Chapter 5:
Groups and Teamwork
Amanda Tumbach
Gary McInenly
Raynard Enriquez
Adam Baker
Groups and Teams
Groups vs. Teams
4 types of teams
Groups and Teams
 used as a way to better utilize employee talents.
 outperform individuals
 potential for greater outputs without increasing
inputs
 more flexible & responsive
Groups vs. Teams
 Group: 2 or more individuals, interacting and
interdependent, who have a stable relationship,
common goal and perceive themselves as a group
 Team: groups that work close together to a common
objective, and are accountable to one another
 not all groups are teams, but all teams are groups
Problem-Solving (or Process-Improvement)
Teams
 groups of 5-12 employees from the same
department who meet for a few hours each week to
discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency and the
work environment.
 ideas and suggestions are shared
 it is found that the use of teamwork varies by
organizational size
Quality Circles
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most problem-solving teams use quality circles
a work group of employees (about 8-10) who meet
regularly to discuss their quality problems,
investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take
corrective actions
employees participating in quality circles are required
to learn further skills and methods to analyze and
solve quality problems
Self-Managed (or Self-Directed)
Work Teams
 a group of 10-15 employees who take on
responsibilities of their former managers
 These responsibilities include:
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planning & scheduling of work
assigning tasks to members
collectively controlling the pace of work
making operating decisions
taking action on problems
 teams select their own members and make
evaluations on each other
Cross-Functional (or Project) Teams
 a team made up of employees from about the same
hierarchical level, but from different work areas who
come together to accomplish a task
 an effective means of allowing individuals from
diverse areas within an organization or between
organizations to exchange info, develop new ideas
and solve problems, and to coordinate complex
projects
 downfall occurs in developmental stages
 Includes:
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Task forces: temporary cross-functional teams
Committees: groups composed of members from
across departmental lines
Skunkworks: cross-functional teams that develop
spontaneously to create new products or work on
complex problems
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work in isolation
Virtual Teams
 use of computer technology to tie together
physically dispersed members in order to achieve a
common goal
 collaborate online using communication links
 can do all things that other teams do, and can often
be more efficient due to ease of sharing info
 downfall in absence of paraverbal cues, nonverbal
cues, and social contact
From Individual to Team
Member
Roles
Norms
Status
 In order for a team to function, individuals have to
achieve some balance between their own needs
and the needs of the team.
 Individuals bring:
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Personality
Previous Experience
 Possible pressures individual group members put
on each other through expectations.
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Roles
Norms
Status
Roles
 A set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to
someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
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Role Identity
Role Perception
Role Expectation
Role Conflict
Psychological Contract
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An unwritten agreement that sets out what
management expects from the employee and vice
versa.
Norms
 acceptable standards of behaviour within a group
that are shared by the group’s members
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means of influencing behaviour
differ among groups, communities and societies
but all entities have norms
formalized norms are written up in organizational
manuals that set out rules and procedures
most norms in organizations are informal
Conformity
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adjusting your behaviour to align with the norms of a
group
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Reference Groups
Status
 a socially defined position or rank given to groups
or group members by others
 motivation
 acquired, ascribed
 significance?
Stages Of Group and Team
Development
 The Five-Stage Model
 The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Five-Stage Model
1. Forming
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The first stage of development, Characterized
form the saying “testing the waters”
2. Storming
 The second stage of development, know as the
power struggle or intragroup conflict stage
3. Norming
 The third stage of development, Characterized by
close relationships and cohesiveness
4. Performing
 The fourth stage of development, were the group of
team is fully functional and accepted
5. Adjourning
 The final stage of development for temporary
groups or teams, characterized by concern with
wrapping up activities rather than task performance
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Phase 1
 The first meeting in which members of a team
gather to set the direction of the group. These
direction become “ written in stone ”, Known as the
period of inertia
Phase 2
 Team moves out of the inertia stage and
recognizes that work needs to be completed
Transition
 This stage is in between phase 1 and 2. The stage
acts like a alarm clock, heightening members
awareness to get thing done. This stage is
characterized by a concentrated burst of changes.
