committed to continuous performance assessment and improved teamwork.

Forming Stage

(of team development) a primary concern is the initial entry of members to a group. NOTE: "Can my needs be met at the same time that I contribute to the group?" Members are interested in getting to know each other and discovering what is considered acceptable behavior, in determining the real task of the team, and in defining group rules.

Storming Stage

(of team development) is a period of high emotionality and tension among the group members. NOTE: . During this stage, hostility and infighting may occur, and the team typically experiences many changes. Individuals begin to understand one another's interpersonal styles, and efforts are made to find ways to accomplish team goals while also satisfying individual needs.

Adjourning Stage

(of team development) is especially important for the many temporary teams such as task forces, committees, project teams, and the like. NOTE: Their members must be able to convene quickly, do their jobs on a tight schedule, and then adjourn—often to reconvene later if needed. Their willingness to disband when the job is done and to work well together in future responsibilities, team or otherwise, is an important long-term test of team success.

Norming Stage

(of team development) sometimes called initial integration, is the point at which the members really start to come together as a coordinated unit. NOTE: While enjoying a new sense of harmony, team members will strive to maintain positive balance, but holding the team together may become more important to some than successfully working on the team tasks.

Performing Stage

(of team development) sometimes called total integration, marks the emergence of a mature, organized, and well-functioning team. NOTE: . Team members should be able to adapt successfully as opportunities and demands change over time. A team that has achieved the level of total integration typically scores high on the criteria of team maturity as shown in Figure 7.3.

Team Effectiveness

- CRITERIA OF AN EFFECTIVE TEAM - SYNERGY AND TEAM BENEFITS - SOCIAL FACILITATION - SOCIAL LOAFING AND TEAM PROBLEMS There is no doubt that teams are pervasive and important in organizations. They accomplish important tasks and help members achieve satisfaction in their work. We also know from personal experiences that teams and teamwork have their difficulties; not all teams perform well, and not all team members are always satisfied. Surely you've heard the sayings

Improving Team Performance

- ENTRY OF NEW MEMBERS - ROLES AND ROLE DYNAMICS - TASK AND MAINTENANCE LEADERSHIP - TEAM NORM - TEAM COHESIVENESS - INTER-TEAM DYNAMICS Team building should be an ongoing concern for leaders and members alike. It's a way of updating and strengthening the processes through which people work together in teams

Stages of Team Development

- Forming Stage - Storming Stage - Norming Stage - Performing Stage - Adjourning Stage

Improving Team Communication

- INTERACTION PATTERNS AND COMMUNICATION NETWORKS - PROXEMICS AND USE OF SPACE - COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES It is important in teams to make sure that every member is strong and capable in basic communication and collaboration skills. In addition, however, teams must address questions like these:

Negotiation

- ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS FOR NEGOTIATION -NEGOTIATION GOALS AND OUTCOMES - ETHICAL ASPECTS OF NEGOTIATION Negotation - the process of making joint decisions when the parties involved have different preferences. NOTE: Negotiation has special significance in teams and work settings, where disagreements are likely to arise over such diverse matters as wage rates, task objectives, performance evaluations, job assignments, work schedules, work locations, and more.

Conflict Management

- STAGES OF CONFLICT - HIERARCHICAL CAUSES OF CONFLICT - CONTEXTUAL CAUSES OF CONFLICT - INDIRECT CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES - DIRECT CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 1.) Conflict Resolution - a situation in which the underlying reasons for dysfunctional conflict are eliminated—can be elusive. NOTE: When conflicts go unresolved, the stage is often set for future conflicts of the same or related sort. Rather than trying to deny the existence of conflict or settle on a temporary resolution, it is always best to deal with important conflicts in such ways that they are completely resolved. EXAMPLE: This requires a good understanding of the stages of conflict, the potential causes of conflict, and indirect and direct approaches to conflict management.

Input Foundations for Teamwork

- TEAM RESOURCES AND SETTING - NATURE OF THE TEAM TASK -TEAM SIZE - TEAM COMPOSITION MEMBERSHIP DIVERSITY AND TEAM PERFORMANCE

Teams in organizations

- TEAMS AND TEAMWORK -WHAT TEAMS DO - ORGANIZATIONS AS NETWORKS OF TEAMS - CROSS-FUNCTIONAL - PROBLEM-SOLVING TEAMS - SELF-MANAGING TEAMS - VIRTUAL TEAMS Scholars find that both good and bad basketball teams win more games the longer the players have been together. Why? They claim it's a "teamwork effect" that creates wins because players know each other's moves and playing tendencies. Scholars notice that the same heart surgeons have lower death rates for similar procedures when performed in hospitals where they do more operations. They claim it's because the doctors spend more time working together with members of these surgery teams. The scholars argue it's not only the surgeon's skills that count: "The skills of the team, and of the organization, matter."

Conflict in Organizations

- TYPES OF CONFLICT - LEVELS OF FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT - CULTURE AND CONFLICT Conflict -occurs whenever disagreements exist in a social situation over issues of substance, or whenever emotional antagonisms create frictions between individuals or groups. NOTE: The fact is that conflict dynamics are inevitable in the workplace, and it's best to know how to handle them. EXAMPLE: Team leaders and members can spend considerable time dealing with conflicts. Sometimes they are direct participants, and other times they act as mediators or neutral third parties to help resolve conflicts between other people.

Stages of Conflict

1. Antecedent conditions - Set the conditions for conflict > When the antecedent conditions become the basis for substantive or emotional differences between people or groups.. 2. Perceived conflict - Substantive or emotional differences are sensed > the stage of perceived conflict exists. Of course, this perception may be held by only one of the conflicting parties. 3. Felt conflict - Tension creates motivation to act > motivates the person to take action to reduce feelings of discomfort. For conflict to be resolved, all parties should perceive the conflict and feel the need to do something about it. 4. Manifest conflict - Addressed by conflict resolution or suppression > Conflict suppression is a superficial and often temporary state that leaves the situation open to future conflicts over similar issues. Only true conflict resolution establishes conditions that eliminate an existing conflict and reduce the potential for it to recur in the future.

Five common norms that can have positive and negative implications for team processes and effectiveness:

1. Ethics norms—"We try to make ethical decisions, and we expect others to do the same" (positive); "Don't worry about inflating your expense account; everyone does it here" (negative). 2. Organizational and personal pride norms—"It's a tradition around here for people to stand up for the company when others criticize it unfairly" (positive); "In our company, they are always trying to take advantage of us" (negative). 3. High-achievement norms—"On our team, people always want to win or be the best" (positive); "No one really cares on this team whether we win or lose" (negative). 4. Support and helpfulness norms—"People on this committee are good listeners and actively seek out the ideas and opinions of others" (positive); "On this committee it's dog-eat-dog and save your own skin" (negative). 5. Improvement and change norms—"In our department people are always looking for better ways of doing things" (positive); "Around here, people hang on to the old ways even after they have outlived their usefulness" (negative).

FIGURE 7.3 Ten criteria for measuring the maturity of a team.

1. Feedback mechanisms 2. Decision-making methods 3. Group loyalty/cohesion 4. Operating procedures 5. Use of member resources 6. Communications 7. Goals 8. Authority relations 9. Participation in leadership 10. Acceptance of minority views Immature Team - Mature Team poor - excellent dysfunctional - functional low - high inflexible - flexible poor - excellent unclear - clear not accepted - accepted independent - interdependent low - high low - high

Four common forms of role conflict

1. Intrasender role conflict: occurs when the same person sends conflicting expectations. Example: Team leader—"You need to get the report written right away, but now I need you to help me get the PowerPoints ready." 2. Intersender role conflict occurs when different people send conflicting and mutually exclusive expectations. Example: Team leader (to you)—"Your job is to criticize our decisions so that we don't make mistakes." Team member (to you)—"You always seem so negative. Can't you be more positive for a change?" 3. Person-role conflict occurs when a person's values and needs come into conflict with role expectations. Example: Other team members (showing agreement with each other)—"We didn't get enough questionnaires back, so let's each fill out five more and add them to the data set." You (to yourself)—"Mmm, I don't think this is right." 4. Inter-role conflict occurs when the expectations of two or more roles held by the same individual become incompatible, such as the conflict between work and family demands. Example: Team leader—"Don't forget the big meeting we have scheduled for Thursday evening." You (to yourself )—"But my daughter is playing in her first little-league soccer game at that same time."

Types of Team Norms

1. Performance Norms - conveys expectations about how hard team members should work and what the team should accomplish. NOTE: In some teams, the performance norm is high and strong. There is no doubt that all members are expected to work very hard and that high performance is the goal. If someone slacks off, they get reminded to work hard or end up removed from the team. In other teams, the performance norm is low and weak; members are left to work hard or not as they like, with little concern shown by the other members. - Many other norms also influence the day-to-day functioning of teams. Norms regarding attendance at meetings, punctuality, preparedness, criticism, and social behavior are important.

Team Cohesiveness

1.) Cohesiveness - a group or team is the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain part of it. NOTE: We might think of it as the feel-good factor that causes people to value their membership on a team, positively identify with it, and strive to maintain positive relationships with other members. cohesive teams are such a source of personal satisfaction, their members tend to be energetic when working on team activities, less likely to be absent, less likely to quit the team, and more likely to be happy about performance success and sad about failures.

