A group consists of two or more people who interact with each other to accomplish goals. A team is a group whose members work intensely and frequently interact with each other to achieve a common goal.
A. Groups and Teams as Performance Enhancers
1. Synergy (where "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts") can occur because members build on the ideas and correct the mistakes of others, bringing diverse knowledge to solve problems as they arise, and accomplish tasks too big for one person.
2. Managers promote synergy when they build teams with relevant knowledge and complementary skills that they empower and coach rather than direct.
B. Groups, Teams and Responsiveness to Customers
1. This is enhanced by building diverse cross-functional teams that bring varied expertise and knowledge to work on customer related issues.
C. Teams and Innovation
1. Teams with relevant knowledge and complementary skills that are empowered and accountable, can uncover errors and false assumptions and critique approaches in efforts to innovate.
D. Groups and Teams as Motivators
1. Motivation is enhanced when working with motivated people who satisfy social needs and provide support in stressful situations.
II. Types of Groups and Teams
A. The Top-Management Team – is responsible for developing strategies that will give the organization a competitive advantage.
1. May be a cross-functional team with the CEO and various department heads.
B. Research and Development Teams – develop new products.
C. Departments – are composed of subordinates who report to the same supervisor (also called units).
D. Task Forces– (sometimes called ad hoc committees) accomplish specific goals or solve problems in a given time period. Standing committees are relatively permanent.
E. Self-Managed Work Teams (or self-directed) – empowered members have the responsibility and autonomy to finish specific pieces of work. They supervise their own activities and quality.
1. Problems can occur due to reluctance to evaluate team members or coordination difficulties.
F. Virtual Teams – members rarely meet face-to-face but interact using email, phone, fax, and video conferences.
2. Need a shared on-line meeting place & workspace, and frequent communication
G. Friendship Groups are informal groups who socialize with each other.
H. Interest Groups are informal groups with a common goal related to their organizational membership.
III. Group Dynamics
A. Group size and roles
1. Group Size. Need enough to achieve a division of labour and provide the needed resources.
a. Small groups easier to coordinate, interact more, can be more motivated, and more easily see personal contributions.
b. Large groups provide more resources but are harder to coordinate.
2. Group Roles are the behaviours that members are expected to perform based on their position in the group. There are task-oriented and maintenance roles.
B. Group Leadership – effective groups need effective leadership, whether they are appointed formal leaders or informal leaders that emerge naturally.
C. Group Development over Time –the five stages are:
1. Forming – members try to get to know one another and to develop a common understanding of goals and acceptable behaviour.
2. Storming – conflict occurs over leadership.
3. Norming – close ties develop and consensus on goals and norms is achieved.
4. Performing – the real work of the group is done.
5. Adjourning – the group is disbanded.
D. Group Norms – shared guidelines for the behaviour of group members.
1. Group members conform to norms for many reasons
2. Deviance occurs when a group member violates a norm
3. Deviant behaviour can be functional when it causes groups to re-evaluate dysfunctional norms
4. Managers can encourage a balance of conformity and functional deviance.
E. Group Cohesiveness – the degree to which group members are attracted or loyal to the group. A moderate level of cohesiveness is desirable.
1. Consequences of Group Cohesiveness – level of participation within the group, level of conformity to group norms, and emphasis on group goal accomplishment all increase as cohesiveness increases.
2. Determinants of group cohesiveness include: group size, effectively managed diversity, group identity and healthy competition, and success.
IV. Group Decision Making.
A. Group decisions tend to be more accurate (less individual bias and error, more skills/knowledge, more information processed) and accepted, but groups take more time than individuals.
B. The Perils of Groupthink – group members strive for agreement and ignore important and relevant information that they cannot agree on.
C. Improving Group Decision Making
1. Actively seek input from all before expressing own opinion.
2. Devil's advocacy – one group member critiques the group's alternatives
3. Promote diversity among decision makers by bringing together managers from different genders, ethnic groups, age levels, and so forth, to broaden the range of opinion and reduce groupthink.
D. Promoting Group Creativity – use group problem-solving techniques
1. Brainstorming – generate a wide variety of alternatives in a group situation with no criticism allowed.
2. Nominal Group Technique – each member writes out his own ideas, shares them in turn, and the group then discusses and individually ranks the alternatives.
3. Delphi Technique – group members do not meet, but send in written responses to questions that are summarized and sent back to the group members, and this process continues until the group reaches a consensus.
V. Managing Groups and Teams for High Performance
A. Motivating Group Members to Achieve Organizational goals - by ensuring members themselves benefit when the team performs well.
B. Reducing Social Loafing (putting out less effort in a group than when alone)
1. Make individual contributions identifiable.
2. Emphasize the valuable contributions of individual members.
