Professional Documents
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Chapter 6 - Groups and Teams in Organizations
Chapter 6 - Groups and Teams in Organizations
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Learning Objectives:
Define and distinguish between various types of formal
and informal groups.
Describe the role of norms in organizations and how
they develop.
Explain the social facilitation effect.
Describe the social loafing effect and how it may be
overcome.
Define team and explain what makes a team different
from an ordinary work group.
Describe the general effectiveness of work teams.
Identify ways of overcoming obstacles to team
effectiveness.
Describe the nature of four important kinds of groups in
organizations and how and why they help an
organization achieve its goals.
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o Various Definition of Group
1.) First, groups are composed of two or more people in social interaction. In
other words, the members of a group must have some influence on each
other. Whether the interaction between the parties is immediate and occurs
face-to-face, such as in committee meetings, or is delayed, such as might
occur when a written draft of a document is circulated for comments, the
parties must have some impact on each other to be considered a group.
2.) Second, groups must possess a stable structure. Although groups can
change, and often do, there must be some stable relationships that keep
group members together and functioning as a unit. A collection of
individuals that constantly changes (e.g., those waiting on the bank line
with you) would not be considered a group.
3.) A third characteristic of groups is that members share common interests or
goals. For example, members of a company's safety committee all share a
common goal in keeping the workplace free of danger.
4.) Fourth, and finally, to be a group, the individuals involved must perceive
themselves as a group. Groups are composed of people who recognize
each other as a member of their group and they can distinguish these
individuals from non-members.
TYPES OF GROUPS
1.) Formal Groups - Groups created by the organization and that are intentionally
designed to direct members toward some important organizational goal are
known as formal groups. One type of formal group is referred to as a command
group—a group determined by the connections between individuals who are a
formal part of the organization. A formal organizational group also may be formed
around some specific task. Such a group is referred to as a task group. Unlike
command groups, task groups may be composed of individuals with some
special interest or expertise in a specific area regardless of their positions in the
organizational hierarchy.
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2.) Informal Groups - Not all groups are as formal as those we have identified;
many are informal in nature. Informal groups develop naturally among an
organization's personnel without any direction from the management of the
organization within which they operate. One key factor in the formation of
informal groups is a common interest shared by its members. For example, a
group of employees who band together to seek union representation, or who
march together to protest their company's pollution of the environment, may be
called an interest group. The common goal sought by members of an interest
group may unite workers at many different organizational levels. The key factor is
that membership in an interest group is voluntary – it is not dictated by the
organization, but encouraged by an expression of common interests.
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know how potent these effects can be. What you might not know, however, is
that such informal forces constitute a key aspect of group dynamics known as
norms. Specifically, a norm is a generally agreed-upon set of roles that guides
the behavior of group members.
- Norms differ from organizational policies in that they are informal and
unwritten. In fact, norms may be so subtle that group members may not even
be aware that they are operating. Yet, their effects can be quite profound. For
example, group norms may regulate such key behaviors as honesty (e.g.,
whether or not to steal from the company), manners of dress (e.g., a coat and
tie is required), and the punctuality of meetings and appointments (e.g.,
whether or not they generally begin on time). In so doing, norms help regulate
groups, and keep them functioning in an orderly fashion.
How Do Norms Develop?
1.) First, norms develop due to precedents set over time. Whatever
behaviors emerge at a first group meeting usually will set the standard for
how that group is to operate. Initial group patterns of behavior frequently
become normative, such as where people sit, and how formal or informal
the meeting will be. Such routines help establish a predictable, orderly
interaction pattern.
2.) Second, norms develop because of carryovers from other situations.
Group members usually draw from their previous experiences to guide
their behaviors in new situations. The norms governing professional
behavior apply here. For example, the norm for a physician to behave
ethically and to exercise a pleasant bedside manner is generalizable from
one hospital to another. Such carryover norms, ones that generalize
between different contexts, can assist in making interaction easier in new
social situations.
3.) Third, sometimes norms also develop in response to an explicit
statement by a superior or co-worker. As described in Chapter 5,
newcomers to groups quickly "learn the ropes" when people describe what
is expected of them. Such an explanation is an explicit statement of the
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group's or organization's norms insofar as it describes what one should do
or avoid doing to be accepted by the group.
4.) Fourth and finally, group norms may develop out of critical events in
the group's history. If an employee releases an important organizational
secret to a competitor, causing a loss to the company, a norm to maintain
secrecy may develop out of this incident. To the extent that norms guide
people away from similar mistakes, they may be a helpful way of ensuring
that the group or organization learns from its past experiences.