Cross-Functional and Problem Solving Team

1.) Cross-Functional Teams - consists of people brought together from different functional departments or work units to achieve more horizontal integration and better lateral relations. NOTE: Members of cross-functional teams are supposed to work together with a positive combination of functional expertise and integrative team thinking. The expected result is higher performance driven by the advantages of better information and faster decision making. 2.) Functional Silos Problem -occurs when members of functional units stay focused on matters internal to their function and minimize their interactions with members dealing with other functions. NOTE: In this sense, the functional departments or work teams create artificial boundaries, or "silos," that discourage rather than encourage interaction with other units. The result is poor integration and poor coordination with other parts of the organization. The cross-functional team helps break down these barriers by creating a forum in which members from different functions work together as one team with a common purpose. 3.) Problem-Solving Teams - teams created to solve problems and make improvements. The best size is usually 5 to 7 members. NOTE: The president of a company, for example, might convene a task force to examine the possibility of implementing flexible work hours; a human resource director might bring together a committee to advise her on changes in employee benefit policies; a project team might be formed to plan and implement a new organization-wide information system. 4.) Employee Involvement Team -a wide variety of teams whose meets regularly to address workplace issues NOTE: ways to enhance quality, better satisfy customers, raise productivity, and improve the quality of work life. - Such employee involvement teams are supposed to mobilize the full extent of workers' know-how and experiences for continuous improvements. 5.) Quality Circle - a small team of employees who meet periodically to discuss and make proposals for of improving work quality

Organizations as Networks of Team

1.) Formal Teams - are created and officially designated to serve a specific purpose. NOTE: Some are permanent and appear on organization charts as departments (e.g., market research department), divisions (e.g., consumer products division), or teams (e.g., product-assembly team). Such teams can vary in size from very small departments or teams consisting of just a few people to large divisions employing 100 or more people. - Interlocking networks of formal teams create the basic structure of an organization. A. On the vertical dimension, the team leader at one level is a team member at the next higher level. B. On the horizontal dimension, a team member may also serve on organization-wide task forces and committees. 2.) Informal Groups -emerge and coexist as a shadow to the formal structure and without any assigned purpose or official endorsement. NOTE: Informal groups can be highly productive, even more so than formal groups. Informal groups develop through personal relationships and create their own interlocking networks within the organization. Friend- ship groups consist of persons who like one another. Their members tend to work together, sit together, take breaks together, and even do things together outside of the workplace. A. Friendship groups - consist of persons who like one another. - Their members tend to work together, sit together, take breaks together, and even do things together outside of the workplace. B. Interest groups - consist of persons who share job-related interests. - such as an intense desire to learn more about computers, or non work interests, such as community service, sports, or religion. Although informal groups can be places where people meet to complain, spread rumors, and disagree with what is happening in the organization, they can also be quite helpful. They also create interpersonal relationships that can satisfy individual needs, such as by providing companionship (meeting a social need) or a sense of personal importance (meeting an ego need 3.) Social network analysis - is used to identify the informal groups and networks of relationships that are active in an organization. NOTE: The analysis typically asks people to identify co-workers who most often help them, who communicate with them regularly, and who motivate and demotivate them. When these social networks are mapped, you learn a lot about how work really gets done and who communicates most often with whom. - The results often contrast markedly with the formal arrangements depicted on organization charts. And, this information can be used to redo the charts and reorganize teamwork for better performance.

Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict

1.) Functional Conflict - so called constructive conflict, results in benefits to individuals, the team, or the organization. NOTE: Indeed, an effective manager or team leader is able to stimulate constructive conflict in situations in which satisfaction with the status quo is holding back needed change and development. EXAMPLE: This positive conflict can bring important problems to the surface so they can be addressed. It can cause decisions to be considered carefully and perhaps reconsidered to ensure that the right path of action is being followed. 2.) Dysfunctional Conflict -or destructive conflict, works to the disadvantage of an individual or team. It diverts energies, hurts group cohesion, promotes interpersonal hostilities, and creates an overall negative environment for workers. NOTE: can decrease performance and job satisfaction as well as contribute to absenteeism and job turnover. Managers and team leaders should be alert to destructive conflicts and be quick to take action to prevent or eliminate them—or at least minimize any harm done. EXAMPLE: when two team members are unable to work together because of interpersonal differences—a destructive emotional conflict—or when the members of a work unit fail to act because they cannot agree on task goals—a destructive substantive conflict.or destructive conflict, works to the disadvantage of an individual or team. It diverts energies, hurts group cohesion, promotes interpersonal hostilities, and creates an overall negative environment for workers.

Levels of Conflict

1.) Interpersonal Conflict - occurs between two or more individuals who are in opposition to one another. It may be substantive, emotional, or both. NOTE: Often arise in the performance assessment process where the traditional focus has been on one person passing judgment on another. EXAMPLE: Two teammates debating each other aggressively on the merits of hiring a specific job applicant for the team. 2.) Intrapersonal Conflict - is tension experienced within the individual due to actual or perceived pressures from incompatible goals or expectations. NOTE: . Approach-approach conflict occurs when a person must choose between two positive and equally attractive alter- natives. -- Avoidance-avoidance conflict occurs when a person must choose between two negative and equally unattractive alter- natives. -- Approach-avoidance conflict occurs when a person must decide to do something that has both positive and negative consequences. EXAMPLE: An example is when someone has to choose between a valued promotion in the organization or a desirable new job with another firm. -- An example is being asked either to accept a job transfer to another town in an undesirable location or to have one's employment with an organization terminated. -- An example is being offered a higher- paying job with responsibilities that make unwanted demands on one's personal time. 3..) Intergroup Conflict - occurs between teams, perhaps ones competing for scarce resources or rewards or ones whose members have emotional problems with one another. NOTE: quite common in organizations, and it can make the coordination and integration of task activities very difficult. The growing use of cross-functional teams and task forces is one way of trying to minimize such conflicts by improving horizontal communication EXAMPLE: conflict among functional groups or departments, such as marketing and manufacturing. Sometimes these conflicts have substantive roots, such as marketing focusing on sales revenue goals and manufacturing focusing on cost-efficiency goals. Other times such conflicts have emotional roots, as when egotists in their respective departments want to look better than each other in a certain situation. 4.) Interorganizational Conflict - is most commonly thought of in terms of the rivalry that characterizes firms operating in the same markets. NOTE: interorganizational conflict is a much broader issue than that represented by market competition alone. EXAMPLE: business competition between U.S. multinationals and their global rivals: Ford versus Hyundai, or AT&T versus Vodaphone, or Boeing versus Airbus. Other common examples include disagreements between unions and the organizations employing their members, between government regulatory agencies and the organizations subject to their surveillance, between organizations and their suppliers, and between organizations and outside activist groups.

Proxemics and Use of Space

1.) Proxemics -An important but sometimes neglected part of communication in teams involves proxemics, the use of space as people interact NOTE: This might be done by moving chairs and tables closer together, or by choosing to meet in physical spaces that are most conducive to communication. Meeting in a small conference room at the library, for example, may be a better choice than meeting in a busy coffee shop.

Self-Managing Teams

1.) Self-Managing Teams - Have authority to make decisions about how they share and complete day-to-day work. - Most self managing team include between five- fifteen members. They need to be large enough to provide a good mix of skills and resources but small enough to function efficiently. NOTE: A high-involvement work group design that is becoming increasingly well established. Sometimes called self-directed work teams. They basically replace traditional work units with teams whose members assume duties otherwise performed by a manager or first-line supervisor. 2.) Multiskilling - team members are expected to perform many different jobs—even all of the team's jobs—as needed. NOTE: Pay is ideally skill based: The more skills someone masters, the higher the base pay. Pay is ideally skill based: The more skills someone masters, the higher the base pay. - The expected benefits of self-managing teams include better work quality, faster response to change, reduced absenteeism and turnover, and improved work attitudes and quality of work life. - Given all this, self-managing teams are probably not right for all organizations, situations, and people. They have great potential, but they also require the right setting and a great deal of management support.

Social Facilitation

1.) Social facilitation - improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered. NOTE: Social facilitation theory suggests that working in the presence of others creates an emotional arousal or excitement that stimulates behavior and affects performance. - But the effect of social facilitation can be negative when the task is unfamiliar or a person lacks the necessary skills. A team member might withdraw, for example, when asked to do some- thing he or she isn't very good at.

Virtual Teams

1.) Virtual Team - A group of people that rely primarily or exclusively on electronic forms of communication to work together in accomplishing goals. NOTE: Working in electronic space and free from the constraints of geographical distance, members of virtual teams do the same things members of face-to-face groups do. They share information, make decisions, and complete tasks together. A.) The potential advantages of virtual teams begin with the cost and time efficiencies of bringing together people located at some, perhaps great, distance from one another. B.) The potential downsides to virtual teams are also real. Members of virtual teams may find it hard to get up to speed and work well with one another. When the computer is the go-between, relationships and interactions can be different and require special attention. - The lack of face-to-face interaction limits the role of emotions and nonverbal cues in the communication process, perhaps depersonalizing relations among team members.

Communication Technologies

1.) Virtual communication networks - Think of technology as empowering teams to use ________________? which members communicate electronically all or most of the time. NOTE: Technology in virtual teamwork acts as the "hub member" in the centralized communication network and as an ever-present "electronic router" that links members in decentralized networks on an as-needed and always-ready basis. This means doing things like online team building so that members get to know one another, learn about and identify team goals, and otherwise develop a sense of cohesiveness.

FIGURE 7.4 An open systems model of team effectiveness.

: It shows team effectiveness being influenced by both team inputs—"right players in the right seats"— and team processes—"on the same bus, headed in the same direction." Team effectiveness = Quality of inputs x (Process gains - Process losses) --FEEDBACK-- (Team inputs) >Resources & setting • Resources • Technology • Structures • Rewards • Information >Nature of task • Clarity • Complexity >Team size • Number of members • Even-odd number >Team composition • Abilities • Values • Personalities • Diversity (Team process) The way team members interact and work together • Norms • Cohesion • Roles • Communication • Decision making • Conflict (Team effectiveness) Accomplishment of desired outcomes • Task performance • Member satisfaction • Team viability

FIGURE 7.2 Five stages of team development.

: describes the five stages of team development as forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. >Forming- Getting to know each other. >Storming- Dealing with tensions and defining group tasks. >Norming- Building relationships and working together. >Performing- Maturing in relationships and task performance. >Adjourning- Disbanding and celebrating accomplishments.

