Essay on People & Organization

Teams and Groups

Table of Contents
Literature Review................................................................................................... 3
Background and the Why of Teams and Groups..............................................3
Definition and the Understanding of Teams and Groups.....................................4
Team and Group Size and Composition..............................................................5
Team and Group Development...........................................................................5
Different Issues Affecting Teams and Groups.....................................................6
Application of Diagnostic Tools on Current Capabilities on Teams and Groups......6
Johari Window..................................................................................................... 6
Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument........................................................8
The Big 5 Personality Traits - OCEAN..................................................................9
Belbin Team Role Inventories............................................................................10
ESCI.................................................................................................................. 11
Areas for Improvement........................................................................................ 12
References........................................................................................................... 13

Literature Review
Background and the Why of Teams and Groups
There has been a remarkable transformation in the organisational structures all over the world
in the last one and a half decade. Though this kind of transformation is driven by economic,
strategic, and technological imperatives, the main aspect to this change is due to shift in work
culture from individual based jobs to team based work structures (Mathieu et al, 2014). The
emergence of teams as fundamental building blocks of the organisation is due to the pressures
created by increasing global competition, consolidation, and innovation. Anderson, Potonik,
& Zhou, (2014) feel that due to these pressures, the need has arisen to have diverse skills,
expertise and experience. In fact more rapid, flexible and adaptive responses are needed to
overcome these pressures. Teams give the required flexibility and characteristics.
Additionally, through expansion, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures, organisations
have globalised their operations and this has necessitated understanding and importance of
cross-cultural and mixed culture teams (Dunford et al, 2013). The new tools for better
communication link with individuals in the team on the real time is possible with advanced
computer and communication technologies. With the present technologies, the teams can be
virtual, i.e. distributed in time and space.
In the earlier times, small group research revolved in social psychology (Spears & Postmes,
2015). But in the last 15 years, the group and team research has been increasingly included in
the fields of organizational psychology and organizational behaviour. In fact, the conclusion
has been drawn by Salazar et al (2012) in their extensive review of small group research has
been, With the new advent of technology in the globalised world and decreasing distance of
communication between people across geographies, more emphasis of teams and groups in
organizational behaviour has been put forth than ever before.

Definition and the Understanding of Teams and Groups

Based on different contexts, functions, internal processes, and external linkages, work teams
and groups are formed in varieties of types and sizes. But the basic definition for the teams
and groups are provided by certain features. The characteristics for work teams and groups
are given by the following (Lisak & Erez, 2015):

They are comprised of more than one individuals working together.

People in a team or group who work together work towards tasks for the development

of the organisation.
All members of the team or group work towards a common end goal.
All members of the team or groups interact with each other socially in a direct or an

indirect level.
Work of individuals in a team or group are dependent on each other internally to

achieve the aforementioned common goal.

Every member in a team or group has set role boundaries and responsibilities, which

are exclusive to each other.

They are a part of organizational set pieces which together would complete the goal

picture set by the organisation.

They may also interact with different teams and groups at an organizational level.

The organisational contexts are responsible for teams and the team forms a context for team
members. For the individuals who form the team, the team will also represent a proximal
context. By virtue of their attributes, interactions and responses, team members operate in a
bounded interactive context. Hence, Kezar (2013) feels that the context of team will be got
jointly by both top-down and bottom-up influences. The bonding of organisations, teams, and
individuals are done with a multilevel system. The behaviour cannot be attributed to the team
but to the individuals. The individuals behave in such a way that the team gets direction and
create team level phenomena. Thus the individuals get twined within the team and the teams
get linked to the organisation in a larger multilevel system. The use of multiple levels namely

individual, team and the higher level context has been done with hierarchical nesting and
coupling. This will provide understanding and investigation of team phenomena.

Team and Group Size and Composition

Team composition is of research and practical interest because the combination of member
attributes can have a powerful influence on team processes and outcomes. Researchers have
offered recommendations concerning the best size for various types of teams. Lopes Pimenta,
Lago da Silva & Tate, (2014) suggested that work teams should contain a dozen or so
members, whereas Schjoedt et al (2013) suggested that seven was the best size. A variety of
other such recommendations are easily found in the literature. Such recommendations are
difficult to evaluate, because they are often based on personal experiences rather than
empirical evidence.

Team and Group Development

Model for group development has been proposed but before that various stages involved in
the formation of groups is analysed. The same is given in the figure below.

Figure: Stages of Team Development.

Source: Jones, S. (2012). Team Building and the Stages of Team Development. Effective
Executive, 15(1), 52.
(a) Forming- it is starting of the group stage to go about a task. The group members seek
the guidance and direction of the group leader. At this stage, proper protocols and
chain of command is spelt properly in order to ensure group decision making is
mooted rather than individual decision making.

(b) Storming- it is a phase where the group/team is ridden with rivalry and conflict among
team members that arise due to their lack of personal relations.
(c) Norming- is a stage where members of the group come to terms with their individual
opinions and groups requirement. Members then listen to others ideas as well apart
from their own ideas.
(d) Performing- this is the fourth stage where the group emerges as a team with each and
every role defined and individuals perform their roles and task is handled as a team.
(e) Adjourning- it is a stage where task of the team gets completed and team ceases and
the members would have accomplished the task as a team/group.

