Internal Assignment

Course: Organisational Behaviour

Ans. 1. People spend huge time in interacting with each other. Interaction between two
people involves many aspects as in behaviour, interpersonal skills, communication.
Behaviour of an individual is affected by same of others. It is based upon various
psychological factors like personality, perception, learning process of an individual
interacting with each other. Communication is involved with the use of languages, symbols
and signs for conveying the messages to one individual to another. Interpersonal skills are
the skills used every day by people when they communicate and interact with other people
in a group or individually. It allows us to share the ideas, points of view, expertise, and
information effectively. This interpersonal behaviour is actually the actions that are present
in every individual through which people communicate which may involve both verbal and
non-verbal (like body language-signs, expressions, etc.).

An individual interacts in different ways with different individuals in different

states. Transactional Analysis is a theory or we can say a technique for studying the
nature of interpersonal interaction or communication between
two individuals and to analyse its effectiveness. It is also
known as ‘Parent-Adult-Child Theory’ which determines the
‘ego state’ of the individual. Eric Berne introduced three ego
states which defines three different ways of experiencing the
world. Every individual has three ego states namely; Parent,
Adult and Child which is not related to the age of an
individual rather it stimulate, monitors and controls individual
behaviour. The three ego states are defined as follows:-

 Parent Ego State – An individual in a parent ego state shows attitude, values and
behaviour of a parent like inherited by a person when he/she was a child. It copies
parent figures like of a teacher, caregiver, father, mother, brother, guardian, or any
elderly person who displays an advice-giving behaviour, which is most likely to be
derivative by a child and afterwards it is displayed in his future lifetime when situations
arise as most of the events in the life of a child are the actions of the parents. It is
basically a ‘taught’ concept.

 Adult Ego State – An individual in adult ego state deals with reality as it is fixed in the
present and not the past. They believe in rationality and think logically. This ego state
is based on reasoning, seeking and providing information and decisions, equality,
responsibility, experience and being worthy of undertaking any job. Individuals having
adult ego check on their behaviour and validate their parent and child ego continuously
by hindering parent and child ego state based on experience. Thus adult ego is
considered to be valid ego state as comparatively it is determined on evolving as valid.
It is basically a ‘learnt’ concept.

 Child Ego State – An individual in child ego state gets experience or we can say
learns from the external situations. It includes thoughts, behaviour, feelings all learnt or
experienced in the past. It is the inner experience, feeling and adaptation of an
individual by showing some creativity actions in return like anxiety, depression, fear,
hate and dependence. Child Ego is non-logical and displays instant action on different
matters. Such behaviour is formed into 5 years of age by interacting and observing
different people directly who display physical signs like silent compliance, attention
 seeking in certain situations, displaying temper, tantrums, coyness and giggling;
basically accepting responses of behaviour of various individuals about in childhood
days. So basically, it is a ‘felt’ concept.

Interpersonal behaviour is the quality of an individual to interact with others by sharing

ideas and emotions verbally and non-verbally which allows an
individual to interact with and understand others in personal and
professional lives.
Individuals interact with each other in relation with psychological
positions of behaviour known as ego state. The ego states are
important part of transactional analysis which defines an individual’s
psychological behaviour pattern like related with the way of thinking,
feelings and subsequent behaviour. These states can impact a team’s
interpersonal behaviour by affecting the level of motivation, team
relationship, communication, decisions and organisational development.
In a workplace, individuals have different ego states, so as a team lead examining the ego
states as described above in Transactional Analysis will provide a set of traits for
observing behaviour and communication so as to understand how individuals with different
ego states interact. If these individuals are placed intelligently in proper teams so that
performance of each individual is positive and contribute to a better and efficient working
environment.

