PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved. Chapter 9 Groups, Processes, and Teams in Organizations

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–2 Groups versus Teams Group defined  Two or more people who act together to accomplish a goal or who share a common interest. Team  A group that holds membership in an organization.  Purpose related to the goals of that organization.  Has a task, resources, leadership, and a goal.  A self-managing group of people (at more or less the same organizational level) with different skills, all working toward the attainment of a common goal.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–3 Groups Informal groups  Two or more people engage in voluntary collective activity for a common purpose.  Friendship groups: collection of people with similar values or beliefs who get together for a common purpose—possibly just to have fun.  Interest groups: collection of people addressing a specific subject.  Informal groups generally aren’t recognized by the organization.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–4 Groups (cont’d) Formal groups  Two or more people who engage in organizationally required actions for a common purpose and are a permanent part of the organization.  Membership is based on the employee’s position in the organization.  Member role definition and membership requirements for a formal group are dictated by the organization and are quite explicit.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–5 Groups (cont’d) Work groups  Two or more people in a work organization who share a common purpose (usually the completion of a task).  The smallest formal organizational personnel arrangement having assigned reporting relationships, a formal leader, and specific instructions to guide task completion.  Represents the most basic level of collective work activity in organizations.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–6 Groups (cont’d) Source: Adapted from R. Likert, New Patterns of Management (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961), 166. Characteristics of Effective Groups Exhibit 9. 1

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–7 Groups (cont’d) Role making in groups  Role: a set of shared expectations regarding a member’s attitude and task behavior within the group.  Sent role: The group’s agreement about a role to be performed by a member.  Received role: A role recipient’s personal translation of what the sent role means; the same role may be received differently by different people.  Enacted role: how a received role is expressed or redefined by the individual assuming the role.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–8 Groups (cont’d) Problems in role making  Role conflict: the incompatibility between the role’s requirements and the individual’s own beliefs or expectations.  Interrole conflict: two different types of roles collide.  Intrarole conflict: two similar roles come in conflict.  Intersender conflict: contradictory messages come from the same source.  Person-role conflict: an individual’s beliefs are in conflict with the requirements of the individual’s role.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–9 Groups (cont’d) Problems in role making (cont’d)  Role ambiguity: the requirements of a role are not clear and the role occupant is not sure how to fulfill role requirements.  Role overload: a condition in which a task’s demands overwhelm the role occupant’s ability to perform the task.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–10 Groups (cont’d) Group norms  A system of shared values that define the borders of acceptable member behavior.  Conformity: member acceptance of norms.  Norms are communicated through:  Explicit statements by the group leader.  Explicit statements by group members.  Critical events in the group’s history.  Past group experiences.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–11 Groups (cont’d) Exhibit 9. 2 Typical Group Norms

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–12 Groups (cont’d) Cohesiveness  A way of describing how well the group functions in:  Doing its work effectively.  Attracting new members when necessary.  Maintaining the group over the long term.  Influencing one another.  Social influence: attempts by the group to regulate members who deviate from accepted norms.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–13 Groups (cont’d) Groupthink  Collectively-influenced thinking that occurs in a highly cohesive in-group when its members’ desire for unanimity causes them to ignore alternative or divisive courses of action. Cultural diversity  Exists in groups whose members differ by gender, age, ethnic background, disability status, religious affiliation, and lifestyle.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–14 The Group Development Process Stage 1: Forming  The actual beginning of the group, when members get to know one another and start to understand each other’s abilities and deficits. Stage 2: Storming  The group comes to grips with inherent conflicts and develops solutions that keep the group focused on its work.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–15 Group Development Process (cont’d) Stage 3: Norming  The group develops a long-term vision of its purpose and how it will function over time as it develops its group norms. Stage 4: Performing  The group becomes an effective unit over the long term by:  Fine-tuning group functioning.  Redefining group roles as needed.  Balancing group needs and those of the organization.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–16 Teams Characteristics of teams:  Teams have a specific task.  Teams are self-managing.  Teams have decision-making autonomy.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–17 Teams (cont’d) Types of teams  Work teams—a special type of work group, which is self-managed and has more decision-making autonomy than some work groups.  Task teams—a formal group of people working on a temporary job that will disband when its work is completed.  Management team—people from different functional or operating areas, brought together to plan, implement, and manage ongoing organizational activities.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–18 Teams (cont’d) Exhibit 9. 3 Adapted from: Eileen K. Aranda, Luis Aranda with Kristi Conlon.Teams: Structure. Process. Culture, and Politics (Upper Saddle River, NJ:. Prentice Hall, 1999), 18; and Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas Smith.“The Discipline of Teams.” Harvard Business Review, March–April, 1992, 112–120. Skills of Effective Team Members

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–19 Teams (cont’d) Virtual team  The collaborative activities of several people, working together on computer networks, using common software and sharing common data.  Benefits of a virtual team:  Allows dispersed employees to work together online.  Reduces employee cost per transaction.  Decreases time to complete a project.  Reduces transmittal and paper costs.  Increases work quality.  Allows greater work integration from several people.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–20 Teams (cont’d) Advantages of teamwork  Provides a quick response time and focused energy.  Offers better-quality decisions.  Engenders greater member commitment and acceptance of ideas.  Allows greater employee participation.  Affords workers greater autonomy and self- governance.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–21 Teams (cont’d) Problems with teamwork  Employees need time to get accustomed to working in teams.  Team members need to know not just why teams are being used, but where each team fits into the larger picture.  Teams require a supportive environment.  Team leaders can conflict with teams when leaders refuse to share authority with the rest of the team.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–22 Team Effectiveness and Team Interaction Team effectiveness  The organizationally important outcomes or results of the team’s efforts: efficiency, satisfaction, and goal attainment.  Team success relies upon the team having:  A common purpose and specific goals.  Team members with complementary skills  A shared agreement about how the work will be done  Mutual accountability for team action.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–23 Team Effectiveness and Interaction (cont’d) Exhibit 9. 4 Systems Model of Team Effectiveness

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–24 Team Effectiveness and Interaction (cont’d) Implementing work teams  At every level, companies need teamwork. Features of effective self-managed teams:  Extensive worker control over operating decisions, especially those traditionally made by supervisors, foremen, and quality inspectors.  High levels of feedback from the work itself (e.g., self- charting, online computerized reports).  Cross-training such that each worker can perform many functions (i.e., job de-specialization).

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–25 Team Effectiveness and Interaction (cont’d) Organize around processes rather than tasks. Create horizontal structures by grouping subprocesses. Reengineer the process. Give teams control over processes and process performance. Link team performance to customer satisfaction. Assign performance objectives to teams, not individuals. Assign managerial tasks to the team where feasible. Train team members to develop cross-functional skills and competencies. Empower team members with information. Put team members in touch with customers. Reward skill development and team performance. Rules for creating effective self-managed teams Management Highlight

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–26 Team Effectiveness and Interaction (cont’d) Team-building problems  Confusing team building with teamwork.  Haphazard team planning.  Starting teams before assessing team needs.  Training team members individually.  Not making teams accountable.  Focusing too intently on group issues and forgetting to use effective team processes.

Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.9–27 Team Effectiveness and Interaction (cont’d) Overcoming resistance to teamwork  Develop a system for planning teamwork.  Define team needs.  Train members to function as a team.  Hold team members accountable for what they’ve learned in training and what they do at work.  Make room for spontaneity.  Value speaking out.  Encourage intellectual exchange.  Select self-motivated people.