Reframing Organizations, 4th ed.
Chapter 8
Interpersonal and Group Dynamics
Interpersonal and Group Dynamics
 Interpersonal Dynamics
 Emotional Intelligence
 Management Styles
 Group & Teams in Organizations
Interpersonal Dynamics
 Managers spend much of their time in
relationships
 Three recurrent questions regularly haunt
managers:
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What is really happening in this relationship?
Why do other people behave as they do?
What can I do about it?
Interpersonal Dynamics (II)
 Argyris and Schön’s theories for action
 Espoused theory: how individuals describe,
explain, or predict their own behavior
 Theory-in-use: the program that governs an
individual’s actions
Interpersonal Dynamics (III)
 Argyris and Schön’s theories for action
 Model I Theory in use
 Model I Assumptions
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Model II Assumptions
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Problem is caused by others
Unilateral diagnosis
Get person to change
Emphasize common goals
Communicate openly
Combine advocacy with inquiry
The Perils of Self-Protection
Model I Theory-in-use
Core values
(governing
variables)
Action
strategies
Consequences
for
relationships
Consequences
for learning
Define and
achieve your
own goals
Design and
manage
unilaterally
You’re seen as
defensive,
inconsistent,
selfish
Self-sealing
Maximize
winning,
minimize losing
Own and control
what’s relevant
to you
You generate
defensiveness
Single-loop
learning
Avoid negative
feelings
Protect yourself
You reinforce
mistrust,
conformity,
avoiding risk
Private testing of
assumptions
Be rational
Unilaterally
protect others
Key issues
become
undiscussable
Unconscious
collusion to avoid
learning
Model I Assumptions
 Problems are caused by the other person
 Since they caused the problem, get them to
change
 If they refuse or defend, that proves they
caused the problem
 If they resist, intensify the pressure, protect
them (to avoid discomfort), or reject them
 If you don’t succeed, it’s their fault; you’re not
responsible
Model II Assumptions
 Focus on common goals, mutual influence
 Communicate openly, test beliefs publicly
 Combine advocacy with inquiry
Advocacy & Inquiry
Figure 8-1: Advocacy and Inquiry.
High
Advocacy
Low
Assertive
Integrative
Passive
Accommodating
Inquiry
Emotional Intelligence
 Emotional Intelligence: awareness of self and
others, able to deal with emotions and
relationships (Salovey and Mayer)
 A Management Best-seller: Daniel Goleman’s
Emotional Intelligence
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EI more important than IQ to managerial
success
Individuals with low EI and high IQ are
dangerous in the workplace
Management Styles
 Lewin, Lippitt and White: autocratic,
democratic and laissez-faire leadership
 Fleishman and Harris: initiating structure vs.
consideration of others
 Myers-Briggs Inventory
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Introversion vs. extraversion
Sensing vs. intuition
Thinking vs. feeling
Judging vs. perceiving
Management Styles (II)
 “Big 5 Model”
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Extraversion (enjoying other people and
seeking them out)
Agreeableness (getting along with others)
Conscientiousness (orderly, planful, hardworking)
Neuroticism (difficulty controlling negative
feelings)
Openness to experience (preference for
novelty and creativity)
Groups and Teams in
Organizations
 Informal Roles
 Informal Group Norms
 Interpersonal Conflict in Groups
 Leadership and Decision-Making in Groups
Informal roles
 Informal role: an unwritten, often unspoken
expectation about how a particular individual will
behave in the group
 Individuals prefer different roles: some prefer to be
active and in control, others prefer to stay in the
background
 Individuals who can’t find a comfortable role may
withdraw or become troublemakers
 Individuals may compete over the same role (for
example, two people who both want to run things),
hindering group effectiveness
Informal group norms
 Informal norm: unwritten rule about what
individuals have to do to be members in good
standing
 Norms need to align with both the task and
the preferences of group members
 Norms often develop unconsciously; groups
often do better to discuss explicitly how they
want to operate
Handling Interpersonal Conflict in
Groups
 Develop skills
 Agree on basics
 Search for interests in common
 Experiment
 Doubt your infallibility
 Treat conflict as a group responsibility
Leadership and Decision-making in
Groups
 How will we steer the group
 Leadership in the essential, but may be
shared and fluid
 Leaders who overcontrol or understructure
produce frustration, ineffectiveness
Summary
 Employees bring social and personal needs
to the workplace
 Individuals’ social skills or competencies are
a critical element
 Though often frustrating, groups can be both
satisfying and efficient