QAM5034:

Organisational Development & Change

Meeting 3
Diagnosing Groups & Jobs

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Zairah Ab. Rahim

nzairah@utm.my

1
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Describe the importance of diagnosing groups and jobs in organisation change
2. Discuss the process of diagnosing groups and jobs
3. Identify the diagnostic model of an individual job
4. Apply the diagnostic model for individual jobs
 INTRODUCTION
 Large groups or departments can be assessed by diagnosing them as
organisations. Small departments and groups may, however, have differing
behaviour from the behaviour of large organisations.
 Small departments and groups thus need their own diagnostic models that can
reflect the differences that may exist.
 All organisations regardless of their size have workgroups. The workgroups can
either be permanent performing an ongoing function, or they can be temporary,
implying that they only exist to perform a certain task or to make a specific
decision.
 We will also describe the diagnostic model that is applicable for an individual job;
which is the smallest unit of analysis in organisations and is usually created in
order to perform a specific task or accomplish a set of tasks for the organisation.
 Assessing the diagnostic model for individual jobs in an organisation is important
because how jobs are designed can affect individual effectiveness as well as
organisational effectiveness.
DIAGNOSIS AT THE GROUP LEVEL

Some other models that are popular in

group-level diagnostic
 Inputs at the group level diagnosis
1. Technology
Technology may define the characteristics of the group’s task.

2. Structure
The laid out structural systems may dictate the amount of coordination
required among the groups.

3. Measurement systems and human resources processes and culture

The human resource processes such as performance appraisals, reward
systems greatly impact the way teams function e.g. an individual-based
performance appraisal and reward system may interfere with the way teams
function since members will majorly concentrate on maximising their own
individual performance as opposed to the team performance.
The design components at the group
level Source: Cummings & Worley (2007)
Goal clarity
How well the group understands its objectives.
Goals should generally be slightly challenging;
and, a method for measuring, monitoring, and
feeding back the information on goal
achievement should be in place.
The goals should also be clearly understood by
all members
 Task structure
 Team structure is related to how the group’s work is designed. May differ
based on two key dimensions:
 Coordination of members’ efforts: refers to the degree to which group
tasks are structured to promote effective interaction among group
members. It is important in groups performing interdependent tasks
together e.g. surgical teams. Dimension involves the degree to which
members can control their own task behaviours and be relatively free
from external controls such as supervision, plans, and programmes.
 Regulation of their task behaviours: The regulation aspect deals with the
degree of members control over their own task behaviours and has
freedom from external controls e.g. Supervision, plans, and programmes.
 Group composition
 Refers to the membership of groups since members could be different based on
various aspects relevant to group behaviour e.g. Demographic variables, (such as age,
education, experience, acquired skills and abilities) may affect how people behave
and relate to each other in groups.
 Demographics can determine whether the group is composed of people having
technical or skills and knowledge that are relevant to a task and behavioural skills
including interpersonal skills.
 Group behaviours may also be influenced by people’s internal needs. Differing social
needs could determine whether group membership is satisfying or stressful.
 Group functioning
 This is the underlying basis of life in a group.
 The way members relate to each other is important to workgroups because the
quality of relationships could have an effect on the performance of a task. For
example, some groups could be affected by interpersonal competition and
conflict among members. This may result in them providing little support or no
help for each other.
 On the other hand, groups could also be too concerned about the sharing of
good feelings and supportiveness while spending very little time on performance
of their tasks.
 A great deal of effort has been invested in helping workgroup members
develop healthy interpersonal relations in organisation development, including
ability and a willingness to share feelings and perceptions about members’
behaviours so that interpersonal problems and task difficulties can be worked
through and resolved.
Performance norms.
 Performance norms can be described as member beliefs about how
the group should perform its task and at the same time embrace
acceptable performance levels.
 Norms are often derived from the interactions among members of a
group.
 Norms serve as guides to a group’s behaviour.
 When the members agree on performance norms, be it directly or
indirectly, members will routinely perform the tasks according to the
set norms.
 This means that the norms become a routine way of doing things or
behaviour in the performance of group tasks
The outputs at group level

The effectiveness of a group comprises of various measurements.

Performance is measured based on efficiency or a group’s ability to control or reduce costs,

increase productivity and improve quality. Effectiveness is also measured based on the quality of
work-life for group members. Efficiency is also concerned with work satisfaction, team cohesion,
and organisational commitment.
 Relational Fits
 Group design should be compatible with the larger organisation design. The Organisation structures that have low
differentiation and high integration should have workgroups that are composed of highly skilled and experienced members
performing highly interdependent tasks. Organisations with differentiated structures and formalised human resources and
information systems should brood groups that have clear, quantitative goals and that support standardised behaviours.
 similarity among organisation and group designs supports the overall integration within the company and when group
designs are not compatible with organisation designs, groups often conflict with the organisation. They may cultivate
behaviours that are not aligned to organisational effectiveness.
 Coordination among members should be promoted by goal clarity, task structure, group composition, performance norms,
and team functioning when the organisation’s technology results in interdependent tasks. Contrary wise, the design
components should promote individual task performance when technology permits independent tasks. Example: When
coordination is needed, task structure may possibly locate related tasks together and the group composition may include
members who have the same interpersonal skills and social needs. The performance norms would support task-relevant
interactions, and healthy interpersonal relationships would be developed.
 When the technology is relatively uncertain and requires high amounts of information processing and decision making, the
task structure, group composition, performance norms, and team functioning should then promote self-regulation. Members
should have the freedom needed, information and skills to assign members to appropriate tasks, to decide on production
methods, and to set performance goals. When technology is comparatively certain, group-designs should encourage
standardisation of behaviour, and groups should be outwardly controlled by supervisors, schedules, and plans.
DIAGNOSIS AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL /JOB
LEVEL. Source: Cummings & Worley (2007)
The inputs at job- level
Organisational Group design
design

