Groups And Teams

Types of Teams and Groups • Largely social-sports and leisure clubs • Work or task oriented – workplace groups, committees, task and project groups, other ad hoc but organized gathering • Based on norms and expectations of society – above all the family (nuclear and extended) • Based on the beliefs and values of the members – churches and religious groups • Based on the expertise of members – professional bodies, legalized associations • Mutual interest: trade unions; also hobbies and interests 10/22/08 08:07

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Purpose of Organizational Groups

• Distribution of work, by department, division, function, location, skill, aptitude, expertise, quality etc • Controlling work, through the placing of managers and supervisors at the head of the teams and groups of people constituted for the purpose of conducting work • Project work and problem solving, often constituted on ad hoc basis and for the life and duration, of the specific matter in hand (though there are certain circumstances were this leads to future activities • Creative activities, brainstorming, information, pooling and gathering, the generation of bursts of energy and enlightenment in response to given issues 10/22/08 08:07

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Purpose of Organizational Groups

• To conduct inquiries into past activities, both successful and unsuccessful • To investigate and resolve conflicts, grievances, disputes and arguments between individuals and groups • Clusters: of persons of same profession or occupation from different departments-for the purposes of gathering general information and knowledge for understanding of total organizational and professional picture • To take responsibility for the direction and management of a particular organization's activities and services • To coordinate and harmonize sets of activities often from different sources, functions, divisions, departments, expertise • To implement initiatives, directions, policies, strategies, and decisions • For other specific organizational matters, especially health, safety, staff relations and consultation

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Theories of Group Formation • Propinquity Theory: Individual affiliate with one another because of spatial or geographical proximity • IAS Theory: (Homan’s ) Interaction Activities Sentiments • Balance Theory (Theodore Newcomb): Groups formed on the basis of common relevant objects such as religion, politics, life styles, marriage, work, authority etc • Exchange Theory: (Thibaut J W/ Kelley H H): Rewards > Cost = Minimum level of outcome must exist for attraction and affiliation 10/22/08 08:07 Dr Ashutosh N Misal 4 Rewards from interaction gratify needs while

Formation of Groups

(Tuckman

and Jensen)

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Why do individual join groups?

• Security • Status • Self-esteem • Affiliation • Power • Goal Achievement 10/22/08 08:07

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Benefits of Groups • Improved performance • Increased interaction interpersonal in terms of quality, relationship and productivity, speed, communication flexibility and customer • Improved motivation service and performance • Better decision making • Improved learning • Reduced cost • Opportunities to • Easier adaptation to perform best of their change abilities • Fewer and simpler job • Reduced duplication classification of efforts • Increased commitment • Increased cooperation • Improvement in • Decreased destructive 10/22/08 08:07 Dr Ashutosh N Misal 7 innovative ideas conflict

• • • • • • • • • • •

• •

Issues facing work groups

Atmosphere and relationship – nature of relationship; closeness, friendliness, formality and informality Participation: the nature and extent to which participation is to be allowed Understanding and acceptance of aims and objectives, and the commitment required for this Availability, access and use of information Means for handling disagreements and conflict Means and methods of decision making Evaluation and appraisal of member performance Evaluation and appraisal of group performance Expression of feelings; how this should be done Leadership; relating both to the total group and the individual tasks for which it has been constituted Maintenance activities; including the development of group members and the bringing in of new and fresh talents and expertise as and when required Achievement and success Coping with failure

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Group Dynamics • is concerned with interaction and forces between group members in a social situation • Understanding the internal nature of the group, why the group is formed, how they form, the structure of the group, how they function, and its effect on other group members, other

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Concepts relevant to Group Dynamics

• Norms: Norms are set of beliefs, feelings, and attitudes commonly shared by members/ rules of standard behaviour that apply to members

– Performance Norms: Standard of performance – Appearance Norms: Dress Code – Behaviour Norms: General Behaviour  Development of Norms: over a

long period of time – when going gets tough; tough gets going

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Concepts relevant to Group Dynamics

