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Groups, Teams, and Their Leadership 10 Chapter Groups, Teams, and Their Leadership “We are born for cooperation, as are the feet, the hands, the eyelids, and the upper and lower jaws.” ~Marcus Aurelius

Introduction Groups and teams are different than solely the skills, abilities, values, and motives of those who comprise them. Groups are essential if leaders are to impact anything beyond their own behavior. The group perspective looks at how different group characteristics can affect relationships both with the leader and among the followers. 10-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Individuals Versus Groups Versus Teams Team members usually have a stronger sense of identification among themselves than group members do. Teams have common goals or tasks; these may range from the development of a new product to an athletic league championship. Task independence typically is greater with teams than with groups. Team members often have more differentiated and specialized roles than group members. Teams should be considered as highly specialized groups. 10-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Groups A group can be thought of as two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person. This definition incorporates the concept of reciprocal influence between leaders and followers. Group members interact and influence each other. Everyone belongs to a number of different groups. 10-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Size Leader emergence is partly a function of group size. As groups become larger, cliques are more likely to develop. Group size can affect a leader’s behavioral style. Group size affects group effectiveness. Process loss Social loafing Social facilitation 10-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Size (continued) Additive task – a task where the group’s output simply involves the combination of individual outputs. Process losses – inefficiencies created by more and more people working together. Social loafing – phenomenon of reduced effort by people when they are not individually accountable for their work. Social facilitation – people increasing their level of work due to the presence of others. 10-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Developmental Stages of Groups Forming Storming Norming Performing The four stages of group development are important because: People are in many more leaderless groups than they may realize. The potential relationships between leadership behaviors and group cohesiveness and productivity. Gersick proposed a better model for teams in organization settings by studying project teams and identifying the process of punctual equilibrium. 10-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Roles Group roles are the sets of expected behaviors associated with particular jobs or positions. Task role Relationship role Types of role problems: Dysfunctional roles Role conflict Intrasender role conflict Intersender role conflict Interrole conflict Person-role conflict Role ambiguity 10-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Norms Norms are the informal rules groups adopt to regulate and regularize group members’ behavior. Norms are more likely to be seen as important and apt to be enforced if they: Facilitate group survival. Simplify, or make more predictable, what behavior is expected of group members. Help the group to avoid embarrassing interpersonal problems. Express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive about the group’s identity. 10-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Cohesion (Positive) Group cohesion is the glue that keeps a group together. Highly cohesive groups interact with and influence each other more than do less cohesive groups. Highly cohesive groups may have lower absenteeism and lower turnover than a less cohesive group. Leaders will be better off thinking of ways to create and maintain highly cohesive teams, than not developing these teams out of concern for potential groupthink or overbounding situations. 10-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Cohesion (Negative) Some groups can become so cohesive they erect what amount to fences or boundaries between themselves and others. Over-bounding People in highly cohesive groups often become more concerned with striving for unanimity than in objectively appraising different courses of action. Groupthink Ollieism is when illegal actions are taken by overly zealous and loyal subordinates who believe that what they are doing will please their leaders. 10-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Effective Team Characteristics and Team Building Key characteristics for effective team performance: Effective teams have a clear mission and high performance standards. Leaders of successful teams often take stock of their equipment, training facilities and opportunities, and outside resources available to help the team. Good leaders work to secure those resources and equipment necessary for team effectiveness. Leaders of effective teams spend a considerable amount of time planning and organizing in order to make optimal use of available resources. 10-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Effective Team Characteristics and Team Building (continued) Four variables that need to be in place for a team to work effectively: Task structure Group boundaries Norms Authority 10-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Organizational Shells Figure 10-1 10-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ginnett’s Team Effectiveness Leadership Model Stages of the Team Effectiveness Leadership Model: Input Process Output This model is a mechanism to first identify what a team needs to be effective, and then to point the leader either toward the roadblocks that are hindering the team or toward ways to make the team even more effective than it already is. 10-16 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Basic TELM Components Figure 10-3 10-17 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Leadership Prescriptions of the Model A team should be built like a house or automobile: Start with a concept Create a design Engineer it to do what you want it to do Manufacture it to meet those specifications The three critical functions for team leadership: Dream Design Development 10-18 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis and Leverage Points Figure 10-5 10-19 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Concluding Thoughts about Ginnett’s Team Effectiveness Leadership Model Leaders can influence team effectiveness by: Ensuring the team has a clear sense of purpose and performance expectations. Designing or redesigning input stage variables at the individual, organizational, and team design levels. Improving team performance through ongoing coaching at various stages, but particularly while the team is actually performing its task. 10-20 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual Teams Virtual teams are sometimes referred to as Geographically Dispersed Teams (GDTs). Five major areas that need to change for global teams to work: Senior management leadership Innovative use of communication technology Adoption of an organization design that enhances global operations The ability to capture the strengths of diverse cultures, languages, and people 10-21 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual Teams (continued) The distance between members of virtual teams is multidimensional. The impact of distance on the performance of a distributed work group is not directly proportional to objective measures of distance. The difference in the effects that distance seems to have on work groups is due at least partially to two intervening variables: Integrating practices within a virtual team Integrating practices between a virtual team and its larger host organization 10-22 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary Group factors that can affect followers’ behaviors include: Group size Stages of group development Roles Norms Cohesion Leaders should use a team perspective for understanding follower behavior and group performance. 10-23 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary (continued) The Team Effectiveness Leadership Model posited that team effectiveness can best be understood in terms of input, processes, and outcomes. By identifying certain process problems in teams, leaders can use the TELM to diagnose appropriate leverage points for action at the individual, team design, or organizational levels, or for ongoing development at the process level. 10-24 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.