Group Characteristics

Group Characteristics

2 pages assignment
Part 2: Groups

© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

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Chapter 8 | Slide 2

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GROUPS AND TEAMS

How Can Working with Others Increase Everybody’s Performance?

8.1 Group Characteristics

8.2 The Group Development Process

8.3 Teams and The Power of Common Purpose

8.4 Trust Building and Repair – Essential Tools for Success

8.5 Keys to Team Effectiveness

Group Characteristics

What is a Group?

Two or more freely interacting individuals who share norms and goals and have a common identity

Groups usually accomplish more than individuals

Chapter 8 | Slide 3

A group is two or more freely interacting individuals who share norms and goals and have a common identity.

People form groups for many reasons. Most fundamental among these reasons is that groups usually accomplish more than individuals. Furthermore, research consistently shows that groups routinely outperform the average of their individual members, particularly with quantitative tasks.

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Group Characteristics

Formal Group

Assigned by organizations to accomplish specific goals

Informal Group

Members’ overriding purpose for meeting is friendship or a common interest

Chapter 8 | Slide 4

Can Overlap

Formal and Informal Groups

Individuals join or are assigned to groups for various purposes. A formal group is assigned by organizations or their managers to accomplish specific goals. Such groups often have labels: work group, team, committee, or task force.

An informal group exists when the members’ overriding purpose of getting together is friendship or a common interest.

The desirability of overlapping formal and informal groups is debatable. Some managers firmly believe personal friendship fosters productive teamwork on the job, while others view such relationships as a serious threat to productivity. Both situations are common, and it is the manager’s job to strike a workable balance based on the maturity and goals of the people involved.

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Group Characteristics

Functions of Formal Groups

Formal groups fulfill two basic functions

Chapter 8 | Slide 5

Researchers point out that formal groups fulfill two basic functions: organizational and individual (see Table 8.1).

Complex combinations of these functions can be found in formal groups at any given time.

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Organizational Functions

Individual Functions

Group Characteristics

Roles

A set of expected behaviors for a particular position

Group roles are expected behaviors for members of the group as a whole

People often play multiple roles

Chapter 8 | Slide 6

A role is a set of expected behaviors for a particular position, and a group role is a set of expected behaviors for members of the group as a whole.

Each role you play is defined in part by the expectations of that role. Sociologists view roles and their associated expectations as a fundamental basis of human interaction and experience.

In the many arenas of life (e.g., work, family, and school), people often play multiple roles. At work, for example, employees frequently play roles that go beyond duties in a job description, such as helping coworkers and suggesting improvements.

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Group Characteristics

Types of Roles

Chapter 8 | Slide 7

Orienter

Evaluator

Energizer

Procedural Technician

Recorder

Standard Setter

Commentator

Follower

Task

Maintenance

Employees often serve in multiple groups and may play one or more roles within each. Two types of roles are particularly important—task and maintenance.

Effective groups ensure that both roles are fulfilled (see Table 8.2).

Task roles enable the work group to define, clarify, and pursue a common purpose, and maintenance roles foster supportive and constructive interpersonal relationships.

In short, task roles keep the group on track while maintenance roles keep the group together.

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Task Roles – Keep Group on Track

Initiator

Maintenance Roles – Keep Group Together

Encourager

Information Seeker/Giver

Opinion Seeker/Giver

Elaborator

Coordinator

Harmonizer

Compromiser

Gatekeeper

Group Characteristics

Norms

An attitude, opinion, feeling, or action shared by two or more people that guides behavior

Chapter 8 | Slide 8

A norm is an attitude, opinion, feeling, or action—shared by two or more people—that guides behavior.

Norms help create order and allow groups to function more efficiently, as they prevent groups from having to progress through the development process each and every time they meet.

Norms are more encompassing than roles, which tend to be at the individual level in the Integrative Framework and pertain to a specific job or situation. Norms, in contrast, are shared phenomena and apply to the group, team, or organization level.

Although norms are typically unwritten and seldom discussed openly, they have a powerful influence on group and organizational behavior.

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Roles

At the individual level

Norms

Shared phenomena

Pertain to a specific job or situation

Apply to group, team, or organizational level

Group Characteristics

Norms

Norms are reinforced for many purposes including:

Group/organization survival

Clarification of behavioral expectations

Avoidance of embarrassment

Clarification of central values/unique identity

Chapter 8 | Slide 9

Norms serve many purposes and are thus reinforced. Some of these reasons are listed in Table 8.3.

