Chapter 11: Effective Work Groups and Teams

1. Understanding And Managing Organizational Behavior 4th Edition Chapter 11:Effective Work Groups and Teams JENNIFER GEORGE & GARETH JONES

2. Chapter Objectives • Describe the sources of process losses and gains and understand how they affect group or team potential performance • Understand how social loafing can occur in groups and the steps that can be taken to prevent it • Differentiate between three forms of task interdependence and discuss the team performance implications associated with them

3. Chapter Objectives • Understand the ways in which a group’s cohesiveness affects its performance and explain which level of cohesiveness results in the highest team performance • Describe the nature of four important kinds of groups in organizations and how and why they help an organization achieve its goals

4. Opening Case: Creating High-Performance Teams • How can organizations create high-performance teams? • Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company • Levi Strauss

5. Problems in Group Motivation and Performance • Social Loafing • Sucker Effect

6. Causes of Social Loafing • Lack of connection between inputs and outcomes • Perception that individual efforts are unnecessary or unimportant • Both causes are linked with group size

7. Reducing Social Loafing • Make individual contributions identifiable • Make individuals feel that they are making valuable contributions to a group • Keep the group as small as possible

8. Task Interdependence • Extent to which the work performed by one member affects what other group members do

9. Types of Task Interdependence • Pooled Task Interdependence • Sequential Task Interdependence • Reciprocal Task Interdependence

10. What is Group Cohesiveness? The attractiveness of a group to its members

11. Signs of Cohesiveness • Low cohesiveness: Information flows slowly; group has little influence; group tends not to achieve its goals • Moderate cohesiveness: Group members work well together; there is good communication and participation; group is able to influence its members’ behavior; group tends to achieve its goals • Very high cohesiveness: Group members socialize excessively; high level of conformity; group achieves its goals at expense of other groups

12. Consequences Advantages Potential Disadvantages A high level of participation and communication within the group A high level of conformity to group norms Group goal accomplishment Group members likely to perform behaviors necessary for group and organization to achieve goals, information flows quickly in the group, and turnover may be relatively low The group is able to control its members’ behavior to achieve group goals The group achieves its goals and is effective Group members may waste time socializing on the job and chatting about non-work matters Excessive conformity within the group may result in resistance to change and failure to discard dysfunctional norms Group members may not cooperate with other groups as much as they should Table 11.1 Consequences of High Cohesiveness When Group Goals Are Aligned with Organizational Goals

13. Consequences Disadvantages A high level of participation and communication within the group A high level of conformity to group norms Group goal accomplishment Group members may waste time socializing on the job and chatting about non-work matters Group members behave in ways that are dysfunctional for the organization The group achieves its goals at the expense of organizational goals Table 11.2 Disadvantages of High Cohesiveness When Group Goals are Not Aligned with Organizational Goals

14. Important Organizational Groups • Top Management Team • Self-Managed Work Teams • Research and Development Teams • Virtual Teams

15. Conditions Required for Effectiveness in Self-Managed Teams • Team is truly self-managing • Work is complex • Work results in finished end product • Managers are supportive of teams • Members are carefully selected • Members want to be part of the team