(Task Group)

- A group of individuals who are working

Group
as a unit to complete a project or job task
- Two or more individuals interacting to
Informal Group
accomplish a common goal.
- Natural groupings of people in work
Team
environments and in response to social
- Group of individuals with needs
complementary skills that share a
(Interest Group)
common purpose, responsibility, and
accountability for achieving - A group that forms because of some
performance goals. special topic of interest. Generally,
when the interest declines or a goal has
been achieved, the group disbands.

(Friendship Group)

- An informal group that is established in

the workplace because of some
common characteristic of its members
The Nature of Groups
and that may extend the interaction of
1. Two or more individuals its members to include activities outside
2. Interact with each other the workplace.
3. Accomplish a common goal

Stages of Group Development

Forming
Types of Groups
- Characterized by uncertainty (and,
Formal Group frequently, confusion) about the
purpose, structure, and leadership of the
- A group formed by management to
group.
accomplish the goals of the organization
Storming
(Command Group)
- Tends to be marked with conflict and
- A group of subordinates who report to
confrontation. This generally
one particular manager
 emotionally intense stage may involve Status Hierarchy
competition among members for
- The status hierarchy, and particularly the
desired assignments and disagreements
deference paid to those at the top of the
over appropriate task-related behaviors
hierarchy, may sometimes have
and responsibilities. A particularly
unintended—and undesirable—effects
important part of storming can involve
on performance
redefinition of the groups’ specific tasks
and overall goals. Roles
Norming - Each position in the group structure has
an associated role that consists of the
- Characterized by cooperation and
behaviors expected of the occupant of
collaboration. It is also the stage where
that position.
group cohesion begins significant
- The perceived role is the set of behaviors
development.
that a person in a position believes he or
Performing she should enact.
- The enacted role, on the other hand, is
- A stage where the group is fully
the behavior that a person actually
functional. The group structure is set,
carries out. Thus, three possible role
and the roles of each member are
behaviors can result.
understood and accepted. The group
focuses its energies, efforts, and Norms
commitments on accomplishing the
- The standards of behavior shared by
tasks it has accepted.
members of a group, and they have
Adjourning certain characteristics that are
important to group members.
- Involves the termination of group
- Social loafing is the tendency for
activities. Many groups, of course, are
individuals to exert less effort in groups
permanent and never reach the
than when working individually.
adjourning stage.
Leadership
Characteristics of a Group
- An extremely crucial characteristic of
Composition
groups as the leader exerts influence
- Members of a homogeneous group over the other members of the group. In
share a number of similar the formal group the leader can exercise
characteristics. Characteristics may be legitimately sanctioned power.
demographic (race, gender,
Cohesiveness
socioeconomic background, education,
age, or cultural origin), personality, skills - Cohesiveness typically is regarded as a
and abilities, or work experience, to force. It acts on the members to remain
name just a few. A heterogeneous group, in a group and is greater than the forces
on the other hand, is composed of pulling the members away from the
individuals who have few or no similar group. A cohesive group, then,
characteristics. comprises individuals who are attracted
 to one another. A group that is low in - Used to develop new products. Their use
cohesiveness does not possess is most extensive in high-tech industries
interpersonal attractiveness for the such as aviation, electronics, and
members. computers.
- Skunkworks. A secretive research and
development project that operates
outside of normal company operations
to create innovative products.

Self-managed Team
Teams
- Small group of individuals empowered
- A mature group comprising people who to perform activities with minimal
share a common purpose, responsibility, outside direction.
and accountability for achieving
performance goals. Team Effectiveness

Types of Teams Training

Problem-Solving Team - Training may be needed in problem-

solving skills, creative thinking, or
- Formed to deal with problems. The interpersonal skills. Certainly, at the very
problem may be very specific and least, team members must be well-
known, or the team may be set up to versed in the company’s philosophy
deal with potential future problems that regarding teams, the team mission, and
have not yet been identified. new roles and responsibilities individuals
- Quality circle. A small group of will have as a consequence of being part
employees who meet on a regular basis, of the team. It has been suggested that
usually on company time, to recommend without proper training the only thing
improvements and solve quality-related management gets from creating teams is
problems. Frequently a part of total a guarantee that more time will be spent
quality management effort making worse decisions.
Cross-functional Team 1. Open-mindedness. New projects often
require team members to be thrust into
- Consisting of members from different a new situation with new team
functional departments (e.g., members. Individuals who can keep an
engineering, accounting, human open mind will tend to be more
resources, marketing). This type of team successful in dealing with these changes.
forms to address a specific problem. 2. Emotional stability. The more stable an
Virtual Teams individual is, the faster she is expected to
adjust to the different situations
- A team whose members use technology confronted by teams.
to work across location and time 3. Accountability. When individual team
boundaries to accomplish an members accept responsibility for their
interdependent objective. own performance and contributions,
team effectiveness increases.
Research and Development Teams
 4. Problem-solving abilities. Team
members should be able to analyze
problems and develop alternative
solutions to those problems
5. Communication skills. Such skills will
facilitate an open exchange of ideas and
the creation of better solutions to
problems
6. Conflict resolution skills. Some
disagreement within the group is
healthy and will lead to better overall
group performance. Too much conflict
can lead to breakdowns in
communication and a decrease in group
cohesion
7. Trust. Perhaps the most important
characteristic of a good team member,
trust must be present for the group to
function at a high level of performance

Communications

- Team members need information to

accomplish their objectives. Much of this
is information that has traditionally been
management’s exclusive domain. If
teams are to be effective, however, full
disclosure of formerly restricted
information may be necessary

Empowerment

- Teams must have the authority to make

decisions and act autonomously.

Rewards

- Reward system in most organizations is

individually based. That is,
organizational members are rewarded
based on evaluation of their individual
performance. While the individual’s
contribution to team success is a
legitimate part of the reward system,
team success must also be factored in.
To the extent that teams perform well,
the team should be rewarded