Managing People in Organisations Week 10 Team / Group Working

September 2005Managing People in Organisations2 Learning Objectives Learning Objectives – students will be able to: –Outline the nature of the dynamic process that occurs within and between groups –understand group influences on individuals’ behaviour –Assess the implications of ‘groupthink’ –understand the nature and value of role theory together with its relevance to the structure of groups

September 2005Managing People in Organisations3 Controlling behaviour within groups and teams Perception and attitudes –Sherif (1936) demonstrated that for two and three person groups, individuals could be influenced by the other person(s) present Socialisation –New people joining a group –Group seeks to ensure new member conforms to the established task requirements –Any tendency for self-interested behaviour will elicit negative responses from rest of group

September 2005Managing People in Organisations4 Controlling behaviour within groups and teams Socialisation Cont’d –The Hawthorne Studies identified several ways in which groups controlled their members. ‘Binging’ - tapping on the arm a light-hearted joke or sarcastic comment and ridicule of the individual concerned In effect, a scale of ‘punishment’ existed The purpose being to socialize members in the norms of behaviour within the work group

September 2005Managing People in Organisations5 Controlling behaviour within groups and teams Socialisation Cont’d Alvesson and Willmott (1996) describe socialisation as: “ The process through which humans acquire, and identify with, the values, customs and aspirations of the social groups in which they live.”

September 2005Managing People in Organisations6 Controlling behaviour within groups and teams Authority –One feature of decision making within groups is the degree to which the group can ensure consistency in the views of the members –This can be achieved either through conforming to the norms of the group or by following the lead of the authority figures within it

September 2005Managing People in Organisations7 Controlling behaviour within groups and teams Authority cont’d –Asch (1951) experiment. Subjects asked to decide upon the relative length of a number of lines. Which of the three lines (A, B or C) is the same length as line D? A B C …………………………………………….. D

September 2005Managing People in Organisations8 Group cohesion Piper et al. (1983) “group cohesion refers to the attractiveness of a group to its members, reflected in their motivation to be a part of it, and the degree of resistance to leaving it” It represents the strength of the feelings of togetherness among the members of a group

September 2005Managing People in Organisations9 Group cohesion Environmental factors Organisational factors Group factors Individual factors Level of group cohesion Impact on group activity

September 2005Managing People in Organisations10 Group cohesion What are the advantages and disadvantages of strong cohesive groups?

September 2005Managing People in Organisations11 Groupthink “Tendency of a strongly cohesive group to emphasise unity at the expense of critical evaluation of problems and options” Martin (2005)

September 2005Managing People in Organisations12 Groupthink Symptoms of groupthink Invulnerability Rationalisation Morality Values

September 2005Managing People in Organisations13 Groupthink Symptoms cont’d Pressure Self-censorship Unanimity Mindguards

September 2005Managing People in Organisations14 Groupthink Assign a devil’s advocate Seeking outsider viewpoints Encourage expressions Of doubt Senior members accepting criticism Adopt a scenario- planning approach Use of subgroups Use of duplicate groups Senior members speaking last Preventing groupthink

September 2005Managing People in Organisations15 Group effectiveness/member satisfaction A group could be productive and achieve its objectives, but members may not enjoy the experience or feel that it was satisfactory for them personally Or Individuals could have a good time through the group experience, but fail to achieve anything in relation to the objectives set What challenges does this raise?

September 2005Managing People in Organisations16 The Belbin team role model Belbin identifies nine team roles that, it is suggested, determine the performance of a group. Shaper Plant Coordinator Resource Investigator Monitor-Evaluator Team-Worker Implementer Completer-Finisher Specialist Check out:

September 2005Managing People in Organisations17

September 2005Managing People in Organisations18 The Belbin team role model According to Belbin, winning teams display the following characteristics: An individual in the chair who could make use of the role to ensure an effective process A strong plant, essentially a creative and clever person A good range of mental ability spread across the individuals within the group Wide team role coverage within the group A match between team roles and personal attributes The ability of the team to compensate for role imbalances

September 2005Managing People in Organisations19 The Belbin team role model Characteristics relevant to a lack of success: Morale - there is only a tenuous link between the level of morale in the group and degree of success in achieving objectives Mental ability - this proved to be a critical factor Personality - organisation culture creates a tendency to encourage the recruitment and promotion of people with a preponderance of particular personality traits

September 2005Managing People in Organisations20 The Belbin team role model Cont’d Team composition - unless a balance of team roles is achieved within, for example, a specialist function, then the group is likely to be ineffective in identifying appropriate recommendations Individuals with no team role Role reversal – individuals switch and adopt another role less suited to their abilities

September 2005Managing People in Organisations21 Team Management Wheel LINKER Explorer Promoter Creator Innovator Reporter Adviser Upholder maintainer Controller Inspector Concluder Producer Thruster Organiser Assessor Developer

September 2005Managing People in Organisations22 Team Management Wheel The model is based around the team management profile questionnaire, which is a forced-choice normative questionnaire. It measures individual work preferences on four dimensions: 1.Relationships 2.Information 3.Decisions 4.Organisation

September 2005Managing People in Organisations23 Team Management Wheel The information collected provides a profile of the individual in terms that can be translated onto the ‘Wheel’. The profile identified falls into the segments on the Wheel, each of which implies the following characteristics:

September 2005Managing People in Organisations24 Team Management Wheel Margerison and McCann claim that different situations and team objectives require different combinations of roles from the Wheel therefore The current profile of every manager should be available when the composition of a team is considered and that profile should be taken into account

September 2005Managing People in Organisations25 High performing team Accept that all team members have a responsibility to undertake the linking role. Have high expectations and set high targets. Gain high levels of job satisfaction. Experience high levels of co-operation. Provide team managers who lead by example. Develop teams that have a balance of roles matched to skills. Experience high degrees of autonomy. Learn quickly from mistakes. Develop teams that are ‘customer’ oriented. Display good problem- solving skills and review group performance. Be motivated to perform.

September 2005Managing People in Organisations26 Reasons teams fails A lack of balance across the team roles A lack of effective linking between the roles A lack of effective relationship management within the team A lack of effective information management within the team The existence of impoverished decision- making processes The tendency to want to take decisions too early in the process