FIGURE 7.1 Organizational and management implications of self-managing team

: shows that members of true self-managing teams make their own decisions about scheduling work, allocating tasks, training for job skills, evaluating performance, selecting new team members, and controlling the quality of work. Top manager Middle manager - Supervisor Supervisor Work unit Top manager Middle manager - Team Team leader Self-managing team ^ | | >Planning and scheduling work >Assigning of work tasks >Training of workers >Performance evaluation >Quality control

The Team Building Process

Coaches and managers in the sports world spend a lot of time at the start of each season joining new members with old ones and forming a strong team. Yet, we all know that even the most experienced teams can run into problems as a season progresses. - At times even the most talented players can lose motivation, quibble among themselves, and end up contributing little to team success. When such things happen, concerned owners, managers, and players are apt to examine their problems, take corrective action to rebuild the team, and restore the teamwork needed to achieve high-performance results. - At the very least we can say that teams sometimes need help to perform well and that teamwork always needs to be nurtured. 1.) Team Building - is so important - It is a sequence of planned activities designed to gather and analyze data on the functioning of a team and to initiate changes designed to improve teamwork and increase team effectiveness NOTE: When done well and at the right times, team building can be a good way to deal with actual or potential teamwork problems. The action steps for team building are highlighted in Figure 8.1 - Team building begins when someone notices an actual or a potential problem with team effectiveness. Data are gathered to examine the problem. This can be done by questionnaire, interview, nominal group meeting, or other creative methods. The goal is to get good answers NOTE: This team-building process is highly collaborative and participation by all members is essential.

Figure 10.2 Structural differentiation as a potential source of conflict among functional teams.

Conflict escalates with structural differentiation, when different teams and work units pursue different goals with different time horizons as shown in Figure 10.2. NOTE: Conflict also develops out of domain ambiguities, when individuals or teams lack adequate task direction or goals and misunderstand such things as customer jurisdiction or scope of authority. --> Research & Development Team (Emphasizes) - Product quality - Long-time horizon --> Manufacturing Team (Emphasizes) - Cost efficiency - Short-time horizon --> Marketing Team (Emphasizes) - Customer needs - Short time horizon

FIGURE 10.3 Five direct conflict management strategies

Cooperativeness (attempting to satisfy the other party's concerns) Assertiveness (attempting to satisfy one's own concerns) --> Figure 10.3 shows five direct conflict management strategies that vary in their emphasis <-- (Cooperative) + (Unassertive) Accommodation or Smoothing - Letting the other's wishes rule. Smoothing over differences to maintain superficial harmony. (Cooperative) + (Assertive) Collaboration and Problem Solving - Seeking true satisfaction of everyone's concerns by working through differences, finding and solving problems so everyone gains as a result. (Uncooperative) + (Unassertive) Avoidance - Downplaying disagreement; failing to participate in the situation and/or staying neutral at all costs. (Uncooperative) + (Assertive) Competition and Authoritative Command - Working against the wishes of the other party, fighting to dominate in win-lose competition, and/or forcing things to a favorable conclusion through the exercise of authority. Compromise - Working toward partial satisfaction of everyone's concerns; seeking "acceptable" rather than "optimal" solutions so that no one totally wins or loses.

Team Decision Techniques

Decisions can easily get bogged down or go awry when tasks are complex, information is uncertain, creativity is needed, time is short, "strong" voices are dominant, and debates turn emotional and personal. These are times when special team decision techniques can be helpful. the time-tested technique is _____________? 1.) Brainstorming - team members actively generate as many ideas and alternatives as possible. NOTE: Leigh Thompson points out that you have to be careful because brainstorming doesn't always work as intended. She recommends a period of "solo thinking" before brainstorming begins, keeping the brainstorming groups small, and making sure that rules are clear and followed. They are supposed to do so relatively quickly and without inhibitions. 2.) Nominal Group Techniques -In such cases, using the structured _______ _______ ________ for face-to-face or virtual decision making may be helpful? begins by asking team members to respond individually and in writing to a nominal question. NOTE: The goal is simply to make sure that everyone fully understands each response. A structured voting procedure is then used to prioritize responses to the nominal question and identify the choice or choices having most support. This procedure allows ideas to be evaluated without risking the inhibitions, hostilities, and distortions that may occur in an open and less structured team meeting. 3.) Delphi Technique - The _______ ____________ has evolved as a useful decision-making technique when team members are unable to meet face to face? It's virtual version basically collects online responses to a set of questions posed to a panel of decision makers NOTE: A coordinator summarizes responses, then sends the summary plus follow-up questions back to the panel. This process is repeated until a consensus is reached and a clear decision emerges.

Membership Diversity and Team Performance

Diversity is always an important aspect of team composition. The presence of different values, personalities, experiences, demographics, and cultures among members can bring both opportunities and problems. 1.) Homogeneous Teams - where members are very similar to one another. NOTE: The members typically find it quite easy to work together and enjoy the team experience. Yet, researchers warn about the risks of homogeneity. - Research points out that teams composed of members who are highly similar in background, training, and experience often under perform even though the members may enjoy a sense of harmony and feel very comfortable with one another. 2.) Heterogeneous Team - where members are very dissimilar to one another. NOTE: Nevertheless, if—and this is a big "if "—members can work well together, the diversity can be a source of advantage and enhanced performance potential. The mix of diverse personalities, experiences, backgrounds, ages, and other personal characteristics may create difficulties as members try to define problems, share information, mobilize talents, and deal with obstacles or opportunities. 3.) Diversity- Consenus Dilemma - is the tendency for diversity to make it harder for team members to work together, especially in the early stages of their team lives, even though the diversity itself expands the skills and perspectives available for problem solving. NOTE: These dilemmas may be most pronounced in the critical zone of the storming and norming stages of development as described in Figure 7.5. - Working through the diversity-consensus dilemma can slow team development and impede relationship building, information sharing, and problem solving. Some teams get stuck here and can't overcome their process problems. If and when such difficulties are resolved, diverse teams can emerge from the critical zone with effectiveness and often outperform less diverse ones. 4.) Collective Intelligence - the ability of a group or team to perform well across a range of tasks. NOTE: Researchers have found only a slight correlation between average or maximum individual member intelligence and the collective intelligence of teams. Furthermore, collective intelligence is associated with gender diversity, specifically the proportion of females on the team. This finding also links to process, with researchers pointing out that females in their studies scored higher than males on social sensitivity.

Team Cohesiveness and Conformity to Norms

Even though cohesive teams are good for their members, they may or may not be good for the organization. The question is this: Will the cohesive team also be a high-performance team? 1.) Role of conformity - (in team dynamics) states that the greater the cohesiveness of a team, the greater the conformity of members to team norms. NOTE: when the performance norms are positive in highly cohesive teams, the resulting conformity to the norm should have a positive effect on both team performance and member satisfaction. This is a best-case situation for team members, the team leader, and the organization. A.) negative in a highly Cohesive Team - the rule of conformity creates a worst-case situation for the team leader and the organization. Although the high cohesiveness leaves the team members feeling loyal and satisfied, they are also highly motivated to conform to the negative performance norm.

FIGURE 8.4 Ways to increase and decrease team cohesiveness.

Figure 8.4 shows how team cohesiveness can be increased or decreased by making changes in goals, membership composition, interactions, size, rewards, competition, location, and duration. How to Decrease Cohesion • Create disagreement • Increase heterogeneity • Restrict within team • Make team bigger • Focus within team • Reward individual results • Open up to other teams • Disband the team Targets • Goals • Membership • Interactions • Size • Competition • Rewards • Location • Duration How to increase cohesion • Get agreement • Increase homogeneity • Enhance within team • Make team smaller • Focus on other teams • Reward team results • Isolate from other teams • Keep team together

FIGURE 8.5 Interaction patterns and communication networks found in teams

Figure 8.5 links interaction patterns with team communication networks. -PATTERN- <Interacting team> Decentralized communication network <Co-acting team> Centralized communication network <Counteracting team> Restricted communication network -CHARACTERISTICS- >High interdependency around a common task Best at complex tasks >Independent individual efforts on behalf of common task Best at simple tasks >Subgroups in disagreement with one another Slow task accomplishment

consensus

It results when discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most team members and other members agree to support it. NOTE: Consensus does not require unanimity. What it does require is the opportunity for any dissenting members to feel that they have been able to speak and that their voices have been heard. Because of the extensive process involved in reaching a consensus decision, it may be inefficient from a time perspective.

Characteristics of High Performance Teams

It's quite easy to agree on must-have team leadership skills like those described in the "Teams Gain from Great Leaders . . ." sidebar. It also makes sense that having a leader set a clear and challenging team direction is at the top of the list. - High-performing teams have members who believe in team goals and are motivated to work hard to accomplish them. They feel "collectively accountable" for moving in what Hackman calls "a compelling direction." - High-performance teams turn a general sense of purpose into specific performance objectives. - Talent is essential. High-performance teams have members with the right mix of skills—technical, problem-solving, and interpersonal. Values count too. High- performance teams have strong core values that help guide team members' attitudes and behaviors in consistent directions. 1.) Collective Intelligence - applies in a high-performance team. NOTE: fuels a team to excel not just once, but over and over again. Researchers point out that collective intelligence is higher in teams whose processes are not dominated by one or a few members. - Collective intelligence is also higher on teams having more female members, a finding researchers link to higher social sensitivity in team dynamics.