Ans. 2. A group is all about interaction between different

individuals. Individuals, that gather together to build a common
but important relationship in between them. In an organisation,
the term ‘group’ basically means a collection of two or more
interdependent individuals who come together or gather in the
same place and interact within themselves to build relations,
share some activity or purpose or any project, interests, ideas or
quality; so that they can achieve a particular objective effectively
and efficiently. There are specific goals and intentions that are the reason for existence of
a group. The individuals who join groups for some number of reasons (which can be
personal, social or economic) are called members. The basic reason for forming a group is
building opportunities for interaction, need for companionship, a sense for identification,
getting source for gathering information, job satisfaction, an outlet for feelings or
frustration, preservation of cultural principles and most important generation of new ideas.
An organisational structure mostly consists of formal groups. Formal groups are
comparatively permanent with defined work assignments and tasks. The members in
formal groups gather to achieve a specific organizational objective or goal and usually
work under a single supervisor. Formal groups are further classified into Secondary
groups, Command groups, Task groups and Committees. However some groups extend
beyond the formal boundaries that are not determined or influenced by the organisation
and usually formed by the members, called informal groups. These groups address
psychological and social needs of members more, which are not necessarily related to any
objective or goal. Informal groups can be further classified into Primary groups, Interest
groups, Friendship groups, and Reference groups.
 Every group is built upon some successful framework or setup which involves
different phases; these phases can be called stages of group
formation. These stages are required for the growth of the group
formed systematically and in order to achieve the goal. It also
helps in knowing behavioural patterns of different members and
directs their actions towards the fulfilment of common and
personal goals.
A brief discussion about the different stages of group formation
is as follows:-

1. Forming:-The very first stage for formation of group is the forming stage or a stage
for beginning with an orientation. This stage can last for weeks or a longer time as
members get to know about each other, share their purpose for joining, ideas, about
their tasks and objectives. Basically at this stage the group’s success depends on
their understanding with each other’s work styles, settlement of each other’s
uncertainty and anxiety, their practice with previous teams and clarity in allotted
tasks. A group in the forming stage builds an environment of expectations from the
members operating in it as in the beginning they start learning what to do with
preparation for the rough times ahead focussing on the basic reasons for group’s
existence. The main objective for the group during the forming stage is to create a
group with clear direction, structure, roles and goals so that members begin to build
dependence.

2. Storming:-This is the struggling stage in the formation of any group. This stage is
involved full of competition, disputes and conflict as working styles and personalities
of members begin to grow but only unaware on how to communicate with each other
thus there are considerable amount of fights and arguments in this stage and
members begin to feel the pressure of frustration, dislike, and resentment. This is the
stage in the group where the dictating members surface and actively start
participating in raising questions on leadership, responsibilities, authority, structure,
evaluation criteria, reward systems, rules, norms and policies, and tend to arise
during the storming stage, while the less challenging members stay in their ease
zone. Usually, this stage may last 1-2 months because the members are helping each
other to build new skill and confidence for the next stage.

3. Norming:-This stage is said to be enjoyable one usually continuing for 4-12 months
as interactions in the group becomes easier, more cooperative, interdependent and
productive, with weighed give and take, sense of unity, bonding, trust, mutual respect
and open communication with less disagreement or interruption. The problems are
comparatively easy to be resolved as the members in the group work through
individual and social issues and gets back on the path towards achieving the goals.
Norming stage is basically an appropriate time for evaluation of group progressions
and productivity.

4. Performing:-Once the members in the group are clear about objectives and goals,
the growth moves onto the next stage that is performing stage. At this stage, the
confidence of group members is high as group members become really united,
flexible, and interdependent, mature, organised, with a sense of agreement and
cooperation and actively recognize the skills, talents and experience of each member
who had join the group and a sense of belongingness is established with clear and
stable structure. Although problems and conflict do arise, but are solved effectively
and efficiently as the leadership is distributive and members try to adapt according to
the needs of the group.

5. Adjourning:-As successfully completion of goals and objectives of the group formed

is not the only end of group development, thus this is a critical stage like a
termination or end of the group, where the existence of group actually comes to an
end and the members separate and move on in their different directions. Some group
 members may find this part of the stage difficult because they get a habit of following
the routine of the group daily or have close friendships after separating from the
group thus find it uncompromising.

Groups help organizations in achieving essential objectives and goals. Groups

also help to solve operational problems, improve the communication and most important
solving abilities of team members In conclusion, it is necessary for organizations to form a
group with a proper framework of phases and follow them in order as without these stages,
the group will be stuck and unable to achieve its objectives.

Ans. 3.a. Nowadays, most of the organisations carry out their work with the help of team
interactions. A team is basically an assembly
of individuals who planned to achieve a goal
or any common purpose, and are
interdependent, identified and be observed
as a team.
Teams can be temporary or permanent.
Team members can be from the same or
different departments. Some common types of teams found in an organization
include virtual teams, project teams, and cross-functional teams.

