CHAPTER-FOUR

GROUP BEHAVIOUR AND WORK TEAMS

09/10/2022
 At the end of this chapter, the students should be able
to address the following points:
 Define group and classify groups,

 Understand group perspectives,

 Explain the characteristics of effective group,

 Identify the stages of group development,

 Defining team and teamwork,

 Differentiate group and team,

 Classify types of team,

 Explain team development process, and

 Identify the importance of groups and teams.

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 Defining and Classifying Group
 What is group?
 Group defined as two or more individuals,
interacting and interdependent, who have come
together to achieve particular objectives.
 Groups can be classified into two:

1. Formal group
2. Informal group

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3

 Types of Group
1. Formal group: is a group which is defined by the organization’s

structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks.

The many formal groups found in organizations are created and

officially designated to serve specific organizational purposes.

Example: The six members of an airline flight crew are a formal group.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 4

 Types of formal group
 Formal group can be categorized as:
1. Command Group: A group composed of the individuals who report directly to a
given manager.

2. Task Group: a group with members those working together to complete a job or task
in an organization but not limited by hierarchical boundaries.
 Tasks groups are the groups formed by an organization to accomplish a narrow

range of purposes within a specified time.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 5

 2. Informal Group
What is informal group?
 A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined;
such a group appears in response to the need for social contract.
 Informal groups include:

o 1. Friendship group
o 2. Intersect group

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-6

 Friendship Groups
An informal group composed of employees who enjoy
one another’s company and socialize with
one another

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 Interest Groups
An informal group of employees seeking to achieve a common
goal related to their membership in an organization.

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 What Is An Effective Group?
An effective group is one that achieve high levels of task performance, member
satisfaction and group viability.
Characteristics of effective group
 The atmosphere tends to be relaxed, comfortable, and informal.
 The group’s task is well understood and accepted by the members.
 Members listen well to one another and participation
 People express both their feelings and their ideas.
 Conflict and disagreement are present and centered around ideas or methods, not personalities or
people.
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 Contd…
 The group is aware and conscious of its own operation and
function.
 Decisions are usually based on consensus, not majority vote.

 When actions are decided, clear assignments are made and

accepted by members of the group.

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 Stages of Group Development
• There are five stages of group development:
 Forming
 Storming
 Norming
 Performing, and
 Adjourning

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-11

 Stages of Group Development
Forming
 Is an orientation period when members get to know one another and share
expectations about the group.
 Characterized by some confusion and uncertainty:
 Goals of the group have not been established

 The nature of the task or leadership of the group has not been determined.
 Roles are not clear and no strong leader.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-12

 Forming(cont..)
 Members learn the purpose of the group as well as the rules to be followed.
 A primary concern is the initial entry of members to a group

 Individuals ask a number of questions as they begin to identify with other group
members and with the group itself.
o “What can the group offer me?”

o “What will I be asked to contribute?”

o “Can my needs be met at the same time I contribute to the group?”

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 Storming
• Is a period of high emotionality and tension among the group members.
• Aggression and infighting may occur, and the group typically experiences many
changes.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-14

 Storming(cont..)
• In the process, membership expectations tend to be clarified, and attention shifts
toward obstacles standing in the way of group goals.
• Individuals begin to understand one another’s interpersonal styles.
• Efforts are made to find ways to accomplish group goals while also satisfying individual
needs.
• The highest level of disagreement and conflict
• Members often challenge group goals and struggle for power. Individuals often vie for the
leadership position

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-15

 Norming
• Is the point at which the group really begins to come together as a coordinated unit.
• The chaos of the storming stage gives way to a risky balancing of forces.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-16

 Norming
 Characteristics:
 Group members experience a preliminary sense of closeness
 Recognition of individual differences and shared expectations
 Develop a feeling of group consistency and identity
 Minority viewpoints, deviations from group directions, and criticisms may be
discouraged
 Cooperative effort should begin to yield results.
 Responsibilities are divided among members and the group decides how it will
09/10/2022 evaluate progress. Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-17
 Performing

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 Performing(cont…)
Marks the arrival of a mature, organized, and well-functioning group.
 Characteristics:

 The group is now able to deal with complex tasks and handle internal
disagreements in creative ways.
 The structure is stable, and members are motivated by group goals and are
generally satisfied.
 The primary challenges are continued efforts to improve relationships and
performance.
 High degree of trust in their leader and each other

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 Adjourning
 This a stage at which members scatter form each other.

