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Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-1

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Teams vs. Groups: What’s the Difference?


Why Have Teams Become So Popular?
Types of Teams
Problem-Solving Teams
Self-Managed Teams
Cross-Functional Teams
Virtual Teams
From Individual to Team Member
Roles
Role Conflict
Role Ambiguity
Norms
The “How” and “Why” of Norms
Conformity
Stages of Group and Team Development
The Five-Stage Model
Putting the Five-Stage Model into Perspective
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Phase 1
Phase 2
Applying the Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Creating Effective Teams
Context
Adequate Resources
Leadership and Structure
Climate Of Trust
Performance Evaluation and Rewards
Composition
Skills
Personality
Roles
Diversity
Size
Members’ Preference For Teamwork
Work Design
Process
Common Purpose
Specific Goals
Team Efficacy
Mental Models
Managed Level of Conflict
Accountability
Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer
Global Implications
Extent of Teamwork
Self-Managed Teams
Team Cultural Diversity and Team Performance
Group Cohesiveness

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-2

Summary and Implications


OB at Work

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. What are teams and groups?


2. How does one become a team player?
3. Do teams go through stages while they work?
4. How do we create effective teams?
5. Are teams always the answer?

CHAPTER SYNOPSIS

The modern workplace consists of groups and teams. They are everywhere and we must understand how
to work effectively in them. Working collectively runs against the culture of North American life, but it is one
of the changes we’ve have had to make and to accept because of global competition. This chapter covers
some of the factors that have to be addressed to have successful work teams. In addition to defining
groups and teams and examining why people join them, this chapter discusses models of group
development, including the Punctuated-Equilibrium Model. The chapter also covers topics such as norms,
cohesiveness, and building effective teams.

STUDY QUESTIONS

It is impossible to cover all the material contained in the chapter during one or two lectures. To deal with
this problem, I present my students with a list of study questions to indicate what material they will be
responsible for on exams. I tell them that they will be responsible for these, even if the material is not
covered in class. I have found that this reduces anxiety overall, and I find it helps to make students aware
that not everything in a chapter is required material. I realize instructors vary in their approach, so this is
simply my approach.
My study questions for this chapter are
 What is the difference between a team and a group?
 What are the different kinds of teams?
 What do roles and norms have to do with teams?
 What are the stages of group development?
 What implications can be drawn from the punctuated equilibrium model?
 What are the factors that create effective teams?
 What are the different roles required for effective group and team functioning? What functions are
involved in each role?

SUGGESTED TEACHING PLAN

We devote two days to this topic. During the first class we often have our Fantasy Project presentations

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-3

(described in the introduction to the manual), so that consumes much of the lecture time. In order to get
them to start thinking about the topic, after the presentations, we have students de-brief their team
experience: what worked well, what didn’t, how will they improve their performance for next time. We then
use this to briefly discuss roles, norms and status.
In the second class, we run the Paper Tower exercise that’s at the end of the chapter. This is a well-loved
exercise by all of our instructors, and a big hit with the students. We use the exercise to discuss the stages
of group development and punctuated equilibrium. As well as what needs to be done to create effective
teams. I vary in my approach—sometimes I present this material as a mini-lecturette, and then run the
Fantasy Project, and debrief it referring back to the material. Other times, I start the class with the Fantasy
Project, and then use the debrief from that to guide and illustrate the lecture material. A lot depends on the
energy of my class. While I prefer to run exercises in the second half of the class, a recent section I had
tended to collapse if we did a high energy exercise in the first half. So, do be aware of the students’ energy
levels in making decisions about how to run class.
Be sure to examine “Exploring Topics on the Web” in the supplemental section below for possible
additional ideas to cover in class or assign for homework.
Be sure to examine the supplemental section below for additional exercises that can be used in class.

ANNOTATED LECTURE OUTLINE

A. Teams vs. Groups: What’s the Difference? Notes

 A group: Two or more individuals, with a common relationship. Groups do


not necessarily engage in collective work that requires interdependent
effort.
 A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are
committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
 Groups become teams when they meet the following conditions:
 Team members share leadership.
 Both individuals and the team share accountability for the work.
 The team develops its own purpose or mission.
 The team works on continuous problem-solving.
 The team’s measure of effectiveness is the team outcomes and
goals, not individual outcomes.
 Not all groups are teams; all teams can be considered groups.

1. Why Have Teams Become So Popular?

 As organizations have restructured themselves to compete more


effectively and efficiently, they have turned to teams as a way to better
utilize employee talents.
 Teams can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband.
 Teams allow for greater task identity, thus increasing motivation.
 The evidence suggests that teams typically out-perform individuals when
the tasks being done require multiple skills, judgment, and experience.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-4

2. Types of Teams

(See Exhibit 6-1 Four Types of Teams).


 Problem-Solving Teams
 Groups of 5 to 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.
 Self-Managed Teams (or Self-Directed Teams)
 Groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former
supervisors. Typically this includes planning and scheduling of work,
assigning tasks to team members, making operational decisions,
taking action on problems.
 Cross-Functional Teams (or Project Teams)
 Employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different
work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
 An effective means for allowing people from diverse areas within an
organization to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve
problems, and coordinate complex project.
 Not easy to manage due to diversity and complexity of different
backgrounds, experiences and perspectives of members.
 Skunkworks: Cross-functional teams that develop spontaneously
to create new products or work on complex problems.
 Virtual Teams
 Use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed
members in order to achieve a common goal
 Challenges for virtual teams:
 Less social rapport and less direct interaction among members.
 Tend to be more task oriented.
 Less satisfaction with the group interaction process than
face-to-face teams.
 Building trust among members may be a challenge.

B. From Individual to Team Member Notes

 Members bring with them their personalities and previous experiences.