Personal traits
Organisational design
 a key part of the larger context surrounding jobs.
 Technology, structure, measurement systems, human resources
systems, and culture can have a powerful impact on the way
jobs are designed and on people’s experiences in jobs.
 Concerned with the larger organisation within which the
individual job is the smallest unit. For example, a company’s
reward systems can cause certain job behaviours among
employees and their perceptions on whether job
performance is fairly rewarded.
 Group design
 Concerns the larger group or department containing the individual job.
 Also an essential part of the job context.
 Task structure, goal clarity, group composition, performance norms, and team functioning
serve as inputs to job design. They typically have a more immediate impact on jobs
than do the larger, organisation design components. For example, group task structure
can determine how individual jobs are grouped together—as in groups requiring
coordination among jobs or in ones comprising collections of independent jobs.
 Group composition can influence the kinds of people who are available to fill jobs.
Group performance norms can affect the kinds of job designs that are considered
acceptable, including the level of jobholders’ performances.
 Goal clarity helps members to prioritise work, and group functioning can affect how
powerfully the group influences job behaviours.
 When members maintain close relationships and the group is cohesive, group norms are
more likely to be enforced and followed.
The inputs to the job design:
Task structure: A group task structure can determine how individual jobs are
clustered in groups requiring coordination among jobs or on the basis of
independent jobs.
Goal clarity: Goal clarity helps members to prioritise work, and group
functioning can affect how powerfully the group influences job behaviours.
Group composition: Group composition may influence the type of persons
suitable for jobs.
Performance norms: The group performance norms could affect the job designs
that are considered acceptable, as well as the level of jobholders’ performances.
Team functioning: When members maintain close relationships and the group is
cohesive, group norms are more likely to be enforced and followed.
Personal traits
 Age
 Education
 Experience
 Skills
 Abilities they
 All these can affect job performance and how people react to job designs.
 Individual needs and expectations may also differ and this will affect job
motivation and satisfaction e.g. individual differences in career growth, the
need for self-supervision, learning, and personal achievement can determine
how much people are motivated and satisfied by jobs with high levels of skill
variety, autonomy, and feedback about results.
 The design components at job level
Key Dimension Explanation
It pinpoints the extent to which a job requires a range of activities and abilities to perform the work. E.g. an assembly
Skill variety line job may generally require limited skill variety because employees will perform a small number of activities that are
repetitive in nature whereas professional jobs require many skills as people engage in diverse activities and use
different skills in the performance of their work.

Task identity measures the degree to which a job requires completion of a somewhat whole, identifiable piece of work.
Task identity For example, people with certain skills i.e. craftspeople, such as carpenters, perform jobs with high task identity levels.
They are able to perceive a job through from beginning to end. Assembly jobs, on the other hand, involve only a limited
piece of work and have a low task identity.

Task significance categorises the degree to which a job significantly impacts on other people’s lives. For example, a
Task significance Custodial job in a hospital is likely to have higher task significance than a custodial job in a toy factory since hospital
custodian’s jobs affect someone else’s health and welfare.

Autonomy is the degree of freedom and discretion in a job be it in scheduling the work or even determining work
Autonomy methods. For example, assembly-line jobs generally have little autonomy given that the work pace is scheduled, and
people perform pre-programmed tasks. College teaching jobs may have more autonomy given that lecturers can decide
how a course is taught, even though they may have limited say over class schedules.

Feedback of results encompasses the degree to which a job provides employees with direct and clear information
Feedback about the effectiveness of task performance. Assembly line jobs often provide high levels of feedback about results,
whereas college professors may only receive indirect and vague feedback on their performance.
 Summary
 Workgroups comprise of a small number of people who work face-to-face to accomplish a shared task.

 They can either be permanent performing an ongoing function, or they can be temporary.

 Individual jobs and group diagnosis are important because how jobs are designed can affect individual
effectiveness as well as organisational effectiveness.

 Group and job diagnosis models illustrate the Inputs, the design components, outputs, and the relational fits for
the group and job-level diagnosis.

 The key input for diagnosis at the group level is the Organisational design. it examines goal clarity, task
structure, group composition, performance norms, and team functioning as the key design components; and list
group performance and member quality of work-life as the outputs.

 Inputs at the individual job level are the organisation design, the group design, and the personal characteristics
of a jobholder.
VIDEO TIME – “ORGANISATIONAL
DIAGNOSIS”