Foundations of group behavior
In the partial fulfillment of the assignment work of
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (MB 102)
Submitted to:-
Ms. Gaganpreet Kaur
Lecturer
Organizational Behavior
Department of Business Studies
Submitted by:-
Bhupinder Singh
M.B.A 1st Semester
Sahibzada Ajit Singh Institute of Information Technology
C-124, Phase VIII, Sector-72, ELTOP, SAS Nagar, Mohali
INDEX
S.No TOPIC PAGE NO.
. Introduction 1
2. Meaning 1
3. Group Formation 2
4. Types of Groups 3
5. Stages of Group Development 7
6. Why do people join Groups? 10
7. The Structure of Group Interaction 11
8. Group Decision Making 16
9. Group Decision Making Techniques 17
0. Teams 20
1. Styles among Team Members 22
2. Characteristics of Successful 23 Groups and Teams
3. Team Composition 25
4. Team Development 26
5. Conclusions 27
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Introduction
This assignment is about work groups in organizations-groups such as the pit crews at stock-car races, the Zebra teams that reenergized the black and white photo processing unit at Eastman Kodak, a football team, an engineering work group, or a group of nurses working the night shift at a local hospital.
Groups and communication in groups are the building blocks of organizations and of social life. When people get together and talk in groups, things can happen. The challenge of group dynamics, therefore, is learning how to manage the energy of groups, whether in the kitchen, office, or manufacturing plant.
This assignment explores the nature of individual behaviour in groups and teams, including the structuring, development, and improvement of group and team interaction. A model of communication is also presented, which highlights the importance of effective communication to successful group and team functioning.
Meaning
A group can be defined in terms of perceptions, motivation, organization, interdependencies, and interactions. A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
According to Marvin Shaw, "A group is two or more persons who interact with one another such that each person influences and is influenced by each other person."1
Another definition of group is, "an organized system of two or more individuals who are interrelated so that the system performs some function, has a standard set of role relationships among its members, and has a set of norms that regulate the function of the group and each of its members."2
So groups have a function-they serve a purpose and groups have a structure-they are organized to pursue their functions effectively.
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Group Formation
Groups are formed to satisfy both organizational and individual needs. They form in organizations because managers expect people working together in groups will be better able to complete and coordinate organizational tasks. Organizations of all types are forming teams to improve some aspect of the work, such as productivity or quality.
Individuals join groups to satisfy a need. An employee may join a work group to get or keep a job. Individuals may form an informal group or join an existing one for many reasons: attraction to people in the group, to its activities, or to its goals. Some people join groups just for companionship, or to be identified as members of the group. In any case, people join groups for personal need satisfaction. In other words, they expect that they will something in return for their membership in the group.
Understanding why groups form is important in studying individual behaviour in groups. Suppose some people join a bridge group primarily for social contact. If a more competitive player substitutes for a regular player one evening, she or he joins the group (temporarily) with the goal of playing rigorous, competitive bridge. The substitute may be annoyed when the game slows down or stops altogether because the other players are absorbed in a discussion. The regular members, on the other hand, may be irritated when the substitute interrupts the discussion or criticizes his or her partner for faulty technique. To resolve the resulting conflict, one must understand the different reasons why each person joined the group. The inconsistencies in behaviour arise because each member is trying to satisfy a different need. To settle the dispute, the regulars and the substitute may have to be more tolerant of each other's behaviour, at least for the rest of the evening. Even if that occurs, however, the substitute player may not be invited back the next time a regular member cannot attend. Thus, understanding why people join groups sheds light on apparent inconsistencies in behaviour and the tensions likely to result from them. Managers are better equipped to manage certain kinds of conflict that arise in groups in organizations when they understand why groups form.
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Types of Groups
Groups may be loosely categorized according to their degrees of formalization (formal or informal) and permanence (relatively permanent or relatively temporary). The two types of formal groups are command and task groups. The friendship and interest groups are the two types of informal groups.
Types of groups
Relatively Permanent
Relatively Temporary
Formal
Command Groups
Task Group
Quality assurance
department
Cost-accounting group
Pope's special Council on finances
Task force on new-product quality
Informal
Friendship Groups
Interest Groups
Friends who do many activities together (attend the theatre, play games, travel)
Bowling group
Women's network
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Formal Groups
Formal groups are established by the organization to do its work. Formal groups include the command group and the task group. A command group is relatively permanent and is characterized by functional reporting relationships, such as a group manager and those who report to the manager. Command groups are usually included in the organization chart. A task group is created to perform a specific task, such as solving a particular quality problem, and is relatively temporary. In business organizations, most employees work in command groups, as typically specified on an official organization chart. The size, shape, and organization of a company's command groups can vary considerably.