Common Negotiation Pitfalls

One common pitfall is the tendency to stake out your negotiating position based on the assumption that in order to gain your way, something must be subtracted from the gains of the other party. This myth of the fixed pie is a purely distributive approach to negotiation. Second, the possibility of escalating commitment is high when negotiations begin with parties stating extreme demands. Once demands have been stated, people become committed to them and are reluctant to back down. Concerns for protecting one's ego and saving face may lead to the irrational escalation of a conflict. Third, negotiators often develop overconfidence that their positions are the only correct ones. This can lead them to ignore the other party's needs. In some cases negotiators completely fail to see merits in the other party's position—merits that an outside observer would be sure to spot. Fourth, communication problems can cause difficulties during a negotiation. It has been said that "negotiation is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching a joint decision." This process can break down because of a telling problem—the parties don't really talk to each other, at least not in the sense of making themselves truly understood. Lastly, It can also be damaged by a hearing problem—the parties are unable or unwilling to listen well enough to understand what the other is saying. Indeed, positive negotiation is most likely when each party engages in active listening and frequently asks questions to clarify what the other is saying.

What Do Teams Do

One of the first things to understand about teams in organizations is that they do many things and make many types of performance contributions. 1. Teams that recommend things are set up to study specific problems and recommend solutions for them. - The teams include task forces, ad hoc committees, special project teams, and the like. Members of these teams must be able to learn quickly how to pool talents, work well together, and accomplish the assigned task. 2. Teams that run things lead organizations and their component parts. A good example is a top-management team composed of a CEO and other senior executives. - Key issues addressed by top-management teams include identifying overall organizational purposes, goals, and values as well as crafting strategies and persuading others to support them. 3. Teams that make or do things are work units that perform ongoing tasks such as marketing, sales, systems analysis, manufacturing, or working on special projects with assigned due dates. - Members of these action teams must have good working relationships with one another, the right technologies and operating systems, and the external support needed to achieve performance effectiveness over the long term or within an assigned deadline.

Inter-Team Dynamics

Organizations ideally operate as cooperative systems in which the various groups and teams support one another. 1.) occur as groups cooperate and compete with one another. NOTE:In the real world, however, competition and inter-team problems often develop. Their consequences can be good or bad for the host organization and the teams themselves. This raises the issue of what happens between, not just within, teams. POSITIVE: Inter-team dynamics, competition among teams can stimu- late them to become more cohesive, work harder, become more focused on key tasks, develop more internal loyalty and satisfaction, or achieve a higher level of creativity in problem solving. NEGATIVE: such as when manufacturing and sales units don't get along, inter-team dynamics may drain and divert work energies. Members may spend too much time focusing on their animosities or conflicts with another team and too little time focusing on their own team's performance.

Social Loafing and Team Problems

Social Loafing - Also known as the, "Ringlemann effect," it is the tendency of people to work less hard in a group than they would individually. NOTE: Average productivity dropped as more people joined the rope-pulling task. Ringlemann suggested that people may not work as hard in groups because their individual contributions are less noticeable in the group context and because they prefer to see others carry the workload. - Steps that team leaders can take include keeping group size small and redefining roles so that free-riders are more visible and peer pressures to perform are more likely, increasing accountability by making individual performance expectations clear and specific, and making rewards directly contingent on an individual's performance contributions. Finally, not everyone is always ready to do group work. This might be due to lack of motivation, but it may also stem from conflicts with other work deadlines and priorities. Low enthusiasm may also result from perceptions of poor team organization or progress, as well as from meetings that seem to lack purpose.

How to Influence Team Norms

Team leaders and members can do several things to help their teams develop positive norms that foster high performance as well as membership satisfaction. 1.) Positive role model- In other words, be the exemplar of the norm, always living up to the norm in everyday behavior. 2.) Team Goals and also discuss Team Norms - that can best contribute to their achievement. Norms are too important to be left to chance. The more directly they are discussed and confronted in the early stages of team development, the better. 3.) Desired Norms - they should be given the right training and support, and their rewards should positively reinforce desired behaviors. 4.) power of team building and hold regular meetings - to discuss team performance and plan how to improve it in the future. This is a full-cycle approach to developing positive team norms: select the right people, provide them support, give positive reinforcement for doing things right, and continuously review progress and make constructive adjustments.

Entry of New Members

Team or Group Dynamics - are forces operating in teams that affect the way members relate to and work with one another. NOTE: They are especially important and at risk when teams are taking on new members, addressing disagreements on goals and responsibilities, resolving decision-making delays and disputes, reducing personality friction, and managing conflicts. New Member Concerns in Teams ■ Participation — "Will I be allowed to participate?" ■ Goal— "Do I share the same goals as others?" ■ Control— "Will I be able to influence what takes place?" ■ Relationships— "How close do people get?" ■ Processes— "Are conflicts likely to be upsetting?" Three behavior profiles that are common in such situations. 1.) Tough Battler - The tough battler is frustrated by a lack of identity in the new group and may act aggressively or reject authority. This person wants answers to this question: "Who am I in this group?" 2.) Friendly Helper - friendly helper is insecure, suffering uncertainties of intimacy and control. This person may show extraordinary support for others, behave in a dependent way, and seek alliances in subgroups or cliques. The friendly helper needs to know whether he or she will be liked. 3.) Objective Thinker - objective thinker is anxious about how personal needs will be met in the group. This person may act in a passive, reflective, and even single-minded manner while struggling with the fit between individual goals and group directions.

Criteria of an Effective Team

Teams in all forms and types, just like individuals, should be held accountable for their performance. To do this we need to have some understanding of team effectiveness. 1.) Effective Team - achieves high levels of task performance, membership satisfaction, and future viability A.) task performance - an effective team achieves its performance goals in the standard sense of quantity, quality, and timeliness of work results. - For a temporary team such as a new policy task force, this may involve meeting a deadline for submitting a new organizational policy to the company president. B.) member satisfaction - an effective team is one whose members believe that their participation and experiences are positive and meet important personal needs. - They are satisfied with their team tasks, accomplishments, and interpersonal relationships. C.) Team viability - the members of an effective team are sufficiently satisfied to continue working well together on an ongoing basis. - When one task is finished, they look forward to working on others in the future. Such a team has all- important long-term performance potential.

Team Norms

The entry issues, role dynamics, and task and maintenance needs we have just discussed all relate to what team members expect of one another and of themselves. 1.) Norms - beliefs about how members are expected to behave. NOTE: They can be considered as rules or standards of team conduct. Norms help members to guide their own behavior and predict what others will do. These responses may include subtle hints, direct criticisms, and even reprimands. At the extreme, someone violating team norms may be ostracized or even expelled.

Team Task

The nature of the task is always an important team input because different tasks place different demands on teamwork. When tasks are clear and well defined, it's quite easy for members to both know what they are trying to accomplish and work together while doing it. But, team effectiveness is harder to achieve with complex tasks. A.) One way to analyze the nature of the team task is in terms of its technical and social demands. 1.) The technical demands of a task include the degree to which it is routine or not, the level of difficulty involved, and the information requirements. 2.) The social demands of a task involve the degree to which issues of interpersonal relationships, egos, controversies over ends and means, and the like come into play. - Tasks that are complex in technical demands require unique solutions and more information processing. Those that are complex in social demands pose difficulties for reaching agreement on goals and methods to accomplish them.

Interaction Patterns and Communication Network

Three interaction patterns are common when team members work with one another on team tasks. We call these patterns the interacting team, the co-acting team, and the counteracting team One of the most common teamwork mistakes is that members are not using the right interaction patterns. 1.) Decentralized Communication Networks - (Tasks that require intense interaction among team members are best done with a decentralized communication network.) the star network or all-channel network, it operates with everyone communicating and sharing information with everyone else. NOTE: Decentralized communication networks work well when team tasks are complex and non-routine, perhaps tasks that involve uncertainty and require creativity. Member satisfaction on such interacting teams is usually high. 2.) Centralized Communication Networks - (Tasks that allow team members to work independently are best done using a centralized communication network.) the wheel network or chain network, it operates with a central hub through which one member—often a formal or informal team leader—collects and distributes information. NOTE: The centralized network works well when team tasks are routine and easily subdivided. It is usually the hub member who experiences the most satisfaction on successful co-acting teams. 3.) Restricted Communication Networks - the subgroups contest each other's positions and restrict interactions with one another. NOTE: The poor communication often creates problems but can be useful at times. Counteracting teams might be set up to stimulate conflict and criticism to help improve creativity or double-check decisions about to be implemented.

Stay Alert for These Common Causes of Conflicts in Organizations

Unresolved prior conflicts —When conflicts go unresolved, they remain latent and often emerge again in the future as the basis for conflicts over the same or related matters. • Role ambiguities - When people aren't sure what they are supposed to do, conflict with others is likely; task uncertainties increase the odds of working at cross-purposes at least some of the time. • Resource scarcities —When people have to share resources with one another and/or when they have to compete with one another for resources, the conditions are ripe for conflict. • Task interdependencies —When people must depend on others doing things first before they can do their own jobs, conflicts often occur; dependency on others creates anxieties and other pressures. • Domain ambiguities —When people are unclear about how their objectives or those of their teams fit with those being pursued by others, or when their objectives directly compete in win-lose fashion, conflict is likely to occur. • Structural differentiation —When people work in parts of the organization where structures, goals, time horizons, and even staff compositions are very different, conflict is likely with other units.

Culture and Conflict

We experience difficulties born of racial tensions, homophobia, gender gaps, and more. They arise from tensions among people who are different from one another in some way. They are also a reminder that cultural differences must be considered for their conflict potential. People who are not able or willing to recognize and respect cultural differences can cause dysfunctional conflicts in multicultural teams. - American engineer: "Something magical happens. Europeans are very creative thinkers; they take time to really reflect on a problem to come up with the very best theoretical solution. Americans are more tactical and practical—we want to get down to developing a working solution as soon as possible." - French teammate: "The French are more focused on ideas and concepts. If we get blocked in the execution of those ideas, we give up. Not the Americans. They pay more attention to details, processes, and time schedules. They make sure they are prepared and have involved everyone in the planning process so that they won't get blocked.

