Organizational Behaviour: Groups and Teamwork PDF

Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work Twelfth Edition Chapter 7 Groups and Teamwork Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-1 Formal Work Groups Formal work groups are groups that...

Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work Twelfth Edition Chapter 7 Groups and Teamwork Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-1 Formal Work Groups Formal work groups are groups that are established by organizations to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. The most common formal group consists of a manager and the employees who report to the manager. The hierarchy of most organizations is a series of formal, interlocked work groups. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-2 Informal Groups Informal groups are groups that emerge naturally in response to the common interests of organizational members. They are seldom sanctioned by the organization. Their membership often cuts across formal groups. Informal groups can either help or hurt an organization, depending on their norms for behaviour. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-3 Typical Stages of Group Development Groups develop through a series of stages over time. Each stage presents the members with a series of challenges they must master to achieve the next stage. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-4 Forming Group members try to orient themselves by “testing the waters.” The situation is often ambiguous, and members are aware of their dependency on each other. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-5 Storming Conflict often emerges at this stage. Confrontation and criticism occur as members determine whether they will go along with the way the group is developing. Sorting out roles and responsibilities is often at issue. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-6 Norming Members resolve the issues that provoked the storming, and they develop social consensus. Compromise is often necessary. Norms are agreed on and the group becomes more cohesive. Information and opinions flow freely. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-7 Performing The group devotes its energies toward task accomplishment. Achievement, creativity, and mutual assistance are prominent themes at this stage. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-8 Adjourning Rites and rituals that affirm the group’s previous successful development are common (such as ceremonies and parties). Members often exhibit emotional support for each other. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7-9 Group Structure and Its Consequences Group structure refers to the characteristics of the stable social organization of a group—the way a group is “put together.” The most basic structural characteristics along which groups vary are size and member diversity. Other structural characteristics are group norms, roles, status, and cohesiveness. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 10 Group Size The smallest possible group consists of two people, such as a manager and a particular employee. In practice, most work groups, including task forces and committees, usually have between 3 and 20 members. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 11 Group Size and Satisfaction (1 of 2) Members of larger groups consistently report less satisfaction with group membership than those in smaller groups. The chance to work on and develop friendships decreases as size increases. Larger groups might prompt conflict and dissension. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 12 Group Size and Satisfaction (2 of 2) As size increases, the time available for verbal participation by each member decreases. Many people are inhibited about participating in larger groups. In large groups, individual members identify less easily with the success and accomplishments of the group. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 13 Group Size and Performance Three types of group tasks: – Additive tasks – Disjunctive tasks – Conjunctive tasks Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 14 Additive Tasks Tasks in which group performance is dependent on the sum of the performance of individual group members (e.g., building a house). For additive tasks, the potential performance of the group increases with group size. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 15 Disjunctive Tasks Tasks in which group performance is dependent on the performance of the best group member (e.g., research team). The potential performance of groups doing disjunctive tasks increases with group size. The probability that the group includes a superior performer is greater. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 16 Conjunctive Tasks Tasks in which group performance is limited by the performance of the poorest group member (e.g., assembly line). Both the potential and actual performance of conjunctive tasks will decrease as group size increases. As size increases, the probability of including a weak link in the group goes up. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 17 Diversity of Group Membership (1 of 3) Group diversity has a strong impact on interaction patterns. Diverse groups have a more difficult time communicating effectively and becoming cohesive. Diverse groups might take longer to do their forming, storming, and norming. Once they do develop, more and less diverse groups are equally cohesive and productive. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 18 Diversity of Group Membership (2 of 3) Diverse groups sometimes perform better on certain tasks such as those that require creativity and innovation. In general, any negative effects of “surface diversity” in age, gender, or race seem to wear off over time. “Deep diversity” in attitudes toward work or how to accomplish a goal can badly damage cohesiveness. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 19 Diversity of Group Membership (3 of 3) When groups and organizations value and manage diversity, it offsets some of the initial process loss costs of diversity and capitalizes on the demonstrated benefits of a positive diversity climate for group attitudes and performance. One way to do this is to provide employees with training on working in diverse settings. Research has shown the benefits of such training, especially when it is integrated with other efforts to foster diversity. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 20 Group Norms – Conforming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc48kYcosmY Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 21 Group Norms (1 of 2) Social norms are collective expectations that members of social units have regarding the behaviour of each other. They are codes of conduct that specify the standards against which we evaluate the appropriateness of behaviour. Changing norms is one way to change people’s behaviour. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 22 Group Norms (2 of 2) Most normative influence is unconscious; we are only aware of it in special circumstances such as when we enter new social situations. We also become conscious of norms when we encounter ones that seem to conflict with each other. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 23 Roles Positions in a group that have a set of expected behaviours attached to them. Roles represent “packages” of norms that apply to particular group members. There are two basic kinds of roles in organizations: – Assigned roles – Emergent roles Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 24 Assigned Roles Formally prescribed by an organization as a means of dividing labour and responsibility to facilitate task achievement. Assigned roles indicate “who does what” and “who can tell others what to do.” Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 25 Emergent Roles Roles that develop naturally to meet the social-emotional needs of group members or to assist in formal job accomplishment. