Group Processes

and Work Teams

Chapter 8
Types of Groups

2
How Groups are formed?

3
 Role Concepts
 Role:
Role The typical behavior that
characterizes a person in a specific
social context.
 Role Expectations:
Expectations The behaviors
expected of someone in a particular
role.
 Role Ambiguity:
Ambiguity Confusion arising from
not knowing what one is expected to do
as the holder of a role.
 Role Differentiation:
Differentiation The tendency for
various specialized roles to emerge as
groups develop. 4
Cards Used in Asch’s Study

5
 Status
 The relative prestige, social position, or
rank given to groups or individuals by
others.
 Formal Status: The prestige one has by
virtue of his or her official position in an
organization.
 Status Symbols: Objects reflecting the
position of any individual within an
organization’s hierarchy of power.
 Informal Status: The prestige accorded
individuals with certain characteristics that
are not formally recognized by the 6
 Group Cohesiveness
The strength of group members’
desires to remain a part of the
group.
Influencing factors:
 Severity of initiation
 Conditions of high external
threat or competition
 Time spent together
 Group size
 History of success 7
Social Loafing

8
 Overcoming Social Loafing
 Make each performer
identifiable
 Make work tasks more
important and
interesting
 Reward individuals for
contributing to their
group’s performance
 Use punishment
threats
9
Group Decision Making
 Strengths  Weaknesses
 More complete  More time

information consuming
 Increased  Increased

diversity of views pressure to

 Higher quality of conform
decisions  Domination by

 Increased one or a few

acceptance of members
solutions  Ambiguous

responsibility
10
Group Decision Making
(cont’d)

11
 Beware: Teams Aren’t Always
the Answer
 Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:
 Is the work complex and is there a need for

different perspectives?
 Does the work create a common purpose or

set of goals for the group that is larger than

the aggregate of the goals for individuals?
 Are members of the group involved in

interdependent tasks?

12