• Important for temporary groups like:

 task forces, committees, project teams, etc.
 Reasons:

• The accomplishment of the task

• Individuals deciding to go their own ways.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 3-20

 Why People Join Groups?
• Security
• Status
• Self-esteem
• Affiliation
• Power
• Goal Achievement

EXHIBIT
8–1
09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof
 Group Outlooks/Structure
Group structure is a pattern (guide or 0utline) of relationships among
members and hold the group together.
 Structure can be described in a variety of ways.
 Among the more common considerations are group size, roles, norms,
cohesiveness, and status, diversity.

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 Group Outlooks/Structure
Roles
Norms
Diversity

Group
Performance
Status

Size

Cohesiveness

09/10/2022 9-23
 Group Property 1: Roles
 Role: a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given

position in a social unit.

• Employees are required to play a number of diverse roles, both on and off our jobs,

and our behavior varies with each.

 Different groups different role requirements on individuals. These roles include:

- Role perception
-Role expectations
- Role conflicts


•
09/10/2022 9-24
 Role(cont…)
1. Role perception: An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given
situation.

2. Role Expectations: Are the way others believe you should act in a given context.
 In the workplace, we look at role expectations through the perspective of the

psychological contract : an unwritten agreement that exists between employees and

employer.

 This agreement sets out mutual expectations: what management expects from

workers and vice versa.

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 Role (cont…)
3. Role Conflict: A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role
expectations.
 At the extreme, two or more role expectations are mutually contradictory.
 A great deal of research demonstrates that conflict between the work and family
roles is one of the most significant sources of stress for most employees.

 Most employees are simultaneously in occupations, work groups, divisions, and

demographic groups, and these different identities can come into conflict when
the expectations of one clash with the expectations of another.
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 Group Property 2: Norms
Norms: Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members
and influence their behavior.

Common Classes of Norms

1. Performance norms - How hard members should work, what the level of output should be, how to get the job
done, what level of tardiness is appropriate.

2. Appearance norms - Dress codes, unspoken rules about when to look busy.

3. Social arrangement norms - with whom to eat lunch, whether to form friendships on and off the job.

4. Allocation of resources norms - assignment of difficult jobs, distribution of resources like pay or equipment.
09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 9-27
 Norms and Behavior
Conformity
 Gaining acceptance by adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group.
Reference Groups
 Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose
norms individuals are likely to conform
 Deviant workplace behavior
• Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens
the
well-being of the organization or its members.
Also called antisocial behavior or
workplace incivility.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 28

 Group Property 3: Status
Status: socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members
by others-it differentiates group members.
 Important factor in understanding behavior
 Status is significant motivator
•What determines status?
1. The Power a person wields over others
2. A person’s ability to contribute to a group goals
3. An individual’s Personal characteristics
• Status has some interesting effects on
• the power of norms and pressures to
• conform.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 9-29

 Group Property 4: Size
• Group size affects behavior
• Size:
– Twelve or more members is a “large” group
– Seven or fewer is a “small” group
• Best use of a group:
Attribute Small Large
Speed X
Individual Performance X
Problem Solving X
Diverse Input X
Fact-finding Goals X
Overall Performance X

09/10/2022 9-30
 Issues with Group Size
 Social Loafing
o The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively

than when working individually

o In the late 1920s, German psychologist Max Ringelmann compared the results

of individual and group performance on a rope-pulling task.

o One person pulling on a rope alone exerted an average of 63 kilograms of force.

In groups of three, the per-person force dropped to 53 kgs. And in groups of

eight, it fell to only 31 Kgs per person.

09/10/2022
Caused by either equity concerns or a diffusion of responsibility (free riders) 31
 Three Ways to Reduce Social Loafing

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 Group Property 5: Cohesiveness
Degree to which group members are attracted to each other
and are motivated to stay in the group
 Managerial Implication
To increase cohesiveness:
• Make the group smaller.
• Encourage agreement with group goals.
• Increase time members spend together.
• Increase group status and admission difficulty.
• Stimulate competition with other groups.
• Give rewards to the group, not individuals.

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 9-33

 Factors Leading to Group Cohesiveness
Factor
Group Size Smaller groups allow for high cohesiveness;
Low cohesiveness groups with many
members can benefit from splitting into two
groups.

Managed Diversity Diverse groups often come up with better

solutions.

Group Identity Encouraging a group to adopt a unique

identity and engage in competition with
others can increase cohesiveness.

