Human Behavior in Organization

Chapter 7
Nelson & Quick

Work Teams and Groups

Copyright ©2005 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.

 Chapter learning objectives
At the end of the chapter, students will be able
to:
1. Define group and work team.
2. Differentiate group from work team
3. Determine the characteristics of a
well-Functioning, effective group
4. Identify Types of Group Behavior
5. Discuss the stages of Group Behavior
Teamwork at Starbucks
Starbucks join Tech team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUsm
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 Chapter learning objectives

At the end of the chapter, students will be

able to:
6. Identify the Mature Group Characteristics
7. Differentiate between Old and New Teams
8. Explain the Multicultural Teams
9. Illustrate the a triangle approach for
managing in the new team
 Groups & Teams

Group - two or more people with common

interests, objectives, and continuing interaction

Work Team - a group of people with

complementary skills who are committed to a
common mission, performance goals, and
approach for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable
 Characteristics of a
Well-Functioning, Effective Group

Relaxed, comfortable, informal atmosphere

Task well understood & accepted

Members listen well & participate

People express feelings & ideas

 Characteristics of a
Well-Functioning, Effective Group

Conflict & disagreement center

around ideas or methods

Group aware of its operation & function

Consensus decision making

Clear assignments made & accepted

 Group Behavior
Norms of Behavior - the standards that a work group
uses to evaluate the behavior of its members
Group Cohesion - the “interpersonal glue” that
makes members of a group stick together
Social Loafing - the failure of a group member to
contribute personal time, effort, thoughts, or other
resources to the group
Loss of Individuality - a social process in which
individual group members lose self-awareness &
its accompanying sense of accountability,
inhibition, and responsibility for individual
behavior
 Group Formation
Formal Groups -
official or assigned groups
gathered to perform various
tasks
◼ need ethnic, gender,
cultural, and interpersonal
diversity
◼ need professional
and geographical
diversity
Informal Groups -
unofficial or emergent
groups that evolve in
the work setting to
gratify a variety of
member needs not met
by formal groups
 Stages of Group Formation

Mutual Decision Motivation Control

acceptance making and and
commitment sanctions

Emphasis
Emphasis Emphasis Emphasis
on task
on on task on rewards
planning, and
interpersonal accomplishment,
authority,
concern and leadership, and punishment
and
awareness performance
influence
 Mature Group Characteristics
Purpose and Mission
 May be assigned or may emerge from the
group
 Group often questions, reexamines, and
modifies mission and purpose
 Mission converted into specific agenda,
clear goals, and a set of critical success
factors
 Mature Group Characteristics

Behavioral Norms - well-understood standards of

behavior within a group
Formal & written Informal but
well understood
Ground
Intragroup
rules
socializing
for
meetings
Dress codes

Productivity Norms - may be consistent or

inconsistent, supportive or unsupportive of
organization’s productivity standards
 Mature Group Characteristics

Group Cohesion - interpersonal attraction binding

group members together
 Enables groups to exercise effective control over
the members
 Groups with high cohesiveness
◼ demonstrate lower tension & anxiety

◼ demonstrate less variation in productivity

◼ demonstrate better member satisfaction,

commitment, & communication
 Cohesiveness &
Work-Related Tension
Group Cohesiveness from low to high
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 “Does your
3.2 work ever make
3.3
you jumpy or
3.4
nervous?”
3.5
Low score =
3.6
high tension
3.7
3.8
3.9 Mean tension
4
7 16 52 65 57 19 12
From S. E. Seashore, Group Cohesiveness in the Industrial
Number of groups Work Force, 1954. Research conducted by Stanley E.
Seashore at the Institute for Social Research, University of
Michigan. Reprinted by permission.
 Mature Group Characteristics
Status Structure - the set of authority & task
relations among a group’s members
 Hierarchical or egalitarian
 Often leadership is shared

