Chapter 15 Individuals, groups and teams Qiang Jiang School of Business Sichuan University, China

Topic list 1 Individuals 2 Groups 3 Teams 4 Team member roles 5 Team development 6 Building a team 7 Successful teams

1 Individuals Personality is the total pattern of characteristic ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that constitute the individual` s distinctive method of relating to the environment.

1 Individuals Managing personality – With the task – With the systems and management – With other personalities in the team

1 Individuals if incompatibilities occur, the manager or supervisor has three options – Restore compatibility – Achieve a compromise – Remove the incompatible personality

1 Individuals Perception is the psychological process by which stimuli or in-coming sensory data are selected and organised into patterns which are meaningful to the individual – The context – The nature of the stimuli – Internal factors – Fear of trauma

1 Individuals Attitude is a mental state __exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual` s response to all objects and situations with which it is related – Knowledge, beliefs or disbeliefs, perceptions – Feelings and desires – Volition, will or the intention to perform an action.

1 Individuals Behaviour will be influenced by: – Attitudes to work – Attitudes at work

1 Individuals Intelligence is a wider and more complex concept than the traditional view of IQ. – Analytic intelligence – Spatial intelligence – Practical intelligence – Intra-personal intelligence – Inter-personal intelligence

1 Individuals Role theory suggests that People behave in any situation according to other people` a expectations of how they should behave in that situation. – A role set – Role ambiguity – Role incompatibility or role conflict – Role signs – Role models

2 Groups Group is any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group. – A sense of identity – Loyalty to the group,and acceptance within the group – Purpose and leadership

2 Groups Why form groups? – A preference for small groups – The need to belong and to make a contribution – Familiarity – Common rank, specialisms, objectives and interests – The attractiveness of a particular group activity – Resources offered to groups – Power greater than the individuals could muster alone – Formal directives

2 Groups Group is any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group. – A sense of identity – Loyalty to the group,and acceptance within the group – Purpose and leadership

2 Groups Formal and informal groups Individual and group contribution – Group dynamics have an effect on performance – Group offer synergy – Group dynamics and synergy may be negative

3 Teams Team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves basically accountable – Work organisation – Control – ideas generation – Decision making

3 Teams Limitations of the team working – Not suitable for all job – Teamwork introduced,because of it better performance, not people feel better or more secure – Team processes delay decision-making – Social relationships might be maintained at the expense of other aspects of performance – Group norms may restrict individual personality and flair – Team consensus and cohesion may prevent consideration of alternatives or constructive criticism – Personality clashes and political behaviour within a team can get in the way of effective performance

3 Teams Organise team work – Multi-disciplinary teams – Multi-skilled teams – Virtual teams

4 Team member roles Who should belong in the team? – Specialist skills – Power – Access to resources – The personalities and goals

4 Team member roles Belbin: nine team role – Plant(ideas) – Resource investigator(find resources for the team) – Co-ordinator (organize tasks) – Shaper(question) – Monitor-evaluator(how do we do it) – Team worker(support) – Implementer(doer) – Completer-finisher(details) – Specialist(if needed)

4 Team member roles Balanced team – Individuals inclined towards some roles more than others – Individuals tend to adopt one or two team roles more or less consistently – Individuals are likely to be more successful in some roles than in others

4 Team member roles Contribution – Proposing – Supporting – Giving information – Blocking/difficulty stating – Shutting-out behaviour – Bringing-in behaviour – Testing understanding – summarising

5 Team development Tuckman's stages of group development – Forming(get together) – Storming(competition for leadership) – Norming(agree what to do ) – Performing(get task done) – Dorming – Moruning/adjourning

6 Building a team Team identity Team solidarity Commitment to shared objectives

7 Successful teams Evaluating team effectiveness – Task performance: fulfill of task and goal – Team functioning: maintenance of team working, managing demands of team dynamics, roles and processes – Team member satisfaction: fulfill of individual development and relationship needs

7 Successful teams Reward schemes – Profit sharing schemes – Gainsharing schemes – Employee share option schemes