Groups,

Teams, and

Powerful

Meetings

Chapter 3

Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Groups

• Groups

– two or more people who interact with one

another, are aware of one another, and think

of themselves as a group

3-2

Reasons for Joining a Group

Strength in

Numbers

Pleasure in

Closeness

Common

Goals

Achievement

of Objectives

3-3

Groups in the Workplace

• Functional groups

– fulfill ongoing needs in the organization by

carrying out a particular function

• Task groups

– are set up to carry out a specific activity, and

they disband when that activity has been

completed

3-4

Groups in the Workplace

• Formal groups

– Groups set up by management to meet

organizational objectives

• Informal groups

– Groups that form when individuals in the

organization develop relationships to meet

personal needs

3-5

Getting the Group to

Work With You

• Make sure all members of a formal group know what they can and should be doing.

• Keep groups informed about what is happening in the organization and what changes are planned for the future.

• Support the group when it wants to bring legitimate concerns to higher management.

• Make good choices about whom to assign to the group.

• Encourage the group to participate in solving problems.

3-6

Ways to Describe Groups

3-7

Roles

• Roles

– Patterns of behavior related to employees’

positions in a group

• Role conflict

– situations in which a person has two different

roles that call for conflicting types of behavior

3-8

Sources of Roles

• Sometimes a person’s formal position in

an organization dictates a certain role.

• Another source is a combination of the

person’s beliefs about how he ought to

behave and other people’s expectations

about how that person will act

3-9

Norms

• Norms

– Group standards for appropriate or acceptable behavior

• When a member of the group violates a norm, the group responds by pressuring the person to conform.

• Formal groups have procedures for handling violations of norms that are group policies

3-10

Status

• Status

– A group member’s position in relation to

others in the group

• Status depends the person’s role in the

group, title, pay, education level, age,

race, and sex.

3-11

Cohesiveness

• Cohesiveness

– The degree to which group members stick

together

3-12

Cohesiveness

• Why groups stick together:

–Equal participation by all

–Shared goals or characteristics

–History of successes

–Comfortable group size

–Competition with other groups

3-13

Size

• As few as two people can form a group.

• Up to 15 or 16 group members can get to

know and communicate well with one

another.

• Beyond 20 members, however, informal

subgroups tend to form.

3-14

Homogeneity

• Homogeneity

– The degree to which the members of a group

are the same

• Group members can be alike or different

according to age, sex, race, work experience,

education level, social class, personality, and

interests,

• People feel most comfortable around others who

are like themselves

3-15

Teams

• Teams

– small group whose members share goals,

commitment, and accountability for results

• Self-managing work teams

– groups of 5 to 15 members who work together

to produce an entire product

3-16

Stages of Teams

• Forming

• Storming

• Norming

• Performing

• Adjourning

1-17

Descriptions of Stages

• Forming

– first stage of the team development process

– team members become acquainted with one

another and oriented to the idea that they are

part of a team.

• Storming

– describes a period of conflict in which group

members assert their different roles on the

team

3-18

Descriptions of Stages (cont.)

• Norming

– characterized by agreement among team

members.

• Performing

– characterized by solving organizational

problems and meeting assigned challenges.

• Adjourning

– Once the team has met all of its goals, it is

appropriate for the team to disband

3-19

Benefits of Teamwork

• Enables the organization to increase its

usage of the insights and expertise of all

its employees

• Can serve as motivators

3-20

Coaching the Team

• Enable team member to do their best

–Provide employees with the resources they need to do their job

–Remove obstacles that interfere with their work

• Express a vision for the team

• Be sure the team recognizes their boundaries

• Coaching enables the supervisor to build on the strengths and expertise of the whole group

3-21

Team Building

• Team building

– Developing the ability of team members to

work together to achieve common objectives

3-22

Team Building

• Team building includes:

–Setting goals

–Analyzing what needs to be done

–Allocating work

–Examining how well the group is working

–Examining the relationships among team members

3-23

Communication in Teams

• The way the team leader communicates with the other team members influences team success.

• Team leaders should create a climate of: – Trust

– Openness

– Collaboration

• Team leaders should acknowledge disagreement

• Teamwork requires open and positive communication among team members

3-24

Rewards

• Members must be rewarded appropriately for teams to remain productive.

• The entire team should be rewarded for its accomplishments instead of emphasizing individual rewards.

• Rewards should be varied enough so that everyone will feel motivated.

3-25

Reasons for Meetings

• To convey news to a group of people

• To allow a group to participate in decision

making

• To prepare group members for a change

and build support for the change

• To prevent misunderstandings

3-26

Preparing for a Meeting

• Decide who should attend

• Decide where to meet

• Draw up an agenda

• Distribute the agenda to all participants in

time for participants to review it before the

meeting

• Make sure participants have received any

other documents they might need

3-27

Conducting a Meeting

• Begin promptly at the scheduled starting time

• Facilitate the discussion – Rephrase ideas that participants express

– Summarize key points often enough to make sure everyone is following the discussion

• Do not dominate the discussion

• Encourage everyone to contribute

• Do not allow one participant to monopolize a discussion

• End the meeting on time

3-28

Overcoming Problems

with Meetings

• Keep the discussion linked to agenda

items

• Avoid ridiculing participants and respect

their efforts to contribute

• Be prepared

• Be sure participants are prepared; if they

are not, consider rescheduling the meeting

3-29