Data/Info Contributor

Diversity Mission Collaborator

Styles Facilitator Communicator
Devil’s advocate Challenger
 Team Task Functions

Task Functions - those activities directly related to

the effective completion of the team’s work

Give information
Initiate activities
Test ideas
Seek information
Summarize ideas Coordinate activities
Evaluate effectiveness
Elaborate concepts
Diagnose problems
 Team Task Functions
Maintenance Functions - those activities essential to
the effective, satisfying interpersonal relationships
within a team or group
Follow others’ lead
Support others
Harmonize conflict
Set standards
Express member feelings Test group decisions
Gatekeep communication
Test consensus
Reduce tension
 Why Teams?

 Good when performing complicated, complex,

interrelated and/or more voluminous work than one
person can handle
 Good when knowledge, talent, skills, & abilities are
dispersed across organizational members
 Empowerment and collaboration; not power and
competition
 Basis for total quality efforts
 New vs. Old Team
Environments
New Team Environment Old Work Environment
Person generates initiatives Person follows orders
Team charts its own steps Manager charts course
Right to think for oneself. People conformed to manager’s
People rock boat; work direction. No one rocked the
together boat.
People cooperate using People cooperated by
thoughts and feelings; suppressing thoughts and
direct talk feelings; wanted to get along

SOURCE: Managing in the New Team Environment, by Hirschhorn, © 1991. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc.,Upper Saddle River, N. J.
 Quality Circles & Teams
Quality Team - a team that is part of an
organization’s structure & is empowered to act on
its decisions regarding product & quality service
Quality Circles (QC) - a small group of employees
who work voluntarily on company time, typically
one hour per week, to address work-related
problems
QC’s deal with substantive issues
◼ Do not require final decision authority

◼ QC’s need periodic reenergizing

 Social Benefits of Teams

Psychological Intimacy -
emotional & psychological
closeness to other team
or group members

Integrated Intimacy -
closeness achieved
through tasks & activities
 Foundations for Empowerment

An attribute of a person or of an
organization’s culture

Encourages
participation

Preparation & careful

planning focuses
empowered employees Solve specific and
global problems
 Empowerment Skills

Competence Process
Skills Skills

Self-
management
or
Team skills
Cooperative
and Helping Communication
Behaviors Skills
 Self-Managed Teams

Self-Managed Teams - teams that make decisions

that were once reserved for managers

How does an organization capitalize

on the advantages and avoid the risks
of self managed teams?
 Upper Echelons:
Teams at the Top

Upper Echelons -
A top-level executive team
in an organization
Top management's Organization reflects Management team's
background characteristics top management's leadership, composiiton, &
predict organizational values, competence, dynamics influences the
characteristics ethics, & unique characteristics organization's performance
 Executive Tenure &
Organizational Performance
High
relative to the industry average
Organizational performance

Low
1 7 14
CEO tenure (years)Source: D. Hambrick, The Seasons of an Executive’s Tenure, keynote address, the
Sixth Annual Texas Conference on Organizations, Lago Vista, Texas, April, 1991.
 Multicultural Teams
Multicultural groups represent
three or more ethnic
backgrounds. Diversity may
increase uncertainty, complexity,
& inherent confusion in group
processes. Culturally diverse
groups may generate more &
better ideas & limit groupthink.
 Triangle for Managing
in the New Team Environment

Manager

Team Individuals

L. Hirschhorn, Managing in the New Team Environment, (pages 13/14). Copyright© 1991 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Addison Wesley Longman.
 Let’s Check!
 ____________________ are usually smaller than
groups.
 In a team, all team members are committed to a
common ____________________.
 Teams hold themselves mutually
____________________ for results.
 The second most important task of management teams
is to ____________________ work between
 work teams that are ____________________ in some
manner.
 Let’s Check!

 For team implementation to be successful, change

must start with
___________________________________.
 Groups with high cohesiveness , demonstrate
______(less, more) variation in productivity
Thank you for listening