• Status: Official position as well as the importance and deference given to an individual which depends on personal attributes, charismatic disposition, demographic characteristics, educational level, experience, service, expertise, record etc

• Cohesion: Degree of closeness

and bond individual has with other members and group on which the strength depends – used in achieving the targets

• Conformity: Sticking to the group’s decision and norms irrespective of individual opinion…non-conformists may also Dr Ashutosh N Misal 11 be the members of the group but then they are

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Concepts relevant to Group Dynamics • Group Think: a phenomenon in which norms for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative course of action • Group Cohesiveness: Threats Togethern ess Past Experienc e

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and Challenge s COHESIO N Degree of Participati on

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Entry Norms Group Size Attitude and Value 12

Group Factors and Characteristics that affect cohesion, behaviour and effectiveness of Groups

 Group Size: Cohesiveness depends upon the close interaction of members – 8 to 10 is ideal number for cohesiveness of group  Size and Scale of the task  Nature of the task: Physical, laborious, complex, expert etc  Individual Roles: Expertise, contribution, involvement leading to harmony and integration  Individual ambitions and aspirations: Career paths, goals, pay and rewards, 10/22/08 08:07 Dr Ashutosh N Misal 13 aspirations, esteem

Group Factors and Characteristics that affect cohesion, behaviour and effectiveness of Groups

 Group/ Entry Norms: Standards of behaviour and integrity. There are organizations whose membership is difficult to obtain. More difficult the entry; more cohesive group would be  Motivation of members: Perceptions, expectations  Group Identity and Spirit: Common interest in task achievement, confidence in, dependence on other members. Pride, attitude, esteem, behaviour of members  Leadership:  Togetherness: natural tendency to remain together – sharing of happiness, hardships bonds the members together  Degree of participation 10/22/08 08:07 Dr Ashutosh N Misal in group activities: 14 in sports, cultural events and wining

• Attitudes and Values: “Birds of same feather flock together” – conflict situations are avoided and smooth sailing is achieved High

Low

Cohesiveness High

High Productivity

Moderate Productivity

Performa nce

Low Productivity

Moderate to Low Productivity

Low

Low

Productivity Dr Ashutosh N Misal

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To achieve Cohesiveness following suggestions are made: • Small Groups have better cohesion • Encourage unilateral acceptance of group goals • Time spent by members fro group activities should be increased • Increase status of group and group members • Create an environment of perceived difficulty in attaining group membership • Competition with other groups • Introduce reward system 10/22/08 08:07

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Consequences of Group Cohesiveness

Group Influence

More Success

Participat ion Producti vity

COHESIVENE SS Effective Communica tion

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Job Satisfactio n

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• • • • • • • • •

Determinants of Group Effectiveness

Group itself Work and tasks Procedures and processes Leadership, direction and management style Synergy principle Morale and satisfaction Group ideology Power and influence Factors outside the group’s control

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Teams –

Defined

• Groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common objectives, and perceive themselves as a social 10/22/08 08:07

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•T - Task •E - Experts •A Achievement 10/22/08 08:07

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• Importance of Team work – People with mixed skills – Performance – Reason for Joining

• Functions of Team – Planning and Control – Setting Goals – Scheduling – Budgeting – Inspect quality 10/22/08 08:07

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Characteristics of Effective Team Members

• Share same objective • Care about task • Ability to listen • Ability to resolve conflict •

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Benefits of Teams

• Productivity • Quality • Improved customer service • Reduced scrap 10/22/08 08:07

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Difference between Work Groups and Work Teams

Work Group

Work Team

• Has shared • Has strong, leadership clearly focused • Has individual and leader mutual accountability • Has individual • Has specific purpose accountability • Has collective work • Purpose is the products same as that of an • Encourages open organization’s ended, active • Has individual problem solving work products meetings • Runs efficient • Measures meetings performance directly • Measures by assessing effectiveness collective work 10/22/08 08:07 Dr Ashutosh N Misal 24 indirectly