Lecture 7 By definition a group is two or more persons who interact with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person The concept of interaction is the essential characteristic of a group There is one constant when it comes to working in groups there is always some level of conflict i e don t like frat brother Groups without conflict can lead to undesirable outcomes At the Individual level groups help employees Learn about the organization and one s self Gain new skills Obtain rewards not available to individuals Fulfill important social needs At the Organizational level groups Provide strength in numbers of ideas and skills Improve decision making and control Facilitate change as well as organizational stability There are two basic attributes that defines a group 1 Members of a group interact with one another 2 Members of a group perceive that they can accomplish certain goals by belonging to the group Formal work groups are established by the manager or supervisor while informal work groups are formed naturally because of some common work goal or need Formal groups task force project team self directed team Informal groups friendship group interest group Several characteristics make a social identity important to a person Similarity Distinctiveness Status Uncertainty reduction A popular model for group development is Tuckman s five stage model Forming getting to know each other Storming period of group conflict members resist control Norming Group members begin to develop ties Performing group beginning to achieve goals Adjourning group may be disbanded once goals have been reached The Storming stage is problematic for many groups some groups can t seem to move beyond the conflict and establish the norms needed for performance Group size can impact the group in a number of ways Small Groups Have increased identification with the group and its goals Have more interpersonal interaction Share more information Gain more recognition of individual contributions Larger Groups Have greater resources skills and abilities They Accomplish more through dividing the work load Have a greater tendency for social loafing There are negatives associated with group size Individuals tend to be less motivated in larger groups Group composition refers to the degree of similarity among group members Homogeneous groups are more useful for Simple tasks Sequential tasks When cooperation is required When speed is required Heterogeneous groups are more useful for Complex tasks Collective Task Creativity When speed is not important Group decisions Consume time Create conflict Generate conformity pressures Social facilitation is the effect of the presence of others on individual performance When individuals have similar feeling and attitudes group members tend to develop a consensus based on their beliefs Group status is the agreed upon perceived importance of the work group to the organization Members of high status groups tend to be more motivated Group control There are three mechanisms through which groups control their members behavior Roles Rules and Norms All groups have and use these control mechanisms however at times they are only stated informally A role is defines as a set of behaviors or tasks that a person is expected to perform Roles help control behaviors Roles tell group members what they should be doing Roles provide standards for behaviors Roles help managers determine how to reward group members Rules provide formal guideline for group activities Group norms provide an informal guideline for group activities A group norm is a standard against which appropriateness of a behavior is judged Norms are important to all groups Norms simplify and make more predictable the behaviors expected of group members Norms help the group avoid embarrassing situations Norms express the central values of the group and identify the group to others Groupthink is related to norms It describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual minority or unpopular views Groupshift Describes the way of discussing given set of alternatives and arriving at a solution Work Groups vs Work Teams Groups and teams are not the same thing Within an organization groups might consist of engineers accountants or marketing staff A team is a collection of two or more people working together to achieve mutual goals A work group s performance is a function of what its members do as individuals A work team s performance includes both individual results and what we call collective work products A collective work product is what two or more members must work on together it reflects the joint contributions of team members something that cannot be accomplished individually Remember not all groups are teams but all teams are groups Teams can be formed for any purpose one topology breaks them down into four categories 1 advice board review panels employee involvement groups 2 production manufacturing mining flight crews etc 3 project research groups planning teams task forces 4 action sports entertainment expeditions etc Conformity deviance relates to the level at which group members adhere to group norms Too much deviance will result in low performance while too much conformity and group may also fail to perform Everyone is seen as too agreeable Group cohesiveness is the attractiveness of a group to its members Groups differ in their cohesiveness Cohesiveness is important because it is related to the group s productivity A group is considered highly cohesive when its members value their membership and strongly want to remain a group member There are a number of factors that affect group cohesiveness Group size Similarity of group members Success Exclusiveness Highly Cohesive Improved communication Increased participation Lower turnover High level of conformity to group Goal accomplishment Self managed teams are small groups empowered to make the decisions needed to manage themselves on a day to day basis One of the major problems stemming from the use of self managed teams is the thought that they need no management Initially self managed team members may actually require more managerial interaction than independent employees The principle reason is that all self managed team members must learn to manage This is problematic because not all employees have managerial skills so these employees may need additional training to become
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