Managing groups

1. Managing groups • What is a group/team? • Which are the different types of groups? • How to evaluate team effectiveness? • Which factors affect group effectiveness?

2. What is a team? • A team is a unit of two or more people who interact and coordinate their work to accomplish a specific objective.

3. Which are the different types of groups? • Formal vs. informal groups. • Formal • Horizontal and vertical teams (see Exh. 16.2). • Informal • When can they play a negative role in the organization?

4. Measures of team effectiveness.

5. Which factors affect team effectiveness? • Depends on team characteristics and team processes.

6. Team characteristics • Group size • Member roles • Group norms • Group cohesiveness

7. Group size

8. Member roles • Task specialist role • Socioemotional role • Member roles can be viewed as existing in a continuum (Shortell-Table 6.2). • Teams must be well-balanced: satisfy social needs and accomplish the team’s task.

9. Team Member Roles High Task Specialist Role Dual Role Member Task Behavior Nonparticipator Role Socioemotional Role Low Member Social Behavior Low High Harcourt Brace & Company.

10. Group norms • Informal. • Relate to day-to-day behavior and employee output and performance.

11. Group cohesiveness • Is group cohesiveness good or bad?

12. Groupthink • Mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, and when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.

13. Techniques to diminish groupthink • Devil’s advocate • Multiple advocacy • Brainstorming • Strive for group heterogeneity.

14. Team processes/Stages of team development (Exh. 16.5) • The five stages usually occur in sequence. • Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning. • Not all groups go through all stages • Managers need to consider the stage of team development in establishing group expectations.