Work Groups and

Teams
 Defining and Classifying Groups

There are two types of groups:

• Formal Groups
• Informal Groups

Most people prefer to communicate with others at

their own status level or a higher one rather than with
those below them. As a result, we should expect
satisfaction to be greater among employees whose
job minimizes interaction with individuals who are
lower in status than themselves.
 Defining and Classifying Groups
Formal Group. A group defined by the organization’s
structure, with designated work assignments
establishing tasks. The behaviors that one should
engage in are stipulated by and directed toward
organizational goals.
• An airline flight crew is an example of a formal group.

Informal groups. Alliances that are neither formally

structured nor organizationally determined. Natural
formations in the work environment in response to the
need for social contact.
• Three employees from different departments who
regularly play and eat lunch together is an informal
group. (Cont’d)
 Defining and Classifying Groups
Types of Formal Group. There are two categories a
formal group:
• Command Group. A group composed of the individuals
who report directly to a given manager. Command groups are
dictated by the formal organization. The organization chart
determines a command group.

• Task Group. A group composed of the individuals who

are working together to complete a task. A task group’s
boundaries are not limited to its immediate hierarchical
superior. It can have cross command relationship.
 Defining and Classifying Groups

Types of Informal Group. There are two categories of an

informal group:
• Interest Group. A group composed of the individuals who
affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is
concerned; e.g. employees who band together to have their
vacation schedules altered.

• Social alliances, which frequently extend outside the work

situation, can be based on similar age or ethnic heritage.
• Friendship Group. A group composed of the individuals
who join together because they share one or more common
characteristics. They often develop because individual
members have one or more commonalities.
 Why People Join Groups
• Security. To reduce insecurity, be more resistant to
threats & feel stronger.
• Status. Being part of an important group, provides
recognition & status of that group.
• Self-esteem. A feeling of self-worth & being privileged
is developed.
• Affiliation. Individuals’ needs of affiliation and
socialization are fulfilled.
• Power. It is possible to achieve through a group what
can’t be achieved individually.
• Goal Achievement. By pooling talent, knowledge and
power, it is easier to achieve even difficult targets.
Group Development Stages (Tuckman’s Model)
STAGE – 1: Forming. A stage in which group members
attempt to assess the ground rules that will apply to a task and
to group interaction:
• Stage is complete when
• Orientation to Task members have begun to
• Testing Interpersonal behavior think of themselves as part
• Dependency on power person of a group.
• Discovering ground rules
STAGE – 2: Storming. A stage in which group members
frequently experience conflict with one another as they locate
and attempt to resolve difference of opinion:
• Resistance to task demands • When complete, there
will be a relatively clear
• Interpersonal conflicts
hierarchy of leadership
• Exploring areas of disagreement
within the group.
• Struggle for group leadership
(Cont’d)
 Group Development Stages
STAGE – 3: Norming. A stage in which group members
begin to build group cohesion, as well as develop a
consensus about norms for performing a task and relating to
one another: • This stage is complete
when the group structure
• Building cohesiveness
solidifies and the group has
• Developing consensus about norms assimilated a common set of
• Clarifying roles expectations of what defines
• Informal leader may emerge correct member behavior.

STAGE – 4 Performing. A stage in which energy is

channeled toward a task and norms support teamwork:
• Channeling energy to task • For permanent work
• Roles clear and functional groups, performing is the last
• Norms support teamwork stage in their development.
• Emerging problem solutions (Cont’d)
 Group Development Stages
STAGE – 5: Adjourning. A stage in which group
members prepare for disengagement as the group nears
successful completion of its goals:

• Goals accomplished
• Preparing for disengagement
• Some members enjoy the group’s accomplishments.
• Some regret at disbanding
• Termination of group
 Team Versus Groups: What’s the Difference
Work Group. It refers to a group (of individuals) that
interacts primarily to share information and to make
decisions to help each group member perform within
his/ her area of responsibility.

• Groups and teams are not the same thing.

• Work groups have no need or opportunity to engage in

collective work that requires joint effort. Their
performance is the summation of each group member’s
individual contribution. (A German Psychologist Max
Ringlemann’s Experiment- 1920)

• There is no positive synergy, rather negative synergy

may be expected due to social loafing.
 Team Versus Groups: What’s the Difference
Work Team. A Work Team refers to a group whose
individual efforts result in a performance that is greater
than the sum of the individual input.

• A work team generates positive synergy through

coordinated efforts. Individual efforts result in a level of
performance that is greater than the sum of those
individual inputs.

• Managers look for the positive synergy that will allow

their organizations to increase performance.

• The extensive use of teams creates the potential for an

organization to generate greater outputs with no
increase in inputs. Merely calling a group a team
doesn’t automatically increase its performance.
Comparing Work Groups and Work Teams
Why Have Teams Become So Popular

 Teams typically outperform individuals.

 Teams use employee talents better.

 Teams are more flexible and responsive to

changes in the environment.

 Teams facilitate employee involvement.

 Teams are an effective way to democratize an

organization and increase motivation.
 Types of Teams
Problem-Solving Teams: They are
typically composed of 5–12 employees
from the same department who meet for
a few hours each week to discuss ways
of improving quality, efficiency, and the
work environment.