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 26 Role Ambiguity Role ambiguity exists when the goals of one’s job or the methods of performing it are unclear. There are a variety of elements that can lead to role ambiguity: – Organizational factors – The role sender – The focal person Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 27 Organizational Factors Some roles are inherently ambiguous because of their function in the organization such as middle management roles. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 28 The Role Sender Role senders might have unclear expectations of a focal person. Expectations might be ineffectively sent to the focal person. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 29 The Focal Person Role expectations might not be fully digested by the focal person. This happens when the focal person is new to the role. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 30 Role Ambiguity The most frequent outcomes are job stress, dissatisfaction, reduced organizational commitment, lowered performance, and intentions to quit. Managers can reduce role ambiguity by providing clear performance expectations and performance feedback, especially for new employees and for those in more intrinsically ambiguous jobs. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 31 Role Conflict: Consequences (1 of 2) The most consistent consequences of role conflict are job dissatisfaction, stress reactions, lowered organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 32 Role Conflict: Consequences (2 of 2) Managers can help prevent role conflict by: – Avoiding self-contradictory messages – Conferring with other role senders – Being sensitive to multiple role demands – Fitting the right person to the right role Although role ambiguity and role conflict often have negative consequences, they can sometimes be used to one’s advantage (e.g., redefining one’s role). Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 33 Group Cohesiveness Group cohesiveness is a critical emergent property of groups. It refers to the degree to which a group is especially attractive to its members. Members want to stay in the group and they describe the group in favourable terms. Cohesiveness is a relative, rather than an absolute, property of groups. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 34 Factors Influencing Cohesiveness What makes some groups more cohesive than others? Important factors include: – Threat and competition – Success – Member diversity – Group size – Toughness of initiation Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 35 Threat and Competition External threat to the survival of the group increases cohesiveness. Honest competition with another group can also promote cohesiveness. The group becomes more cohesive because it improves communication and coordination so they can better cope with the situation at hand. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 36 Success Groups become more cohesive when they successfully accomplish some important goal. Cohesiveness will decrease after failure. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 37 Member Diversity Groups that are diverse in terms of gender, age, and race can have a harder time becoming cohesive than more homogeneous groups. If the group is in agreement about how to accomplish a task, its success will often outweigh surface dissimilarity in determining cohesiveness. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 38 Social Loafing The tendency to withhold physical or intellectual effort when performing a group task. Social loafing is a motivation problem. People working in groups often feel trapped in a social dilemma, in that something that might benefit them individually—slacking off in the group—will result in poor group performance if everybody behaves the same way. Social loafing has two different forms: – The free rider effect – The sucker effect Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 39 The Free Rider Effect In the free rider effect, people lower their effort to get a free ride at the expense of their fellow group members. The Sucker Effect Social loafing has two different forms: – The free rider effect – The sucker effect Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 40 Counteracting Social Loafing (1 of 2) Make individual performance more visible – Keep group size small. Make sure that the work is interesting – If work is involving, intrinsic motivation should counteract social loafing. Increase feelings of indispensability – Use training and the status system to provide group members with unique inputs. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 41 Counteracting Social Loafing (2 of 2) Increase performance feedback – Increase feedback from the boss, peers, and customers. Reward group performance – Members are more likely to monitor and maximize their own performance and that of their colleagues when the group receives rewards for effectiveness. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 42 Basic Qualities of Effective Work Teams There are several qualities that are beneficial to all types of work teams: – Psychological safety – Team reflexivity – Shared mental models – Capacity to improvise – Collective efficacy – Team resilience Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 43 Self-Managed Work Teams Work groups that have the opportunity to do challenging work under reduced supervision. The groups regulate much of their own members’ behaviour. Critical success factors of self-managed teams include: – The nature of the task. – The composition of the group. – Support. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 44 Composition of Self-Managed Teams (1 of 3) How should organizations assemble self-managed teams to ensure effectiveness? – Stability – Size – Expertise – Diversity Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 45 Stability Self-managed teams require considerable interaction and high cohesiveness and this requires understanding and trust. Group membership should be fairly stable. Rotating members into and out of the group will cause it to fail to develop a true group identity. Teams whose members have higher average team tenure tend to perform better. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 46 Size Self-managed teams should be as small as feasible without causing stress due to understaffing The goal is to keep coordination problems and social loafing to a minimum. These negative factors can be especially difficult for self- managed groups. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 47 Expertise Group members should have a high level of expertise about the task at hand as well as social skills. The group as a whole should be very knowledgeable about the task. All members should possess to some degree social skills. High cognitive ability among team members contributes to effectiveness. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 48 Diversity Group members should be similar enough to work well together and diverse enough to bring a variety of perspectives and skills to the task at hand. Diverse goals among team members threaten the effectiveness of self-management, as no manager is present to foster goal alignment. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 49 Supporting Self-Managed Teams A number of support factors can assist self-managed teams in becoming and staying effective. The main support factors include: – Training – Rewards – Management Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 50 Cross-Functional Teams (1 of 2) Work groups that bring people with different functional specialties together to better invent, design, or deliver a product or service. Members have to be experts in their own area but able to cooperate with others. Cross-functional teams are best known for their success in product development. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 51 Cross-Functional Teams (2 of 2) The general goals of using cross-functional teams include some combination of innovation, speed, and quality that come from early coordination among the various specialties. Cross-functional teams get all of the specialties working together from day one. Cross-functional teams are likely to be a part of multi-team systems. Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc. 7 - 52