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Group Characteristics

Creation of Norms

Chapter 8 | Slide 10

Norms emerge on their own

Norms can be purposefully created

Norms either emerge on their own, over time, or as a more conscious effort.

In contrast, norms can also be purposefully created, which is what we advocate. (Why leave things to chance at work when you can directly influence them for the better?)

Another way to think about roles and norms is peer pressure. Peer pressure is about expectations, and we all know what peer pressure is and how effective or problematic it can be. But at its root, peer pressure is simply the influence of the group on the individual, and the expectations associated roles and norms are the means of this influence.

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Test Your OB Knowledge

Jeannie belongs to a formal work group with established norms. All the following would be considered norms for her group EXCEPT:

Meetings always start on time

Meetings are limited to two hours

Jeannie’s boss always mediates conflict through reconciliation or humor

Members take turns bringing snacks

No cell phones are allowed during the meeting

Chapter 8 | Slide ‹#›

The answer is (C). This is his role.

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The Group Development Process

Stages of the Group Development Process

Chapter 8 | Slide 12

During this “ice-breaking” stage, group members tend to be uncertain and anxious about such things as their roles, the people in charge, and the group’s goals.

Mutual trust is low, and there is a good deal of holding back to see who takes charge and how.

Research has shown that this is just the time in a group’s development where some conflict among group members is beneficial. A study of 71 technology project teams revealed that conflict in the early stages of the group development process increased creativity

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Stage 1: Forming

“Ice-breaking” stage

Group members uncertain about their role

Mutual trust is low

Good deal of holding back to see who is in charge

Conflict is beneficial and leads to increased creativity

The Group Development Process

Stages of the Group Development Process

Chapter 8 | Slide 13

This is a time of testing. Individuals test the leader’s policies and assumptions as they try to determine how they fit into the power structure.

Subgroups take shape, and subtle forms of rebellion, such as procrastination, occur.

In fact, some management experts say the reason many new CEOs don’t survive is because they never get beyond the storming stage.

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Stage 2: Storming

Time of testing

Testing leader’s policies and assumptions and how they fit into the power structure

Subgroups take shape

Subtle forms of rebellion occur

The Group Development Process

Stages of the Group Development Process

Chapter 8 | Slide 14

Groups that make it through Stage 2 generally do so because a respected member, other than the leader, challenges the group to resolve its power struggles so something can be accomplished.

Questions about authority and power are best resolved through unemotional, matter-of-fact group discussion.

A feeling of team spirit is sometimes experienced during this stage because members believe they have found their proper roles.

Group cohesiveness , defined as the “we feeling” that binds members of a group together, is the principal by-product of Stage 3

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Stage 3: Norming

A respected member, other than the leader, challenges the group to resolve power struggles and questions about authority and power are resolved

Group becomes cohesive

Increasing team member interactions and interdependence of work tasks help overcome conflict

The Group Development Process

Stages of the Group Development Process

Chapter 8 | Slide 15

Activity during this vital stage is focused on solving task problems, as contributors get their work done without hampering others.

This stage is often characterized by a climate of open communication, strong cooperation, and lots of helping behavior.

Conflicts and job boundary disputes are handled constructively and efficiently.

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Stage 4: Performing

Activity is focused on problem solving

Contributors get work done without hampering others

Climate of open communication

Strong cooperation

Great deal of helping behavior

The Group Development Process

Stages of the Group Development Process

Chapter 8 | Slide 16

The work is done; it is time to move on to other things. The return to independence can be eased by rituals celebrating “the end” and “new beginnings.”

Parties, award ceremonies, and graduations can punctuate the end.

Leaders need to emphasize valuable lessons learned during the adjourning stage.

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Stage 5: Adjourning

Work is done

Group moves on to other things

Return to independence eased by rituals celebrating “the end” and “new beginnings”

Leaders should emphasize valuable lessons learned

Test Your OB Knowledge

Franco is part of a group which must resolve a quality control issue at his company. Franco is worried about what the group expects from him, and is not sure who is in charge. What stage of group development is the group likely in at this time?

