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RICHARD R. BACHA, Ph.D. |
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Groups and Teams Team is a group of people who are interdependent and working toward a common goal Members are interdependent, manage themselves Team is embedded in a social system Team has task to perform, and shared goal Group superiority Two or more are better than one in terms of effectiveness, but not in terms of efficiency Groups catch errors of members We spend most of our waking hours interacting within or with groups, so part of our social culture Types of groups are task-oriented and relationship oriented, or ….. Task characteristics and teams Additive tasks- member efforts sum up Conjunctive tasks- connection is only as strong as weakest member ability/effort Disjunctive tasks- no connection, so strongest member is key to performance, but must demonstrate his/her ability to other members and share unique information Task and teams- cont. Discretionary tasks- nature of task can be analyzed and parceled out in conjunctive or disjunctive manner Increasing group size helps on disjunctive tasks, but not on conjunctive tasks Group heterogeneity increases performance on disjunctive tasks, decreases on conjunctive Why groups fail? Coordination problems in terms of assignments, communication, goals, mismatched ability and motivational levels Cognitive loafing Social loafing Personality conflicts, though these are often seen as poor excuses by management Potential productivity The level of productivity is dependent on task demands, available resources/allocation, and strength of group process Interaction gains can be had when groups have strong group efficacy- believe in their collective ability to produce superior outcomes, decisions, acts, and so forth Interaction gains-cont. and losses Gains are also function of strength of group cohesion, and maintenance of that feeling Losses are due to coordination problems .. Also due to motivation loss…. And due to conceptual loss….. Social loafing When people in a group fail to contribute as much as they would if they worked independently (alone) All members are concerned with work load equity, therefore … Problem in recognizing individual contributions, so members are less likely to …. Hard tasks actually reduce social loafing? Levels of analysis framework Principals have a direct stake in the outcome of a negotiation and influence in its process Intermediaries serve as agents- intervene between 2 or more principals Collaterals are on same side as principal, but exerts only an independent influence on the outcome through the principal Multilithic groups much act in concert as unit Group influence tactics Ostracism- actually dismissed or raise fear of such action against member, worse is that member is recognized in fact only in group Logic- enough objective evidence may cause self-reflection and questioning of veracity Morality- we all want to do "the right thing", but the danger here is …. Teams and intragroup dynamics Two heads are better than one at the table, generally increase opportunity and incidence of integrative agreements, better info exchange and communication, but distributive outcome is not necessarily better Efficacy effect is founded in perception, then in fact, so no guarantees Teams and intragroup- cont. Size- less than nine, as size increases decision making more problematic, conformity pressures increase (to 5), and coordination maintenance becomes more difficult Group structure is the pattern of relationships among the members, and structure can then exist independent of person in a position Teams and intragroup- cont. Norms may be functional and dysfunctional Involve statement (expressed or implied) of rule, surveillance (ongoing), and sanctions Good norms do job in absence of enforcement Who/what sends norms? Roles in groups are defined as for individuals, though consistency may be more noticeable Group goals-def., accept, change Necessary for consensus, clear understanding of specific goals and relationship to mission Involve deliberate planning to define and adhere to Personal goals should be congruent with group goals, though not identical Changing goals is by consensus and due to major change in mission/focus of group Group cohesion The strength of the relations in a group, often referred to as the bond that keeps group together Work groups are necessarily bonded Nonprofit, personal groups are bonded by desire to share interests, hobbies, etc. Stronger bonded groups perform better Group status/identity A source of self-esteem, ego gratification, and sense of belonging Belonging to certain groups validates our identity, but also allows us to verify to others our strong values, beliefs, allegiances, and so forth Problem with such strong tie to any particular group is …. |