Win-Win Strategies

Win-win conflict is achieved by a blend of both high cooperativeness and high assertiveness. Win-win outcomes eliminate the reasons for continuing or resurrecting the conflict because nothing has been avoided or suppressed. The ultimate test for collaboration and problem solving is whether or not the conflicting parties see that the solution to the conflict: (1) achieves each party's goals, (2) is acceptable to both parties, and (3) establishes a process whereby all parties involved see a responsibility to be open and honest about facts and feelings. When success in each of these areas is achieved, the likelihood of true conflict resolution is greatly increased. However, IT TAKES TIME! 1.) Collaborating and Problem Solving - involve recognition by all conflicting parties that something is wrong and needs attention. NOTE: It stresses gathering and evaluating information in solving disputes and making choices. All relevant issues are raised and openly discussed

Disruptive Negotiation

focuses on positions staked out or declared by conflicting parties. NOTE: Each party tries to claim certain portions of the available "pie" whose overall size is considered fixed EXAMPLE: The notion of "my way or the highway"

Power

is the ability of a person or group to influence or control some aspect of another person or group. NOTE: In organizations, it is often associated with control over resources others need, such as money, information, decisions, work assignments, and so on. , power is not an absolute. It has to be given by others who are willing to be influenced. Power is also associated with key decision-making functions, such as budgets, schedules, performance appraisals, organizational strategy, and the like. EXAMPLE: Most people assume that power comes from hierarchical positions—that because managers have positions with authority embedded in them they have all the power. But this isn't always true.

Social Power

is used to recognize that power comes from the ability to influence another in a social relation. (differs from force) NOTE: Social power is earned through relationships, and if it isn't used properly, it can be taken away. EXAMPLE: We see teenagers take their parents' power away when they don't listen or do as they are told. Employees remove managers' power when they do not act respectfully or badmouth managers to others in the organization.

FIGURE 8.6 Alternative ways that teams can make decisions.

teams may make decisions through any of the six methods shown in Figure 8.6. -Team decisions- 1. Decision by lack of response - In decision by lack of response, one idea after another is suggested without any discussion taking place. 2. Decision by authority rule - In decision by authority rule, the chairperson, manager, or leader makes a decision for the team. 3. Decision by minority rule - In decision by minority rule, two or three people are able to dominate, or railroad, the group into making a decision with which they agree. 4. Decision by majority rule - One of the most common ways that groups make decisions is through decision by majority rule. 5. Decision by consensus - Another of the decision alternatives is consensus. It results when discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most team members and other members agree to support it. 6. Decision by unanimity - A decision by unanimity may be the ideal state of affairs. Here, all team members wholeheartedly agree on the course of action to be taken.

Remedies to Help Teams Avoid Groupthink

• Assign the role of critical evaluator to each team member. • Have the leader avoid seeming partial to one course of action. • Create subgroups that each work on the same problem. • Have team members discuss issues with outsiders and report back. • Invite outside experts to observe and react to team processes. • Assign someone to be a "devil's advocate" a teach team meeting. • Hold "second-chance" meetings after consensus is apparently achieved.

Heads Up: Don't Forget These Must-Have Contributions by Team Members

• Putting personal talents to work • Encouraging and motivating others • Accepting suggestions • Listening to different points of view • Communicating information and ideas • Persuading others to cooperate • Resolving and negotiating conflict • Building consensus • Fulfilling commitments • Avoiding disruptive acts and words

Figure 8.2 describes Task and shows maintenance leadership in team dynamics.

How to lead groups and teams Leading by Task Contributions • Offering ideas • Clarifying suggestions • Giving information • Seeking information • Summarizing discussion Leading by Maintenance Contributions • Encouraging others • Reconciling differences • Expressing standards • Offering agreement • Inviting participation

FIGURE 10.4 The bargaining zone in classic two-party negotiation.

Figure 10.4 illustrates classic two-party distributive negotiation by the example of the graduating senior negotiating a job offer with a recruiter. Ri - 45,000 Recruiter's initial offer Gr - 50,000 Graduating senior's minimum reservation point ---> (BARGAINING ZONE) <--- Rr - 55,000 Recruiter's maximum reservation point Gi - 60,000 Graduating senior's initial offer

Figure 10.1 The two two faces of conflict: functional conflict and dysfunctional conflict.

Low Conflict: Dysfunctional Conflict- too little conflict is bad for performance Moderate Conflict: Functional Conflict Moderate levels of conflict are good for performance High Conflict: Dysfunctional Conflict too much conflict is bad for performance

Understanding Organizational Politics

WHY DO WE HAVE ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS? - THE ROLE OF SELF-INTEREST - POLITICAL CLIMATES For many, the word politics conjures up thoughts of illicit deals, favors, and advantageous personal relationships. It is important, however, to understand the importance of organizational politics and how they can help the workplace function in a much broader capacity.

Arbitration

the salary arbitration now common in professional sports, the neutral third party acts as a "judge" and has the power to issue a decision that is binding on all parties. NOTE: This ruling takes place after the arbitrator listens to the positions advanced by the parties involved in a dispute. ABLE TO PREDICT A PROBLEM

Integrative Negotiation

sometimes called principled negotiation, focuses on the merits of the issues. NOTE: Everyone involved tries to enlarge the available pie and find mutually agreed-on ways of distributing it, rather than stake claims to certain portions of it. EXAMPLE: "Let's find a way to make this work for both of us"

Control

over access to things other people need, such as information, resources, and decision-making.

Mediation

, the neutral third party tries to engage the parties in a negotiated solution through persuasion and rational argument. NOTE: This is a common approach in labor-management negotiations, where trained mediators accept- able to both sides are called in to help resolve bargaining impasses. NOT ABLE TO PREDICT A PROBLEM

Negotiation Strategies

- APPROACHES TO DISTRIBUTIVE NEGOTIATION - HOW TO GAIN INTEGRATIVE AGREEMENTS - COMMON NEGOTIATION PITFALLS THIRD-PARTY ROLES IN NEGOTIATION

Know When to Use Alternative Conflict Management Strategies

- Avoidance - may be used when an issue is trivial, when more important is- sues are pressing, or when people need to cool down temporarily and regain perspective - Accommodation - may be used when issues are more important to others than to yourself or when you want to build "credits" for use in later disagreements. - Compromise - may be used to arrive at temporary settlements of complex issues or to arrive at expedient solutions when time is limited. - Authoritative command - may be used when quick and decisive action is vital or when unpopular actions must be taken. - Collaboration and problem solving - are used to gain true conflict resolution when time and cost permit.

Navigating the Political Landscape

- BUILDING POWER BASES - DEVELOPING POLITICAL SKILLS - NETWORKING A key to navigating power and politics is managing one's own attitude and behavior. People who are nonpolitical or cynical about power may find themselves not getting promoted and being left out of key decisions and activities in the organization. Those who are overly political and abuse their power may be perceived as Machiavellian, or self-serving.

High-Performance Teams

- CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS - THE TEAM - BUILDING PROCESS - TEAM-BUILDING ALTERNATIVES Even as we celebrate great teams and the teamwork that drives them, scholar J. Richard Hackman warns that many teams in organizations under perform and fail to live up to their potential. He says that they simply "don't work." The question for us is: What differentiates high-performing teams from the also-rans?

Response of Power and Influence

- CONFORMITY - RESISTANCE - HOW POWER CORRUPTS

Improving Team Decisions

- WAYS TEAMS MAKE DECISIONS - ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF TEAM DECISIONS - GROUPTHINK SYMPTOMS AND REMEDIES - TEAM DECISION TECHNIQUES One of the most important activities for any team is Decision Making - the process of choosing among alternative courses of action. NOTE: the quality and timeliness of decisions and the processes through which they are made can have an important impact on how teams work and what they achieve.

Understanding Power

- WHAT IS POWER AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? - POWER AND DEPENDENCE - THE PROBLEM OF POWERLESSNESS - POWER AS AN EXPANDING PIE

Types of Conflict

1.) Substantive Conflict - a fundamental disagreement over ends or goals to be pursued and the means for their accomplishment NOTE: When people work together every day, it is only normal that different viewpoints on a variety of substantive workplace issues will arise. EXAMPLE: A dispute with one's boss or other team members over a plan of action to be followed, such as the marketing strategy for a new product, 2.) Emotional Conflict -interpersonal difficulties that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment, and the like. NOTE: When emotional conflicts creep into work situations, they can drain energies and distract people from task priorities and goals. Yet, they emerge in a wide variety of settings and are common in teams, among co-workers, and in superior-subordinate relationships. EXAMPLE: This conflict is commonly known as a "clash of personalities." Two persons continually in disagreement over each other's choice of words, work attire, personal appearance, or manners.

Ways Teams Make Decisions

Consider the many teams of which you have been and are a part. Just how do major decisions get made? Most often there's a lot more going on than meets the eye. Edgar Schein has worked extensively with teams to identify, analyze, and improve their decision processes.

Win-Lose Strategies

In win-lose conflict, one party achieves its desires at the expense and to the exclusion of the other party's desires. This is a high-assertiveness and low-cooperativeness situation Win-lose strategies fail to address the root causes of the conflict and tend to suppress the desires of at least one of the conflicting parties. As a result, future conflicts over the same issues are likely to occur. 1.) Competition - in which one party achieves a victory through force, superior skill, or domination. 2.) Authoritative Command - whereby a formal authority such as manager or team leader simply dictates a solution and specifies what is gained and what is lost by whom.

Symptoms of groupthink

The following symptoms of teams displaying groupthink should be well within the sights of any team leader and member: ■ Illusions of invulnerability —Members assume that the team is too good for criticism or beyond attack. ■ Rationalizing unpleasant and dis-confirming data — Members refuse to accept contradictory data or to thoroughly consider alternatives. ■ Belief in inherent group morality —Members act as though the group is inherently right and above reproach. ■ Stereotyping competitors as weak, evil, and stupid —Members refuse to look realistically at other groups. ■ Applying direct pressure to deviants to conform to group wishes—Members refuse to tolerate anyone who suggests the team may be wrong. ■ Self-censorship by members—Members refuse to communicate personal concerns to the whole team. ■Illusions of unanimity -Members are quick to accept consensus prematurely, with- out testing its completeness. ■ Mind guarding —Members try to protect the team from hearing disturbing ideas or outside viewpoints.

