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