Groups and Teams:

All Teams are groups.

1. Two or more people

2. Interdependent work roles
3. Operate within a larger social system
4. Performs tasks relevant to organization’s mission
5. Affect others inside and outside the organization
6. Identifiable membership

Group Dynamics Team Group

• Size Limited Medium / Large

• Selection Crucial Immaterial
• Leadership Shared / Rotating Solo
• Perception Mutual knowledge understanding Focus on leader
• Style Role spread co-ordination Convergence
conformism
• Spirit Dynamic interaction Togetherness

Examples of Work Teams Work Team or Not?

Work teams are pervasive in industry,
across all organizational levels.
• Quality control circles
• Task forces
• Safety committees
• Sales teams
• R&D groups
Which of the following are work teams?
• Students living on the same floor
• Students taking the same OB class
• Students working on a team research
paper
• Students on a committee charged with
making recommendations to curb binge
drinking

• Putting variety of
people together
creates GROUPS.
• Types of groups:
• Informal group
• Formal group
Characteristics of Groups
 Norms: standard of behavior that
every member of the group is
expected to follow.
 Conformity: behavior or actions that
follow the norms.
 Cohesiveness: forming a united whole
 Typical Stages of Group
Development Stages of Group Development
• Groups develop through a series of
stages over time.
• Each stage presents the members
with a series of challenges they must
master in order to achieve the next
stage.
• The process applies mainly to new
groups that have never met before.

STAGES OF GROUP
DEVELOPMENT What are the stages of
group development?
 Forming stage.
• Initial entry of members to a group.
Prestage
Stage II • Members concern’s include:
Stage I Storming • Getting to know each other.
Forming
• Discovering what is considered acceptable
behavior.
• Determining the group’s real task.
• Defining group rules.

Stage III
Norming Stage V
Stage IV Adjourning
Performing

What are the stages of What are the stages of

group development?
 Storming stage.
• A period of high emotionality and tension
among group members.
• Members concern’s include:
• Formation of coalitions and cliques.
• Dealing with outside demands.
• Clarifying membership expectations.
• Dealing with obstacles to group goals.
• Understanding members’ interpersonal styles.
group development?
 Norming stage.
• The point at which the group really begins
to come together as a coordinated unit.
• Members concern’s include:
• Holding the group together.
• Dealing with divergent views and criticisms.
• Dealing with a premature sense of
accomplishment.
 What are the stages of
group development?
 Performing stage.
• Marks the emergence of a mature,
organized, and well-functioning group.
• Members deal with complex tasks and
handle internal disagreements in creative
ways.
• Primary challenge is to continue to
improve relationships and performance.
Types of group task
• Additive
• Conjunctive
• Disjunctive
Disjunctive Tasks
• Tasks in which group performance is
dependent on the performance of the
best group member.
• The potential performance of groups
doing disjunctive tasks increases with
group size.
What are the stages of
group development?
 Adjourning stage.
• Particularly important for temporary
groups.
• A well-integrated group is:
• Able to disband when its work is finished.
• Willing to work together in the future.
Additive Tasks
• Tasks in which group performance is
dependent on the sum of the
performance of individual group
members.
• For additive tasks, the potential
performance of the group increases
with group size.
Conjunctive Tasks
• Tasks in which group performance is
limited by the performance of the
poorest group member.
• Both the potential and actual
performance of conjunctive tasks would
decrease as group size increases.
 What is the nature of groups
in organizations?
 Situations in which groups are superior
to individuals.
• When there is no clear expert in a particular
problem or task.
• When problem solving can be handled by a
division of labor and the sharing of
information.
• When creativity and innovation are needed.
The Hawthorne Studies
• Series of studies at Western Electric
Company’s Hawthorne Works, Chicago
• Examined the relation between the
physical environment and productivity
• Researchers’ findings contradicted their
anticipated results
The Hawthorne Studies
• Group standards were highly
effective in establishing individual
worker output.
• Money was less a factor in
determining worker output than
were group standards, sentiments,
and security.
Are groups always better
than individuals?
o Groups are better than the average of
its individual performers
But,
• best individual is better than the team
• individuals take less time to reach decision
•  team size  amount of work done
individually
• Social Loafing Law
The Hawthorne Studies
• Concluded that a worker’s
behavior and sentiments were
closely related
• Group influences were significant
in affecting individual behavior.
Conformity and the Asch
Studies
• Demonstrated that subjects conformed
in about 35% of the trials
• Members desire to be one of the group
and avoid being visibly different
• Members with differing opinions feel
extensive pressure to align with others
 Examples of Cards Used
in Asch Study
X A B C
What are the foundations
of group effectiveness?
 Group size — cont.
• Groups with an odd number of members
may be more effective for resolving
disagreements and reaching a speedy
decision.
• Groups with an even number of members
may be more effective when careful
deliberation, consensus building, or
complex problem solving is required.
How do groups make decisions?
 Potential advantages of group decision
making.
• More knowledge and expertise is applied to
solve the problem.
• A greater number of alternatives are examined.
• The final decision is better understood and
accepted by all group members.
• More commitment among all group members to
make the final decision work.
What are the foundations
of group effectiveness?
 Group size.
• As group size increases, performance
and member satisfaction increase up to a
point.
• Division of work promotes performance and
increased satisfaction.
• Communication and coordination problems
occur, in turn decreasing performance and
satisfaction.
• Problem-solving groups should have 5 to
7 members.
How do groups make decisions?
 How groups make decisions.
• Decision by lack of response.
• Decision by authority rule.
• Decision by minority rule.
• Decision by majority rule.
• Decision by consensus.
• Decision by unanimity.
How do groups make decisions?
 Potential disadvantages of group
decision making.
• Individuals may feel compelled to conform
to the apparent wishes of the group.
• The group’s decision may be dominated
by one individual or a small coalition.
• Group decisions usually take longer to
make.
 nce upon a time...
A team of students had four members called
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was
Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody
could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody
wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody
blamed Somebody when Nobody did what
Anybody could have done.
- Graham Gibbs, “Learning in Teams”