Success Cohesiveness increases with success;

finding ways for a group to have some small
successes increases cohesiveness.

09/10/2022 15-34
 Sources and Consequences of
Group Cohesiveness

09/10/2022 Figure 15.6 15-35

 Team and Teamwork
What is team ? .
 A team: is a group of people brought together to use their complementary
skills to achieve a common purpose for which they are collectively
accountable.

 Teamwork: occurs when team members accept and live up to their collective
accountability by actively working together so that all their respective skills
are best used to achieve team goals.
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 Team Building

09/10/2022 15-37
 Context
Team Effective Model
• Adequate resources
• Leadership and structure
• Climate of trust
• Performance evaluation
and reward systems
Composition
• Abilities of members
• Personality
• Allocating roles Team effectiveness
• Diversity
• Size of teams
• Member flexibility
• Member preferences

Process
• Common purpose
• Specific goals
• Team efficacy
• Conflict levels
• Social loafing
09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof
 Types of Team
Problem-Solving Teams

Cross-Functional Teams

Virtual Teams
Self-Managing Teams

Work team

09/10/2022 15-39
 Team

09/10/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 15-40

 What is the Difference between group and team?

 Team is A group whose members work intensely with each other to achieve a
specific, common goal or objective.
 All teams are groups but not all groups are teams.

Teams often are difficult to form.

It takes time for members to learn how to work together.

09/10/2022 3-41
 What is the Difference ? (cont..)

Work groups Work teams

Share information Goal Collective performance

Neutral (sometimes negative) Synergy Positive
Individual Accountability Individual and mutual
Random and varied Skills Complementary

09/10/2022 3-42
 Why Groups and Teams(similarities)?
Organizational Effectiveness

09/10/2022 3-43
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 CHAPTER FIVE

COMMUNICATION
AND
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

45
 At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to
understand the following points:
 Defining communication,
 Functions of communication,
 Process of communication,
 Directions of communication,
 Barriers of communication, and
Means overcoming barriers of communication

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 Meaning and Definition
 The word Communication is derived from a Latin word “cummunicare” which
means “to share”.
 Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning.
 It is a way sharing of ideas, messages and words expressed through a
language(verbal or non verbal).

 Communication starts with a sender, who has a message to share to the

receiver.

 The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood

the message of the sender.
7/29/2018 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 47
 Cont’d….
• Communication is the means by which people are linked together in an
organization to achieve a common purpose.

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 Functions of Communication
 Communication serves four major functions within a group or
organization. These are control, motivation, emotional expression and
information.
1. Control: communication acts to control member behavior in several
ways. Employees communicate any job related grievance to their
immediate boss, follow their job description, or company policies.
2. Motivation: Communication raise motivation by clarifying employees
what they must do, how well they are doing, how they can do and
reward for desired behavior.
3. Emotional expression: communication is a primary source of social
interaction and showing satisfaction.
4. Information: It provides information
7/29/2018 for decision making.
Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 49
 …..Functions of Communication
 To give and receive information
 Connect employees in the organization to reach mutual goals.
 To provide advice
 It helps to Cope with Environment
 To make effective decisions
 To educate and train customer
 To issue orders and instruction
 To receive suggestion
 To motivate and to integrate
 To control member behavior in several ways
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 Communication Process
• Communication process is the steps between a source and a receiver
that result in the transfer and understanding of meaning.

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 Communication process (Cont’d…)
 Elements of the Communication Process are the following:
1. Sender/source,
2. Message,
3. Encoding,
4. Channel/Medium,
5. Decoding,
6. Receiver,
7. Feedback, and
8. Context/ Noise.

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 The Process…..
1.Source/Sender: Communication begins with the sender, who has a thought
or an idea.
 The sender is the source of the message.
2. Message: an item of information to be communicated.
3. Encoding: Process of transferring the information you want to communicate
into a form that can be sent.
4. Channel: The channel is the medium through which the message travels. The
sender selects it, determining whether to use a formal or informal channel.

Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 53

 Cont’d….
5.Decoding: The receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or
information that he or she can understand.

