Chapter 8 - Team Dynamics ADMN2220
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What is the primary mechanism through which team norms develop?

  • Initial team experiences and critical events (correct)
  • External competition faced by the team
  • Imposing strict rules by management
  • Random selection of team members
  • Which factor is NOT associated with stronger team cohesion?

  • Regular member interaction
  • Higher member similarity
  • Smaller team size
  • Diverse perspectives of members (correct)
  • What is a negative consequence of high team cohesion when team norms oppose organizational objectives?

  • Increased cooperation among team members
  • Lower overall team performance (correct)
  • Enhanced conflict resolution strategies
  • Higher motivation to maintain membership
  • Which of the following strategies can help prevent or change dysfunctional team norms?

    <p>Discussing counter-productive norms openly</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What characterizes identification-based trust?

    <p>Developed through shared experiences and mutual understanding</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is team efficacy primarily defined as?

    <p>The collective belief in the team's capability to complete tasks</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which condition can lead to low team efficacy?

    <p>Apathy and uncertainty among members</p> Signup and view all the answers

    During which stage of team development do members compete for roles?

    <p>Storming</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which constraint is characterized by reluctance to share ideas due to fear of judgment?

    <p>Evaluation apprehension</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In teams with high efficacy, how do team members typically respond to challenges?

    <p>They show increased effort and persistence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a factor that contributes to team cohesion?

    <p>Team members' diverse cultural backgrounds</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary goal of team building activities?

    <p>To improve team performance and functioning</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What can lead to a false sense of invulnerability within a team?

    <p>Indicated team efficacy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a benefit of establishing team norms?

    <p>Facilitating dominant behavior</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What describes the norming stage of team development?

    <p>Roles are clearly defined and objectives are agreed upon</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What issue arises from the information sharing problem within teams?

    <p>Weight given to majority-held information</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a defining characteristic of self-directed teams?

    <p>Organized around work processes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the significant challenges faced by teams?

    <p>Social loafing</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following correctly describes Brooks's Law?

    <p>Adding more people to a late software project only delays it further</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a reason for the existence of informal groups?

    <p>High interdependence with formal teams</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What factor is critical for the success of virtual teams?

    <p>Availability of a toolkit of communication channels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement best encapsulates the nature of teams?

    <p>Teams are groups that collaborate interdependently toward common goals.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common effect of process losses in teams?

    <p>Unnecessary resource expenditure on group activities</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following defines the primary purpose of teams?

    <p>To fulfill a collective purpose and achieve common goals</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What advantage does having a broader knowledge base provide to a team?

    <p>It allows for better representation of the team's constituents.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main focus of internal team processes?

    <p>Enhancing interdependencies and cooperation among team members.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What situation is described by role overload?

    <p>When too much is expected of an individual in their role.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How can a transactive memory system benefit a team?

    <p>By enabling better understanding of who possesses specific knowledge.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is NOT a characteristic of role conflict?

    <p>Having clear expectations for each role.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following describes team boundary spanning?

    <p>Establishing and enhancing linkages with the external environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a disadvantage of teams with diverse perspectives?

    <p>Longer time taken to become a high-performing team.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact does role ambiguity have on a team member?

    <p>Uncertainty about what is expected in their role.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key reason why smaller teams are generally more effective than larger teams?

    <p>They produce less process loss.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which team type is characterized by members sharing resources but not necessarily interdependent on each other's tasks?

    <p>Pooled team</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What characterizes a well-structured task in the context of team effectiveness?

    <p>It is easier to coordinate among team members.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of effective team members?

    <p>They avoid sharing information openly.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which element is crucial for enhancing task interdependence among team members?

    <p>Effective communication and coordination.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of team would likely struggle the most due to differing task goals among members?

    <p>Cross-functional teams</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which level of task interdependence requires team members to closely collaborate and share information frequently?

    <p>Reciprocal interdependence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does diversity within a team enhance its effectiveness?

    <p>By contributing a range of knowledge, skills, and values.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which environmental factor is least impactful on team effectiveness?

    <p>Team size</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why might team members become more responsible for a team's success in a smaller team?

    <p>Their roles are more easily defined and understood.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Chapter 8 - Team Dynamics

    • Teams are groups of two or more people who exist to fulfill a purpose.
    • Team members are interdependent, interacting and collaborating to achieve common goals.
    • Team members perceive themselves as a team.

    Learning Objectives

    • Understand what teams are
    • Recognize various types of teams
    • Learn about team effectiveness models
    • Examine models of team development
    • Identify team decision-making constraints

    What are Teams?

    • Teams consist of two or more people.
    • They exist to accomplish a specific purpose.
    • Members are interdependent, interacting and collaborating.
    • Teams are mutually accountable for achieving their common goals influencing each other.
    • Members perceive themselves as a team.

    Team Advantages/Challenges

    • Advantages:
      • Improved decision-making regarding products/services.
      • Enhanced information sharing.
      • Increased employee motivation and engagement.
    • Challenges:
      • Process losses due to the resources needed for team maintenance.
      • Social loafing, where team members exert less effort than if working alone.
      • Brooks's Law: adding more people to a late project does not necessarily speed up completion, but instead likely makes it later.

    Informal Groups

    • These groups exist primarily for the benefit of their members.
    • Reasons for their existence include:
      • Innate drive to bond.
      • Social identity (defining oneself through group affiliation).
      • Goal accomplishment.
      • Emotional support.

    Self-Directed Teams

    • These are cross-functional groups organized around work processes.
    • Teams complete a complete piece of work needing multiple interdependent tasks.
    • Members have substantial autonomy over task decisions.
    • Success Factors:
      • Responsibility for the entire work process.
      • High interdependence within the team.
      • Low interdependence with other teams.
      • Autonomy to organize and coordinate work.
      • Support for communication and coordination.

