Chapter 7
GROUPS AND TEAMS
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Definition of a group
• Various definitions but all imply:
More than one person involved
Interaction must take place
Purpose or intention
Awareness
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Groups
Groups - social entities of two or more people who interact
with each other, are psychologically aware of each other,
and think of themselves as a group
Formal groups are typically set up and sanctioned by the
organization, and thus have specific objectives that
contribute to achieving organizational goals
Informal groups are groups that form through interactions
among organizational members
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Groups and teams
• Katenbach & Smith suggest that difference between
group and team is that of performance and describe the
following scale:
– Working group
– Pseudo-teams
– Potential teams
– Real teams
– High performance teams
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Groups, teams and organizations
Hierarchical differentiation
Specialism groupings
Activity groupings
Boundary spanning
Professional
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Likert’s linking pin model
Figure 7.1
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
The hierarchy/customer conflict model
Figure 7.2
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
WHY DO ORGANIZATIONS USE
GROUPS?
• Synergy
• Social control
• Social facilitation
• Potential problems include:
• Social inhibition
• Social loafing
• Sucker effect
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Cultural and other factors in
informal group formation
• The need for human beings to function in a social environment and
to form relationships of their own choosing
• The voluntary nature of many informal groups offsets the involuntary
nature of many formal, organizational groups
• The approach adopted by managers to the running of the
organization
• The need for individuals to exert influence and to achieve their
formal and personal goals
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Tuckman and Jensen’s model of
group development
Stage 1 – Forming
Stage 2 – Storming
Stage 3 – Norming
Stage 4 – Performing
Stage 5 - Adjourning
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Issues associated with Tuckman’s first
four stages of group development
• Figure 7.3
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Recent group development model
Based on: Gibson & Earley, 2007; Gibson et
al., 2009:
•information accumulation (perception and
storing of information)
•interaction (retrieving, exchanging, and
interactively structuring information)
•examination (meaning is socially
negotiated and evaluated)
•accommodation (members integrate
information, make decisions and take
action)
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Communication patterns in groups
• Figure 7.4
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The nine Belbin team roles
Plant: Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems
Resource investigator: Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores
opportunities. Develops contacts
Co-ordinator: Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals,
promotes decision making, delegates well
Shaper: Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. Has the drive and
courage to overcome obstacles
Monitor/evaluator: Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options.
Judges accurately
Teamworker: Co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds,
averts friction, calms the waters
Implementer: Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas
into practical actions
Completer: Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors and
omissions. Delivers on time
Specialist: Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge
and skills in rare supply.
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Features of effective and ineffective groups
Dimension
1 Atmosphere
Effective group
Informal, comfortable,
relaxed
Participative, pertinent to task
2
Discussion
3
Objectives
4
Active listening
5
Disagreement
6
Decision making
By consensus
7
Criticism
Frank but not personal
8
Feelings
9
Action
Expressed on group activity
as well as ideas. Few hidden
agendas
Clear allocation and
acceptance
Not chair dominated,
‘experts’ lead depending on
circumstances, no power
struggles
Self-consciousness about
present operations, frequent
reviews
10
Leadership
11
Reviews
Understood and accepted by
all
Members listen to each other,
contribution to debate and
ideas
Brought into the open and
resolved or accepted
Ineffective group
Indifference, boredom, tension
Dominated by a few people, drifts
off point
Lack of clarity, not fully accepted by
individuals
Pushing of own ideas, no evidence
of building on others, talking for
effect
Not resolved, suppressed by leader,
perhaps warfare domination is the
aim
Premature decisions and actions
before full examination. Simple
majority voting
Embarrassing, tension producing.
Involves personal hostility,
destructive approach
Hidden, not thought appropriate to
group activity
Unclear in allocation, lack of
commitment to achieve result
Chair dominated
No discussion of group maintenance
issues
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
GROUP CONTROL AND ROLE
THEORY
• Rules - explicit informal agreements or formal
statements about acceptable and unacceptable
behaviour
• Norms - implicit and informal expectations for behaviour
within social entities
• Expected role – what the organization expects the
individual to do in relation to their role
• Perceived role – what the individual understands their
expected role to be
• Enacted role - reflects what the individual actually does
in carrying out the tasks for which they are responsible
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Manifestation of team processes in
action and transition phases
• Figure 7.5
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Group process dimensions
• Table 7.5
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
The components of the role theory Handy (1993)
• Role set
• Role definition
• Role ambiguity
•Role incompatibility
• Role conflict
• Role overload/underload
• Role stress
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Role set for a university lecturer
• Figure 7.6
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
GROUP COHESION
Factors which contribute to the level of
cohesion developed within a group
include:
•Environmental factors
•Organizational factors
•Group factors
•Individual factors
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
GROUP COHESION
• Figure 7.7
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning
Relationship between group
cohesion and group performance
•Figure 7.8
For use with Organizational Behaviour and Management
by John Martin and Martin Fellenz
1408018128© 2010 Cengage Learning