Different Issues Affecting Teams and Groups

Within the team, there are many factors responsible for not resulting in effective teamwork
between different people. The factors responsible for that are conflict, communication gap,
cultural issues, different priorities and compensation / favouritism. Differences of opinion
among different members of group cause conflict in the team (Levi, 2016). As a result of
conflict in the group, goals and objectives of a team get aborted. To ensure that team remains
effective, the conflicts are handled and sorted out immediately (Marquardt & Horvath, 2014).
Communication gap arises due to the different linguistic or the different dialects of the people
and this causes a huge setback for effective teamwork. Due to existence of people with
different cultural background, it may cause friction among employees in the group.

Application of Diagnostic Tools on Current Capabilities

on Teams and Groups
Johari Window
Building an effective team involves knowing the capabilities and limitations of each team
member. And the Johari Window is one essential method to bring out the best in every person
(Lim & Jamil, 2013). As a team leader, utilizing this tool will let members of the group
understand their performance and work ethics, while facilitating an open-minded
environment where criticism is seen in a positive light.

Figure: The Johari Window

Source: Lim, M. G. K., & Jamil, H. (2013). Certification paradigm of johari window human
capital. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 4(3), 303.

The Open Area - The Open Area is where general knowledge details are located. This
includes information that the team member is aware of and what is known by others.
In the team, the open area should be filled with information on how the person
introduced themselves to other employees.

The Blind Area - Noticing my colleagues habits and mannerisms are unavoidable in a
group setting. There are employees who are unaware of their capabilities. So, the goal
is to open their eyes to their potential. This is also opportunity for their co-workers to
address team issues, not to degrade or offend an employee, but to let a person see the
extent of their actions.

The Hidden Area -From a psychological standpoint, it is important to understand that

some employees may not want to be positively singled out in a larger groupdue to fear
of extra attention. However, when possible, encouraging employees to share minor
titbits about themselves can reduce workplace barriers.

The Unknown Area - Lastly, the unknown area is where observations unknown to
both the person and to others are found. This area consists of hidden talents waiting to
be discovered, or possibly repressed emotions. The unknown area can be discovered
by peers or through an employees self-discovery. This area represents a unique way
to discover things a person yearns to know about themselves and information peers
are interested to know.

Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Where there is conflict between team members and where some team members tend to use
competitive means to reach their goals, there can be difficulties in reaching decisions to
everyones satisfaction. Team leaders can use the Thomas-Kilmann instrument with their
team to discover if this is going to be a problem before any issues arise. The ThomasKilmann Conflict Mode Instrument is a well-known tool for understanding how different
conflict-handling styles affect personal interactions and for learning how to select the most
appropriate style for a given situation. The instrument is based on the concept that there are
five conflict handling modes, which we explore in more depth here.

Figure: Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Source: Thomas, K. W. (2013). An Overview of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument (TKI).
As shown in the graph above, between assertiveness and cooperativeness, having too much of
one and too less of the other is as dangerous as having none of the above. A team easily can
take one of the above stances, and lose its efficacy to achieve the organisational goal. As seen
in the literature review, a teams main aim it to collaborate to achieve the organizational goal,
thus, Thomas Kilmann Conflict mode instrument shows the team members to make
corrective actions in their behaviour between assertiveness and cooperativeness to ensure that
the team members achieve full collaboration (Mossanen et al, 2014).

The Big 5 Personality Traits - OCEAN

In a team setting, the Big 5 traits help a lot to have the proper mix of people. Having all team
members leaning towards a certain trait will cause imbalance and it may not be the best team
mix in the long run. For example, if all team members are Extroverted (characterised by high
social energy), there may be more conflict in work. Similarly, high degree of Neuroticism
(characterised by high negative emotions such as anxiety) will lead to a very dangerous
situation in the group, where everyone distrusts each other and the sense of synergy does not
take place (Zhou, 2013). While the good traits in the big 5 like Openness to experience,
Agreeableness and contentiousness are expected to be there in some degree in all team
members, choice of the team members during formation must be done on the basis of balance
between all 5 traits.

Belbin Team Role Inventories

Of all the other diagnostic tools used to analyse the groups current capabilities and
preferences, Meredith Belbins Team role inventories is one of the most important tool as it
directly affects the team members behaviour in a group based environment (Senaratne &
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Gunawardane, 2015). Each member of the team is thus adjudged into the different roles of
the team either as a Plant, Resource Investigator, Implementer, Co-ordinator, Monitor, Team
worker, Shaper, Specialist or a Completer. Ideally a team must have one member each who
have high attribute in one or two of the above. This is a good characteristic of a wellfunctioning and well-oiled team.
Having a high degree of Specialist and Shaper attributes will bring a sense of direction to the
team, which other attributes lack. As a specialist is confined to one area of study and is
religiously focussed only to one aspect of the task in hand, a shaper too is monumentally task
focussed to achieve the goal set to the end. Other attributes, while they bring in a wealth of
additional info to the team and the task in hand, the monitor evaluator is the one in the team
who has got the singular focus to funnel all the information and the energy of the others and
target it to the organizational goal. Without the co-ordinator, it would be very easy for the
team to go astray and lose time and precious resources in the process. Thus, Belbins team
role inventories help in the team to go forward as a cohesive unit.