Team Size

The size of a team can have an impact on team effectiveness. As a team becomes larger, more people are available to divide up the work and accomplish needed tasks. - Communication and coordination problems arise at some point because of the sheer number of linkages that must be maintained. Satisfaction may dip, and turnover, absenteeism, and social loafing may increase NOTE: The ideal size of creative and problem-solving teams is probably between five and seven members, or just slightly larger. Those with fewer than five may be too small to adequately share all the team responsibilities. With more than seven, individuals may find it harder to join in the discussions, contribute their talents, and offer ideas. Larger teams are also more prone to possible domination by aggressive members and have tendencies to split into coalitions or subgroups.

Key Concepts: Principles of Persuasion

There are six different principles of persuasion. 1. Authority - People defer to experts such as doctors, professors, or senators. Official-looking clothing can trigger compliance; uniforms and well-tailored business suits in particular often create the aura of authority. Cars and expensive jewelry carry an aura of status and position, as does anything that implies status or position. Status, or anything that implies it, increases obedience. 2. Commitment and Consistency - People align with others who have clear commitments. After a commitment, there is internal pressure to align self-image with action, and interpersonal pressure to align self-image with the way others perceive us. Writing provides a physical proof of commitment, cannot be disbelieved, and can be shown to others. The commitment must be active, public, effortful, and freely chosen. 3. Social Proof - People tend to follow the lead of other similar people. We view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it. 4. Liking A great example of this is Jenny McCarthy spending a great deal of time and resources trying to influence others about potential negative effects of vaccines, particularly around the link between vaccines and autism. She has zero credentials or medical qualifications to make these claims (and in fact has been proven wrong on multiple occasions). Yet, she has been extremely influential because of her familiarity and likeability and attractiveness. 5. Reciprocity People repay in kind. We should try to repay to a comparable level what another person has provided us. Uninvited and unwanted favors and gifts works just as well. It also works better if it's termed as a gift. Someone can do a small favor and get a bigger one in return. However, if the first request is seen as too extreme, the whole thing backfires. 6. Scarcity A simple rule of human nature is that people want more of what they don't have very much of. The less available something is, the more valuable it seems. We react more strongly to the possibility of losing something rather than gaining something. The same choice, framed as avoiding the loss of money versus saving money, makes us more likely to choose it. Our desire increases when something is available for a limited time, especially if we must decide right now.

Iron Law of Responsibility

When power imbalances get bad, they trigger forces that rise up to take power away to restore the balance. EXAMPLE: An example is when lobbying groups work to take an organizations' power away by passing regulations.

Force

describes power that occurs against another's will.

Effective Negotiation

occurs when substance issues are resolved and working relationships are maintained or even improved. (Criteria of effective negotiation) 1. Quality of outcomes —The negotiation results in a "quality" agreement that is wise and satisfactory to all side 2. Harmony in relationships —The negotiation is "harmonious" and fosters rather than inhibits good interpersonal relations.

Dependence

one person or group relies on another person or group to get what they want or need. NOTE: If dependence can be easily removed then an individual has power only as long as the other is willing to give it to him or her. If dependence cannot be easily removed individuals have little choice and must comply dependence is most often associated with control. Because power is based on dependence, we need to manage dependencies in order to manage power. We do this by increasing others' dependence on us and reducing our dependence on others.

Teams Gain from Great Leaders and Talented Members Who Do the Right Things

• Set a clear and challenging direction • Keep goals and expectations clear • Communicate high standards • Create a sense of urgency • Make sure members have the right skills • Model positive team member behaviors • Create early performance "successes" • Introduce useful information • Help members share useful information • Give positive feedback

Sources of Power and Influence

- POSITION POWER - PERSONAL POWER - INFORMATION POWER - CONNECTION POWER

FIGURE 8.1 Steps in the team-building process.

Although it is tempting to view the process as something that consultants or outside experts are hired to do, the fact is that it can and should be part of any team leader and manager's skill set. Step 1: Problem or opportunity in team effectiveness Step 2: Data gathering and analysis Step 3: Planning for team improvements Step 4: Actions to improve team functioning Step 5: Evaluation of results Teamwork Participation by all members - can afford to pick and choose which step to take at any given moment.

Team Resources and Setting

Appropriate goals, well-designed reward systems, adequate resources, and appropriate technology are all essential to support the work of teams. Performance can suffer when team goals are unclear, insufficiently challenging, or arbitrarily imposed. It can also suffer if goals and rewards are focused too much on individual-level instead of group-level accomplishments. The importance of physical setting to teamwork is evident in the attention now being given to office architecture. Simply said, putting a team in the right workspace can go a long way toward nurturing teamwork.

Unit 7 Wrap-up

Conflict is an unavoidable part of working with people. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument is meant to provide you with a personalized assessment of how you handle conflict. Successful leaders are skilled at applying the appropriate conflict management styles for a given situation. We also examined power, politics, and persuasion. Recall the Thomas Green case and how you analyzed the possible actions that Green and Davis could have taken with respect to the different types of power -- and the potential implications that leveraging types of power to influence others can have; that is, power and influence can be used for good, or, alternately, can have negative impacts. Finally, keep in mind the six principles of persuasion -- authority, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, reciprocity, and scarcity -- and how you can apply them to your own experiences.

Connections and Perceptions

For someone in the know and highly connected, the political climate will likely be perceived as quite positive. For an individual who is disadvantaged or not well connected, the political climate can be seen as very negative. The difference depends on one's status and power in the political system. NOTE: Those who report stronger perceptions of organizational politics often experience greater job stress and strain, reduced job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and, ultimately, increased turnover.

Conformity

Herbert Kelman identified three levels of conformity one can make to another's influence attempt: compliance, identification, and internalization. 1.) Compliance occurs when individuals accept another's influence because of the positive or negative outcomes tied to it. - Because compliance is an extrinsic form of motivation, it results in minimal effort (proportional to the reward or punishment). Because of this, it is not a very effective influence strategy in the long run. 2.) Commitment occurs when individuals accept an influence attempt out of duty or obligation. NOTE: Committed individuals agree with the desired action and show initiative and persistence in completing it. Kelman identified two forms of commitment in response to influence attempts: (identification and internalization.) a. - Identification - is displayed when individuals accept an influence attempt because they want to maintain a positive relationship with the person or group making the influence request. EXAMPLE: Students who join a fraternity or sorority accept the influence of their peers because they identify with the organization and want to be part of the group. b. - Internalization - occurs when an individual accepts influence because the induced behavior is congruent with their value system. NOTE: Internalization means you believe in the ideas and actions you are being asked to undertake. EXAMPLE: members of religious organizations follow the dictates of the church because they truly believe in the principles and philosophies being advocated.

When It Comes to Networking

High performers have networks that provide them access to people who: • Can offer them new information or expertise • Have formal power • Are powerful informal leaders • Give them developmental feedback • Challenge their decision and push them to be better

Developing Political Skill

Individuals who are successful at politics are like this. They know how to read political situations and uncover the real motivations and connections going on behind the scenes. 1. political savvy — skill and adroitness at reading political environments and understanding how to influence effectively in these environments. 2. political skill - defined as the ability to understand and influence others to act in ways that enhance personal and/or organizational objectives. NOTE: Individuals who are high in political skill have the ability to read and understand people and get them to act in desired ways. They use connections to skillfully align themselves with others to attain goals. They adapt their behavior to the situation, but with authenticity and genuineness to build trust and credibility rather than suspicion or disdain.

FIGURE 12.1 Hypothetical psychological contract for a secretary.

Inside zone of indifference: Normal inducements sufficient Requested Action OBEY Work Sundays No Shop during lunch No hour for boss Make coffee for ? the office Work 40 hours in Yes the week Do word processing Yes Schedule meetings Yes Maintain computer Yes databases Work occasional Yes paid overtime Compose letters ? and reports Computerize No member list for boss's country club "Fudge" boss's No expense accounts Outside zone of indifference: Extraordinary inducements required

When in Doubt, Follow the Seven Steps for Consensus

It's easy to say that consensus is good. It's a lot harder to achieve consensus, especially when tough decisions are needed. Here are some tips for how members should behave in consensus-seeking teams: •Don't argue blindly; consider others' reactions to your points. •Be open and flexible, but don't change your mind just to reach quick agreement. • Avoid voting, coin tossing, and bargaining to avoid or reduce conflict. •Actin ways that encourage everyone's involvement in the decision process. • Allow disagreements to surface so that information and opinions can be deliberated. • Don't focus on winning versus losing; seek alternatives acceptable to all. • Discuss assumptions, listen carefully, and encourage participation by everyone.

The Role of Self Interest

Like power, organizational politics are neutral. Whether they are good or bad depends on how they are used. POSITIVE: when they advance the interests of the organization and do not intentionally harm individuals. NEGATIVE: when they involve self- interested behaviors of individuals and groups who work to benefit themselves in ways that disadvantage others and the organization. 1. Self-interested politics occur when people work to shift otherwise ambiguous outcomes to their personal advantage. NOTE: Self-interested politics are those that benefit, protect, or enhance self-interests without consideration of the welfare of co-workers or the organization. EXAMPLE:They include illegitimate political activities such as coalition building, favoritism-based pay and promotions, scapegoating, backstabbing, and using information as a political tool to enhance one's self or harm others

Lose-Lose Strategies

Lose-lose conflict occurs when nobody really gets what he or she wants in a conflict situation. The underlying reasons for the conflict remain unaffected, and a similar conflict is likely to occur in the future. Lose-lose outcomes are likely when the conflict management strategies involve little or no assertiveness. 1.) Avoidance - is the extreme where no one acts assertively and everyone simply pretends the conflict doesn't exist and hopes it will go away. 2.) Accommodations - (or smoothing) as it is some- times called, involves playing down differences among the conflicting parties and high- lighting similarities and areas of agreement. NOTE:. This peaceful coexistence ignores the real essence of a conflict and often creates frustration and resentment. 3.) Compromise - occurs when each party shows moderate assertiveness and cooperation and is ultimately willing to give up something of value to the other. NOTE: Because no one gets what they really wanted, the antecedent conditions for future conflicts are established.