 Consider the process of how individuals learn to work in groups and
teams. There are some essential elements that need to be resolved to
become a team.

1. Roles

 A role is a set of expected behaviour patterns associated with someone


occupying a given position in a social unit.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-5

 Role Conflict: A situation in which an individual finds that complying with


one role requirement may make it more difficult to comply with another.
At the extreme it can include situations in which two or more role
expectations are mutually contradictory..
 Role expectations: How others believe a person should act in a given
situation
 Role Ambiguity: Exists when a person is unclear about his or her role. In
teams, role ambiguity can lead to confusion, stress and even bad
feelings.
 Groups benefit when individuals know their roles.
 Role overload occurs when what is expected of a person far exceeds
what he or she is able to do.
 Role underload occurs when too little is expected of someone, and
that person feels that he or she is not contributing to the group.

Teaching Tip: One of the things I often like to talk about when teaching roles
is the Zimbardo prison experiment. Notes for this can be found in the
supplementary material below.

2. Norms

 Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the


group’s members. Norms act as a means of influencing the behaviour of
group members, with a minimum of external controls.
 Most common norms cover:
 Performance: How hard to work, what kind of quality, levels of
tardiness.
 Appearance: Personal dress, when to look busy, when to “goof off,”
how to show loyalty.
 Social arrangement: How team members interact.
 Allocation of resources: Pay, assignments, allocation of tools and
equipment.
 The “How” And "Why" of Norms
 Norms typically develop gradually as group members learn what
behaviours are needed for the team to function effectively. New
norms can develop as the work progresses.
 Explicit statements by a group member or supervisor.
 Critical events in the group's history.
 Primacy: the initial behavioural patterns that emerge early in the
group development.
 Carry-over behaviours from past situations. Members bring
expectations from previous experiences.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-6

Teaching Tip: If the students have been working in permanent teams during
the term, this is a good opportunity to ask them for examples of norms they
have established to make their teams work. They can also report on previous
experience on teams.

 Groups don't establish or enforce norms for every conceivable


situation. The norms that the groups will enforce tend to be those that
are important to them. What makes the norm important?
 What makes a norm important?
 It facilitates the group’s survival.
 It increases the predictability of group members’ behaviours.
 It reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group
members
 It allows members to express the central values of the group and
clarify what is distinctive about the group's identity

Teaching Tip: Following up on the previous tip, you can ask students to
describe why the particular norms they have were developed. Were their
particular incidents that led to some of the norms?

 Conformity: Adjusting your behaviour to align with the norms of the


group. Group can place strong pressure on individual members to
change their attitudes and behaviours.

C. Stages of Group and Team Development Notes

1. The Five-Stage Model

(See Exhibit 6-2 Stages of Group Development and Accompanying


Issues)
 The model shows how individuals move from being independent to
working interdependently with group members.
 Stage I: Forming. Team comes together for the first time.
Characterized by much uncertainty about the purpose, structure, and
leadership of the group.
 Stage II: Storming. Characterized by intragroup conflict with
resistance to the constraints on individuality. Added conflict may
occur on control of the team.
 Stage III: Norming. Characterized by close relationships and
cohesiveness.
 Stage IV: Performing. The group is fully functional and is focused on
performing the task.
 Stage V: Adjourning. Group prepares to disband. For temporary
groups, this stage is characterized by concern with wrapping up
activities.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-7

 For some teams, the end of one project may mean the beginning of
another.

Teaching Tip: When teaching this I often link it to “dating” behaviour—the


uncertainty at the beginning of a new relationship, then the conflict that
appears after the newness wears off. I also mention that if they understand
that this conflict is often “normal,” as individual’s figure out how to maintain
their own identity while being with another person, then they might be able to
survive this stage better, and that it usually does end. I then discuss how
relationships develop their own norms, and if things go well, marriage and
children (the performing stage) may follow. This provides one context for
them to think about the model. You can also get them to apply it to their own
group, if they’ve been working in a group during the term.

 Putting the Five-Stage Model into Perspective


 Groups do not necessarily progress clearly through the stages one at
a time.
 Groups can sometimes go back to an earlier stage.
 Conflict can sometimes be helpful to the group.
 Organizational context can provide the rules, task definitions,
information and resources needed for the team to perform
immediately.

2. The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

(See Exhibit 6-3 The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model)


 Temporary groups with deadlines have their own unique sequence which
does not seem to follow the five-stage model.
 The first meeting sets the groups direction. The first phase is one of
inertia.
 A transition takes place when group has used up half of its allotted
time. The transition initiates major changes.
 A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
 The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated
activity.
 Applying the Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
 The punctuated-equilibrium model characterizes deadline-oriented
teams as exhibiting long periods of inertia, interspersed with brief
revolutionary changes triggered primarily by their members’
awareness of time and deadlines.
 To use the terminology of the five-stage model, the team begins by
combining the forming and norming stages, then goes through a
period of low performing, followed by storming, then a period of high
performing, and, finally, adjourning.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-8

Teaching Tip: I get the students to think about all the procrastination that
goes on during the beginning part of their work in a group. I also suggest that
since they’re aware of this, they might want to figure out ways to make that
first half more productive. Many students relate the idea that the group does
seem to pick up a lot of momentum during the second half, as they’re
approaching the deadline. You should also remind them that the model does
not mean that nothing gets done in the first half, just that less gets done.

Before going through the material on creating effective teams, you may want
the students to do the Paper Tower exercise. You can use it to review a
number of points from both the five-stage model and the punctuated
equilibrium model.