Typical command groups in organizations include the quality-assurance department, the industrial engineering department, the cost-accounting department, and the personnel department. Other types of command groups include work teams organized as in the Japanese style of management, in which subsections of manufacturing and assembly processes are each assigned to a team of workers. The team members decide among themselves who will do each task.
Teams are becoming widespread in automobile manufacturing. General Motors is organizing its highly automated assembly lines into work teams of between five and twenty workers. Although participative teams are becoming more popular, command groups, whether entire departments or sophisticated work teams, are the dominant type of work group in organizations.
Task, or special-project, groups are usually temporary and are often established to solve a particular problem. The group usually dissolves once it solves the problem or makes recommendations. People typically remain members of their command groups, or functional departments, while simultaneously serving in a task group and continuing to carry out the normal duties of their jobs. The member's command group duties may be temporarily reduced if the task group requires a great deal of time and effort.
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INFORMAL GROUPS
Informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally structured. These groups are natural formations in the work environment that appear in response to the need for social contact. E.g. three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch together are an informal group. Whereas, formal groups are established by an organisation, informal groups are formed by their members and consist of the friendship group which is relatively permanent, and the interest group which may be shorter lived. Friendship groups arise out of cordial relationships among members and the enjoyment they get from being together. Interest groups are organised around a common activity or interest, although friendships may develop among members.
(i) Friendship groups. Groups often develop because the individual members have one or more common characteristics. We call these formations friendship groups. Social alliances which frequently extend outside the work situation can be based on similar age or ethnic heritage, or holding of similar political views.
(ii) Interest groups. People who may or may not be aligned into common command or task groups may affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. This is an interest group.
Informal groups provide a very important service by satisfying their members' social needs. Because of interactions that result from a close proximity of work stations or task interactions, we find workers often doing things together. These type of interactions although informal are very important due to the constructive influence they have on employee behaviour and performance.
Informal groups are inevitable, man being a social animal. Human beings are interdependent and depend upon each other for not only physiological but also emotional and psychological needs. Social contact is a vital part of human existence, being an essentially social animal man is dependent on others. Hence, social contact and the
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interdependence of humans on each other leading to interaction and communication between individuals makes informal groups inevitable. Thus, not only in society but even in organisations the employees in fulfillment of this need of social contact form informal groups. Some informal groups are formed interest based as already discussed and others are friendship based. As man cannot restrict himself from coming into contact with others in his surroundings he must do several activities together with co-workers employees and subordinates like having lunch, having tea, recreation, discussing problems etc. Also informal groups are inevitable as individuals always relate to others with common interests and often get together in pursuance of common objectives.
HOW CAN YOU BRING AN INFORMAL GROUP IN LINE WITH THE
ORGANISATION'S GOALS?
It should be clear at the outset that the interests of individuals and the organization are not always in conflict. When it is so, a satisfied member of a group may also, to some extent, be a satisfied member of the organization. In fact, the findings of considerable social research suggest that informal groups are essential for organizational stability. The studies have shown that informal groups can strengthen employee morale, reduce absenteeism and turnover, promote harmony, and increase efficiency. These positive influences ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
HOW CAN YOU BRING AN INFORMAL GROUP IN LINE WITH THE
ORGANISATION'S GOALS?
It should be clear at the outset that the interests of individuals and the organization are not always in conflict. When it is so, a satisfied member of a group may also, to some extent, be a satisfied member of the organization. In fact, the findings of considerable social research suggest that informal groups are essential for organizational stability. The studies have shown that informal groups can strengthen employee morale, reduce absenteeism and turnover, promote harmony, and increase efficiency. These positive influences need to be stressed because the administrators concerned often overlook them over the informal group's possible negation of their attempts to effect good management.
Informal groups need to be handled or managed in such a way that their efforts are channelised towards the accomplishment of mutual goals of the organization as well as the individual or the group. Management's role in this regard is quite crucial, as it exercises substantial influence by such means as what management communicates, which people who are permitted to work close together, and how management recognizes informal leaders.
