Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter 14 Group Dynamics and Teamwork

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter Outline Fundamental Group Dynamics u What Is a Group? u Types of Groups u Attraction to Groups u Roles u Norms

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter Outline (continued) Group Development u Characteristics of a Mature Group u Six Stages of Group Development

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter Outline (continued) Organizational Politics u What Does Organizational Politics Involve? u Research on Organizational Politics u Political Tactics u Antidotes to Political Behavior

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter Outline (continued) Conformity and Groupthink u Research on Conformity u Groupthink

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Chapter Outline (continued) Teams, Teamwork, and Trust u Cross-Functional Teams u Virtual Teams u What Makes Workplace Teams Effective? u Trust: A Key to Team Effectiveness

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUP DYNAMICS Group: two or more freely interacting individuals who share a common identity and purpose. Types of Groups Informal group: collection of people seeking friendship. Formal group: collection of people created to do something productive.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Figure 14.1 What Does It Take to Make a Group?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUP DYNAMICS (continued) For Discussion: 1.How many groups do you presently belong to? Which are informal? Which are formal? 2.How important is your group membership to your self-image and self-esteem?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ATTRACTION TO GROUPS Cohesiveness: tendency of group members to follow the group and resist outside influences (a “we” feeling).

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ATTRACTION TO GROUPS Table 14.1 (continued) Factors that Enhance Group Attractiveness 1. Prestige and status 2. Cooperative relationship 3. High degree of interaction 4. Relatively small size 5. Similarity of members 6. Superior public image of the group 7. A common threat in the environment

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ATTRACTION TO GROUPS (continued) For Discussion: What can managers do to increase the cohesiveness of their work groups?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ROLES AND NORMS Role: socially determined way of behaving in a specific position. u The Concept of role involves: 1. Others’ expectations for a focal person’s behavior in a specific position 2. The focal person’s actual behavior

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ROLES AND NORMS (continued) Norms: general standards of conduct for various social settings. “Norms have a broader influence than do roles, which focus on a specific position.”

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ROLES AND NORMS (continued) Norms Are Enforced for These Reasons: u To facilitate survival of the group u To simplify or clarify role expectations u To help group members avoid embarrassing situations (protect self-images) u To express key group values and enhance the group’s unique identity

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Figure 14.2 Norms Are Enforced for Different Reasons

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ROLES AND NORMS (continued) Ostracism: rejection from a group (the capital punishment of group dynamics).

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ROLES AND NORMS (continued) For Discussion: 1.What are the general role expectations and norms for college students these days? 2.How are these role expectations and norms communicated and enforced?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Source: Group Effectiveness in Organizations, by Linda N. Jewell and H. Joseph Reitz, p. 20. Used with permission of the authors. Figure 14.3 Group Development from Formation to Maturity

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved SIX STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT (continued) For Discussion: What is your experience with groups failing to reach maturity? Where and why did they get stuck?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS u Organizational politics: “the pursuit of self-interest at work in the face of real or imagined opposition.”

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS (continued) Political Tactics u Posturing (“One-upmanship;” taking credit for others’ work) u Empire building (building a resource base) u Making the supervisor look good u Collecting and using social IOUs (exchanging political favors) u Creating power and loyalty cliques u Destructive competition

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS (continued) For Discussion: 1.Which of these tactics have worked well for you? 2.Which tactics are ethical ways of getting ahead in today’s workplace? Which are unethical? 3.Have you ever been victimized by any of these political tactics? Explain the circumstances and your response.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUPTHINK Groupthink: Janis’s term for blind conformity in cohesive in-groups.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUPTHINK (continued) Symptoms of Groupthink u Excessive optimism u Assumption of inherent morality u Suppression of dissent u An almost desperate quest for unanimity

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUPTHINK (continued) Preventing Groupthink u Avoiding “rubber-stamp” groups u Everyone acts as a critical evaluator u Fresh perspective from outside experts u Assigning the devil’s advocate role u Anticipating side effects and consequences of actions

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved GROUPTHINK (continued) For Discussion: Why is it possible to have “too much of a good thing” when it comes to group cohesiveness?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Source: Reprinted from Journal of Product Innovation Management, 7, Hans J. Thamhain, “Managing Technologically Innovative Team Efforts Toward New Product Success,” pp Copyright 1990, with permission from Elsevier Science, Inc. Figure 14.5 A Model of Team Effectiveness

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved TRUST Trust: a belief in the integrity, character, or ability of others.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Source: Reprinted from “Trust and Managerial Problem Solving,” by Dale E. Zand and published in Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, no. 2 (June 1972) by permission of Administrative Science Quarterly. © 1972 by Cornell University. Figure 14.6 Trust and Effective Group Interaction

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved TRUST (continued) For Discussion: 1.How trusting are you? How did you get that way? 2.Is it possible to earn trust without giving it in return? Explain.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved HOW MANAGERS CAN BUILD TRUST 1. Communicate openly 2. Support your people 3. Show respect through delegation and listening 4. Be fair 5. Behave predictably 6. Be competent

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved HOW MANAGERS CAN BUILD TRUST (continued) For Discussion: 1.Think of a person you trust to a high degree. Why do you trust them? What would it take for you to mistrust them? 2.What is the status of trust in today’s workplace? What changes need to be made?