ESCI
The Emotional and social competency inventory (ESCI) in teams, builds trust between the
team members and it reduces the duration of the storming stage, to ensure that the team goes
faster into the norming and performing state to achieve the organizational goals quicker,
thereby utilising less time and monetary resources. The ESCI is so behaviourally focussed
that it ensures that the team overall functions in a more responsible manner, whether it is in
between themselves or to the wider environment to which the team is in contact with.

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Source: Boyatzis, R. E., Gaskin, J., & Wei, H. (2015). Emotional and social intelligence and
behavior. In Handbook of Intelligence (pp. 243-262). Springer New York.
Having a high self awareness ensures that individual team members knows his or her
boundaries and this does not affect the overall integrity of the team, the social awareness
teaches empathy and makes the individual work more cohesively in a team to achieve
synergy, where the total output of the team is more than the sum of the individual output of
all team members.

Areas for Improvement

Looking at the literature review and the application of the diagnostic tools to the aspect of the
teams and groups, the two main areas where I need to improve myself is to be more
extroverted in nature and then to be more assertive in my approach to my tasks and
interpersonal relationships. This is because, being extroverted, I can put forth my ideas and
my points across to the rest of the group in a more effective way. This can clear out different
issues and frictions during the storming stage of the group formation. Assertiveness, while
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similar to the point of extroversion, has the added benefit for me to don the role of a team
worker or a co-ordinator in Belbins team role, and expand my scope from a specialist to a
broader based member of the team.
Plan of activities to improve my knowledge and Skills
Much of what I want to improve is in my mind rather than skill development. I need to
concentrate more on public speaking to ensure that I am able to overcome the challenges of
rising up to an audience. This is a medium term goal, which will need more time as I prepare
for improving my public speaking skill. This will come gradually as I start to perform
soliloquy in front of a mirror. To become more assertive, I need to understand the topic in
question so that I am confident to take a stand on a certain matter and convince others to
subscribe to it.

References
Anderson, N., Potonik, K., & Zhou, J. (2014). Innovation and creativity in organizations a
state-of-the-science review, prospective commentary, and guiding framework. Journal of
Management, 40(5), 1297-1333
Boyatzis, R. E., Gaskin, J., & Wei, H. (2015). Emotional and social intelligence and behavior.
In Handbook of Intelligence (pp. 243-262). Springer New York.

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Dunford, R., Cuganesan, S., Grant, D., Palmer, I., Beaumont, R., & Steele, C. (2013).
Flexibility as the rationale for organizational change: a discourse perspective. Journal of
Organizational Change Management, 26(1), 83-97.
Lopes Pimenta, M., Lago da Silva, A., & Tate, W. L. (2014). Developing and Managing
Cross-Functional Teams: A Multi-Case Study of Brazilian Manufacturing
Companies. Journal of technology management & innovation,9(2), 1-16.
Mossanen, M., Johnston, S. S., Green, J., & Joyner, B. D. (2014). A practical approach to
conflict management for program directors. Journal of graduate medical education, 6(2),
345-346
Levi, D. (2016). Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications
Lim, M. G. K., & Jamil, H. (2013). Certification paradigm of johari window human
capital. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 4(3), 303.
Lisak, A., & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of
global characteristics. Journal of World Business, 50(1), 3-14.
Marquardt, M. J., & Horvath, L. (2014). Global teams: How top multinationals span
boundaries and cultures with high-speed teamwork. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Jones, S. (2012). Team Building and the Stages of Team Development.Effective
Executive, 15(1), 52.
Kezar, A. (2013). Understanding sensemaking/sensegiving in transformational change
processes from the bottom up. Higher Education,65(6), 761-780.
Mathieu, J. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Donsbach, J. S., & Alliger, G. M. (2014). A review and
integration of team composition models moving toward a dynamic and temporal
framework. Journal of Management, 40(1), 130-160
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Schjoedt, L., Monsen, E., Pearson, A., Barnett, T., & Chrisman, J. J. (2013). New venture and
family business teams: understanding team formation, composition, behaviors, and
performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 37(1), 1-15.
Salazar, M. R., Lant, T. K., Fiore, S. M., & Salas, E. (2012). Facilitating innovation in diverse
science teams through integrative capacity. Small Group Research, 43(5), 527-558.
Spears, R., & Postmes, T. (2015). Group Identity, Social Influence, and Collective Action
Online. The Handbook of the Psychology of Communication Technology, John Wiley & Sons,
Oxford, 23-46.
Senaratne, S., & Gunawardane, S. (2015). Application of team role theory to construction
design teams. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 11(1), 1-20.
Zhou, W. (2013, January). Shared leadership in teams: An empirical study of dispositional
Antecedents. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2013, No. 1, p. 11763).
Academy of Management.

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