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. First of all, there is need for recognition of the fact that informal groups are there to stay and that their presence can be turned to the advantage of organization. It must be acknowledged hat the two kinds of groups are complementary or supplementary. Therefore, they should be allowed to grow, and should cultivated and nurtured. Management should do nothing that threatens the existence of informal groups, because irrespective of whether they like it or not, they will exist. It would be better to aim at a situation that achieves integration of interests of the two kinds of groups.
2. Informal leaders who serve as link pins can act as agents and management can use them for communicating information, especially regarding change, so that there is little friction and resistance. This can be achieved through an open and warm-hearted policy. Management must discuss their proposals with these leaders and take into account their reactions. Depending upon the nature of problem, proposals can be supplied to all and suggestions obtained.
Stages of Group Development
The rules and roles that structure group interaction do not simply exist. Groups may evolve and develop rules and roles over time. Many theories have been offered to explain how groups develop. We will examine two of them: the five-stages perspective and the punctuated-equilibrium model.
The Five Stages Perspective
The five stages perspective is probably the best-known theory of how groups develop over time. This perspective proposes that groups pass through five distinct phases as they develop: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Two important points should be kept in mind when considering the stages of group development. First, groups sometimes move back and forth among these stages. As
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noted earlier, it is not unusual for a group to find that all of its conflicts were not settled initially. In such cases, a second or even third phase of differentiation may occur, until critical conflicts are ironed out. Second, the transitions from one stage to the next may not be obvious to the group members themselves. In fact, much of the negotiation of roles and rules may be quite implicit.
Forming: when groups first come together, the members must get acquainted as well as determine the basis for group membership. Forming includes learning the traits and strengths of each member as well as what distinguishes a member from a non member. If participation in the group is voluntary, individuals during formation if membership is necessary or whether this group is likely to fulfill their needs. Preliminary identification of a leader usually occurs at this stage as well.
Storming: when group members have had an opportunity to assess the human resources available in a group, several battles must be fought, this is the storming stage. First, the group must decide what its goals and priorities will be. A study group might ask whether its only purpose is to study or whether it should fulfill an important social function as well. If the group is to have a social function, as well as a study function, how will these two goals be reconciled? Are there other functions? Can the group fulfill its functions without creating problems for its members?
The second battle arises because the group must structure interactions to ensure effective functioning. It becomes important to determine who will fulfill which roles. Disagreements that are not handled now typically force the group back to this stage later in its development.
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Norming: After group functions have been decided on and roles have been assigned, the tone of the interactions changes. Group members are working toward a common purpose, and the group has identified the human resources it needs to fulfill that purpose.
During the norming stage, the group members define a set of rules and roles to coordinate group interactions and make pursuit of the goals effective.
Performing: After the group has identified its rules and roles, it has a structure within which to pursue its goals, and the group has reached maturity. If further conflicts surface, the structure (roles and rules) should lead to nondisruptive resolution of the conflicts. This is the performing stage.
Adjourning: Sometime after a group has reached maturity, it may take sense for the group to disband, or adjourning. Some groups adjourn because their time is up; a CEO-advisory group, for instance, disbands when the CEO's term of office expires, or when the CEO quits or is fired. Groups may also choose to adjourn because they have outlived their usefulness-for example, if the group has lost critical members or found a solution to the problem it was convened to address (or even has realized that there is no solution). Finally, a group may adjourn prematurely if it fails to develop adequately-for instance, if it cannot manage conflicts.
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Not all groups develop according to the five-stages model. According to another theory, project teams that have a fixed time frame in which to accomplish a task tend to develop through a process known as the punctuated equilibrium model.
According to the punctuated equilibrium model of group development, the tone for a project team (how it will interact, what approach it will take to the project, what its goals
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will be) is set in the team's first meeting. The project team stays with these arrangements (regardless of their efficiency or effectiveness) until approximately the midpoint of the time frame for completion of the project. At about this time, a "revolution" occurs in the
team's approach to its project. The team breaks out of its inertia and generates a new set of agreements and arrangements that carry the team through to the projects completion.
According to this model, the team's closing meetings also depart from previous meetings. Typically, final meetings are focused on preparing the work of the project team for external consumption.
The Role of Time
The difference between the five-stages and punctuated-equilibrium models is the role of time. Groups without a deadline for completion of their work may progress and develop according to the internal needs of the group's members. Indeed, such groups may fail precisely because they reach a development stage beyond which they cannot progress. According to the punctuated equilibrium model, the development of a project team working under a time deadline is not a function of the group's internal needs to develop effective group functioning. Instead, its development is triggered by the deadline imposed on the team and by the need for completion of the project by that deadline.
