Chapter 14: Individuals, Groups and
Teams
1. Individuals
1.1.
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Personality is the total pattern of characteristic ways of thinking; feeling and behaving that
constitute the individual’s distinctive method of relating to the environment.
Personality traits are enduring qualities of an individual’s personality while personality types
are distinct clusters of personality characteristics which reflect the psychological preferences of
the individual.
An individual’ personality should be compatible with their work requirement in three ways:
A. The task they do should match their personality e.g. an introvert will find sales a
stressful job.
B. They should be compatible to the systems and management culture of the firm. Some
people hate to be controlled while others prefer it.
C. They should be compatible to the personalities of the team.
If incompatibilities occur, the manager should either assign an individual to a task matching
their personality, encourage an individual to adapt change to the current situation or let them
go.
1.2.
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Personality
Perception
This is the psychological process by which stimuli or incoming sensory data are selected and
organized into patterns which are meaningful to the individual.
People behave according to what they perceive-not according to what really is.
1.2.1. Processes of perception
Perception is determined by any one of the following:
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The context. People see what they want to see according to whatever is necessary or relevant in
the situation in which they find themselves.
The nature of the stimuli. Our attention tends to be drawn to large, bright, loud, contrasting,
unfamiliar, moving and repeated stimuli. Advertisers know it.
Internal factors. Our attention is drawn to stimuli that match our personality, needs, interests,
expectations and so on.
Fear of trauma. People are able to avoid seeing things that they don’t want to see e.g. painful
memories, things that threaten their security and self-image, etc.
1.3.
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It is a MENTAL state exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to
all object and situations with which it is related.
In order to manage an individual you have to observe their attitude at work and attitude to
work. It is very important to recognize different attitudes so that as a manager, you will know
the next step forward.
Attitudes contain:
1. Knowledge, beliefs or disbeliefs: perceptions
2. Feelings and desires (positive or negative)
3. Volition (power to choose), will or the intention to perform an action.
1.4.
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Intelligence
Analytic intelligence: Traditionally measured by IQ tests, including mental agility, reasoning,
logic and verbal fluency.
Spatial intelligence. The ability to see patterns and connections, mostly found in artists and
scientists.
Practical intelligence. Handiness
Intrapersonal intelligence. Handling stress, self-awareness, self-control and self-impression
Interpersonal intelligence. Cooperation, empathy, understanding of people’s feelings, influence
and conflict resolution.
1.5.
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Attitudes
Role Theory
It suggests that people behave in any situation according to people’s expectations of how they
should behave in that situation.
A role set is a group of people who respond to you in a given role e.g. the finance manager will
be seen as superior and professional in the accounts department.
Role ambiguity is where you do not know which role you are playing at a given time. For
example if a manager befriends his staff, some will be confused whether they stand as a friend
or a junior.
Role incompatibility or role conflict occurs when you are expected to operate in two roles at
once e.g. suspending your own grandson from your school.
Role signs show what role you hold e.g. the style of dressing. An executive suit with a red tie
could indicate power above all.
Role models are the persons you aspire to be like.
2. Groups
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It is a collection of people who perceive themselves as a group. It has to have a sense of
identity and belonging.
Groups possess certain attributes that a random crowd does not have such as a sense of
identity, loyalty to the group and purpose and leadership.
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There are two types of groups found in a company:
1. Informal groups which include cliques. They don’t have the same membership and
structure.
2. Formal groups will be intentionally organized by the company to achieve a task. They
become a team.
Groups offer what we call a synergy (2+2=5). The pooling and stimulation of ideas and energies
in a group can allow greater contribution than individuals working on their own.
NB: It is very important to know the difference between a team and a group.
3. Teams
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It is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common
purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves basically
accountable.
3.1.
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Teams have the ability to combine their skills to come up with great results.
They create team royalty in the members thus no one would want to let the team down. It is
used to control the performance and behavior of individuals.
Teams can generate ideas through brainstorming.
Teams make fewer, but, better evaluated decisions than individuals.
