CHAPTER 14 UNDERSTANDING GROUPS AND TEAMS 1. INTRODUCTION. Work groups are a common arrangement within today's business organizations. Work is being restructured around groups in thousands of organizations. Managers need an understanding of group behavior and the concept of teams in order to appreciate what groups can and cannot do within organizations. 2. UNDERSTANDING GROUP BEHAVIOR. Groups exhibit different behavior, more than just the sum total of each group member's individual behavior. A. What is a group? A group is defined as two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve particular objectives. Formal groups are work groups established by the organization and have designated work assignments and established tasks. Informal groups are natural, social formations that appear in the work environment. B. Stages of group development. There is strong evidence that groups pass through five stages as they develop. 1. Forming is the first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty. 2. Storming is the second stage of group development, characterized by intragroup conflict. 3. Norming is the third stage of group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness. 4. Performing is the fourth stage of group development, when the group is fully functional. 5. Adjourning is the final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with concluding activities rather than task performance activities. C. Basic group concepts. Some basic concepts are necessary for understanding group behavior. 1. Roles are sets of behavior patterns expected of individuals occupying given positions in a social unit. Role conflict can occur when an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations. 2. Norms are acceptable standards shared by group members. Although each group has its own unique set of norms, there are common classes of norms that appear in organizations that focus on effort and performance, dress, and loyalty. Also, because individuals desire acceptance by the groups to which they belong, they are susceptible to conformity pressures. 3. Status is a prestige grading, position, or rank within a group. Status systems are an important factor in understanding group behavior. 4. Group size can also affect the group's overall behavior. However, the effect depends on which outcomes are focused upon. 5. Group cohesiveness is the degree to which members are attracted to one another and share the group's goals. D. Toward understanding work group behavior. The answer to why some groups are more successful than others is quite complex. There are five factors which can impact this relationship. 1. External conditions imposed on the group by the larger organization of which it is a subsystem. 2. Group member resources, which include member abilities and personality characteristics. 3. Group structure that shapes members' behavior and includes roles, norms, status, group size, and formal leadership. 4. Group processes, which includes the communication patterns used by members to exchange information, group decision processes, leader behavior, power dynamics, conflict interactions, and other actions. 5. Group tasks, which involves the complexity and interdependence of these tasks the group is responsible for. 3. TURNING GROUPS INTO EFFECTIVE TEAMS. Work teams are formal groups made up of interdependent individuals, responsible for attaining goals. Organizations are increasingly designing work around teams rather than individuals. A. What is a team? A work team is a formal group made up of interdependent individuals, responsible for attaining a goal. All work teams are groups, but only formal groups can be work teams. B. There are different types of teams. Four characteristics can be used to distinguish different types of teams. 1. Teams can vary in their purpose or goal. 2. The duration of a team tends to be either permanent or temporary. 3. Team membership can be either functional or cross-functional. 4. Finally, teams can either be supervised or self-managed. 5. Given these four characteristics, some of the most popular types of teams used today include: functional teams, self-directed or self-managed teams, and cross-functional teams. C. Why use teams? There are a number of reasons why a team will be used. 1. Creates esprit de corps. 2. Allows management to think strategically. 3. Speeds decisions. 4. Facilitates workforce diversity. 5. Increases performance. 4. DEVELOPING AND MANAGING EFFECTIVE TEAMS. Teams aren't automatically going to magically increase productivity. We need to look more closely at how managers can develop and manage effective teams. A. Characteristics of effective teams. There are eight characteristics associated with effective teams. 1. Clear goals. 2. Relevant skills. 3. Mutual trust. 4. Unified commitment. 5. Good communication. 6. Negotiating skills. 7. Appropriate leadership. 8. Internal and external support. B. What's involved in managing teams? 1. In planning, it's important that teams have clear goals and that these goals be clear to every member of the team. 2. Organizing tasks involved with managing a team include clarification of authority and structural issues. 3. Leading issues include such things as determining what role the leader will play, how conflict will be handled, and what the best communication process is. 4. Two important controlling issues include how to evaluate the team's performance and how to reward team members. One popular approach to group incentive plans is gainsharing which is a program that shares the gains of the efforts of group members with those group members. C. Teams and TQM. Teams are a central characteristic of TQM. 1. Since the essence of TQM is process improvement, employee participation is critical. 2. Another application to TQM is quality circles, which are work groups that meet regularly to discuss, investigate, and correct quality problems. ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. How can joining a group increase an individual's sense of power? Joining a group can help increase an individual's sense of power since often what cannot be achieved individually becomes possible through group action. Also, informal groups provide additional opportunities for individuals to exercise power over others. 2. Can informal groups ever be detrimental to an organization? Explain. Informal groups are of a social nature and tend to form around friendships and common interests. Yes, informal groups could be detrimental to an organization if employees spent more time and effort on informal group activities than they did working at their job. 3. What are some common classes of organizational norms? How can norms both help and hurt an organization? Some common classes of organizational norms include those that focus on effort and performance, dress, and loyalty. Norms can help an organization by providing clues as to behavioral expectations. They could hurt an organization if the norms are contradictory to what the organization's goals and expectations are. 4. What are the implications drawn from Asch's conformity studies? The results of Asch's conformity studies suggest that there are group norms that force group members toward conformity. Individuals desire to be one of the group and avoid being visibly different. The studies further generalize that when an individual's opinion of objective data differs significantly from that of others in the group, he or she feels extensive pressure to align his or her opinion to conform with those of the other group members. 5. What is the most effective size for a group? The most effective size for a group depends upon the focus of the outcomes. Large groups, those with twelve or more members, are good for gaining diverse input. Smaller groups are better at doing something productive with those facts. Groups of approximately seven members tend to be more effective for taking action. 6. What is the relationship between group cohesiveness and group effectiveness? Effectiveness should increase if cohesiveness is high and group/organization goals align. If alignment between group and organizational goals is low and cohesiveness is high, effectiveness likely will decrease. 7. Why are some groups more successful than others? Some groups are more succesful than others because they have favorable external conditions; ample internal resources; roles, norms, and leaders that support the group's goals; and positive synergy. 8. How can managers build trust within a group? Six suggestions are provided for building trust within a group. They are: communicate; be supportive; be respectful; be fair; be predictable; and demonstrate competence. 9. What types of issues must be addressed when managing a team? The types of issues that must be addressed when managing a team revolve around the managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. For instance, planning issues would involve establishing goals and communicating those goals. Organizing issues would involve structural and authority decisions. Leading issues would involve things such as how to resolve conflicts, how best to communicate within the group, or how to deal with diverse personalities. Controlling issues revolve around appraisal and reward systems. 10. How do you explain the rapidly increasing popularity of work teams in the United States when American culture places such high value on individualism? Work teams appear to be rapidly increasing in popularity because of the impact they have on higher productivity, improved quality, and increased employee motivation and satisfaction.