Why Do People Join Groups?
Security: By joining a group, individuals can reduce the insecurity of "standing alone". People feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and are more resistant to threats when they are a part of a group.
Status: Inclusion in a group that is viewed as important by others provides recognition and status for its members.
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Self-esteem: Groups can provide people with feelings of self-worth. That is, in addition to conveying status to those outside the group, membership can also give increased feelings of worth to the group members themselves.
Affiliation: Groups can fulfill social needs. People enjoy the regular interaction that comes with group membership. For many people, these on-the-job interactions are their primary source for fulfilling their needs of affiliation.
Power: What cannot be achieved individually often becomes possible through group action. There is power in numbers.
Goal Achievement: There are times when it takes more than one person to accomplish a particular task-there is a need to pool talents, knowledge, or power in order to complete a job. In such instances, management will rely on the use of a formal group.
The Structure of Group Interaction
From a means perspective, groups are useful only if the interaction of group members produces something greater than the sum of all the individual's efforts. Group interaction must be structured so that group members coordinate their actions in the cooperative pursuit of both their individual objectives and the group's objectives. The structure of group interaction is apparent in the rules and roles that define acceptable behaviour in the group.
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Rules: Group rules can be formal or informal. Formal policies are explicitly agreed upon by the group members and may even be written down-for example, how often or at what time of day the group will meet. Many groups structure their meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order. These well known rules specify in writing who may talk and when and how disagreements will be settled by discussion and vote. As technology has become increasingly important in our lives, these formal rules are changing, as illustrated in "TECHNOLOGY FOCUS ON: Groups and Teams".
Group rules can also be informal. Informal, unstated rules that govern and regulate group behavior are called norms. Some groups have norms about what is appropriate to wear to meetings. Often, they have norms about lateness or absence.
Some groups also have norms prohibiting criticism of group decisions to "outsiders"-people who are not members of the group. This type of norm demonstrates an important difference between norms and explicit group policies. A group might feel uneasy about adopting an explicit rule against airing group dissension outside the group. Nevertheless, an informal rule of this sort may be necessary for group members to feel free to voice dissenting or controversial positions during group discussions, or if it is important for the group to appear united in its opinions to outsiders.
Knowing a group's rules for social interaction and playing by them is often critical if a newcomer wants to make good first impressions and establish healthy long-term relationships. Managers traveling abroad are well advised to learn the local rules of social interaction, so as to avoid accidentally insulting their foreign hosts.
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Roles: Whereas rules delineate the proper behaviors of all members in a group, roles define the set of behaviors appropriate to particular positions occupied by specific individuals. Roles also specify authority relationships, including who in the group has the right to call meetings, set agendas, and assign tasks to group members. Social psychologist Erving Goffman contended that roles (like rules) smooth interaction in groups. Roles allow us to know what we should be doing and what to expect from others. Like rules, the roles that structure the interaction of group members can be formal or informal.
In work organizations, formal roles are specified by job descriptions. Job descriptions are written documents that specify what duties individuals must perform, to whom individuals must report, and what goals individuals must attain-in short, their role in the organization. Job descriptions are very useful because they decrease an individual's uncertainty about what to do to fulfill the group's needs and expectations.
Many groups (especially informal ones) do not have job descriptions. Roles instead evolve or are negotiated informally as the group develops. Some role assignments evolve during group development as particular strengths and talents of group members are revealed. Most groups have at least two leadership roles: a task leader (who focuses on getting the group's goals accomplished) and a socioemotional (relations-oriented) leader (who focuses on maintaining harmony and good working relationships within the group). Whereas task leadership is often decided formally, socioemotional leadership emerges as the group develops and matures.
Roles are specific to particular positions within particular groups. The role an individual occupies in one group may be completely different from the role that same individual occupies in other groups.
Because all of us simultaneously occupy different roles, role conflict is always a potential problem. Role conflict occurs when the behaviors dictated by one role conflict with the behaviors dictated by another.
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An important component of most roles is status. Status refers to the position of a role in a social hierarchy and is a source of power for a role holder. The amount of status that a role commands is the amount of personal worth, respect, prestige and deference that the role provides any individual occupying that role. High-status individuals can influence the behaviors of a group because of their revered positions. Similarly, members of the group view high-status individuals as opinion leaders.
