GROUPS AND TEAMS

Groups vs Teams What are groups and teams? Group: two or more people with a common relationship. could be co-workers or people meeting for lunch or standing at the bus stop. Unlike teams, groups do not necessarily engage in collective work that requires interdependent effort.

Team: Small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Characteristics of a Team Groups become teams when they meet the following conditions: Team members share leadership. Both individuals and the team as a whole share accountability for the work of the team. The team develops its own purpose or mission. The team works on problem solving continuously, rather than just at scheduled meeting times. The team’s measure of effectiveness is the team’s outcomes and goals, not individual outcomes and goals.

Stages of team development Five Stage Model: The model shows how individuals move from being independent to working interdependently with group members. Stage I: Forming: Characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. Members are “testing the waters” to determine what types of behaviour are acceptable. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group.

Stages of team development Stage II: Storming: Members accept the existence of the group, but resist the constraints that the group imposes on individuality. Conflict over who will control the group. When this stage is complete, a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership will emerge within the group. Some groups never really emerge from the storming stage.

Stages of team development Stage III: Norming: Close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness. Strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. Group develops norms, acceptable standards of behaviour. Complete when the group structure solidifies.

Stages of team development Stage IV: Performing: Significant task progress is being made. Structure is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand.

Stages of team development Stage V: Adjourning: Group prepares to split up. High task performance is no longer the group’s top priority. Instead, attention is directed toward wrapping up activities.

Stages of Team Development

The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model Temporary groups with deadlines have their own unique sequence of action(or inaction): • The first meeting sets the group’s direction. • The first phase of group activity is one of inertia. • A transition takes place at the end of the first phase, which occurs exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time. • The transition initiates major changes. • A second phase of inertia follows the transition. • The group’s last meeting is characterized by high levels of productive activity.

The Punctuated – Equilibrium Model

CREATING EFFECTIVE TEAMS Four Categories for Effective Teams: • Resources and other contextual influences that make teams effective • The team’s composition • Work design • Process variables (those things that go on in the team that influence how effective the team is)

Categories For Effective Teams

Virtue Teams Virtual teams, Seldom interact face-to-face and they use computer technology to tie together physically separated members in order to achieve a common goal. They enable people to collaborate online—using communication links such as wide-area networks, videoconferencing, and email.

Challenges Facing Virtue Teams Establishing trust and commitment, encouraging communication, and assessing team members pose tremendous challenges for virtual team managers.

Appropriateness of Teams Three tests be applied to see if a team fits the situation: (1) Can the work be done better by more than one person? (2) Does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the sum of individual goals? And (3) Are the members of the group interdependent?

End Thank You