6. Receiver: The person(s) to whom the message is directed, who must first
translate the symbols into understandable form.
7. Feedback: It’s a verbal and nonverbal reactions of the receiver to your
communicated message. Is the check on how successful we have been in
transferring our messages as originally intended.
8. Noise: represents communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message,
such as perceptual problems, information overload, semantic difficulties, or
cultural differences.
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 Direction/Structure of Communication
1.Downward Communication: communication that flow from one level to
a lower level.
Example: managers use it to assign goals, provide job instruction,
explain policies and procedures and offer feedback about performance.
2. Upward Communication: Communication that flows to higher level in
the group or organization.
 informing progress toward goals
 To provide feedback to higher level
3. Horizontal/Lateral Communication: when communication takes place
among members of the same work group, members of work group at the
same level, managers at the same level, or any other horizontally
equivalent workers.
4/03/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 55
 Direction of Communication
CEO

VP VP
DO
WN
UP
Mgr Mgr Mgr Mgr
WA
WA
RD
RD

LATERAL

7/29/2018 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 56

 Types of Communication
 Formal communication: Upward, downward and lateral
communication follow the established routes of communication in the
organization.
• Lines of such communication are formally laid down.
 Informal Communication: Is not planned by the organization, hence
no lines of communication exist.
• This type of communication takes place due to sheer desire of an
individual to communicate with others.
• It is an outcome of social interaction.
• This type of communication takes place during lunch, or coffee/ tea
breaks and during social gatherings.
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 Means of Communication
• There are three primary methods of communication. These are written,
verbal and nonverbal form of communication.
• The choice as to which method to adopt would largely depend upon the
location of the sender and receiver, ability, the nature of the message,
urgency and the cost involved in passing or receiving the information.
1.Written Communication: Is generally in the form of standing orders,
policy documents, ordres, instructions, notes, memos, formal lettrés,
demi official lettres etc.
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 Means of Communication(cont..)
 It is important to ensure the uniformity of action and future plans
and it provides a permanent record for further reference.
2. Oral Communication: is the most common form of communication.
• It is used when both (sender and receiver) are present. It is face to
face communication.
3. Non-verbal Communication: Nonverbal messages are transmitted
through gestures, facial expressions and through body language.
 It is also called body language.
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 Barriers to Effective Communication
 A number of barriers can retard or distort effective communication. Here are the
most important barriers:
1. Culture, background, and bias: We allow our past experiences to change the
meaning of the message.

•Our culture, background, and bias can be good as they allow us use our past
experiences to understand something new, it is when they change the meaning of the
message then they interfere with the communication process.

2. Noise - Equipment or environmental noise impede clear communication.

•The sender and the receiver must both be able to concentrate on the messages being
sent to each other.
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 Barriers to Effective Communication cont…
3. Ourselves: Some of the factors that cause this are defensiveness (we
feel someone is attacking us), superiority (we feel we know more that
the other), and ego (we feel we are the centre of the activity).
4. Perception: If we feel the person is talking too fast, not fluently, does
not articulate clearly, etc., we may dismiss the person.

•Also our preconceived attitudes affect our ability to listen.

•We listen uncritically to persons of high status and dismiss those of low
status.
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 Barriers to Effective Communication (cont..)
5. Language: even when we’re communicating in the same language,
words mean different things to different people.
6. Message: Distractions happen when we focus on the facts rather
than the idea.

 Semantic distractions occur when a word is used differently than you

prefer.

•For example, the word chairman instead of chairperson may cause you
to focus on the word and not the message
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 Barriers to Effective Communication (cont..)
6. Environmental: Bright lights, an attractive person, unusual
sights, or any other stimulus provides a potential distraction.
7. Loss of retention. It is said that people remember:
10 % of what they read
20 % of what they hear
30 % of what they see
50 % of what they see and hear
70 % of what they say and
90 % of what they say as they perform the task.
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Guidelines to Overcome Barriers to Communication
 Feedback - enables communication to become a two way process with both the
sender and the receiver trying to achieve mutual understanding

 Consider the words used - long complicated sentences and unfamiliar words
confuse people. Communication should be clear, complete, concise, concrete,
correct and courteous.

 Use repetition - repeating messages several time using different examples can help
others to understand the messages being sent.

4/3/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 64

 Cont’d…
• Use empathy/understanding - seeing a situation from another person's
viewpoint and trying to understand others opinions concerns and attitudes
makes better communicators

• Timing - poor timing can result in messages not being received effectively

• Being positive rather than negative helps make communication more effective -
what is wanted not what isn't wanted.

4/03/2022 Elfneh .K, Asst. Prof 65

 Cont’ d…..
• Select the best location - talk somewhere that will encourage open
communication not a noisy shop floor or a busy office

• Check written communication for spelling errors and ensure the

sentences are clear, concise and not ambiguous.

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 mu ch!
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End of

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