The power the high-status individuals exert over low-status group members is sensible when status reflects ability or expertise. Interestingly, undeserved status may be no less powerful than earned status. In courtroom trials, jurors from high-status occupations disproportionately influence final jury decisions, even though the high status occupation may make the individual no more capable than others of rendering a just verdict.
Maintaining Group Adaptability: Rules and roles are important for coordinating and regulating group interaction. After all, in the absence of roles and rules, there is typically chaos and a low probability of effective group functioning. This does not mean, however, that all rules and roles are universally good for a group. Rules and roles improve the effectiveness of group functioning precisely because they constrain the behaviors of group members, thereby allowing predictability and coordination of group behavior. But, although a little constraint is not only good but also necessary for a group to function effectively, too must constraint can prove disastrous.
In an article titled "The Technology of Foolishness," political scientist and organizational behavior professor Jim March suggested that rules and roles can constrain a group's creativity and flexibility. This constraint, in turn, can hinder the group's adaptability to changing demands and opportunities. Norms and roles represent prescriptions for behavior-prescriptions that summarize past learning about how the group can best function.
March suggested that it is important for group members occasionally to "act out" and violate group rules and roles. In most cases, violating these rules and roles will result in poor outcomes for the group. Sometimes, however, it will reveal that a norm or policy was ill advised in the first place, that
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circumstances have changed, or that there is simply a better way of doing things. Only violation of a rule or role can show why the rule or role is still appropriate, if in fact it still is. Unfortunately, unless a group member is willing to risk sanctions by the group, violations of rules and roles will not occur. Thus, while rules and roles capture past learning about effective group functioning, they may also stand in the way of continual learning and adaptation by the group.
Idiosyncrasy credits provide a way for individuals in groups to be creative within the necessary constraints of rules and roles. Idiosyncrasy credits are allowances given to group members to violate group rules and roles. If someone has proved to be a good group member-has largely gone along with the behavioral prescriptions of the group's rules and roles-that individual will be allowed to violate the group's rules and norms without incurring extreme sanctions. That individual's actions are not likely, on balance, to be seen as a threat to the group. In contrast, an individual new to the group or one who has consistently violated rules and roles in the past is likely to be seen as a threat to the integrity of the group. Because rules and roles are important to maintaining the group's coordination and stability, this individual's behavior is unlikely to be tolerated. Thus, group members accumulate idiosyncrasy credits by demonstrating their group loyalty. Idiosyncrasy credits also provide a mechanism by which group members can challenge and reaffirm the continuing appropriateness of group rules and roles.
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Group Decision Making
The belief-characterized by juries-that two heads are better than one has long been accepted as a basic component of North American and many other countries' legal systems. This belief has expanded to the point that, today, many decisions in organizations are made by groups, teams, or committees.
Strengths of Group Decision-making:
Groups generate more complete information and knowledge. By aggregating the resources of several individuals, groups bring more input into the decision process. In addition to more input, groups can bring heterogeneity to the decision process. They offer increased diversity of views. This opens up to the opportunity for more approaches and alternatives to be considered. The evidence indicates that a group will almost always outperform even the best individual. So groups generate higher quality decisions. Finally, groups lead to increased acceptance of a solution. Many decisions fail after the final choice is made because people don't accept the solution. Group members who participated in making a decision are likely to enthusiastically support the decision and encourage others to accept it.
Weaknesses of Group Decision Making:
In spite of the pluses noted, group decisions have their drawbacks. They are time consuming. They typically take more time to reach a solution than would be the case if an individual were making the decision alone. There are conformity pressures in groups. The desire by group members to be accepted and considered an asset to the group can result in squashing any overt disagreement. Group decisions can be dominated by one or a few members. If this dominant coalition is composed of low and medium-ability members, the group's overall effectiveness will suffer. Finally, group decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility. In an individual decision, it's clear who is accountable for the final outcome. In a group decision, the responsibility of any single member is watered down.
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Group Decision-Making Techniques
The most common form of a group decision making takes place in interacting groups. In these groups, members meet face-to-face and rely on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other. Interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual members toward conformity of opinion. Brainstorming, the nominal group technique, and electronic meetings have been proposed as ways to reduce many of the problems inherent in the traditional interacting group.
Brainstorming:
Brainstorming is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in the interacting group that retard the development of creative alternatives. It does this by utilizing an idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.