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Adjourning

Chapter 8 | Slide ‹#›

The answer is (A). During forming, group members tend to be uncertain about their roles and who is in charge.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

What is a Team?

A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

Chapter 8 | Slide 18

A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Besides being a central component of the Integrative Framework, teams are a cornerstone of work life.

In today’s team-focused work environment, organizations need leaders who are adept at teamwork themselves and can cultivate the level of trust necessary to foster constructive teamwork.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

How are Teams Different from Groups?

Chapter 8 | Slide 19

A group becomes a team when the following criteria are met:

Leadership becomes a shared activity.

Accountability shifts from strictly individual to both individual and collective.

The group develops its own purpose or mission.

Problem solving becomes a way of life, not a part-time activity.

Effectiveness is measured by the group’s collective outcomes and products

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A Group Becomes a Team When:

Leadership becomes a shared activity

Accountability shifts from strictly individual to both individual and collective

Problem solving becomes a way of life, not a part-time activity

Effectiveness is measured by the group’s collective outcomes and products

The group develops its own purpose or mission

Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

How are Teams Different from Groups?

Chapter 8 | Slide 20

Teams are Task Groups that Have Matured to the Performing Stage

Teams Have Common Commitment

Teams Assemble to Accomplish a Common Task and Require Collaboration

Teams are task groups that have matured to the performing stage.

Because of conflicts due to power, authority, and unstable interpersonal relations, many work groups never qualify as a real team.

The distinction was clarified this way: “The essence of a team is common commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals. With it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance.”

This underscores two other important distinctions between teams and groups: Teams assemble to accomplish a common task and require collaboration

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Teamwork Competencies

Contributes to the team’s work

Constructively interacts with team members

Keeps team on track

Expects quality work

Possesses relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for team’s responsibilities

Chapter 8 | Slide 21

Forming teams and urging employees to be team players are good starting points on the road to creating effective teams.

Teamwork competencies need to be role modeled and taught. These include group problem solving, mentoring, conflict management skills, and emotional intelligence.

Research suggests that teams collaborate most effectively when companies develop and encourage teamwork competencies.

Researchers have distilled five common teamwork competencies.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Characteristics of Team Players

Chapter 8 | Slide 22

Committed

Collaborative

Competent

Understanding and exhibiting the competencies noted above is an excellent start. And while everybody has her or his own ideas of what is most important, it is likely that most people’s views include the 3 Cs of team players:

Committed

Collaborative

Competent

Put another way, the 3 Cs are the “cover charge” or the bare minimum to be considered a team player.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

What is Social Loafing?

The tendency for individual effort to decline as group size increases

Free riders (loafers) produce low quality work, cause others to work harder, and distract or disrupt the work of other team members

Chapter 8 | Slide 23

Social loafing is the tendency for individual effort to decline as group size increases.

An interesting study conducted more than a half-century ago found the answer to be “less than.” In a rope-pulling exercise (“tug-of-war”), three people pulling together achieved only two-and-a-half times the average individual rate. Eight pullers achieved less than four times the individual rate.

Social loafing is problematic because it typically involves more than simply “slacking off.” Free riders (i.e., “loafers”) produce not only low quality work, which causes others to work harder to compensate, but they often also distract or disrupt the work of other team members.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Guarding Against Loafing

Chapter 8 | Slide 24

Social loafing generally increases as group size increases and work is more widely dispersed. What makes this worse is that loafers “expect others to pick up the slack even as they receive the same rewards.”

To combat such problems:

Limit group size.

Assure equity of effort to mitigate the possibility that a member can say, “Everyone else is goofing off, so why shouldn’t I?”

Hold people accountable—don’t allow members to feel that they are lost in the crowd and think “who cares?”

Recent research with four-member teams showed that hybrid rewards —those that include team and individual components —reduced social loafing and improved information sharing. Hybrid rewards members accountable both as individuals and as a team.

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Limit Group Size

Assure Equity of Effort

Hold People Accountable

Offer Hybrid Rewards

Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Team Building

A host of techniques aimed at improving the internal functioning of work groups that strive for:

Greater cooperation

Better communication

Less dysfunctional conflict

Chapter 8 | Slide 25

Team building is a catchall term for a host of techniques aimed at improving the internal functioning of work groups.

