Team Leadership

Team Leadership and Group Process

Requirements of a Team • Small Number • Complementary Skills • Committed to a Common Purpose and Performance Goals • Committed to a Common Approach • Mutual Accountability

Team Vs. Working Group Team • Shared leadership roles • Individual and mutual accountability • Specific team purpose that team delivers • Collective products • Open-ended meetings • Discusses, decides and Does real work together

Working Group • Strong, focused leader • Individual accountability only • Group’s purpose is same as larger group • Individual Products • Efficient meetings • Discusses, decides and Delegates

The Five Stages of Group Development

Stage 1 Forming Members get to know each other and seek to establish ground rules

Stage 2 Storming Members come to resist control by group leaders and show hostility

Stage 3 Norming Members work together, developing close relationships and feelings of camaraderie

Stage 4 Performing Group members work toward getting their jobs done

Stage 5 Adjourning

Groups may disband, either after meeting their goals or because members leave

TASK PERFORMANCE IN CULTURALLY DIVERSE GROUPS: AN EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION

4.00

3.50

3.00

2.50

Homogeneous groups were better at first.

Standardized Performance Measure

Good Performance

As time passed, performance differences disappeared. Diverse groups Homogeneous groups

Poor Performance

Month 1 Month 2

Month 3 Time

Month 4

Criteria for Team Effectiveness • Does the Team’s Output Meet the Standards of Those Who Have To Use It? • Does the Team Experience Contribute to the Personal Well-Being and Development of Team Members? • Does the Team Experience Enhance the Capability of the Members to Work and Learn Together in the Future?

How To Improve Team Performance • • • • • • • •

Establish Urgency and Direction Select Members on Skills, Not Personality Focus on First Meetings and First Actions Set Clear Rules of Behavior Focus on Specific Goals Challenge Team with Fresh Information Spend Lots of Time Together Provide Feedback, Recognition, & Rewards

Guidelines for Teambuilding • Emphasize common interests and values • Use ceremonies and rituals • Use symbols to develop identification with the group • Encourage and facilitate social interaction • Tell people about group activities and achievements • Conduct process analysis and alignment • Increase incentives for mutual cooperation

Questions to Consider • Who participated most in your group? • Who participated least? • How was participation organized in your group? Who organized it? • Which behaviors helped your group accomplish the tasks? • Which behaviors hindered your group in accomplishing the tasks?

Advantages of a Group • More Information Than Individual • Possible Division of Labor • Greater Acceptance of the Decision By the Group • Greater Understanding of the Decision By the Group

Disadvantages of a Group • Individual is Faster than the Group • Individuals or Subgroups can Dominate Group Decisions • Conformity and Groupthink • Social Loafing

Brainstorming • • • •

Criticism is Not Allowed Freewheeling is Welcome Quantity is Encouraged Combination and Improvement Are Sought

Delphi Technique • • • •

Select Group Who Have Needed Expertise Survey Experts for Opinions Analyze and distill the Expert’s Responses Send Summarized Results to Experts and Request That They Respond Again • Repeat Until the Group Has Consensus

High levels of group cohesion

Groupthink: An Overview

Pressure to go along with the group

Antecedent

Reluctance to question the group’s decisions

processes

Illusion that decisions are unanimous

Symptoms

Belief that the group is inherently correct Failure to consider all alternatives

Defects

Reluctance to reexamine other options Biased and incomplete use of information

Result

Poor decisions

How To Prevent Groupthink • Make Everyone a Critic • Leader Avoids Stating Preferences or Expectations • Create Sub-Groups • Reduce Insulation of Group to Outside Influences

SOCIAL LOAFING: ITS GENERAL FORM

Amount of Effort by Each Individual

(high)

The more people working on a group task, the smaller the contribution made by any one member of the group will be.

(low) On Person Working Alone

Small groups

Large groups People Working Together in Groups

Social Loafing: Is It a Universal Phenomenon

Perform in groups Perform alone

Standardized Performance Measure

Good 26 In the collectivistic cultures of China performance and Israel, people performed better

Poor performance

24

as part of a group than alone. 23.83 23.18

22 20.79

20

18

24.66

In the United States, people performed better alone than in groups (i.e., social loafing occurred).

18.49

16.57

16

Peoples Republic of China

Israel Country

United States

Potential Issues for Team Mission • • • •

Expected Grade? Utilization of People? Time Commitment? Desire for Skill Development Versus Task Accomplishment? • Other Issues?

Team Building Activities • Activities Related to One or More Individuals • Activities Oriented to the Group’s Operations and Behaviors • Activities Affecting the Group’s Relationship with the Rest of the Organization

Types of Teams • Groups reporting to the same manager • Groups involving people with common goals • Temporary groups formed to accomplish a specific, one-time task • Groups consisting of people whose work roles are interdependent • Groups with no formal links but whose collective purpose requires coordination

Types of Team Building • Family group diagnostic meeting – A set of activities designed to understand the current structure, process, and effectiveness of the team

• Family group team-building meeting – A set of activities design to address and improve a specific aspect of team functioning