D. Creating Effective Teams Notes

(See Exhibit 6-4 Characteristics of an Effective Team)

 Teams’ effectiveness refers to objective measures such as productivity,


managers’ ratings of the team’s performance, and measures of member
satisfaction.
 Many factors are considered in efforts to try to identify what makes for
effective teams. Four general categories of characteristics are:
resources and other contextual influences, team composition, work
design, and team processes.
 Two factors to consider:
 Teams differ in form and structure. The model should be used as a
guide, not as an inflexible prescription.
 The model assumes that a team is needed and not simply individual
effort.
(See Exhibit 6-5 A Model of Team Effectiveness)

1. Context

 The four contextual factors that appear to be most significantly related to


team performance are the presence of adequate resources, effective
leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward
system that reflects team contributions.
 Adequate Resources
 All work teams rely on resources outside the team to sustain
them. A scarcity of resources directly reduces the ability of a
team to perform its job effectively.
 Leadership and Structure
 Role of team leader involves creating a real team rather than in
name only; setting meaningful direction; establishing proper
structure; ensure organizational support and providing expert
coaching.
 Team members must agree on who is to do what, and ensure
that all members contribute equally in sharing the workload.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-9

 The team needs to determine how schedules will be set, what


skills need to be developed, how the team will resolve conflicts,
and how the team will make and modify decisions.
 Leadership, particularly from management, isn’t always needed.
The evidence indicates that self-managed work teams often
perform better than teams with formally appointed leaders.
 Climate of Trust
 Members of effective teams trust each other. They must feel that
the team is capable of getting the task done. Team members are
more likely to take risks when they believe they can trust others
on their team.
 Team members must also trust their leaders.
 Performance Evaluation and Rewards
 The traditional, individually-oriented evaluation must be modified
to reflect team performance.
 It is important to recognize individual contributions, but
group-based appraisals are extremely important.
 If members don’t trust their colleagues, they tend to prefer
individual-based rewards. Only a very high level of trust for
members leads to acceptance of group-based pay.

Teaching Tip: This is a good place to discuss group vs. individual marks for
term projects, the signals that different choices made by instructors send, and
how to deal with possible equity problems while encouraging more team
performance. There is an exercise in the supplemental section below to
pursue this further.

2. Composition

 Includes variables that relate to how teams should be staffed.


 Skills
(See Exhibit 6-6 Teamwork Skills)
 To perform effectively, teams require members who have
technical expertise, problem-solving and decision-making skills,
and interpersonal skills.
 Personality
 Personality has a significant influence on employee behaviour,
and people should be selected for the team on the basis of their
personalities and preferences.
 Teams that rate higher in extroversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and emotional stability tend to receive higher
managerial ratings for team performance.
 Roles
(See Exhibit 6-7 Roles Required for Effective Team Functioning)

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-10

 Task-oriented roles: Roles performed by group members to


ensure that the tasks of the group are accomplished.
 Maintenance roles: Roles performed by group members to
maintain good relations within the group.
 Effective teams maintain balance between the two sets of roles,
with members often taking on multiple roles.

Teaching Tip: Ask students: Consider a team with which they have worked.
Was there more emphasis on task-oriented or maintenance oriented-roles?
What impact did this have on the group’s performance?

 Size
 Generally speaking, the most effective teams have five to nine
members. Experts suggest using the smallest number of people
who can do the task.
 When teams have excess members, cohesiveness and mutual
accountability decline, social loafing increases, and more and
more people do less talking compared with others.
 Social Loafing. Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to
expend less effort when working collectively than when working
individually.
 What causes social loafing?
 A member may simply be lazy and becomes a “free
rider” coasting on the team’s efforts.
 Members could also feel that his/her effort is not needed
or his/her skills are not adequate.

Teaching Tip: This might be a good place to discuss the Ethical Dilemma
Exercise, and how social loafing can be managed.

 Members Preference for Teamwork


 Not everyone is willing to be a team player, and these differences
in preference can affect team performance. When selecting team
members, consider individual preferences.

3. Work Design

 The workplace itself has an impact on how teams develop. Such things
as freedom and autonomy, the opportunity to utilize different skills and
talents, the ability to complete a whole and identifiable task or product,
and the impact of the tsk on others are important characteristics that
increase team effectiveness.

4. Process

(See Exhibit 6-8 Effects of Group Processes)

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-11

 Process variables includes member commitment to a common purpose,


establishment of specific team goals, team efficacy, shared mental
models, a managed level of conflict, and a system of accountability.
 Common Purpose
 Effective teams have a common and meaningful purpose that
provides direction, momentum, and commitment for members.
 Effective teams also show reflexivity in thinking about the master
plan and adjusting it when necessary.
 Specific Goals
 Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific,
measurable, and realistic performance goals. Goals energize
teams, facilitate clear communication and help teams maintain
their focus on achieving results.
 Difficult goals have been found to raise team performance on
those criteria for which they’re set.
 Team Efficacy
 Effective teams have confidence in themselves. They believe
they can succeed.
 One of the factors that helps teams build their efficacy is
cohesiveness, the degree to which group members are attracted
to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
Cohesiveness is directly related to the team’s productivity.
(See Exhibit 6 – 9 Relationship among Team Cohesiveness,
Performance Norms, and Productivity)
 To increase team efficacy, provide skill training in technical and
interpersonal skills, and celebrate milestones or small
successes.
 Mental Models
 Effective teams have accurate and common mental models—
knowledge and beliefs (a “psychological map”) about how the
work gets done. If team members have different ideas about how
to do things, effort is taken away from what needs to be done.
 Managed Level of Conflict
 Conflict on a team is not necessarily bad, and can help a team
function better.
 Relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional; whereas,
task based conflicts can be constructive.
 The way conflicts are resolved can make the difference between
effective and ineffective teams.
 Sharing information and goals, and striving to be open and get
along, are helpful strategies to avoid conflict.
 Accountability
 Successful teams make members accountable to each other,

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-12

and jointly accountable for the team’s purpose, goals, and


approach. Clearly define what individual and joint responsibilities
are.

E. Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer Notes

 Despite considerable success in use of teams, they are not necessarily


appropriate in all situations.
(See Exhibit 6-10 for a lighthearted took at teams)
 Questions to determine whether a team fits the situation:
 Can the work be done better by more than one person?
 Does work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in
the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals?
 Are members of the group interdependent?

Teaching Tip: This is an opportunity to ask students whether they’ve ever


been put into team situations where they really felt it would have been better
to work alone. Get them to focus on what the task was, rather than the
difficulties they had working with others. Ask them what tasks seem most
appropriate to do as teams.

F. Global Implications Notes

 Some research on global considerations in the use of teams provides


basis for analysis.

1. Extent of Teamwork

 Fewer US organizations use teamwork compared to Canadian and Asian


employers.

2. Self-Managed Teams

 Some cultures exhibit high power-distance, low tolerance of ambiguity


and uncertainty. Workers in these cultures have more respect for
hierarchical authority. Teams need to be structured with leadership and
power roles identified.

3. Team Cultural Diversity and Team Performance

 Teams composed of members from different countries/cultures must pay


attention to processes in the short term. Culturally heterogeneous team
members may have difficulty learning to work with one another and
solving problems.
 Strong goals work well for both individualist and collectivistic countries.

4. Group Cohesiveness

 Based on research, regardless of what culture teams are from, giving

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-13

them difficult tasks and more freedom to accomplish those tasks creates
a more tight-knit group.
 When task complexity and autonomy was increased teams in
individualistic cultures responded more strongly and became more
committed with higher performance ratings than teams in collectivistic
cultures.
 Collectivistic cultures have a strong predisposition to work together as a
group.
 Managers in individualistic cultures may need to work harder to increase
group cohesiveness.

G. Summary and Implications Notes

1. What are teams and groups?


Groups and teams differ. Groups are simply the sum of individual efforts. A
team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. The combined
individual efforts result in a level of performance that is greater than the sum
of those individual inputs.
2. How does one become a team player?
In order for either a group or a team to function, individuals have to achieve
some balance between their own needs and the needs of the group.
Individuals on the team need to understand their roles and then worked
together to create a set of group norms.
3. Do teams go through stages while they work?
Two different models illustrate how teams develop. The first, the five-stage
model, describes the standardized sequence of stages groups pass through:
forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The second model,
the punctuated-equilibrium model, describes the pattern of development
specific to temporary groups with deadlines. In this model, the group shows
two great periods of activity. The first comes midway through the project, after
which it performs at a higher level than it did previously. The second peak in
activity takes place right before the project comes due.
4. How do we create effective teams?
For teams to be effective, careful consideration must be given to resources,
the team's composition, work design, and process variables. The four
contextual factors that appear to be most significantly related to team
performance are: the presence of adequate resources; effective leadership; a
climate of trust; and a performance evaluation and reward system that
reflects team contributions.
5. Are teams always the answer?
Teams are not necessarily appropriate in every situation. How do you know if
the work of your group would be better done in teams? It's been suggested
that three tests be applied to see if a team fits the situation:
(1) Can the work be done better by more than one person? (2) Does the work
create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is
more than the aggregate of individual goals? (3) Are the members of the
group interdependent?

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-14

OB AT WORK: FOR REVIEW

(Note to instructors: the answers here are starting points for discussion, not absolutes!)
1. Contrast self-managed and cross-functional teams.
Self-Managed Work Teams are groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former
supervisors, whereas, Cross-Functional Teams are employees from about the same hierarchical level, but
from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
2. Contrast virtual and face-to-face teams.
Virtual teams use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a
common goal. Team members do not generally ever meet face to face. The three primary factors that
differentiate virtual teams from face-to-face teams are:
The absence of paraverbal and nonverbal cues. These communication cues often help clarify
communication by providing increased meaning, but are not available in online interactions.
Limited social context. Virtual teams often suffer from less social rapport and less direct interaction
among members.
The ability to overcome time and space constraints. Virtual teams allow people to work together who
might otherwise never be able to collaborate.
3. How do norms develop in a team?
Most norms develop in one or more of the following four ways:
Explicit statements made by a group member
Critical events in the group’s history
Primacy. The first behaviour pattern that emerges in a group frequently sets group expectations.
Carry-over behaviours from past situations. Group members bring expectations with them from other
groups of which they have been members.
4. Describe the five-stage model of group-development.
The five stages have been labelled forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Although we
now know that not all groups pass through these stages in a linear fashion, the stages can still help in
addressing your anxieties about working in groups.
Forming is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and
leadership. Members are “testing the waters” to determine what types of behaviour are acceptable. During
storming, members accept the existence of the group, but resist the constraints that the group imposes on
individuality. Furthermore, there is conflict over who will control the group. During the norming stage the
group develops a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. The fourth stage, when significant task
progress is being made, is called performing. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted.
For temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that have a limited task to perform, there
is an adjourning stage where the group prepares for its disbandment. High task performance is no longer
the group’s top priority. Instead, attention is directed toward wrapping up activities.
5. Describe the punctuated-equilibrium model of group development.
Punctuated equilibrium suggests that temporary groups with deadlines have their own unique sequence of
action (or inaction):
 The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
 The first phase of group activity is one of inertia.
 A transition takes place at the end of the first phase, which occurs exactly when the group has used up
half its allotted time. The transition initiates major changes.
 A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
 The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-15