How do groups make decisions? To avoid group think:

 Groupthink.  Critical evaluator
• The tendency for members of highly cohesive  Impartial leader
groups to lose their critical evaluation  Views of outsiders
capabilities.  Outside experts
• Groupthink can lead the group to make poor
 Devil’s advocate
 Competing groups
decisions.
• Group members and leaders should:
• Be sensitive to the occurrence of groupthink.
• Take actions to prevent the occurrence of groupthink.

Social Loafing Social Loafing (continued)

• The tendency to withhold physical or
intellectual effort when performing a
group task.
• In the free rider effect, people lower
their effort to get a free ride at the
expense of their fellow group members.
• In the sucker effect, people lower their
effort because of the feeling that others
are free riding.
• Some of the ways to counteract social
loafing:
• Make individual performance more visible
• Make sure that the work is interesting
• Increase feelings of indispensability
• Increase performance feedback
• Reward group performance
• Limit the group size
 Groupshift
• Decision of the group reflects
the dominant
decision-making
norm that develops
during the group’s
discussion
How do groups make decisions?
 How to improve group decision
making.
• Brainstorming.
• Nominal group technique.
• Delphi technique.
• Computer-mediated decision making.
How do groups make decisions?
 Nominal group technique.
• A form of structured group decision
making that enables everyone to
participate and have his/her ideas heard
without hostile criticism or distortions.
• A structured voting procedure is used to
prioritize responses to the nominal
question.
Group polarisation - Risky shift
Some cohesive • Diffusion of responsibility
groups may opt for cannot point finger of blame
polarised & even • Valuing risk
riskier alternatives
macho, adventurous, social
than individuals
(abandon conformist,
prestige
• discussion reduces perception
cautious positions)
of risk
• Prominence/leadership effects
high talkers - often those with
most influence. Suggestions
sometimes adopted without full
consideration
(Stoner 1961, Clark 1971)
How do groups make decisions?
 Brainstorming.
• Group members actively generate as
many ideas and alternatives as possible,
and they do so relatively quickly and
without inhibitions.
• Brainstorming rules.
• All criticism is ruled out.
• Free-wheeling is welcomed.
• Quantity is wanted.
• Piggy-backing is good.
How do groups make decisions?
 Delphi technique.
• Used in situations where group members are
unable to meet face to face.
• The process.
• A series of questions is distributed to a panel.
• Panel members submit their responses to a decision
coordinator.
• The decision coordinator summarizes the responses,
and sends the summary along with a follow-up
questionnaire to the panel.
• Panel members send in their responses.
• The process is repeated until a consensus is reached.
How do groups make decisions?
 Computer-mediated decision making.
• Electronic brainstorming through the use
of special software and personal
computers..
• The nominal group and Delphi techniques
lend themselves to computer mediation.
Exercise in Class
 Practise + Feedback == Improved
performance
1. Maintain the other persons self-esteem
2. Refer to a specific situation– the more
recent the better.
3. Discuss why something was not so
effective.
4. Suggest a better way of doing it.