Whether conducted by company trainers, hired consultants, or you, team-building workshops strive for greater cooperation, better communication, and less dysfunctional conflict.

Rote memorization and lectures are discouraged by team builders who prefer active versus passive learning. Greater emphasis is placed on how work groups get the job done than on the task itself. Experiential learning techniques such as interpersonal trust exercises, conflict role-play sessions, and competitive games are common if not expected.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Team Building and Return on Investment (ROI)

In order to establish the ROI for team building, need to have:

Chapter 8 | Slide 26

Does team building work? Is it worth the investment of time, people, and money?

Three fundamental elements are recommended for those interested in establishing the ROI for team building:

Clear objectives. This is the starting point for ROI estimates. Many outcomes are possible, but it is important to identify which are most relevant for a particular team.

Validation. Not to be confused with the objectives, validation involves confirming that team-building efforts actually link to the desired changes in behavior and attitudes. For example, a positive attitude toward customers likely affects the quality of work produced by the team. You can validate (verify) this link using your knowledge of goal setting and performance management.

Performance information. What data are needed to track the previous two elements and how will they be obtained?

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Clear Objectives

Performance Information

Validation

Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Building Effective Teams

Chapter 8 | Slide 27

Like goal setting, creating and communicating performance expectations for teams is extremely important.

Break the ice. Have each member share relevant details about their experience. Doing so helps everybody learn what types of skills and abilities the team possesses, and it also facilitates cooperation because team members can use each other’s experiences as a shared history, which substitutes for the history that they don’t actually have together.

Don’t reinvent wheel. Ask team members what has worked in the past. This can help signal respect for their competence and judgment and lead to greater engagement and commitment.

Communicate a purpose and a plan. Clearly explain the team’s purpose and how they will work together.

Play to strengths. Set individuals and the larger team up to win. This means match individual members’ skills to responsibilities and goals of the team.

Think about and explain how you approach decision making in dealing with conflicts.

Information is essential—make it flow. Establish clear processes and expectations for sharing information within the team—e-mails, face-to-face meetings, voicemail, Dropbox, SharePoint, Skype, etc. Explicitly include your expectations for giving and receiving feedback.

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Break the Ice

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Communicate a Purpose and a Plan

Play to Strengths

Clarify Decision Making

Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Self Managed Teams

Chapter 8 | Slide 28

Groups of workers who are given administrative oversight for their task domains such as planning, scheduling, monitoring, and staffing

Involves a revolutionary change in management philosophy, structure, staffing and training practices as well as reward systems

Self-managed teams are defined as groups of workers who are given administrative oversight for their task domains. Administrative oversight involves delegated activities such as planning, scheduling, monitoring, and staffing. These are “chores” normally performed by managers. In short, employees in these unique work groups act as their own supervisor. Leadership responsibilities often are shared and shift as the demands on the team change and members step up.

This contrasts with hierarchical or centralized types of management typically found in teams. Accountability is maintained indirectly by outside managers and leaders.

Typically, self-managed teams schedule work and assign duties, with managers present to serve as trainers and facilitators. Self-managed teams—variously referred to as semiautonomous work groups, autonomous work groups, and superteams— come in every conceivable format today, some more autonomous than others.

An organization embracing self-managed teams should be prepared to undergo revolutionary changes in management philosophy, structure, staffing and training practices, and reward systems.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Cross-Functional Teams

Occurs when specialists from different areas are put on the same team

Chapter 8 | Slide 29

Cross-functionalism occurs when specialists from different areas are put on the same team.

New product development is a popular area in which organizations utilize cross-functional teams.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Virtual Teams

Teams that work together over time and distance via electronic media to combine effort and achieve common goals

Chapter 8 | Slide 30

Virtual teams work together over time and distance via electronic media to combine effort and achieve common goals.

Virtual teams are a product of evolving information technologies that allow people to connect from anywhere most anytime (e.g., e-mail, texting, WebEx, Skype, GoToMeeting, Google Hangout, and many others). Traditional team meetings, for example, are location-specific. You and other team members are either (physically) present or absent. Members of virtual teams report in from different locations, different organizations, often different time zones and countries. In other words, the workforce is distributed. Distributed workers often have no permanent office at their companies, preferring to work in home offices, cafés, airports, client conference rooms, the beach, or other places.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Virtual Teams – Pros

Chapter 8 | Slide 31

Reduced real estate costs

Ability to leverage diverse KSAs over geography and time

Ability to share knowledge of diverse markets

Reduced commuting and travel expenses

Reduced work-life conflicts

Ability to attract and retain talent

Virtual teams and distributed workers present many potential benefits: reduced real estate costs (limited or no office space); ability to leverage diverse knowledge, skills, and experience across geography and time; ability to share knowledge of diverse markets; and reduced commuting and travel expenses.

