CHAPTER 7

WORK TEAMS AND

GROUPS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

What are Groups

Why People Form Groups
Stages of Group Development
Roles Within Groups
Advantages and Disadvantages of Groups
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Techniques in Group Decision Making

What Are Work Teams
Types of Teams
Developing Effective Teams
Turning Individuals into Team Players Potential Team
Problems
 WORK TEAMS AND GROUPS.

Group output and product are essential concerns of people

managing in organizations. This is expected because
whatever the groups do, the organization is affected.

If the organization is to be made effective in accomplish its

goals, the groups comprising it must be managed properly.
This can be achieved through the use of knowledge about the
behavior of groups including work teams.
WHAT ARE GROUPS

A group may be defined as two or more persons, interacting and interdependent,

who have come together to achieve certain objectives:

Groups may be classified as:

1. Formal group. This one is defined by the organization structure, with

designated work assignments and established tasks. An example of a formal
group is the economics area of a university consisting of six faculty members and
an area chairman.
WHAT ARE GROUPS (cont.)

2. Informal Group . This groupd type in either formally stuctured nor

organizationally determined.
Types of Formal Groups

Formal groups may be further classified as:

1. Command group. A group composed of individuals who report
directly to a certain manager. An example is a group consisting 'of a
sales supervisor and his ten salesmen.
2. Task group. It is that kind of group consisting of persons working
together to complete a job task. An example is the group of five
faculty members from different departments coordinating and
preparing the semester enrollment program of the university.
 Types of Informal Groups

Informal groups may be classified as follows

Interest group. An interest group is one that is formed because

of some special topic interest. In general, the group disbands when
the interest declines or a goal has been achieved. An example of an
interest group is that of employees with young children grouping
together to present a unified front to management for some benefits
like allowances for child care.
 Types of Informal Groups (cont.)

2. Friendship groups. A friendship group is one where

member are brought together because they share one or
more characteristics such as age, political beliefs, or ethnic
background. Friendship groups often extend their interaction
to activities outside of their jobs.
WHY PEOPLE FORM GROUPS

People form groups for reasons such as:

1. need satisfaction
2. proximity
3.attraction
4. goals and
5. economics
STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Groups are like people; they learn and they develop. How they evolve
may be seen through a presentation of standardized sequence in the
development of groups. The sequence consist of the different stages as
follows:
1. The forming stage
2. The storming stage
3. The norming stage
4. The performing stage
5. The adjourning stage
The Forming Stage

The first stage of group development is the forming stage.

There are various ways of forming groups. One way is that
person getting appointed to a discipline committee. Another is
that person who is helping to form a medical mission, and
another is that person who is gradually becoming part of a
choral group over a period of months.
The Storming Stage

The storming stage is that stage when conflict within the

group happens. Members may get involved in competition for
desired assignments and disagreements over appropriate
behaviors and responsibilities related to task performance.
 The Norming Stage

This stage is also known as the initial integration

stage, this when the group really begins to come
together as a coordinated unit. Cooperation and
collaboration are its main characterisrics. There is an
open exchange of information, acceptance of
differences opinion , and active attempts to achieve
goals and objectives which are mutually agreed upon.
 The Performing Stage

In the performing stage, the group emerges as a

mature, organized, and a well-functioning group, and
it is ready to focus on accomplishing its key tasks. This
stage is also referred to as the total integration stage.
The Adjourning Stage

The adjourning stage involves the termination

of activities. This stage is applicable to
temporary groups such as committees, project
groups, task forces, and similar entities.
ROLES WITHIN GROUPS

Group efforts can be made more effective if relevant roles are played within
the group. There are specific roles that are deemed important in the group
process. These are the following:

1. Knowledge contributor. Any group would largely benefit from a

member who plays this role. If he is technically proficient enough, he will be
providing useful and valid information. He can be of great help in task
accomplishment and the value of sharing technical expertise with other
members of the group.
 ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

2. Process observer. The person occupying this role

forces members to look at how the group functions. He is

the first member affected when the group is starting to

fail in doing its function. However, he is also the first to

acknowledge excellent group performance.

ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

3. People supporter. Some group members are not

emotionally trong to face the various difficulties heaped upon
them in the performance of their functions. There is a need
for one member to assume the role of people supporter who
provides emotional support to teammates and resolve
conflicts.
ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

4. Challenger. The group needs someone who confronts

and challenges bad ideas. This will prevent complacency
and non-critical thinking. The challenger will succeed in his
role if he possesses effective interpersonal skills. He must
not appear as someone who challenges anything for the
sake of challenging. His role must be regarded as a part of
the problem solving process.
ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

5.Listener. There is a need for someone to listen to

whatever ideas or proposals presented by any member of
the group. Somebody must assume that role. Even the best
proposals will go to waste if nobody cares to listen.
 ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

6. Mediator. It is not uncommon for group members to

get involved in disputes between each other. When this
happens, it will affect not only the performance of the
protagonists but also that of the whole group as well. To
avoid this, it is important for the group to have someone
assume the role of mediator.
 ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

7.Gatekeeper.The role of the gatekeeper is

to provide the opportunity for every member to
express his or her opinion. The gatekeeper will
also remind every member about good ideas
that were recognized previously.
ROLES WITHIN GROUPS (cont.)

8.Take-charge leader. -There are occasions when a group

has no appointed leader, or if there is one, he could not play
his role for one reason or another. The leadership vacuum
cannot exist indefinetly and for the sake of group
effectiveness, a team member should assume the role of the
take-charge leader.
TECHNIQUES IN GROUP DECISION MAKING

There are various techniques used in group decision making.

Four of these are presented as follows;

1. Interacting groups
2. Brainstorming
3. Nomical group technique
4. Electronic meeting
TECHNIQUES IN GROUP DECISION MAKING (cont)

Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group problem-solving
technique which promotes creativity by
encouraging members to come up with any ideas,
no matter how strange, without fear of criticism.
TECHNIQUES IN GROUP DECISION MAKING (cont)

Nominal Group Technique

The nominal group technique is a group decision-making
method in which individual members meet face-to-face to
pool their judgments in a systematic but independent
fashion. The group decision is the mathematically pooled
outcome of individual votes.
TECHNIQUES IN GROUP DECISION MAKING (cont)

Electronic Meeting
Electronic meeting is a decision-making technique
wherein members interact through computers, allowing
anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes. This
technique features the distinct advantages of anonymity,
honesty, and speed
WHAT ARE WORK TEAMS

Work teams are important elements of organizations. They

are the groups expected to deliver high performance when
the organization requires it.

A work team is a formal group comprised of people

interacting very closely together with a shared commitment
to accomplish agreed-upon objectives.
Differences between Workgroups and Teams

Groups and teams are not similar. A workgroup is

one that interacts primarily to share information and to
make decisions to help each member perform within
his or her area of responsibility- Groups emphasize
individual leadership, individual accountability, and
individual work products.
TYPE OF TEAMS
There are various types of teams. The most
common are:
1. problem-solving teams
2. self-managed work teams
3. cross functional teams
4. virtual teams
TYPE OF TEAMS (cont.)

Problem-Solving Teams
Problem-solving teams are groups of 5 to 12 employees from the
same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss
ways of improving quality, efficiency, and work environment.
Members of problem-solving teams share ideas or offer suggestions
on how processes and methods can be improved.
TYPE OF TEAMS (cont.)

Self-Managed Work Teams

A self-managed work team is one that is empowered to make decisions
about work schedules, task allocations, job skills training, performance
evaluation, selection of new team members, and controlling quality of
work.Team members are collectively held accountable for the team's
overall performance results.
TYPE OF TEAMS (cont.)

Virtual Teams
Virtual teams are those that use computer technology to
tie together physically dispersed members in order to
achieve a common goal. Members do the same things as
members of face-to-face teams. They also share information,
make decisions, and complete tasks. The difference is they do it
with the aid of computers
 Thanks!
Any questions?