In a typical brainstorming session, a half dozen to a dozen people sit around a table. the group leader states the problem in a clear manner so that it is understood by all participants. Members than "freewheel" as many alternatives as they can in a given length of time. No criticism is allowed, and all the alternatives are recorded for later discussion and analysis. That one idea stimulates others and that judgments of even the most bizarre suggestions are with held until later encourage group members to "think the unusual." Brainstorming, however, is merely a process for generating ideas.
Nominal Group Techniques:
The nominal group technique restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision making process, hence, the term nominal. Group members are all physically present, as in traditional committee meeting, but members operate independently. Specifically, a problem is presented and than the following steps take place:
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. Members meet as a group but, before any discussion takes place, each member independently writes down his or her ideas on the problem.
2. After this silent period, each member presents one idea to the group. Each member takes his or her turn, presenting a single idea until all ideas have been presented and recorded. No discussion takes place until all ideas have been recorded.
3. The group now discusses the ideas for clarity and evaluates them.
4. Each group member silently and independently rank-orders the ideas. The idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final decision.
The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits the group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking, as does the interacting group.
Electronic Meeting:
The most recent approach to group decision making blends the nominal group technique with sophisticated computer technology. It is called the computer assisted group or electronic meeting. Once the technology is in place, the concept is simple. Up to 50 people sit around a horse-shoe shaped table, empty except for a series of computer terminals. Issues are presented to participants and they type their response onto the computer screen. Individual comments, as well as aggregate votes, are displayed on a projection screen in the room.
The major advantages of electronic meetings are anonymity, honesty, and speed. Participants can anonymously type any message they want and it flashes on the screen for all to see at the push of a participant's keyboard. It also allows people to be brutally honest without penalty. And it's fast because chitchat is eliminated, discussions don't digress, and many participants can "talk" at once
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without stepping on one another's toes. The future of group meetings undoubtedly will include extensive use of this technology.
Each of these four decision making techniques has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. The choice of one technique over another will depend on what criteria you want to emphasize and the cost-benefit trade-off. For instance, the interacting group is good for building group cohesiveness, brainstorming keeps social pressures to a minimum, the nominal group technique is an inexpensive means for generating a large number of ideas, and electronic meetings process ideas fast.
Evaluating Group Effectiveness
Types of Groups
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Effectiveness Criteria Interacting Brainstorming Nominal Electronic
Number of ideas Low Moderate High High
Quality of Ideas Low Moderate High High
Social Pressure High Low Moderate Low
Money Costs Low Low Low High
Speed Moderate Moderate Moderate High
Task Orientation Low High High High
Potential for High Low Moderate Low
Interpersonal conflict
Feelings of High to Low High High High
Accomplishment
Commitment to Solution High Not Applicable Moderate Moderate
Development of Group High High Moderate Low
Cohesiveness
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Teams
The Nature of Teams:
In the management literature, the term team is often used interchangeably with the term group; however, we would like to make a distinction. Earlier we defined a group as two or more individuals who have come together to perform a function; they represent individual efforts coordinated within an existing system. In contrast, although a team is also a group, in a team the members are mutually accountable for the product or service they produce or provide.
Types of Teams
There are hundreds of types of teams. Among the most common are work teams, parallel teams, project teams, and management teams.
Work Team
Unlike many teams that are set up for the duration of a project, work teams are ongoing work units. In the past, these were most often led by a supervisor who made the majority of the decisions. More recently, such teams have been self-managed teams, meaning that the team assumes the tasks of the former supervisor. Team members are cross-trained to perform any task the team requires, including-but not limited to-performing work functions, setting schedules, ordering materials, and coordinating with other groups. Many well-known companies, such as General Motors, Xerox, PepsiCo, and Motorola, have introduced self-managed teams in an effort to improve productivity and quality.
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Parallel Teams:
Parallel teams literally work parallel to the organization, performing problem-solving and improvement-oriented tasks that the regular organization is not equipped or structured to handle. Often referred to as task forces or quality improvement teams, parallel teams include people from across functions or work units. They typically have limited authority and can make recommendations only to individuals higher in the organizational hierarchy.
Project Teams:
Project teams exist for relatively short periods of time for the purpose of producing a one time product or service. Often, project teams consist of individuals from different and diverse disciplines or functions so as to increase the range of specialized knowledge and, consequently, chance of
success. In developing a new product, for example, team members might include operations specialists, financial analysts, and engineers. Once the product is produced, team members either return to their original unit or move on to a new project.