The flexibility often afforded by virtual teams also can reduce work–life conflicts for employees, which some employers contend makes it easier for them to attract and retain talent.

The vast majority of organizations (72%) that use virtual teams indicate that brainstorming ideas or solutions to problems is the most successful task for such teams. Goal setting for team initiatives was a close second (68%) and developing plans to realize these goals was next (63%).

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Virtual Teams – Cons

Chapter 8 | Slide 32

Difficult to establish cohesion, work satisfaction, trust, cooperative behavior, and commitment to team goals

Cultural differences

Differences in local laws and customs

Lack of nonverbal cues

Lack of collegiality

Compared to traditional face-to-face teams, it is more difficult establish team cohesion, work satisfaction, trust, cooperative behavior, and commitment to team goals.

It is more difficult building team relations when members are distributed. About one-half of companies reported this challenge, followed closely by time zone differences (48%). When virtual teams cross country borders, then culture differences, holidays, and local laws and customs also can cause problems. Interpersonally, members of virtual teams reported the inability to observe nonverbal cues and a lack of collegiality.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Virtual Team Management

Best practices:

Adapt communications

Share the love

Develop productive relationships with key people on team

Partner

Availability

Pace

Updates

Select the right people

Communication skills are essential

Chapter 8 | Slide 33

1. Adapt communications. Learn how the various remote workers function, including their preferences for e-mail, texts, and phone calls.

2. Share the love. Use your company’s intranet or other technology to keep distributed workers in the loop. Acknowledging birthdays and recognizing accomplishments is especially important for those who are not in the office (regularly).

3. Develop productive relationships with key people on the team. This may require extra attention, communication, and travel, but do what it takes. Key people are the ones you can lean on and the ones that will make or break the team assignment.

4. Partner. It is common that members of virtual teams are not direct employees of your employer (e.g., contractors). Nevertheless, your success and that of your team depend on them.

5. Availability. Managers and remote workers all need to know when people can be reached, where, and how. Let people know and make yourself available.

6. Pace. Because of different time zones, some projects can receive attention around the clock, as they are handed off from one zone to the next.

7. Updates. Even if you are not the boss, or your boss doesn’t ask for them, be sure to provide regular updates on your progress to the necessary team members.

8. Select the right people. “The best virtual workers tend to be those who thrive in interdependent work relationships . . . [and] are self-reliant and self-motivated. . . . ”

9. Communication skills are essential. Because so much communication happens with the written word, virtual team members must have excellent communication skills.

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Test Your OB Knowledge

Kierra is trying to quickly establish a team to find the root cause of a quality issue involving defective air bags in her company which also involves suppliers and dealers. She should do all of the following EXCEPT:

Clearly explain the purpose of the team is to locate the root cause of the problem and suggest corrections

Not choose a cross functional team as she assumes the problem can be solved by a single department

Have each member share details about their experiences

Establish how information will be shared

Explain how conflicts in decision making will be resolved

Chapter 8 | Slide ‹#›

The answer is (B). She needs a cross functional team.

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

What is Trust?

A reciprocal belief that another person will consider how their intentions and behaviors will affect you

When we feel or observe others trust us, we are more likely to trust them

Chapter 8 | Slide 35

Trust is a reciprocal belief that another person will consider how their intentions and behaviors will affect you.

The reciprocal (give and take) nature of trust means that when we feel or observe that others trust us, we are more likely to trust them. The converse also is true.

The importance of trust in organizational life cannot be overstated. Trust is the interpersonal lubricant for relationships within and between all organizational levels—individual, group, and organizational—and drives many important team-level outcomes found in the Integrative Framework (e.g., cooperation, communication, performance, and innovation).

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Three Forms of Trust

Chapter 8 | Slide 36

Competence Trust

Communication Trust

Contractual Trust

Contractual trust. Trust of character. Do people do what they say they are going to do? Do managers and employees make clear what they expect of one another?