That revise the direction of the team for phase 2
Creating Effective Teams
 Model of Team Effectiveness
- Work Design
- Process
- Composition
- Context
Model of Team Effectiveness
Work Design
Composition
Autonomy
Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task significance
Ability
Personality
Roles and Diversity
Size
Flexibility
Preference for teamwork
Team Effectiveness
Process
Context
Common Purpose
Specific goals
Team efficacy
Conflict
Adequate Resources
Leadership
Performance
Evaluation and Rewards
Work Design
 Work together and collectively take responsibility for
a goal or task.
 This includes:
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Autonomy: independence
Skill Variety: using different skills and talents
Task Identity: ability to complete a whole and
identifiable task
Task Significance: participation that has a substantial
impact
Composition
 Select members with their strengths in mind and
supply task that fit.
 This includes:
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Ability
Personality
Roles and Diversity
Size
Flexibility
Preference for teamwork
Ability
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technical expertise
problem solving and decision making skills
interpersonal skills
Personality
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Must be careful of team selection based on
personality.
This includes:
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Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Groups with these characteristics are most likely to
be successful.
Roles
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There are two types of roles:
1. Task oriented roles: performed by group members to
ensure that tasks are accomplished
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Ex. initiators, Information seekers, information
providers, elaborators, summarizers, consensus
makers
2. Maintenance roles: carried out to ensure that group
members maintain good relations
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Ex. harmonizers, compromisers, gatekeepers,
encouragers
Size
The smaller the group the faster the productivity.
(groups consisting of 7 individuals)
 The larger the group the slower the productivity, but
better for gaining diverse input.
(groups consisting of 12 or more individuals)
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Flexibility
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Individuals who can complete more then one task or
another individual’s task.
Context
 Three factors that are most significant:
1. Presence of adequate resources
2. Effective leadership
3. Performance evaluation/Reward system
Adequate Resources
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support from management and the organization
This includes:
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Technology
Staffing
Assistance
Encouragement
Information
Leadership
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This includes looking after such things as:
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Scheduling
Workload
Skill Development
Conflict resolve
How to make/modify decisions
higher expectation/positive mood = greater
productivity, lower turnover, better performance
Performance Evaluation and Rewards
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getting a member to be individually/jointly
accountable
Some evaluations of performance:
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Team results
Effectiveness/Team functioning
Personal effectiveness
Process
 Variables of the group include:
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Common purpose
Specific Goals
Efficacy
Accountability: Conflict and Social Loafing
Common Purpose
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provides direction, momentum, and commitment for
members
broader then a goal
Specific Goals
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facilitate clear communication
help maintain employees focus on achieving results
set milestones
Team Efficacy
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Success breads success
Cohesiveness helps build team efficiency
Low
Performance
Norms
High
Cohesiveness
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High Productivity
Moderate
Productivity
Low Productivity
Moderate to Low
Productivity
What can be done to increase team efficiency?
1. helping the team to achieve small successes and skill training
2. provide training to improve workers technical and
interpersonal skills
Conflict Levels
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Relationship conflict can effect a teams performance both
positively and negatively.
Task conflict can improve team effectiveness.
Social Loafing and Accountability
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Social loafing is related to the size of the group.
Social loafing: tendency for individuals to expend less effort
when working collectively then when working individually
Successful teams make members individually and jointly
accountable.
Teams and Workforce
Diversity
Advantages & Disadvantages
Teams and Work Force Diversity
Advantages
 Multiple Perspectives
 Greater openness to new ideas
 Multiple interpretations
 Increase creativity
 Increase Flexibility
 Increase problem-solving skills
Disadvantages
Ambiguity
Complexity
Confusion
Miscommunication
Difficulty reaching agreements
Difficulty agreeing on
specific actions
Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer
How do you know if teams are for you ?
Three tests can be applied
1. Can the work be done better by more then
one person.
2. Does the work create a common purpose or
set of goals for the people in the group that is
more than aggregate of individual goals.
3. Are members of the group interdependent.