Week 8

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Week 8 Groups and Teamwork

• MGT 30525 - ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
• Dr. K. A. S. P. Kaluarachchi
• Senior Lecturer
• Department of Management and Organization Studies
• Faculty of Management and Finance
• University of Colombo

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Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this lesson, you will be able to
• Define the concept of group in an organization
• Identify a theory of group formation
• Describe the process of group development
• Identify types of groups
• Define the concept of work team
• Compare work groups with work teams
• Identify types of work teams
• Know how to develop self-managed teams
• Recognize quality circles
• Know how build successful teams
• Identify dyfunctions of work groups and teams

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Define the Concept of Group

• If a group exists in an organization, its
  members
• (1) Are motivated to join
• (2) Perceive the group as a unified unit of
  interacting
• (3) Contribute in various amounts/ways to the
  group process
• (4) Reach agreements and have disagreements
  through various forms of interactions

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Group Formation
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Group Development Process
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Types of Groups

• Primary and secondary groups
• Small and large groups
• Coalitions (interacting group of individuals,
  for a specific purpose, independence from formal
  structure, mutual perception, issue-oriented,
  external form)
• Membership and reference groups
• In- and out-groups
• Formal and informal groups

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Work Teams

• The teams go beyond traditional formal work
  groups by having a collective, synergistic effect
  (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts)
  
• Katzenbach and Smith (1993) note
• A working groups performance is a function of
  what its members do as individuals. A teams
  performance includes both individual results and
  what we call collective work- products. A
  collective work-product is what two or more
  members must work on togetherit reflects the
  joint, real contribution of team members

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Work Groups vs. Work Teams
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Types of Teams

• Cross-functional teams are made up of
  individuals from various departments or
  functional areas. Overall functional breadth and
  cross-training of team members enhances
  information sharing, team interaction, and team
  performance
• Virtual teams advanced IT, increasing
  globalization, and the need for speed made
  face-to-face interaction of team members less
  important. Members performing knowledge-based
  tasks in remote locations are called virtual
  teams

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Types of Teams..

• Self-managed teams this is as part of the
  empowerment movement and the more egalitarian
  cultural values in an increasing number of
  organizations. A self-managed work team is a
  group of employees who are responsible for
  managing and performing technical tasks that
  result in a product or service being delivered to
  an internal or external customer

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Developing Self Managed Work Groups

• Specific goals are set for the group but members
  decide the best means by which these goals are to
  be achieved
• Group members have greater freedom and choice and
  wider discretion over the planning, execution and
  control of their work
• Collectively members of the group have the
  necessary variety of expertise and skills to
  undertake the tasks of the group successfully
• The level of external supervision is reduced and
  the role of supervisor becomes more one of giving
  advice and support to the group
• Feedback and evaluation are related to the
  performance of the group as a whole

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Quality Circles

• Membership is voluntary the group usually
  numbers between five and ten members
• Membership is normally drawn from people
  undertaking similar work or from the same work
  station
• The group selects the problems to be tackled and
  the methods of operation
• A leader can be chosen from within the group but
  is usually the immediate supervisor
• The group members receive training in
  communication and problem-solving skills, quality
  control techniques and group processes
• The group recommends solutions to management and,
  where possible, has authority to implement agreed
  solutions

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Building Successful Teams

• Clarification of objectives and available
  resources
• Organizational processes and the clarification of
  roles
• Empowerment, decision-making and channels of
  communication
• Patterns of interaction, and attention to both
  task and maintenance functions
• Social processes and the informal organization
• Management systems and style of leadership
• Training and development

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Dyfunctions of Groups and Teams

• Norm violation and role ambiguity/conflict
  Group norms that are violated can result in
  anti-social behaviors. e.g. sexual harassment and
  theft, lying, spading rumors, withholding effort,
  absenteeism, etc. Role ambiguity occurs when the
  individual worker is unclear about the task to be
  completed in a given situation. Role conflict
  occurs when the employee is asked to do
  conflicting tasks with his/her values
• The Groupthink/Conformity Problem Too much of
  adherence to the group norms can hinder
  creativity and innovation of the group
• Social Loafing Tendency of members to reduce
  their individual effort to the group

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Questions and Answers ??//

• Thank you very much!