Groups, Teams and

Organizational Effectiveness

• Group
– Two or more people
who interact with
each other to
accomplish certain
goals or meet certain
needs.
 Groups, Teams and
Organizational Effectiveness

• Team
– A group whose members work intensely
with each other to achieve a specific,
common goal or objective.
– All teams are groups but not all groups are
teams.
• Teams often are difficult to form.
• It takes time for members to learn how to
work together.
 Groups and Teams as
Performance Enhancers

• Factors that contribute to synergy

– Ability of group members to bounce ideas
off one another
– To correct one another’s mistakes
– To bring a diverse knowledge base to bear
on a problem
– To accomplish work that is too vast for any
one individual to achieve
Groups’ and Teams’ Contributions to
Organizational Effectiveness
The Types of Groups and Teams in
Organizations
The Types of Groups and Teams

• Formal Group
– A group that
managers
establish to
achieve
organization
goals.
 Formal Groups

• Cross-functional teams
– composed of members from different
departments
• Cross-cultural teams
– composed of members from different
cultures or countries
The Types of Groups and Teams

• Informal Group
– A group that managers or nonmanagerial
employees form to help achieve their own
goals or to meet their own needs.
The Types of Groups and Teams

Type of Team
Top-management A group composed of the CEO, the president,
team and the heads of the most important
departments
Research and A team whose members have the expertise
development team and experience needed to develop new
products
Command groups A group composed of subordinates who
report to the same supervisor, also called a
department or unit,
Task forces A committee of managers or nonmanagerial
employees from various departments or
divisions who meet to solve a specific,
mutual problem; also called an “ad hoc”
committee
The Types of Groups and Teams

Type of Team
Self-managed work A group of employees who supervise their
team own activities and monitor the quality of the
goods and services they provide.
Virtual team A team whose members rarely or never meet
face to face and interact by using various
forms of information technology such as
email, computer networks, telephone, fax and
video conferences.
Friendship group An informal group composed of employees
who enjoy each other’s company and
socialize with each other.
Interest group An informal group composed of employees
seeking to achieve a common goal related to
their membership in an organization.
 Self-Managed Work Teams

Keys to effective self managed teams:

– Give the team enough responsibility and
autonomy to be self-managing.
– The team’s task should be complex enough
to include many different steps.
– Select members carefully for their diversity,
skills, and enthusiasm.
– Managers should guide and coach, not
supervise.
– Determine training needs and be sure it is
provided.
 Virtual Teams

• A team whose
members rarely meet
face-to-face
• Interact by using
various forms of
information
technology
• Email, computer
networks, telephone,
fax, and
videoconferences
 Friendship Groups

An informal group composed of employees

who enjoy one another’s company and
socialize with
one another
 Interest Groups

An informal group of
employees
seeking to
achieve a
common goal
related to their
membership in an
organization
Group Dynamics: Interdependence

• Pooled
– Members make separate, independent
contributions to group such that group
performance is the sum of each member’s
contributions
Group Dynamics: Interdependence

• Sequential
– Members perform
tasks in a
sequential order
making it difficult to
determine individual
performance since
one member
depends on
another.
Group Dynamics: Interdependence

• Reciprocal
– Work performed
by one group
member is
mutually
dependent on
work done by
other members.
 Group Roles

• Group Roles
– The set of behaviors and tasks that a group
member is expected to perform because of
his or her position in the group.
 Group Roles

• In cross-functional teams, members are

expected to perform roles in their specialty.
• Managers should clearly describe expected
roles to group members when they are
assigned to the group.
• Role-making occurs as workers take on more
responsibility in their roles as group members.
• Self-managed teams may assign the roles to
members themselves.
 Group Leadership

• Effective leadership is a key ingredient in high

performing groups, teams, and organizations.
• Formal groups created by an organization
have a leader appointed by the organization.
• Groups that evolve independently in an
organization have an informal leader
recognized by the group.
The Stages of Group Development
 Stages of Group Development

• Forming
– Group members get to know each other and
reach common goals.
• Storming
– Group members disagree on direction and
leadership. Managers need to be sure the
conflict stays focused.
• Norming
– Close ties and consensus begin to develop
between group members.
 Stages of Group Development

• Performing
– The group begins to do its real work.
• Adjourning
– Only for task forces that are temporary.
– Note that these steps take time!
 Group Dynamics

• Conformity and Deviance

– Members conform to norms to obtain rewards,
imitate respected members, and because they
feel the behavior is right.
– When a member deviates, other members will
try to make them conform, expel the member,
or change the group norms to accommodate
them.
– Conformity and deviance must be balanced for
high performance from the group.
– Deviance allows for new ideas in the group.
 Group Cohesiveness

• The degree to which members are

attracted to their group
• Three major consequences
– Level of participation
– Level of conformity to group norms
– Emphasis on group goal accomplishment
Sources and Consequences of
Group Cohesiveness
 Factors Leading to Group
Cohesiveness
Factor
Group Size Smaller groups allow for high cohesiveness;
Low cohesiveness groups with many
members can benefit from splitting into two
groups.

Managed Diversity Diverse groups often come up with better

solutions.

Group Identity Encouraging a group to adopt a unique

identity and engage in competition with
others can increase cohesiveness.

Success Cohesiveness increases with success;

finding ways for a group to have some small
successes increases cohesiveness.
 Managing Groups and Teams
for High Performance
• Motivating group members to achieve
organizational goals:
– Members should benefit when the group
performs well—rewards can be monetary or
in other forms such as special recognition.
– Individual compensation is a combination of
both individual and group performance.
– Make additional resources (beyond
compensation) such as choice assignments
available to high-performance groups.
 Managing Groups and Teams
for High Performance
• Social loafing
– The human tendency to put forth less effort
in a group than individually.
– Results in possibly lower group performance
and failure to
attain group
goals
 Managing Groups and Teams
for High Performance

• Reducing social loafing:

– Make individual efforts identifiable and
accountable.
– Emphasize the valuable contributions of
individual members.
– Keep group size at an appropriate level.
Three Ways to Reduce Social Loafing
 Quality Circle

• Quality Circles are (informal) groups of

employees who voluntarily meet together
on a regular basis to identify, define,
analyze and solve work related
problems.
 Quality circle

• Other Names of Quality Circles

• Small Groups
• Action Circles
• Excellence Circles
• Human Resources Circles
• Productivity Circles
 What Takes Place During Quality
Circle Meetings?
• Identifying a theme or a problem to work on.
• Getting training as required to enable
members to analyze problems.
• Analyzing problem(s).
• Preparing recommendations for implementing
solution(s).
• Follow up of implementation of suggestions.
• Prepare for a presentation to the
management.
 Structure of Quality Circles Program
Six Basic Elements

• Circle participants or members.

• Circle leaders/deputy leaders.
• Program facilitator.
• Steering/advisory committee.
• Top management.
• Non-participating
management/members.
 Problem Solving Tools and
Techniques Used by Quality Circles

• Brainstorming.
• Pareto analysis.
• Cause and effect diagram (or fish bone
diagram or Ishikawa diagram).
• Histogram.
• Scatter diagram
• Check sheet
• Control charts and graphs