    Virtual Teams

    • Members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries.
    • Teams utilize information technologies to achieve organizational tasks.
    • Success Factors:
      • Virtual team member characteristics.
      • Toolkit of communication channels and freedom to choose channels.
      • Fairly high task structure.
      • Opportunities to meet face-to-face.

    Many Different Teams

    • Task forces
    • Self-managing teams
    • Crews
    • Platoons
    • Cross-functional teams
    • Top management teams
    • Quality circles
    • Project teams
    • Emergency response committees

    Team Effectiveness Model

    • Team effectiveness depends on the organization and team environment, team design, team processes, and team effectiveness.
    • Organization and team environment includes communication, organizational leadership, structure, physical space, and rewards.
    • Team design considers factors like task characteristics, team size, and team composition.
    • Team processes cover team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and mental models.
    • Team effectiveness includes accomplishing tasks, satisfying team member needs, and maintaining team survival.

    Best Tasks for Teams

    • Complex tasks are divisible into specialized roles.
    • Well-structured tasks are easier to coordinate.
    • Higher task interdependence requires team members to share information and expertise.

    Levels of Task Interdependence

    • High: Reciprocal (tasks are dependent in a cyclical way), sequential (task completed in order).
    • Low: Pooled (tasks are independent and combined at the end).

    Team Size

    • Smaller teams are often more effective because of:
      • Reduced process losses.
      • Faster development time.
      • Higher team engagement and member influence.
    • However, the team needs to be large enough to accomplish the assigned task.

    Team Composition

    • Effective teams are comprised of members who are willing and able to work on the team.
    • Members possess specific competencies (competencies are often summarized as the 5 Cs) which include coordinating, cooperating, communicating, comforting (showing empathy, providing psychological comfort, and building confidence), and conflict resolving.
    • Diverse teams can view problems/alternatives from different perspectives, have a broader knowledge base, and better represent the team's constituents.
    • However, diverse teams may take longer to become high-performing.

    Team Processes

    • Internal team processes involve teamwork behaviors (improving interactions, cooperation, and coordination of team efforts) and taskwork behaviors (understanding task requirements, exchanging information, and developing solutions).
    • External team processes involve team boundary spanning (establishing and maintaining interactions with external parties).

    Team Roles and Transactive Memory

    • A set of behaviors expected of people in certain positions in an organization.
    • Describing how task-relevant knowledge is distributed within a team and collective awareness of who knows what.
    • Having clearly defined and complementary strengths improves team effectiveness.

    Team Roles

    • Expected behaviors of people in positions within a social unit.
    • Role expectations are how others perceive behaviors within a role.
    • Role conflict occurs when one role requirement conflicts with another.
    • Role ambiguity occurs when a person is unclear about their role.
    • Role overload arises from receiving too much responsibility.

    Team Norms

    • Informal rules and shared expectations that guide member behaviors.
    • Norms develop through initial team experiences, critical events, and members' values and experiences.
    • Preventing/changing dysfunctional norms includes defining desired ones when forming teams, choosing members with preferred values, and encouraging team-based rewards.

    Team Cohesion

    • The degree of attraction members feel toward the team and their motivation to remain.
    • Cohesion is stronger with higher member similarity, smaller team size, frequent interaction, somewhat challenging entry, high team success, and external competition.

    Team Cohesion and Performance

    • High cohesion typically leads to better performance because members are more motivated to achieve team objectives; and they frequently share information and experience increased satisfaction and support.
    • This is particularly true in tasks with high interdependence.

    Team Efficacy

    • The collective belief among team members in their capabilities to achieve goals.
    • High team efficacy is associated with higher performance.
    • Individuals in highly efficacious teams tend to engage in coordination and cooperation.

    Three Levels of Trust

    • Calculus-based, knowledge-based, identification-based (from low to high levels).

    Stages of Team Development

    • Forming: Learning about each other, evaluating memberships.
    • Storming: Conflict, members proactively compete for roles.
    • Norming: Roles established, consensus around objectives.
    • Performing: Efficient coordination, high trust, commitment, identify with the team.
    • Adjourning: Disbanding, shifts from task to relationship focus.

    Team Development: Forming Identities and Mental Models

    • Developing team identity (viewing team as "us" vs "them") becoming part of personal social identity.
    • Developing team mental models and coordinating routines (forming shared and complementary mental models, forming habitual routines).

    Team Building

    • Formal activities aimed at improving team development and functioning through clarifying performance goals, enhancing problem-solving skills, defining roles, and strengthening relationships.

    Team Decision-Making Constraints

    • Time: Coordinating, organizing, and blocking production.
    • Evaluation apprehension: Reluctance to share ideas perceived as silly due to the fear of criticism from other members.
    • Peer pressure: Suppressing opposing opinions to align with team norms.
    • Overconfidence/inflated team efficacy: leads to less vigilent decisions.
    • Information sharing problem: Majority view outweighs the minority view.

    General Guidelines for Team Decisions

    • Encouraging critical thinking through team norms.
    • Ensuring sufficient diversity in teams.
    • Creating checks and balances to avoid dominant participants.
    • Maintaining appropriate team size.
    • Implementing effective team structures.

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    Related Documents

    Chapter 8 – Team Dynamics PDF

    Description

    Explore the critical aspects of team dynamics in this quiz based on Chapter 8. Understand the definitions, types of teams, and effective models of team development and decision-making. Dive into the advantages and challenges of working in teams and discover how interdependence influences team performance.

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