© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 9 Work Teams and Groups Learning Outcomes 1 Define group and work team. 2 Explain the benefits organizations.

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Chapter 9 Work Teams and Groups

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1 Define group and work team.

2 Explain the benefits organizations and individuals derive from working in teams.

3 Identify the factors that influence group behavior.

4 Describe how groups form and develop.

5 Explain how task and maintenance functions influence group performance.

6 Discuss the factors that influence group effectiveness.

7 Describe how empowerment relates to self-managed teams.

8 Explain the importance of upper echelons and top

management teams.


Learning Outcome

Define group and work team.

1


Groups and Teams

GROUP – two or more people with common interests, objectives, and

continuing interaction

WORK TEAM – a group of people with complementary skills who are

committed to a common mission, performance goals, and approach for

which they hold themselves mutually accountable


Learning Outcome

Explain the benefits organizations and individuals derive from working in teams.

2


• Good when performing complicated, complex, interrelated and/or more voluminous work than one person can handle

• Good when knowledge, talent, skills, and abilities are dispersed across organizational members

• Empowerment and collaboration; not power and competition

• Basis for total quality efforts

Why teams?


Teamwork

joint action by a team of people in which

individual interests are subordinated to team

unity


*David Southern left his position at Citibank to head the information technology division at the World Wildlife Fund.

*WWF’s IT division isn’t motivated by paychecks or united by team-building whitewater-rafting trips: they’re in it to support a cause they believe in.

Beyond the Book:Teamwork for a Cause


New vs. Old Team Environments

New Team Environment

Old Work Environment

Person generates initiatives Person follows orders

Team charts its own steps Manager charts course

Right to think for oneself. People rock boat; work together

People conformed to manager’s direction. No one rocked the boat.

People cooperate using thoughts and feelings; direct talk

People cooperated by suppressing thoughts and feelings; wanted to get along

SOURCE: Managing in the New Team Environment, by Hirschhorn, © 1991. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc.,Upper Saddle River, N. J.

Triangle for Managing in the New Team Environment

ManagerManager

IndividualsIndividualsTeamTeam

SOURCE: Managing in the New Team Environment by Hirschhorn, © 1991 Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, N.J.


Social Benefits of Teams

Psychological Intimacy – emotional and

psychological closeness to other team

or group members

Integrated Involvement – closeness achieved

through tasks and activities


Learning Outcome

Identify the factors that influence group behavior.

3


Characteristics of a Well-Functioning, Effective Group

Relaxed, comfortable, informal atmosphere

Task well understood and accepted

Members listen well and participate

People express feeling and ideas


Characteristics of a Well-Functioning, Effective Group

Conflict and disagreement center around ideas or methods

Group aware of its operation and function

Consensus decision making

Clear assignments made and accepted


Group Behavior

Norms of Behavior – the standards that a work group uses to evaluate the behavior of its members

Group Cohesion – the “interpersonal glue” that makes members of a group stick together


Group Behavior

Social Loafing – the failure of a group member to contribute personal time, effort, thoughts, or other resources to the group

Loss of Individuality – a social process in which individual group members lose self-awareness and its accompanying sense of accountability, inhibition, and responsibility for individual behavior


Learning Outcome

Describe how groups form and develop.

4


3 Issues Addressed by Groups

• Interpersonal issues(Matters of trust, personal comfort, and security)

• Task issues(Mission or purpose, methods, expected outcomes)

• Authority issues(Leadership, managing power and influence, communication flow)


Group Formation

Formal Groups – official or assigned groups gathered to perform various tasks• need ethnic, gender, cultural, and

interpersonal diversity• need professional and geographical diversity

Informal Groups – unofficial or emergent groups that evolve in the work setting to gratify a variety of member needs not met by formal groups

Stages of Group Formation

Emphasis on

interpersonal concern and awareness

Emphasis on task

planning, authority,

and influence

Emphasis on task

accomplishment, leadership, and

performance

Emphasison rewards

and punishment

Mutual acceptance

Decision making

Motivation and

commitment

Control and

sanctions

Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model of Group Development

FormingForming StormingStorming AdjourningAdjourningPerformingPerformingNormingNorming

Conflict increased clarity of purpose

Power struggles

Coaching

Little agreement

Unclear purpose

Guidance and direction

Clear visionand purpose

Focus on goalachievement

Delegation

Agreement and consensus

Clear roles and responsibili-ties

Facilitation

Task completion

Goodfeeling about achievements

Recognition


Punctuated Equilibrium Model

– Groups do not progress linearly

– Alternate between periods of inertia and bursts of energy


Purpose and Mission

• May be assigned or may emerge from the group

• Group often questions, reexamines, and modifies mission and purpose

• Mission converted into specific agenda, clear goals, and a set of critical success factors

MATURE GROUP Characteristics


Productivity Norms – may be consistent or inconsistent, supportive or unsupportive of organization’s productivity standards

Behavioral Norms – well-understood standards of behavior within a group

Formal and written

Ground rulesfor

meetings

Informal but well understood

Intragroup socializing

Dress codes



Group Cohesion

interpersonal attraction binding group members together

Enables groups to exercise effective control over the members


Groups with High Cohesiveness

– demonstrate lower tension and anxiety

– demonstrate less variation in productivity

– demonstrate better member satisfaction, commitment, and communication

Cohesiveness and Work-Related Tension

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mean tension

Group Cohesiveness

7 16 52 65 57 19 12

Number of groups

“Does your work ever make you jumpy or

nervous?”Low score =high tension

“The measure at work is based on group mean response to the question “Does your work ever make your feel ‘jumpy’ or nervous?” A low numerical score represents relatively high tension.SOURCE: From S. E. Seashore, Group Cohesiveness in the Industrial Work Force, 1954. Research conducted by Stanley E. Seashore at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Reprinted by permission.