How to gain integrative agreements

NOTE: behavioral foundations of integrative agreements must be carefully considered and included in any negotiator's repertoire of skills and capabilities: 1. Separate people from the problem. 2. Don't allow emotional considerations to affect the negotiation. 3. Focus on interests rather than positions. 4. Avoid premature judgments. 5. Keep the identification of alternatives separate from their evaluation. 6. Judge possible agreements by set criteria or standards.

Third-Party Roles in Negotiation

Negotiation may sometimes be accomplished through the intervention of third parties, such as when stalemates occur and matters appear to be irresolvable under current circumstances. NOTE: In a process called alternative dispute resolution, a neutral third party works with persons involved in a negotiation to help them resolve impasses and settle disputes. There are two primary forms through which it is implemented.

Role and Role Dynamics

New and old team members alike need to know what others expect of them and what they can expect from others. 1.) Role - a set of expectations associated with a job or position on a team. NOTE: When team members are unclear about their roles or face conflicting role demands, process problems are likely and team effectiveness can suffer. Although this is a common situation, it can be managed with proper attention to role dynamics and their causes. 2.) Role Ambiguity - occurs when a person is uncertain about his or her role or job on a team. NOTE: Role ambiguities may create problems as team members find that their work efforts are wasted or unappreciated. This can even happen in mature groups if team members fail to share expectations and listen to one another's concerns. 3.) Role Overload - occurs when too much is expected and someone feels overwhelmed. NOTE: can cause stress, dissatisfaction, and performance problems. 4.) Role Underload - occurs when too little is expected and the individual feels underused. NOTE: can cause stress, dissatisfaction, and performance problems. 5.) Role Conflict - occurs when a person is unable to meet the expectations of others. NOTE: . The individual understands what needs to be done but for some reason cannot comply. The resulting tension is stressful and can reduce satisfaction. It can affect an individual's performance and relationships with other group members. 6.) Role Negotiation - a helpful way of managing role dynamics. NOTE: It's a process whereby team members meet to discuss, clarify, and agree on the role expectations each holds for the other. Examples - "Respect it when I say that I can't meet some evenings because I have family obligations to fulfill"—indicating role conflict; "Stop asking for so much detail when we are working hard with tight deadlines"—indicating role overload; and "Try to make yourself available when I need to speak with you to clarify goals and expectations"—indicating role ambiguity.

groupthink (symptoms and Remedies)

One important problem that sometimes occurs when teams try to make decisions is _______________? 1. Group Think - the tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities. NOTE: Desires to hold the team together, feel good, and avoid unpleasantries bring about an overemphasis on agreement and an under-emphasis on critical discussion. This often results in a poor decision. As identified by social psychologist Irving Janis, groupthink is a property of highly cohesive teams, and it occurs because team members are so concerned with harmony that they become unwilling to criticize each other's ideas and suggestions.

Why Do We Have Organizational Politics?

Politics occur because we have both formal and informal systems in organizations. Not all behaviors in organizations can be prescribed, however, so informal systems arise to fill in the blanks. 1. Formal systems tell us what is to be done in organizations and how work processes are to be coordinated and structured. - They represent the "rational" side of organizations that controls behavior and reduces uncertainty. 2. Informal systems are patterns of activity and relationships that arise in everyday activities when individuals and groups work to get things done. EXAMPLE: They are highly changeable and occur through personal connections. For example, when a salesperson uses a personal connection with someone in operations to help speed up an order for a customer, this is an example of the informal system. 3. Organizational politics involve efforts by organizational members to seek resources and achieve desired goals through informal systems and structures. - Politics represent how people get ahead, how they gain and use power, and how they get things done ( for good and bad) in organizations.

Empowerment

Power as an expanding pie:The idea that social power can be an expanding pie is the basis for the trend in organizations over the past decades toward empowerment. involves sharing power, information, and rewards with employees to make decisions and solve problems in their work. NOTE: More than ever, managers in progressive organizations are expected to be good at and comfortable with empowering others. Rather than considering power to be something held only at higher levels in the traditional pyramid of organizations, this view considers power to be something that can be shared by everyone working in flatter and more collegial structures. EXAMPLE: When managers empower others, they also empower themselves by gaining a more dedicated and engaged workforce. Although many firms want empowerment, it is extremely difficult to accomplish. It requires individuals to change their understanding of power away from it being a zero sum game.

FIGURE 7.5 Member diversity, stages of team development, and team performance.

Problems may occur as interpersonal stresses and conflicts emerge from the heterogeneity. The challenge to team effectiveness is to take advantage of diversity without suffering process disadvantages. Team Performance (vertical) Forming, Storming, Norming - Critical Zone - Performing High- Effective Team Process gains > Losses Low- Ineffective Team Process losses > gains

Task and Maintenance Leadership

Research in social psychology suggests that teams have both task needs and maintenance needs, and that both must be met for teams to be successful.12 Even though a team leader should be able to meet these needs at the appropriate times, each team member is responsible as well. 1.) Distributed Leadership - Sharing of responsibilities for making task and maintenance contributions to move a team forward NOTE: Research in social psychology suggests that teams have both task needs and maintenance needs, and that both must be met for teams to be successful. Even though a team leader should be able to meet these needs at the appropriate times, each team member is responsible as well. 2.) Task Activities - what team members and leaders do that directly contribute to the performance of important group tasks. NOTE: A team will have difficulty accomplishing its objectives when task activities are not well performed. In an effective team, by contrast, all members pitch in to contribute important task leadership as needed. 3.) Maintenance Activities - support the social and interpersonal relationships among team members. NOTE: In an effective team, by contrast, maintenance activities support the relationships needed for team members to work well together over time. A team member or leader can contribute maintenance leadership by encouraging the participation of others, trying to harmonize differences of opinion, praising the contributions of others, and agreeing to go along with a popular course of action. 4.) (harm the group process) NOTE: dysfunctional activities include bullying and being overly aggressive toward other members, showing incivility and disrespect, withdrawing and refusing to cooperate, horsing around when there is work to be done, using meetings as forums for self-confession, talking too much about irrelevant matters, and trying to compete for attention and recognition. A.) Incivility or Antisocial Behavior - members can be especially disruptive of team dynamics and performance. NOTE: Research shows that persons who are targets of harsh leadership, social exclusion, and harmful rumors often end up working less hard, performing less well, being late and absent more, and reducing their commitment.

Resistance

Responses to power include not only conformity but also resistance. NOTE: Resistance involves individuals saying no, making excuses, stalling or even arguing against the initiative. There are two main types of resistance strategies used by individuals when they perceive an impractical request from their supervisor: constructive resistance and dysfunctional resistance. 1. Constructive resistance - is characterized by thoughtful dissent aimed at constructively challenging the manager to rethink the issue. - Individuals who use constructive resistance make suggestions for alternative actions accompanied by reasons for noncompliance. They do so in the hope of opening a dialogue to try to find a more appropriate solution to a problem. 2. Dysfunctional resistance -involves ignoring or dismissing the request of the influencing agent. EXAMPLE: Employees who engage in dysfunctional resistance attempt to thwart and undermine the manager by disrupting workflows (e.g., ignoring requests, making only a halfhearted effort, or simply refusing to comply by just saying "no").

Synergy and Team Benefits

Synergy - the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. NOTE: Synergy works within a team, and it works across teams as their collective efforts are harnessed to serve the organization as a whole. It creates the great beauty of teams: people working together and accomplishing more through teamwork than they ever could by working alone. The performance advantages of teams over individuals are most evident in three situations. 1.) when there is no clear "expert" for a particular task or problem, teams tend to make better judgments than does the average individual alone. 2.) teams are typically more successful than individuals when problems are complex and require a division of labor and the sharing of information. 3.) because they tend to make riskier decisions, teams can be more creative and innovative than individuals. - Teams are interactive settings where people learn from one another and share job skills and knowledge. The learning environment and the pool of experience within a team can be used to solve difficult and unique problems. - Team members can also provide emotional support for one another in times of special crisis or pressure. The many contributions individuals make to teams can help members experience self-esteem and personal involvement.

Psychological Reactance theory

The idea that force is met with countervailing force people rebel against constraints and efforts to control their behavior. NOTE: The extent to which we do this varies, but for some of us, when we feel overpowered it will trigger us to push back very hard in an effort to maintain our autonomy—perhaps without even realizing we are doing it!

Political Climate

refers to whether people in organizations work "within" or "around" formal policies and procedures in getting their work done. NOTE: When people work around formal policies and procedures, the climate is perceived as more political. Less political climates involve more direct and straightforward activities, where there is less need to interpret and watch out for the behaviors happening behind the scenes.

How Power Corrupts

What is it about power that causes people to lose perspective and do terrible things that cause great harm to themselves and others? Bathsheba Syndrome: It describes what happens to men and women of otherwise strong personal integrity and intelligence, who just at the moment of seemingly "having it all"—and despite the fact that they know it is wrong—engage in unethical and selfish behavior with the mistaken belief that they have the power to conceal it. NOTE: Power can have an intoxicating allure that makes people crave more and more of it. - Being powerful also means taking responsibility in the face of others' power. Responsibly managing power means acting to keep power in check.