2.) Social Facilitation: Performing in the Presence of Others
- Imagine that you have been taking piano lessons for 10 years, and you are
now about to go on stage for your first major solo concert performance. You
have been practicing diligently for several months, getting ready for the big
night. But now, you are no longer alone in your own living room, but on stage
in front of hundreds of people. Your name is announced, and silence breaks
the applause as you take a seat in front of the concert grand. How will you
perform now that you are before an audience? Will you freeze, forgetting the
pieces you practiced so intensely on your own? Or will the audience spur you
on to your best performance yet? In other words, what impact will the
presence of the audience have on your behavior?
A. Social Loafing: “Free Riding” When Working with Others - Have you ever
worked with several others helping a friend move into a new apartment, each
carrying and transporting part of the load from the old place to the new one?
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Or, how about sitting around a table with others stuffing political campaign
letters into envelopes and addressing them to potential donors? Although
these tasks may seem quite different, they actually share an important
characteristic: Performing each requires the efforts of only a single individual,
but several people's work can be pooled to yield greater outcomes. Because
each person's contributions are summed together with another's, such tasks
have been referred to as additive tasks.
a. Tips for Eliminating Social Loafing
One possible antidote to social loafing is to make each
performer identifiable. Social loafing may occur when people
feel they can get away with "taking it easy"—namely, under
conditions in which each individual's contributions cannot be
determined.
Another way to overcome social loafing is to make work tasks
more important and interesting.
It also has been suggested that managers should reward
individuals for contributing to their group's performance—that is,
encourage their interest in their group's performance.
What is a Team?
- Formally, we define a team as a group whose members have complementary
skills and are committed to a common purpose or set of performance goals
for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Applying this definition
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to our description of the way work is done at Miller's Trenton plant, it's clear
that teams are in use at this facility. Given the complicated nature of teams,
we will highlight some of their key characteristics and distinguish them from
the traditional ways in which work is structured
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focus is on using the organization's resources to effectively create its
results
2. A second dimension has to do with time. Specifically, some teams are
only temporary, and are established for a specific project with a finite life.
For example, a team set up to develop a new product would be
considered temporary.
3. The third dimension reflects the team's connection to the organization's
overall authority structure—that is, the connection between various formal
job responsibilities.
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mission. Workers having high degrees of freedom and anonymity require
a depth of skills and knowledge that surpasses that of people performing
narrower, traditional jobs. For this reason, successful teams tend to be
ones in which large investments are made in developing the skills of team
members and leaders. In the words of one expert, "Good team members
are trained, not born.''
3.) Compensation Systems - Teams are no places for hot shots who want to make
their individual marks—rather, teams require "team players." And the more
organizations reward employees for their teams' successes, the more strongly
team spirit will be reinforced.
- Lack of Managerial Support - For teams to survive, let alone thrive, it is
essential for them to receive unqualified support from top management. In the
absence of such support, the system may falter.
- Lack of Employee Support - In addition to support from managers, it is
essential that the basis for the movement to teams be fully understood and
accepted by the individuals who are involved. Unless employees can fully
understand the importance of cooperating with each other, problems are likely
to result.
4.) Cooperation between Teams - it is clear that teams can be an effective way for
organizations to achieve unheard of levels of performance. However, the path to
success is riddled with obstacles; developing effective teams is difficult. It is also
time-consuming.
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2.) Self-Managed Work Teams. In self-managed work teams, team members have
the autonomy to lead and manage themselves and determine how the team will
perform its tasks. In a self-managed work team, separate tasks normally
performed by individual employees and managed by a supervisor fall under the
responsibility of a group of employees empowered to ensure they get done and
get done well. The job characteristics model of job design provides a good
framework for understanding why the use of self-managed work teams can lead
to higher levels of motivation, performance, and satisfaction.
3.) Research and Development Teams. Organizations often use research and
development (R&D) teams to develop new products, especially in high-tech
industries such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, and computers. Some R&D
teams are cross-functional.
4.) Virtual Teams. Virtual teams are teams in which a significant amount of
communication and interaction among team members occurs electronically,
using computer hardware and software. Organizations use virtual teams to help
people in different places and/or time zones work together.
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REFERENCES:
LINKS
TOPICS LINKS FOR VIDEO
The Nature of Groups https://youtu.be/NNPp_g-3xAM
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