6. What are the characteristics of important norms?


Facilitates the group’s survival. Groups don’t like to fail, so they seek to enforce those norms that increase
their chances for success.
Increases the predictability of group members’ behaviours. Norms that increase predictability enable group
members to anticipate each other’s actions and to prepare appropriate responses.
Reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group members. Norms are important if they ensure the
satisfaction of their members and prevent as much interpersonal discomfort as possible.
Allows members to express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive about the group’s
identity. Norms that encourage expression of the group’s values and distinctive identity help to solidify and
maintain the group.
7. What is the difference between task-oriented roles and maintenance roles?
Task-oriented roles are performed by group members to make sure that the tasks of the group get
accomplished. Maintenance roles are carried out to make sure that group members maintain good
relations.
8. Contrast the pros and cons of having diverse teams.
The pros: multiple perspectives, greater openness to new ideas, multiple interpretations, increased
creativity, increased flexibility, increased problem-solving skills. The cons: ambiguity, complexity,
confusion, miscommunication, difficulty in reaching a single agreement, difficulty in agreeing on specific
actions.
9. What are the effects of team size on performance?
Increases in team size are inversely related to individual performance. More may be better in the sense
that the total productivity of a team of four is greater than that of one or two people, but the individual
productivity of each team member declines.
10. How can a team minimize social loafing?
High-performance teams undermine the tendency to “hide inside a group” by counter-balancing social
loafing and accountability. Team members in high-performance teams tend to hold themselves
accountable at both the individual and team level.

OB AT WORK: FOR CRITICAL THINKING

(Note to instructors: The answers here are starting points for discussion, not absolutes!)
1. Identify five roles you play. What behaviours do they require? Are any of these roles in conflict? If so,
in what way? How do you resolve these conflicts?
Typical roles include student, son/daughter, brother/sister, athlete, friend, church member, teacher, and
fraternity or sorority brother/sister. Probably a number of the roles contain conflicting elements. This
exercise can be very enlightening for students to realize the diversity of roles they manage during the
course of a school semester.
2. How could you use the punctuated-equilibrium model to better understand group behaviour?
The punctuated-equilibrium model helps group members understand that activities and behaviour in the
group is not a cut-and-dried, step-by-step procedure. There are periods of inertia, or regression, or
perhaps in some cases of desperation. This model can help group leaders better direct projects. If
members of a group set the tone of the group work at the first meeting, then the first meeting can be
structured for optimal work. If members show such inertia, only to become aroused close to a deadline,
then many small milestones to be met might keep the group working more effectively.
3. Have you experienced social loafing as a team member? What did you do to prevent this problem?

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-16

Students may give a variety of responses to the first question. Regarding the second, some may note that
they ignored it and became frustrated. Others might suggest that they themselves were loafers. This
should lead to a discussion of what to do about it. In general, team members need to be held accountable,
so ways to do this need to be established. Having goals and deadlines, and ways of rewarding members
are all things that will help.
4. Would you prefer to work alone or as part of a team? Why? How do you think your answer compares
with others in your class?
Teams have motivational properties for most individuals. Employees feel that their opinions are important
and they are able to experience greater job satisfaction by experiencing task identity when a team
completes an entire task. Teams generally have higher productivity and are a way to better utilize
employee talents. In any class there will be a mix of students who strongly prefer either team or individual
work.
5. What effect, if any, do you expect that workforce diversity has on a team’s performance and
satisfaction?
A strong, diverse workforce can increase both the creativity and accuracy of decisions, performance and
satisfaction, but it requires the development of cohesiveness through training, education, and time.
Diversity almost always means greater start-up time and costs.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

Summary

Point: Studies from football, soccer, basketball, hockey, and baseball have found a number of elements
that successful sports teams have that can be extrapolated to successful work teams. Successful teams
make good use of cooperation and competition. They score early wins, and try to avoid losing streaks.
They have stable membership, and debrief after failures and successes.
Counterpoint: Sports teams have lots of variability so that we cannot assume that they give us a good
model of “teamwork. For instance, in baseball, for instance, there is little interaction among teammates.
Work teams are more varied and complex than sports teams. Not everyone on work teams is conversant
in sports, which makes it hard to apply the metaphor in some situations. And finally, work team outcomes
are not easily defined in terms of wins and losses.
Analysis
It’s important to figure out the best ways to work in teams, and there are things that we can learn from
some sports teams. However, we’ve seem sports teams that are big failures, because the individuals don’t
work together.

COMMENTS ON LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF EXERCISE: How Good Am I at Building and


Leading a Team?

You can tie this exercise to students’ understanding and application of key stages of the group
development (forming, norming, storming, performing). The authors of this instrument propose that it
assesses team development behaviours in five areas: diagnosing team development (items 1, 16);
managing the forming stage (2-4); managing the conforming stage (6-9, 13); managing the storming stage
(10-12, 14, 15), and managing the performing stage (5, 17, 18). Students’ scores will range between 18
and 108.
Based on a norm group of 500 business students, the following can help estimate where individual
students are relative to others:

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-17

Total score of 95 or above = Top quartile


72-94 = Second quartile
60-71 = Third quartile
Below 60 = Bottom quartile

COMMENTS ON BREAKOUT GROUP EXERCISES

(Note to instructors: The answers here are starting points for discussion, not absolutes!)
1. One of the members of your team continually arrives late for meetings and does not turn drafts of
assignments in on time. In general this group member is engaging in social loafing. What can the
members of your group do to reduce social loafing?
In general, team members need to be held accountable, so ways to do this need to be established. Having
goals and deadlines and ways of rewarding members are all things that will help. Students will likely come
up with other ideas as well.
2. Consider a team with which you’ve worked. Was there more emphasis on task-oriented or
maintenance oriented-roles? What impact did this have on the group’s performance?
Depending on the situation, an extreme emphasis on task-oriented roles can alienate some group
members, unless the project is short-term and focused. On the other hand, an extreme emphasis on
maintenance-oriented roles can lead to the task getting done at a slower pace or not getting done at all.
Encourage students to talk about their preferences in how groups are run—there will be a great deal of
variation. Some really need and expect a relationship component to the group; others are very
task-oriented. This variance can be used to discuss the best way to accommodate the needs of very
different individuals within the same group or team.
3. Identify 4 or 5 norms that a team could put into place near the beginning of its life that might help the
team function better over time.
Students can recommend a variety of norms. Some examples:
 Everyone must show up on time and prepared to interact within the group.
 An individual who will not be turning in assigned work on time must notify team members well in
advance, rather than at the last minute.
 We will take turns providing a snack for the meeting.
 Every few days we will hold a quick discussion via email so team members can summarize where they
are on their individual tasks.