In an organisation, Johanna can create the following different types of teams:-

 Functional Team:-This kind of team is permanent and found in large organisations

with traditional form of management. The team consists of members from the same
department with different responsibilities who belong to same functional area and
respond to a single manager which means one manager is responsible for the
whole team.
Example:-Traditional project management teams such as HR and Accounting
departments or the Maintenance team and other particular groups.

 Cross-Functional Teams:-This kind of team is basically a special purpose team

which gets terminated after the goal or the objective is achieved. The team
members have the same hierarchy level but belong to different functional
departments and perform tasks which require different inputs and experts thus
called cross functional.
Example:-1. The different departments provided by Health care services
2. An FMCG company with Marketing, Product, Sales and Customer care
department.

 Self-managed Team:- This kind of team is self-sufficient to manage and handle

problems on its own that is why called self-managed. The team members work in a
cooperative and very united way, make decisions, manage responsibilities and the
distribution of tasks on their own thus don't need any superior for control nor any
support.
Example:-Separate work groups and collaborative teams in any company.

 Supervised Team:-This type of team requires close observation as supervising a

team is different from what leading a team is thus called a supervised team. The
supervisor directly controls, manages the assigned work to individuals, and
supervises a team ensuring that members have necessary resources, and
 improving performance. The supervisor is responsible for sustaining well-being and
keeping standards.
Example:-A top level manager supervises a middle manager. A middle
manager supervises a first line manager. A first line manager supervises a
worker’s team.

 Project Team:-This kind of team is created for completion of a specific task or any
objective and exists for a week or a few years. The team members belong to
different departments of the company and work cooperatively in a precise,
measurable, and time-controlled way towards achieving their objectives by
performing tasks related to their own department.
Example:-A new Software development Team, New product or service team,
Designing a new transportation-vehicle team, A team for Implementing a new
business, etc.

 Problem-solving Team:-This kind of team focus on solving a specific problem

or any issue or when discussing developments and progress in a team.
Example:-In a financial crisis, organizational task force teams
are created to come up with solutions and help the company to climb out of
the crisis.

Ans. 3.b. in an organisation there are chances of different barriers in effective team-
building that requires identifying and eliminating by the management so that the
organisation can grow effectively nd efficiently.
Some common barriers that Johanna might have faced in creating effective teams
are discussed as follows:-

 Cultural differences:-Cultural differences between different project teams

frequently hamper a progress of a team as members are not acquainted with each
other’s values, code of conduct and cultural norms. For example, a person from the
US would need to be very sensitive in the Indian culture. Thus, the team manager
should allot time and resources for the team members for knowing each other and
to develop trust in a get-to-gather meeting by respecting and celebrating their
cultural differences.

 Poor Performance of Some Team Members:-Most of the teams deal with poor
performers in different ways; it depends upon the members’ opinions for the
reasons for their poor performance. Too many team members, wrong members or a
lack of responsibility or too much freedom can be the cause for poor performance.

 Challenges of not Knowing Where to Begin:-In the beginning, after joining a

team, team members are often confused or lost as to how to begin. Also, in the end,
members may reach their objective but are unable to put their task to rest or can’t
move onto their next task or project.

 Intra-team conflict:- In a team, conflicts and

disagreements often arise because of
personality issues and different points of view
among team members which are normal and
expected, because that will eventually help the
 members of the team to take stronger, and reasoning decisions still might result in
miscommunication, lost productivity, stressful work environment and even
resignations of employees.

 Dominating Team Members:-There are some team members with a dominating

personality that violates the participation of others. This can be domineering and
may hurt the morale of the other team members or even structure of the team. Also,
processes of team are neglected rather than developed.

 Lack of motivation: A team can lose motivation because of a number of reasons

like not able to perform the tasks to its true potential, or may develop a can’t-do
attitude, or might lose clarity or self-belief, or if a task is over-challenging for a team
or because of frustration or lack of determination.

 Lack of communication:- Communication is an important factor in a team.

Effective communication can boost teamwork and fill gaps in a team. As sometimes,
team members who don’t like to interact much or do not know about proper
communication channels can delay development in a team.