H21EC1 Lecture P1

Working as a Team

Ioannes Tang
Senior University Teaching Fellow
Department of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Room: B1C16, Telephone: 03-8924 8346
Email: Ioannes.Tang@nottingham.edu.my
 Outline
Introduction
Working as a team
Team activity

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A Psychologist is defined as a man who goes
to Old Trafford and watches the crowd.(very old joke)

Why?
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 Group dynamics
People behave differently when in groups compared
with their individual behaviour.
People are very often swayed by the influence of
others to behaviour that is inconsistent with their
normal behaviour.

Gregarious people, who want the involvement and

participation of everyone, thrive in a group
environment
For individualists, groups tend to be inhibiting. Their
ideas are subject to scrutiny and can be changed
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 Why do we need to work in groups?

In the world of work (and play), people very

frequently find themselves working in a group (or
team) environment
Managers can find themselves working 50% of their
time in groups (a.k.a. meetings and committees)
With Senior managers, this may increase to 80%.
Therefore, engineers who aspire to management
roles need to understand
Why groups are set up?
How they function?
How individual characteristics impinge on the 5
group?
A camel is a horse designed by a committee
(another very old joke)

This joke suggests that something designed by

a group will always consist of an
uncoordinated mixture of ideas that includes
every contribution.
BUT,
group design is often a very efficient way of
working as the problem is frequently too large
for an individual to cope with.
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 Why form a group?
To distribute work
To assemble various skills/talents
to manage a project
problem solving
To aid decision making
To collect information
To test/ratify ideas
Coordination and liaison
Negotiation and conflict resolution
Inquest/enquiry into past events
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 What is in it for the individual?
To satisfy social or affiliation needs (to
belong or to share)
To establish a self-concept in relation to
others
To gain help or support
To share common activities
To gain power, promotion or political
advantage
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 How effective is working in a group?

Groups utilise abilities, knowledge and experience

of individuals.
Groups produce fewer final ideas than the sum of
the ideas individuals might put forward. These ideas
are likely to be more effective because of the group
filtering and development process.
However, groups can take greater risks in decision
making than individuals because of shared
responsibility. (The safety in numbers principle).
Question: Is this a measure of effectiveness?

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 What makes an effective group?

It depends upon the following factors:-

Group size
The people
Shared objectives
Nature of the task
Group maturity
Effectively leadership

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 Group size
The larger the group, the greater the
diversity of talent, skills and experience

However, as the group gets larger, it is less

and less likely than any single individual
will participate to their full potential

Optimum size = 5 - 7 people

There should not be a hiding place!
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 The people
People with similar characteristics tend to
form stable homogeneous groups, but
they become predictable and not very
innovative

Groups with dissimilar characters tend to

have more conflict, but are more
innovative and productive.

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 Shared objectives
If all group members have the same objectives,
effectiveness is enhanced.
Some people have specific secret objectives or
hidden agendas such as:-
personal advancement
covering up mistakes
scoring points
making alliances
paying off old scores
All the above can reduce group effectiveness 13
 Nature of the task
Is it perceived to be
important?
Is it urgent?
Are results measurable?
How does the group task
match individual priorities?
How well is the task is
defined?
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 Maturity of the group

Group performance and behaviour change

radically during the life cycle of the group
When members first meet they may not
know:-
each other
the available skills represented in the
group
how to co-operate and co-ordinate
They are at the bottom of the learning curve
This changes (improves) with time (group
maturity)
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 Effectively leadership
A leader who has a clear vision of the
groups objective and direction
He/She has both formal and informal
influence over the group
Able to motivate the group to work
together towards a common objective
Deal with conflicts within the group

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 Group Development Phases

The Polite Phase

The Why are we here Phase

The Bid for Power Phase

The Constructive Phase

The Espirit Phase

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 The Polite Phase

Getting to know one another

Understanding the size of the problem
Stereotyping of other group members
Personal agendas well hidden
Ideas kept simple
Conflict avoided

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 The Why are we here Phase
Group goals set
Formal structure developed for meetings
Agendas written/roles filled
Nascent cliques/alliances form/become
apparent
Less inhibition in personal contributions
Group identity still fairly undeveloped

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 The Bid for Power Phase

Members promote ideas vigorously and seek

agreement of others
Competitive and critical atmosphere
Cliques fully developed but not necessarily
stable
Team spirit still low
Danger that group never develops beyond this
phase - group may exist in a bitter stage of low-
level compromises and sub-optimal solutions to
the task.
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 The Constructive Phase
Attitudes and behaviour change
People listen to each other
Movement from entrenched positions
Expression of feelings
Barriers come down - team spirit emerges
A good solution beckons
Constructive questioning, summarising, clarifying
A good team is formed!!!

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 The Espirit Phase

High morale and intense loyalty

Empathy between members
Creativity maximised
Approval implicit in being a group
member
Closed ranks to the outside world
The military services often use the term espirit de corps to describe this
bonding and sense of camaraderie. This sense of caring for others starts
when individuals begin using more we than me, more us than you.
(Source: http://www.legacee.com/Info/Leadership/TeamLeadership.html)
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