COMMENTS ON WORKING WITH OTHERS EXERCISE: The Paper Tower Exercise

Our students have always enjoyed this exercise. It creates a lot of excitement, creativity, some chaos, and
is very helpful when it can be used as a true teambuilding exercise. We try to use it as the first exercise
that our permanent teams for the term work on together. The students tend to draw from that experience
over the term when the exercise is used in this fashion.
In debriefing the exercise explore with students how leadership developed in their team (or whether it did),
whether there was a division of labour, whether some individuals contributed more of the ideas for building,
whether some individuals tried to block others ideas. In examining the towers, have groups the built
successful towers talk about their group structure and organization. Also call on a group whose tower
“failed” to have them reflect on the way that the group worked together.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-18

COMMENTS ON ETHICAL DILEMMA EXERCISE: Dealing with Shirkers

Summary
One of the most common problems in groups in general, and student groups in particular is social loafing
or shirking. Contributions to group outcomes are often not uniform, and sometimes there will be
individuals who do far less than their “fair share” of the work. How should shirking be addressed?
Analysis
The appropriate response to shirking is a classic “contingency” theory response – it depends! The
questions posed in the exercise raise many of the most important issues. Groups very often just “work
around” the individual in question – and sometimes they inform the instructor and sometimes they don’t.
Very often, students want to raise issues with group members confidentially, but that makes it very difficult
for the instructor to discuss and resolve. Instructors also can have very different approaches to this –
some are willing to get involved in mediating, some allow group members to be “fired” and others may
insist on equal grading and do not see a role for themselves in group disputes. It might be interesting to
know what the students think the appropriate role of the instructor should be!

CASE INCIDENT: Toyota’s Team Culture

Summary
Many companies proudly promote their team culture. At Toyota, teamwork is one of the core values.
Individualism is deemphasized. In its place is a system in which people are seen as intertwined value
streams. Before hiring Toyota tests candidates to ensure they are oriented toward teamwork. All work is
structured around teams, at all levels and all functions.
Questions

(Note to instructors: The answers here are starting points for discussion, not absolutes!)

1. Do you think Toyota has succeeded because of its team-oriented culture, or do you think it would
have succeeded without it?
Most likely students will perceive that Toyota’s success is because of the teamwork approach. The team
approach apparently empowers members to think, to be innovative, to be creative, and to want to perform
well. These attributes lead to better performance with continuous improvement in productivity.
2. Do you think you would be comfortable working in Toyota’s culture? Why or why not?
The answer will depend on a student’s bias. If the student is an individualist, then he or she is not likely to
see the Toyota environment as one he or she could work in.
3. In response to the recession and the firm’s first-ever quarterly loss, Toyota’s managers accepted a 10
percent pay cut in 2009 to avoid employee layoffs. Do you think such a response is a good means of
promoting camaraderie? What are the risks in such a plan?
The move shows that management is a part of the team and contributes to trust in difficult times. Risks of
such action will depend on students’ opinions, but among them might be the possibility of key management
people departing. Depending on what actions are taken for employees in the face of business downturn,
employees may interpret that the managers are an elite group since they were not laid off.
4. Recently, DCH Group, a company comprised of 33 auto dealerships, decided to adapt Toyota’s
culture to its own, particularly its emphasis on teamwork. DCH’s CEO, Susan Scarola, said, “Trying to
bring it down to day-to-day operations is tough. It was not something that everybody immediately
embraced, even at the senior level.” Do you think the culture will work in what is typically the
dog-eat-dog world of auto dealerships? Why or why not?

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-19

One of the possible answers to this question will revolve around whether or not the dealerships are
unionized. This creates a potential conflict with a combination of adversarial relations between employees
and management inherent in the union approach and the highly competitive nature of business. With this
conflict, teams are not likely to take root in the dealerships the way they need to in order to affect
productivity.

Sources: Based on A. Webb, “The Trials and Tribulations of Teamwork,” Automotive News (March 2, 2009),
www.autonews.com; J. K. Liker and M. Hoseus, “Toyota’s Powerful HR,” Human Resource Executive
(November 1, 2008), www.hreonline.com; J. K. Liker and M. Hoseus, Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of
the Toyota Way, New

CASE INCIDENT: IBM’S Multicultural Multinational Teams

Summary
IBM has clients in 170 countries and does two-thirds of its business outside the United States. As a result,
it has overturned virtually all aspects of its old tradition-bound culture. One relatively new focus is in the
teamwork area. The way IBM uses work teams extensively is unique. To instill in its managers an
appreciation of local culture IBM send hundreds of its employees to month-long volunteer project teams
various regions of the world. The company calculates that these multicultural, multinational teams are a
good investment.
Questions

(Note to instructors: The answers here are starting points for discussion, not absolutes!)