Networking

What you know is not enough. You also need connections, or social capital, to get ahead. 1. Social capital - is resources that come from networks of relationships. NOTE: social capital is understanding that being smart, or having great ideas and information, is not sufficient—it is only beneficial if you are able to get the ideas communicated and implemented 2. human capital - which is knowledge, skills, and intellectual assets employees bring to the workplace. NOTE: human capital represents what you know, social capital represents who you know. If you have more network ties, you have greater opportunity to gain access to resources and influence others. Research has found that for many things—such as finding jobs or getting ahead—weak "acquaintance" ties work better than strong "friendship" ties. Individuals have greater access to more and different job opportunities when relying on weak ties. This is good news because strong ties are costly to maintain—they require more time than weak associations. 3. Brokers - develop relationships that link formerly unconnected actors by building bridges that provide greater access to information, resources, and opportunities. 4. structural holes - which exist as gaps between individuals and groups without connections in networks. NOTE: Bridging ties provide access to a diverse set of opinions, which is important for creativity. Networking is vital to the performance of both individuals and organizations. The most beneficial networks come from acquaintances one makes through every- day work activities and professional events, as well as from reciprocity in the exchange of resources. People who get ahead keep themselves open to opportunities, continually develop their competencies and skills sets, and build connections and relationships that benefit both individual and organizational success.

FIGURE 8.3 How cohesiveness and conformity to norms influence team performance.

When the performance norms are negative in a highly cohesive team, as shown in Figure 8.3, the rule of conformity creates a worst-case situation for the team leader and the organization. 1. Team cohesiveness High- Team Performance Norms Negative- (Likely outcome— Low performance "Worst-case" situation) 2. Team cohesiveness Low- Team Performance Norms Negative- (Likely outcome— Moderate to low performance) 3. Team cohesiveness High- Team Performance Norms Positive- (High performance "Best-case" situation) 4. Team cohesiveness Low- Team Performance Norms Positive- (likely outcome— Moderate performance)

Teams and Teammates

Whereas a group of people milling around a coffee shop counter is just that—a "group" of people, teams like those in the examples are supposed to be something more—"groups +" if you will. That "+" factor is what distinguishes the successful NBA basketball teams from the also-rans and the best surgery teams from all the other Teamwork - occurs when team members live up to their collective accountability for goal accomplishment NOTE: Scholars find that both good and bad basketball teams win more games the longer the players have been together. Why? They claim it's a "teamwork effect" Team - is a group of people holding themselves collectively accountable for using complementary skills to achieve a common purpose. NOTE: "The skills of the team, and of the organization, matter."

Informal Systems and Workarounds

Workarounds - occur when people go around rules to accomplish a task or goal because the normal process or method isn't producing the desired result. NOTE: Workarounds that benefit oneself or one's work unit at the expense of others will likely trigger copycat behaviors, fueling dysfunctional political climates. When workarounds are used to benefit the organization, EXAMPLE: Workarounds can involve seeking assistance from influential people in one's network, exploiting loopholes in a system, or using one's connections to access potentially useful information or influence decisions.

Personal Power

resides in the individual and is independent of position; it is generated in relationships with others. NOTE: Sources of personal power include expert power and referent power. 1.) Expert power - comes from special skills and abilities that others need but do not possess themselves. Expert power is also relative, not absolute. If you are the best cook in the kitchen, you have expert power until a real chef enters, and then the chef has the expert power. - It can include knowledge, experience, and judgment. Expert power is often determined by the individual's performance record over time and the alternative sources of knowledge available. It also is highly influenced by the importance of the area of expertise. 2.) Referent power - is the ability to alter another's behavior because the person wants to identify with you as the power source. - Although referent power is an invaluable source of power for individuals, it can be variable. To retain referent power, its holders are under constant pressure to maintain their exemplary images and live up to other's expectations.

Building Power Bases

You have to establish your power bases—position, personal, information, connection— to do well at managing power and politics. 1. Power bases - are the sources of power (position, personal, information, connection) that individuals and sub-units develop in organizations. NOTE: A lack of power limits ability to have real influence. Persons with power are able to advance important initiatives and gain access to key resources. They are also better able to protect themselves from powerful others. Power bases must be established before you need them, however. If you wait to develop them when needed, it is probably too late. There are two main ways to build power bases in organizations. The first involves establishing competence and value added to the organization. 1. Non-substitutability - This builds personal and position power by proving your ability to perform at higher levels and having competencies that are hard to replace. 2. The second way to build power bases is through developing information and connection power. You do this by building relationships and networks. Information comes from formal access to information (e.g., meetings, task forces, e-mails, policy documents), informal access to information (e.g., grapevine, hall talk) and the opportunity to distribute or share information with others (e.g., being the first to tell others about an organizational change) Connection power comes from internal networks, external networks, and being central in a network.

Powerlessness

is a lack of autonomy and participation. It occurs when Powerlessness is defined power imbalances make people feel that they have no option but to do what others say. NOTE: When we experience powerlessness we feel little control over ourselves and our work processes. Research shows that when we feel powerless we display it in our body language— In organizations, powerlessness has debilitating effects. Perceptions of powerlessness create spirals of helplessness and alienation. EXAMPLE: by shrinking in, caving in our chests, physically withdrawing, or using less forceful hand gestures. Think for a minute about a situation in which you feel powerless. How does it make you feel? Frustrated? Anxious? Angry? Afraid? Resentful? Isolated? These are destructive emotions in relationships and in organizations.

Information Power

is possession of or access to information that is valuable to others. NOTE: It can come from one's position in the organization, such as the information a manager has because he or she is in the chain of command. Or it can come from one's informal networks and being "in the know," such as personal relationships with others who have access to information. Individuals who have information power have wide discretion in how to use it. EXAMPLE: Individuals who use information power must be very careful not to share or spread proprietary information. Violating confidentiality and trust can lead to loss of relationships, which is damaging to all forms of power an individual may hold in organizations.

Connection Power

is the ability to call on connections and networks both inside and outside the organization for support in getting things done and in meeting one's goals. NOTE: In today's interconnected society and knowledge-based organizations, connection power from networks and relationships is becoming increasingly important EXAMPLE: It is another form of power that crosses both positional and personal power. Two forms of connection power are association power and reciprocal alliances. 1.) Association power - arises from influence with a powerful person on whom others depend. - Individuals have association power when they know people in key positions or have networks of relationships with higher-ups who connect them to influential others. Association power is reflected in the expression "It's not what you know but who you know." It is valuable because so many things in organizations happen through personal connections and relationships. 2.) Reciprocal alliances - describe a form of power arising from connections with others developed through reciprocity. - Effective networkers recognize that reciprocity and reciprocal alliances are a powerful way to form strong networks in organizations. Research shows that executives who consistently rank in the top 20 percent of their companies in both performance and well-being have developed strong networks made up of high-quality relationships from diverse areas and up and down the corporate hierarchy.

Bargaining Zone

is the range between one party's mini- mum reservation point and the other party's maximum reservation point. NOTE: Whenever a positive bargaining zone exists, bargaining has room to unfold. Had the graduate's minimum reservation point been greater than the recruiter's maximum reservation point (for example, $57,000), no room would have existed for bargaining. Classic two-party bargaining always involves the delicate tasks of first discovering the respective reservation points—one's own and the other's. Progress can then be made toward an agreement that lies somewhere within the bar- gaining zone and is acceptable to each party.

Zero Sum Game

means one person's gain is equal to another person's loss ("I win, you lose"). It represents a belief that "for me to gain power, you must lose power." NOTE: Viewing power as a zero sum game causes you to lose power in the long run. EXAMPLE: This is because increasing your own power while others lose power leads to power imbalances.

Position Power

stems from the formal hierarchy or authority vested in a particular role or position. There are three main types of position power in organizations: legitimate power, reward power, and coercive power. 1.) Legitimate power - represents the formal hierarchical authority that comes from a position. - It is called legitimate because it represents a belief that those holding certain positions have a legitimate right to prescribe behavior, and those reporting to the position have a legitimate obligation to follow (e.g., "After all, I am your supervisor, and you should feel some obligation to do what I ask") A. Zone of indifference - It represents the range of requests to which a person is willing to respond without subjecting the directives to critical evaluation or judgment. - When directives fall within the zone they are obeyed routinely, but when they fall outside the zone of in- difference or are not considered legitimate, they are not necessarily obeyed, B. Hierarchical thinking occurs when hierarchical systems create environments of superiority among managers (i.e., "superiors") and inferiority among employees (i.e., "subordinates"). - Hierarchical thinking is a problem because it can lead employees to defer responsibility and initiative-taking, and cripple an organization that needs to be flexible and adaptive to survive. 2.) Reward Power - comes from the ability to administer outcomes that have positive valence (i.e., provide positive rewards) and remove or decrease out- comes that have negative valence (i.e., remove negative rewards). EXAMPLE: include money, promotions, kudos, enriched jobs, or not assigning unpleasant task duties or undesirable work schedules. For rewards to be effective, they must be perceived as equitable. Problems arise in the use of reward power when rewards do not match expectations. 3.) Coercive power involves the use of threat or punishment. It stems from the expectation that one will be punished if he or she fails to conform to the influence attempt NOTE: Although coercive power is sometimes needed to correct performance or behavioral problems, when not used care- fully and sparingly, it can reduce the strength and quality of relationships. EXAMPLE: Coercive Power can involve the threat that one will be transferred, demoted, or fired if they do not act as desired. Pay can become a form of coercive power when a manager threatens to withhold a pay raise.

Don't Neglect These Steps to Successful Virtual Teams

• Select team members high in initiative and capable of self-starting. • Select members who will join and engage the team with positive attitudes. • Select members known for working hard to meet team goals. • Begin with social messaging that allows members to exchange information about each other to personalize the process. • Assign clear goals and roles so that members can focus while working alone and also know what others are doing. • Gather regular feedback from members about how they think the team is doing and how it might do better. • Provide regular feedback to team members about team accomplishments.