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Sometimes a corporate paintball outing builds team cohesiveness, but other times it only yields sore muscles and bloody lips.

Do “team-building” exercises improve team performance? Or is their sole value as a potential diversion?

Beyond the Book:Team-Building Exercises. . . In Futility?


Status Structure

the set of authority & task relations among a

group’s members

• Hierarchical or egalitarian• Often team leadership is shared



ContributorData/Info

CollaboratorMission

CommunicatorFacilitator

ChallengerDevil’s advocate

Diversity Styles

Members contribute in diverse ways


Learning Outcome

Explain how task and maintenance functions influence group performance.

5


Team Task Functions

those activities directly related to the effective

completion of the team’s work


Team Task Functions

Summarize Ideas

Test Ideas

Elaborate Concepts

Seek Information

Give Information

Diagnose Problems

Evaluate Effectiveness

Coordinate Activities

Initiate Activities

TeamTasks


Maintenance Functions

those activities essential to the effective,

satisfying interpersonal relationships within a

team or group


Team Maintenance Functions

ExpressMember Ideas

HarmonizeConflicts

TestConsensus

SetStandards

FollowOthers’ Lead

ReduceTension

GatekeepCommunication

Test GroupDecisions

SupportOthers

MaintenanceTasks


[Structural Issues]

• Goals and objectives• Operating guidelines• Performance

measures• Role specification


[Structural Issues]

• Goals and objectives• Operating guidelines• Performance measures• Role specification

– Managers who oversee the team– Work team leaders– Team members


[Process Issues]

• Managing cooperative behaviors

• Managing competitive behaviors

Both of these can be positive

How are these managed in global teams?

In virtual teams?


Learning Outcome

Discuss the factors that influence group effectiveness.

6


Diversity in Teams

Diversity• Focuses on effects of dissimilarity

within the team• May have positive or negative effects• Value dissimilarity

– Positively relates to task and relationship conflict

– Negatively related to team involvement


Diversity in Teams

Diversity

• Demographic dissimilarity influences– Absenteeism– Commitment– Turnover intentions– Beliefs– Workgroup relationships– Self-esteem– Organizational citizenship behavior


Creativity in Teams

Creativity• Focuses on new and/or dissimilar ideas

or ways of doing things in teams

Can team creativity be enhanced by greater team diversity?

Can social loafing, conformity, and downward norm setting be overcome?


Learning Outcome

Describe how empowerment relates to self-managed teams.

7


An attribute of a person or of an

organization’s culture

Preparation and careful planning

focuses empowered employees

Encourages participation

Solve specific and global problems

Foundations for Empowerment


Empowerment Skills

CompetenceSkills

ProcessSkills

Cooperativeand HelpingBehaviors

CommunicationSkills

Self-ManagementorTeam Skills


Self-Managed TeamsSelf-Managed Teams

Self-Directed Teams

Autonomous Work Groups – teams that make decisions that were once reserved for managers

How does an organization capitalize on the advantages and avoid the

risks of self managed teams?


Studies suggest: leaders within self-directed work teams get better results with soft influence tactics (e.g. rational persuasion, consultation, inspirational appeals) than hard influence tactics.

How should approaches to leadership differ when leading a group from within or from without?

Beyond the Book:Self-Directed Work Teams


Learning Outcome

Explain the importance of upper echelons and top management teams.

8


Upper Echelons: Teams at the Top

Upper Echelons – a top-level executive team in an organization

Leadership style, composition, and dynamics influences the organization’s performance

Their background characteristics predict organizational characteristics

Organization reflects their values, ethics, competence, and unique characteristics


5 Seasons of CEO Tenure

1. Response to a mandate

2. Experimentation

3. Selection of an enduring theme

4. Convergence

5. Dysfunction


Executive Tenure and Organizational Performance

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High

Low 1 7 14CEO tenure (years)

SOURCE: D. Hambrick. The Seasons of an Executive’s Tenure, keynote address, the Sixth Annual Texas Conference on Organizations, Lago Vista, Texas, April, 1991.


Diversity at the Top

• Types of diversity needed– Functional diversity– Intellectual diversity– Demographic diversity– Temperamental diversity– And more and more and more

Diversity develops strength


Multicultural Top Teams

Multicultural groups represent three or more ethnic backgrounds.

Diversity may increase uncertainty, complexity, and inherent confusion in group processes.

Culturally diverse groups may generate more and better ideas, and limit groupthink.

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 9 Work Teams and Groups Learning Outcomes 1 Define group and work team. 2 Explain the benefits organizations.

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