3.2.
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Organising Team-work
Multi-disciplinary teams contain people from different departments, pooling the skills of
specialists.
Multi-skilled teams contain people who themselves have more than one skill.
Virtual teams bring together individuals working in remote locations, reproducing the social,
collaborative and information-sharing aspects of team-working using ICT.
3.4.
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Limitations of Team-working
It is not suitable for all jobs, though some managers do not like to admit this.
It should be introduced so as to improve performance and not to make people feel better and
secure.
Social relationships might be maintained at the expense of other aspects of performance.
They may restrict individual personality and flair.
Personality clashes might affect performance of the team.
3.3.
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Strengths of Team-working
Team Member Roles
3.4.1. Belbin: Team Roles
Team members should perform a balanced mix of roles.
Belbin insisted that a distinction needs to be made between:
a) Team (process) role ('a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others at work in
certain distinctive ways'), and
b) Functional role ('the job demands that a person has been engaged to meet by supplying the
requisite technical skills and operational knowledge')
3.5. How Do People Contribute?
CATEGORY
Proposing
Supporting
Seeking Information
Giving information
Blocking/difficulty stating
Shutting-out behavior
Bringing-in behavior
Testing understanding
Summarizing
3.6.
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BEHAVIOUR
Putting forward suggestions,
new concepts or courses of
action.
Supporting another person or
their proposal
Asking for more facts, opinions
or clarification.
Offering facts, opinions or
clarification.
Putting obstacles in the way of a
proposal, without offering
alternatives
Interrupting or overriding others;
taking over.
Involving another member;
encouraging contribution
Checking whether points have
been understood.
Drawing together or summing up
previous discussion.
Team Development
How do you develop a new team and make it effective? Tuckman came up with four
development stages: - Forming, storming, norming and performing.
Later writers added dorming and adjourning (mourning) to Tuckman’s model.
1. Forming: Here, the team comes together, people impress their personality on the
group, they get to know each other though the objectives to pursue will be unclear and
a leader may not yet have emerged.
2. Storming: It involves open conflict between members, changes in objectives may occur,
and realistic targets are set and trust increases among members.
3. Norming: a period of settling down where there will be agreements about work sharing,
individual requirements and expectations of output. It enables methodical working to
be introduced and maintained.
4. Performing: The team sets to work to execute its task. The difficulties of growth and
development no longer hinder the group’s objectives.
The two added stages include:
a) Dorming: once a group has been performing well for some time, it might get
complacent and fall back.
b) Mourning: The group sees itself as having fulfilled its purpose, their achievements are
evaluated and there is confusion, sadness and anxiety as the group breaks up.
3.7. Team Building
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If you want to build a team, you have to focus on:
1. Team identity: get people to see themselves as part of this group.
2. Team solidarity: Encourage loyalty so that members put in extra effort for the sake of
the team.
3. Shared objectives: encourage the team to commit itself to shared work objectives and
to cooperate willingly and effectively in achieving them.
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In order to evaluate how effective a team is you should observe the:
NB:
Factor
Quantifiable
Labour Turnover
Accident Rate
Absenteeism
Output and Productivity
Quality of Output
Individual Targets
Stoppages and interruptions to the work flow
Qualitative
Commitment to targets and org. goals
Understanding of team work & why it exists
Understanding of individual roles within the
team
Communication between team members
Ideas
Feedback
Problem solving
Interest in work decisions
Opinions
Job satisfaction
Motivation in leader’s absence
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Effective Team
Ineffective Team
Low
Low
Low
High
High
Achieved
Low
High
High
High
Low
Low
Not Achieved
High
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Free and open
Shared for team’s benefit
Mistrust
Hidden by individuals for
their own benefit
Undermining
Only looks at symptoms
Passive acceptance
Imposed solutions
Low
‘When cat’s away….’
Constructive Criticism
Address causes
Active
Consensus
High
High
You should then reward effective teams to encourage cooperation, accountability and
motivation. This can be done through profit-sharing schemes, employee share option
schemes, etc.