Communication trust. Trust of disclosure. How well do people share information and tell the truth?

Competence trust. Trust of capability. How effectively do people meet or perform their responsibilities and acknowledge other people’s skills and abilities?

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Teams and the Power of Common Purpose

Rebuilding Trust

Chapter 8 | Slide 37

Just as trust can be built, it can be eroded. Violating, or even the perception of violating, another’s trust can diminish trust and lead to distrust. As you know from personal experience, trust is violated in many different ways—sometimes unknowingly and other times seemingly purposefully. It is important to repair trust when it is damaged. Regardless of who is responsible for eroding or damaging trust, both parties need to be involved in the repair of trust.

The seven-step process shown in Figure 8.3 can help rebuild trust, whether you are the perpetrator or victim.

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Keys to Team Effectiveness

Characteristics of High-Performing Teams

Participative leadership

Shared responsibility

Aligned on purpose

High communication

Future focused

Focused on task

Creative talents

Rapid response

Chapter 8 | Slide 38

1. Participative leadership. Creating interdependency by empowering, freeing up, and serving others.

2. Shared responsibility. Establishing an environment in which all team members feel as responsible as the manager for the performance of the work unit.

3. Aligned on purpose. Having a sense of common purpose about why the team exists and the function it serves.

4. High communication. Creating a climate of trust and open, honest communication.

5. Future focused. Seeing change as an opportunity for growth.

6. Focused on task. Keeping meetings focused on results.

7. Creative talents. Applying individual talents and creativity.

8. Rapid response. Identifying and acting on opportunities.

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Keys to Team Effectiveness

The Three Cs of Effective Teams

Chapter 8 | Slide 39

Charters and Strategies – Both researchers and practitioners urge groups and teams to plan before tackling their tasks, early in the group development process (e.g., storming stage). These plans should include team charters that describe how the team will operate, such as processes for sharing information and decision making (teamwork). Teams should also create and implement team performance strategies, which are deliberate plans that outline what exactly the team is to do, such as goal setting and defining particular member roles, tasks, and responsibilities.

Composition – Team composition is a term that describes the collection of jobs, personalities, knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience of team members. It is important that team member characteristics fit the responsibilities of the team for the team to be effective. Fit facilitates team effectiveness and misfit impedes it—you need the right people on your team.

Capacity – Research shows that team adaptive capacity (i.e., adaptability) is important to meet changing demands and to effectively transition members in and out. It is fostered by individuals who are motivated both to achieve an accurate view of the world (versus an ethnocentric or self-centered view) and to work effectively with others to achieve outcomes.

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Charters and Strategies

Team charters describe how the team will operate

Team Composition

Describes the collection of jobs, personalities, knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience of team members

Team performance strategies are deliberate plans that outline what exactly the team is to do

Capacity

Team adaptive capacity is important to meet changing demands and to effectively transition members in and out

Keys to Team Effectiveness

Other Determinants of Effective Teams

Rewards – team based rather than individual to foster collaboration

Effective team size – depends on the purpose of the team but usually ten or fewer

Chapter 8 | Slide 40

Of course rewards matter, and they are a common cause for suboptimal team performance. Organizations that foster the greatest collaboration and most effective teams typically use hybrid rewards and recognize both individual and team performance. Doing this appropriately motivates at both the individual and team levels, and it also positively influences many important outcomes.

“The [mean] average North American team consists of 10 members. Eight is the most common size [the mode].” These findings are consistent with more recent recommendations by a world-renowned expert on teams, who suggests limiting teams to nine or fewer people. Coordinating any more becomes too difficult, if not counterproductive.

In a practical sense, we all are well advised not to fixate on any particular team size. Team size instead should be determined by the requirements of the task at hand.

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Test Your OB Knowledge

Michael’s manager told him that if he finished his project before Friday he would not have to work on the weekend. Michael finished the project on time and was still required to work on the weekend. Which type of trust did Michael’s manager betray?

Fairness trust

Competence trust

Respect trust

Communication trust

Contractual trust

Chapter 8 | Slide ‹#›

The answer is (E).

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Chapter 8 | Slide 42

8

Integrative Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

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Part 2: Groups

© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

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