Management Teams:
Management teams coordinate collective output by managing and providing direction to the interdependent subunits they are responsible for. At the top of the organization, the executive management team manages the firm's overall performance and provides strategic direction. In increasingly complex and rapidly changing environments, top management teams (TMTs) are becoming common. Among their strengths are the members' extensive experience and expertise and their willingness to share in the responsibility for the success of the organization.
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High-Performance Teams:
Within these four types of teams is a variation called the high-performance team. As the name suggests, high-performance teams perform at significantly higher-than-normal levels, making them exceptionally effective. Characteristics of high-performance teams include members' commitment to values, trust, respect, caring, collaboration, meaningful recognition and rewards, and integration into the organization as a whole.
Styles among Team Members
Research suggests that team members generally manifest one of four types of personalities: the contributor, the collaborator, the communicator, and the challenger. Typically, an individual most noticeably displays one of these styles, but has the capacity to develop all four.
Contributor:
The contributor is a task-oriented team member. Having gathered all the necessary information, the contributor enjoys sharing technical data and other details about how to proceed. The contributors' standards are high, and he or she pushes others to have high standards and to use resources wisely.
Collaborator:
The collaborator is a goal-oriented, big-picture person. The collaborator's focus is primarily on the vision or mission of the organization, but he or she is flexible and able to work outside that role if necessary.
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Communicator:
The communicator is a process oriented person. A good listener, the communicator is also good at such other people skills as conflict resolution and consensus building. The communicator is often the person who ensures that the team has an informal, comfortable environment in which to work.
Challenger:
The challenger is the team member who questions members of the team, is willing to disagree with the leader, and encourages members to take well-calculated risks.
Characteristics of Successful Groups and Teams
Successful groups and teams typically share five characteristics: group objectives, role differentiation, rule clarity, membership and communication. These characteristics support the team's composition and ultimate performance.
Group Objectives:
The goals, purposes, and functions that a group or team is trying to achieve are its group objectives. For a group or team to be successful, its goals must be specific. Vague goals lead to vague attempts to pursue them. Specific goals get everyone working in the same direction and sharing the same priorities.
It is important that the entire team share the group objectives. It is no help to group functioning if some members of the group have specific but different beliefs about where the group is headed and why? All group members should have the same goals in mind, even if some of the members don't completely agree with these objectives.
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Finally, very successful groups and teams figure out ways to integrate individual and group goals. When group and individual goals are integrated, group actions become more than just the price individuals must pay for access to fulfillment of individual goals. Group actions also become the path to individual goal fulfillment.
Role Differentiation:
Members of successful groups and teams know more than just what the group or team is trying to accomplish. Each member also has a role that specifies his or her contribution. Appropriate role differentiation occurs in two ways. First, all group and team members should have a clear idea of
their own roles-their own duties and responsibilities in the organization and how they contribute to the realization of the group's goals. Second, the roles assigned to each member of the group or team should reflect individual strengths and interests. It is not enough that each member has a role and knows what it is. As much as possible, each role should maximize group members' opportunities to contribute to fulfillment of the group's, the organization's, and their individual objectives.
Rule Clarity:
All members of the group should agree on the formal rules and informal norms that structure interactions within the group or team. These rules and norms include authority and reporting relationships. Rules are critical to the coordination of group member activities. If appropriate rules are not agreed on or are not known, they cannot control and direct group and team interaction.
Membership:
Successful groups and teams strike an appropriate balance among similarities and differences in their members' values and backgrounds. A certain amount of variety in perspectives is important to
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ensure a healthy amount of controversy and conflict in the group or team. However, too much controversy and conflict can lead to hostility and to the eventual breakup of the group. Rules for membership and participation in group and team activities also need to be clear.
Communication:
All successful groups and teams have adequate channels of communication. Good communication is a group's first line of defense against threats to its survival, whether from external or internal sources. No matter how well objectives are selected and shared, rules and roles made clear, and membership constructed, circumstances are bound to change. Good channels of communication are important if the group is to adapt to new challenges and remain successful over time.
Team Composition
When building groups and teams, an important component of performance is composition. Teams can be homogeneous (e.g., members have similar experiences, values, norms, expertise, or even ethnicity) or heterogeneous (e.g., members have differences in experiences or values).