• Members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work

processes and methods can be improved. Rarely are they
given the authority to unilaterally implement their
suggested actions.

• One of the most widely practiced applications are the

quality circles.
 Types of Teams (cont’d)
Self Managed Teams:
• These groups of 10–15 employees perform highly
related or interdependent jobs and take on many of the
responsibilities of their former supervisors.
• This includes planning and scheduling of work,
assigning tasks to members, collective control over the
pace of work, making operating decisions, and taking
action on problems.

• Fully self-managed work teams even

select their own members and have
the members evaluate each other’s
performance.
 Types of Teams (cont’d)
Cross Functional Team:
• These are teams made up of employees from about
the same hierarchical level, but from different work
areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
• Many organizations have used horizontal, boundary-
spanning groups for years.
• A task force is an example of a temporary cross-
functional team.
• The popularity of cross-discipline work teams
exploded in the late 1980s.

Different
Functions

Team members
 Types of Teams (cont’d)
Virtual Teams. Virtual teams use computer technology
to tie together physically dispersed members in order to
achieve a common goal:

a. They allow people to collaborate online.

b. Virtual teams can do all the things that other teams
do.
c. They can include members from the same
organization or link an organization’s members with
employees from other organizations.
d. They can convene for a few days to
solve a problem, a few months to
complete a project, or exist
permanently.
 Types of Teams (cont’d)
How Virtual Teams are Different:
The three primary factors that differentiate virtual teams are:

a. The absence of paraverbal and nonverbal cues. These

help clarify communication by providing increased
meaning, but aren’t available in online interactions.

b. Limited social context. Virtual teams often suffer from

less social rapport and less direct interaction among
members.

c. The ability to overcome time and space constraints.

Virtual teams allow people to work together who might
otherwise never be able to collaborate.
 Beware: Teams Aren’t Always the Answer
• Teamwork takes more time and often more resources
than individual work.

• Teams increase communication demands, conflicts to

be managed, and meetings to be run.
• Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:

– Is the work complex and is there a need for

different perspectives?
– Does the work create a common purpose or set of
goals for the group that is larger than the
aggregate of the goals for individuals?
– Are members of the group involved in
interdependent tasks?
 A Team-
Effectiveness
Model
 Creating Effective Teams
• Key components making up effective teams are,
Work Design, Composition, Context (resources), and
Process.
• Effective teams need to work together and take
collective responsibility to complete significant
tasks. Let’s take each component separately:
1. Work Design. It includes variables like:
 Freedom and autonomy
 Skill variety
 Task identity
 Task significance
The evidence indicates that these characteristics enhance
member motivation and increase team effectiveness.
 Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
2. Composition:
• Ability – KSAs, interpersonal & leadership skills.
• Personality - Big Five personality model.
• Role and diversity – members should be able to
fill different roles in the team.
• Team size - Managers should keep the size in the
range of 5–12 people.

• Flexibility – adaptable to suit the changing role.

• Preference for team work - Not every employee
is a team player. Willing team members will prove
better performers.
 Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
3. Context:
• Adequate resources – Resources and support.
• Leadership – Effective leadership.
• Climate of trust – When members trust each other
they are more willing to take risks. By trusting their
leadership, they are more willing to commit to their
leader’s goals and decisions.
• Performance evaluation and rewards – Team
oriented evaluation and reward system must be
implemented to reflect team performance; group-
based appraisals, profit sharing, gainsharing,
small-group incentives are effective tools.
 Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
4. Process:
• Common purpose – Common and meaningful
purpose (vision) provides direction, momentum,
and commitment for the team members.
• Specific goals – Purpose/ vision to be converted
into specific, measurable, and realistic
performance goals.
• Team efficacy – Confidence/ belief in themselves
that they can succeed .
• Conflict - Teams that are completely void of
conflict are likely to become stagnant.

• Social loafing - Watch out for such individuals.

Key Roles
of Teams
 Team and Workforce Diversity:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity
Diverse teams, also add more value, but pose challenges & difficulties
in problem solving, resolving conflicts and working together.
 Reinvigorating Mature Teams
No team can remain at a uniform level of performance;
Effective teams can become stagnant. Enthusiasm and high
performance spirit can decline with the passage of time,
leading to reduced performance. As such continuous efforts
are required to reinvigorate even a mature team. Following
could be the problems of Mature Teams:

• Becoming stagnant and complacent as cohesiveness

increases – familiarity breeds apathy.
• Developing groupthink - Groupthink influences
decision making.
• Reluctance to solve difficult issues – having gained
experience in handling easy problems to gain early
success, teams try to follow the same approach;
neglecting difficult issues leads to disastrous
situations.
 Reinvigorating Mature Teams (cont’d)
Reinvigorating (Reinstating/reinforcing) Teams:

1. Prepare members to deal with problems of

maturity – openness to novel ideas and
innovation.

2. Offer refresher training – skills currency to be

updated.

3. Offer advanced training – to match the task.

4. Encourage teams to treat their development as a

constant learning experience – continuous
learning philosophy.
THANKS