1. If you calculate the person-hours devoted to IBM’s team projects, they amount to more than 180,000
hours of management time each year. Do you think this is a wise investment of IBM’s human
resources? Why or why not?
Yes, it is a wise investment. This practice empowers employees to more effectively and efficiently find
solutions to problems and opportunities. Such improved productivity will pay for itself though increased ROI
(return on investment).
2. Why do you think IBM’s culture changed from formal, stable, and individualistic to informal,
impermanent, and team oriented?
It changed to be more responsive in the global market and to increase competitiveness. It worked!
3. Would you like to work on one of IBM’s multicultural, multinational project teams? Why or why not?
The answer to this question will depend on the student’s personal opinions and attitudes.
4. Multicultural project teams often face problems with communication, expectations, and values. How do
you think some of these challenges can be overcome?
Have the students read
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Managing_Groups_and_Teams/How_Do_You_Manage_Global_Virtual_Tea
ms%3F and have them suggest the challenges that must be addressed in the management of virtual
teams.

Sources: Based on C. Hymowitz, “IBM Combines Volunteer Service, Teamwork to Cultivate Emerging
Markets,” Wall Street Journal (August 4, 2008), p. B6; S. Gupta, “Mine the Potential of Multicultural Teams,”
HR Magazine (October, 2008), pp. 79–84; and H. Aguinis and K. Kraiger, “Benefits of Training and
Development

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 6-20

FROM CONCEPTS TO SKILLS: Conducting a Team Meeting

Practising Skills
The case asks students to suggest interventions to help this team get back on track. The team is faced
with a disruptive member who is causing lower morale for everyone. Students will come up with a variety of
ideas. Have them evaluate how well these ideas will work in practice and identify the pros and cons of
various approaches.
There is no one way to resolve the issues of this team, but possible things to consider include a team
meeting to reconsider the norms of the team and a discussion about how feedback is given to one another.
Teams need “devil’s advocates,” but they don’t need chronically negative individuals. One possibility might
be that instead of being allowed to simply give negative feedback, team members must also make a new,
positive suggestion. The intent is to ensure that the team doesn’t get stalled and can think about ways to
move forward.
The general approach to this problem should consider the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams.
Have students identify all of the negative behaviours of this team and then have them identify effective
behaviours that are not being used and strategies to introduced these behaviours.
Eckler needs to be told that she is appreciated for having creative and different insights, but that she
cannot continue to have a negative impact on the team by always seeming to criticize everyone else’s
ideas without bringing new ideas to the table.
Reinforcing Skills
The purpose of this exercise is to encourage students to apply material from the chapter in various ways.
The suggested activities encourage students to think about teamwork—what works and what doesn’t. In
the first exercise they are asked to explore how teams are used in the workplace and get managerial
insights into what makes teams more or less effective. In the second exercise, students are asked to
examine their own participation on teams and specifically consider the role that trust plays in making
teams work. Students may not be aware that trust is a big issue to them on student teams, and yet it
causes conflict because they worry about the impact of the team on things such as marks and class
standing. You might ask students how to increase trust between members of teams.

KEY TERMS

Adjourning - The final stage in group development for temporary groups, where attention is directed
toward wrapping up activities rather than task performance.

Cohesiveness - The degree to which team members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay
on the team.

Committee - A group composed of members from different departments.

Conformity - Adjusting one’s behaviour to align with the norms of the group.

Cross-functional team/project team - A group of employees at about the same hierarchical level, but
from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.

Forming - The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty.

Group - Two or more people with a common relationship.

Group diversity - The presence of a heterogeneous mix of individuals within a group.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The cross
word puzzle book
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: The cross word puzzle book

Editor: Prosper Buranelli


Margaret Petherbridge Farrar
F. Gregory Hartswick

Release date: June 9, 2022 [eBook #68267]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: The Plaza Publishing


Company, 1924

Credits: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed


Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project
Gutenberg (This file was produced from images
generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROSS


WORD PUZZLE BOOK ***
[Contents]

[1]

[Contents]

THE CROSS WORD


PUZZLE BOOK [3]

[Contents]
THE CROSS WORD
PUZZLE BOOK
An Anthology of Fifty
Cross Word Puzzles
Selected as the Best of the
Thousands That Have Been
Submitted to the New York
World Published Here
Exclusively for the First
Time and Edited

By
PROSPER BURANELLI
F. GREGORY HARTSWICK
MARGARET PETHERBRIDGE

THE PLAZA PUBLISHING COMPANY


New York :: 1924

[4]
[Contents]

Copyright, 1924, by
THE PLAZA PUBLISHING COMPANY
37 West 57th Street
New York, N.Y.

Printed by The Van Rees Press


Bound by H. Wolff & Co.
New York [5]

[Contents]
THE CROSS WORD PUZZLE
By Newman Levy

For many years we’ve lived as man and wife,


As happy now as on the day we wed.
“We’re more like sweethearts,” I have always said.
No cloud has dimmed the sunshine of our life,
Though now and then I’ll seize a rolling pin
And playfully I’ll clout her on the dome
Just to preserve domestic discipline
And demonstrate who’s master in our home.
At times she’ll hurl with well-directed aim
A platter or an iron at my bean.
These slight attentions keep romances green
And keep alive the hymeneal flame.

On Sunday, when the evening lamp is lit


And peace and calm contentment fill our house,
With pipe and well-loved book at ease I sit,
And at my side, in earnest thought, my spouse,
Then fade the cares and troubles of the day;
With Conrad and Lord Jim I sail the sea,
When suddenly I hear my wife’s voice say,
“What word for ‘female child’ begins with G?”
“The word is ‘Girl’,” I growl. Again I try
To catch the shattered magic of my tale.
I find my place. Again with Jim I sail
Upon the tropic sea. My wife says “My,
What pronoun in three letters starts with Y?”