Interestingly, research presents conflicting findings regarding the relationship between diversity and performance. Some research suggests that diverse groups outperform homogeneous groups, and other research shows the homogeneous groups are better performers. P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski interviewed and observed five teams in the Pacific Rim, working for a multinational clothing producer. They found that both homogeneous and highly heterogeneous teams outperform moderately heterogeneous teams over time, suggesting that modestly diverse groups are the most problematic.
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Team Development
Groups and teams are essentially collections of individuals whose interactions are structured to fulfill functions, whether these be independent or mutually accountable. A successful group or team has a good understanding of its functions and an appropriate structure for achieving them.
How do groups and teams come to possess these important characteristics? Some groups achieve them through natural evolution. Other groups get a helping hand by participating in team-development activities.
Team development is defined as "an inward look by the team at its own performance, behavior, and culture for the purposes of deleting dysfunctional behaviors and strengthening functional ones." Team-development activities teach team members valuable skills related to working and getting along with others. These skills become the foundation for team effectiveness. All team-development activities share some important functions: diagnosis, change, and development.
Diagnosis:
Team development always includes activities that focus on identifying functional and dysfunctional aspects of the group's interactions. Typically, the roles and rules for group interaction are examined and their appropriateness openly questioned. Often group members are asked to complete diagnostic questionnaires. The questionnaire might ask, for instance, how clear are the group's goals? How much consensus is there around the group's goals? The results of the questionnaire are then fed back to the group and used to stimulate awareness and discussion of problems concerning any of the five dimensions (group objectives, role differentiation, role clarity, membership and communication) of effective group interaction.
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Change:
After a group has identified its problems, the members of the group must work together to remove impediments to effective functioning. Naturally, attempts to make changes will prove successful only if diagnosis has been careful and thorough. The immediate identification of obvious behavior problems rarely provides a complete diagnosis of deficiencies in the group's interactions. The "maintaining conditions" that have allowed this problem to persist or grow must also be examined and questioned.
Development:
Successful group development goes beyond identifying and repairing dysfunctional interactions. The need for group-development activities in the first place suggests that a group is not adequately self-diagnostic. Successful group development therefore does more than just solve interaction problems. It also creates a system for identifying and resolving future problems.
Conclusions:
We've covered a lot of territory in this assignment. Since we essentially organized our discussion around the group behavior model, let's use this model to summarize our findings regarding performance and satisfaction.
Performance:
Any prediction about a group's performance must begin by recognizing that work groups are part of a larger organization and that factors such as the organization's strategy, authority structure, selection procedures, and reward system can provide a favorable and unfavorable climate for the group to operate within. Managers shouldn't look at any group in isolation. Rather, they should
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begin by assessing the degree of support external conditions provide the group. A group is more likely to be productive when its members have the requisite skills to do the group's tasks and the personality characteristics that facilitate working well together.
The primary contingency variable moderating the relationship between group processes and performance is the group's task. The more complex and interdependent the tasks, the more that inefficient processes will lead to reduced group performance.
Satisfaction:
As with the role perception-performance relationship, high congruence between a boss and employee, as to the perception of the employee's job, shows a significant association with high employee satisfaction. Similarly, role conflict is associated with job-induced tension and job dissatisfaction.
Most people prefer to communicate with others at their own status level or a higher one rather then with those below them. As a result, we should expect satisfaction to be greater among employees whose job minimizes interaction with individuals who are lower in status than themselves.
The group size-satisfaction relationship is what one would intuitively expect: Larger groups are associated with lower satisfaction. As size increases, opportunities for participation and social interaction decrease, as does the ability of members to identify with the group's accomplishments. At the same time, having more members also prompts dissension, conflict and the formation of sub-groups, which all act to make the group a less pleasant entity of which to be a part.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Moorhead, Gregory & Griffin, Ricky W. (1999); "Group Dynamics"; Organizational Behavior: pp 292-294; A.I.T.B.S. Publishers and Distributors (Regd.) (Fifth Edition).
Stroh, Linda K., Northcraft, Gregory B. & Neale, Margaret A.; Groups and Teams; Organizational Behavior-A Management Challenge: pp 157-174; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers (Third Edition).
Robbins, Stephen P.; "Foundations of Group Behavior"; Organizational Behavior: pp 218,240,244-247; Pearson Education Asia (Ninth Edition).
Marvin E. Shaw, Group Dynamics: the Psychology of Small Group Behaviour. 3rd edition (1981).
2 Mc David, J.W., & Harari, M. (1968). Social Psychology: Individuals, Groups and Societies, p. 237.