[6]

Calmly I rise and search about the place


To find a weapon of sufficient weight.
Aha! Upon our wall an ancient mace,
Studded with knobs of steel. The very thing.
I seize it, and with easy, graceful swing
Wallop my darling wife upon the pate,
The sconce or bean, or dome, or what you will.
Silent she tumbles headlong in the grate.
I take my book and leisurely resume
My tale, and peace and quiet fill the room.

From F.P.A.’s Conning Tower


in The New York World [7]
[Contents]
THE CROSS WORD
PUZZLE BOOK
[9]
CONFESSIONS OF A CROSS WORD
PUZZLE EDITOR
When I was first made unwilling Cross Word Puzzle
Editor some two years ago, the procedure in deciding
what puzzle would be run was limited to picking out a
good-looking one from among the bunch and sending
it upstairs to be set. I saw no reason to change this
splendid system. At that time, I had never taken the
trouble to do a puzzle and the letters of anathema
and condemnation that came in by the dozens had
small effect on my conscience. They were evidently
from cranks and couldn’t be avoided.

I must admit that the dawning of conscience began


with the arrival of F.P.A., who came to work in the next
room. When he discovered that I was responsible for
the cross words, he formed the atrocious habit of
stalking in every Monday morning bright and early
(about eleven o’clock) to point out to me in sarcastic
tones just what was wrong with yesterday’s. Well, to
make a long story short, in order to avoid the
moronish feeling that usually followed such a lecture,
I decided to reform and find out what a really decent
puzzle was like.
I began by trying to do one the next Sunday, and thus
experienced the throes of acute agony that come to
all solvers of puzzles on discovering definitions left
out, numbers wrong, hideously warped definitions,
words not to be found inside of any known dictionary,
foreign words—very foreign[10]—and words that had
no right to be dragged out of their native obscurity.
Then and there, with my left hand reposing on a
dictionary and my right raised in air, I took an oath to
edit the cross words to the essence of perfection.
From then on, I instituted the procedure of doing the
puzzles myself on the page proof—sort of trying it on
the dog—applying the principle,

“If it be not fair to me,


What care I how fair it be!”

Since that momentous day, F.P.A.’s visits have grown


less frequent—in fact, he has to make up excuses to
come in and converse on other matters—and the
cross words even came in for an occasional bouquet
in Sam Pepys’s diary. So now you all know whom to
thank for the perfection (more or less) of the cross
word puzzle found each Sunday on the World
Magazine’s Ingenuities Page.

Margaret Petherbridge [11]


[Contents]
HOW TO SOLVE THEM
Solving a cross word puzzle offers numerous
enjoyments of which the uninitiated are ignorant.
There is the pure esthetic stimulation of looking at the
pattern with its neat black and white squares, like a
floor in a cathedral or a hotel bathroom; there is the
challenge of the definitions, titillating the combative
ganglion that lurks in all of us; there is the tantalizing
elusiveness of the one little word that will satisfactorily
fill a space and give clues to others that we know not
of; and there is the thrill of triumph as the right word is
found, fitted, and its attendant branches and roots
spring into being. No better illustration could be used
than a recent brilliant construction of Mr. Gelett
Burgess, published in the Sunday World Magazine.

Consider the solver as he faces his problem. The


numbers in the squares, he knows, refer to the
definitions; in the system of numbering used in this
book, the first letters only are indicated by numbers.
Thus 1 horizontal means a word that will fill the space
following the figure up to the next black square.

Horizontal
Lowest
1 form of life
Product
12 of coal or pine
Opponent
18

Vertical

Gustated
1
Divine2 nourishment
Before3
Indefinite
4 number
1 2 3 4
12
18 20

30 32 33

[12]

The solver, then, looks the puzzle over. Aha! a friend.


12 horizontal, three letters long—“product of coal or
pine.” Triumphantly the solver writes TAR in the
spaces and proceeds with this clue. 2 Vertical is
defined as “Divine Nourishment.” It links with TAR at
the second letter. A moment of thought and MANNA
appears as the only possible solution. He turns to 1
vertical, the second letter of which is the first of 12
horizontal—T. The definition is “gustated,” and the
word is of three letters. Why hesitate? ATE goes into
the space. “A cinch!” reflects the solver, and joyously
writes ENEMY in 18 horizontal, defined as
“Opponent.” 3 vertical is defined as “Before,” and with
-RE staring him in the face he would be dull indeed
who did not write ERE. And now 1 horizontal stands
revealed. “Lowest form of life,” eh? AMEBA goes
down. 4 vertical is “Indefinite number.” Well, A-Y
cannot be anything but ANY—and there is the corner
complete, with three clues to the words in other
sections.

1 A 2 M3 E B 4 A
12 T A R N
18 E N E 20 M Y
N
A
30 32 33

So far the sailing has been fairly easy. But trouble


waits just around the corner. There are other
definitions which [13]are not so simple as “product of
coal or pine.” In the far reaches of the puzzle to which
the above corner belongs may be found such
definitions as “Vexation (Provincial British),”
“Humorous figure of speech,” “One-sided headaches”
and “Droning dung-beetles.” Is the solver prepared to
state that he can fill the spaces represented by those
words without the assistance of the linked horizontals
or verticals?

It is here that one of the greatest charms of the


crossword puzzle lies: the discovery of new words by
the process of building them, though entirely ignorant
of their actual spelling. Consider another portion of
Mr. Burgess’ puzzle. The construction of the
provincial form of “Vexation” and “Humorous figure of
speech” fortunately come in juxtaposition; they
illustrate at once the vocabulary-building feature of
the cross word puzzle and a constructional weakness
which may lead to non-solution.

The definitions surrounding this precious pair are as


follows: Horizontal, “Series of games,” “Self,” “Means
of sustenance,” and “Surface of fibres”; Vertical,
“Drinking vessel” and “Body of cavalry.” When these
words are solved one finds:

SET
TUR
E GO
A L I MON Y
NA P

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