1. Teams and Teamwork Class 10
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

2. Teams vs. Groups: What’s the Difference?
Two or more people with a common relationship.
Teams
A small number of people who work closely together toward a common objective and are accountable to one another.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on page 201.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

3. Four Types of Teams Problem-Solving (Process-Improvement) Teams
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 the work environment.
E.g. Quality Circles
A work group of 8 to 10 employees and managers who meet regularly to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions.
Self-Managed (Self-Directed) Teams
Groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former managers.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Quality Circles are one of the most widely practised applications of problem solving teams. Originally begun in the U.S. and exported to Japan in 1950, the quality circle is a work group of eight to ten employees and their supervisor who have a shared area of responsibility. They meet regularly, typically once a week, to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes of the problems, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions. They take responsibility for solving quality problems and they generate and evaluate their own feedback. Part of the "quality circle" concept includes teaching participating employees group communication skills, various quality strategies, and measurement and problem analysis techniques.
One of the major problems with quality circles was the disconnection between employee suggestions for improvement and actual implementation of those suggestions. Quality Circles were popular in the early 1980s, but most companies have transformed the idea of the quality circle into more comprehensive employee involvement.
Self-Managed teams: Are made up of groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former managers. This includes tasks such as planning, scheduling, addressing problems with the work process, perhaps even team member selection and discipline.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

4. Types of Teams Cross-Functional Teams Virtual Teams
Employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
Skunkworks: Cross-functional teams that develop spontaneously to create new products or work on complex problems.
Virtual Teams
Use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Cross-functional teams are made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task. They are an effective way to allow people from diverse areas within an organization to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems, and coordinate complex projects. It takes time to build trust and teamwork, especially among people from different backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives. Task forces and committees are common examples of cross-functional teams.
Virtual teams use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal. They allow people to collaborate online—using communication links like wide-area networks, video conferencing, and —whether they're only a room away or continents apart.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

5. Roles
A role is a set of expected behaviour patterns associated with someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
Role expectations: How others believe a person should act in a given situation.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

6. Roles Role Conflict Role Ambiguity Role Overload Role Underload
A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations.
Role Ambiguity
A person is unclear about his or her role.
Role Overload
Too much is expected of someone.
Role Underload
Too little is expected of someone, and that person feels that he or she is not contributing to the group.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

7. Norms
Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the group’s members.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

8. What Norms Cover Performance Appearance Social arrangement
How hard to work, what kind of quality, levels of tardiness
Appearance
Personal dress, when to look busy, when to "goof off," how to show loyalty
Social arrangement
How team members interact
Allocation of resources
Pay, assignments, allocation of tools and equipment
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on page 211.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

9. How Norms Develop Explicit statements Critical events
Initial patterns of behaviour
Carry-over behaviour
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on page 211.
Explicit statements made by a group member: Often instructions from the group’s supervisor or a powerful member. The group leader might, for instance, specifically say that no personal phone calls are allowed during working hours or that coffee breaks must be no longer than 10 minutes.
Critical events in the group’s history: These set important precedents. A bystander is injured while standing too close to a machine and, from that point on, members of the work group regularly monitor each other to ensure that no one other than the operator gets within two metres of any machine.
Primacy: The first behaviour pattern that emerges in a group frequently sets group expectations. Groups of students who are friends often stake out seats near each other on the first day of class and become upset if an outsider takes “their” seats in a later class.
Carry-over behaviours from past situations: Group members bring expectations with them from other groups of which they have been members. This can explain why work groups typically prefer to add new members who are similar to current ones in background and experience. This is likely to increase the probability that the expectations they bring are consistent with those already held by the group.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

10. Why Norms Are Enforced Facilitate group survival.
Make behaviour predictable.
Minimize embarrassment.
Express central values.
Clarify the group’s identity.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
A norm is enforced if:
It facilitates the group’s survival. Groups don’t like to fail, so they seek to enforce those norms that increase their chances for success. This means that they’ll try to protect themselves from interference from other groups or individuals.
It increases the predictability of group members’ behaviours. Norms that increase predictability enable group members to anticipate each other’s actions and to prepare appropriate responses.
It reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group members. Norms are important if they ensure the satisfaction of their members and prevent as much interpersonal discomfort as possible.
It allows members to express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive about the group’s identity. Norms that encourage expression of the group’s values and distinctive identity help to solidify and maintain the group.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

11. Conformity
Adjusting one’s behaviour to align with the norms of the group
People conform to reference groups
Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on page 212.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

12. Exhibit 6-4 Stages of Group Development
Material pertinent to this illustration is found on page 213.
Forming is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. Members are “testing the waters” to determine what types of behaviour are acceptable. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group.
The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but resist the constraints that the group imposes on individuality. When this stage is complete, a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership will emerge within the group.
In the third stage, norming, close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness. There is now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. This norming stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member behaviour.
This fourth stage, when significant task progress is being made is called performing. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand.
For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in their development. However, for temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourning stage. In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

13. Stages of Group and Team Development
Stage I: Forming
Characterized by much uncertainty
Stage II: Storming
Characterized by intragroup conflict
Stage III: Norming
Characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

14. Stages of Group Development
Stage IV: Performing
The stage when the group is fully functional
Stage V: Adjourning
The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

15. Putting the Five-Stage Model Into Perspective
Groups do not necessarily progress clearly through the stages one at a time.
Groups can sometimes go back to an earlier stage.
Conflict can sometimes be helpful to the group.
Context can matter: airline pilots can immediately reach performing stage.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

16. The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Phase 1
The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
The first phase of group activity is one of inertia.
Transition
A transition takes place at the end of the first phase, which occurs exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time.
The transition initiates major changes.
Phase 2
A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
Last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found on pages
Studies confirm that groups do not develop in a universal sequence of stages; however, the timing of when groups form and change the way they work is highly consistent. The first meeting sets the group's direction, the first phase of group activity is one of inertia, then a transition takes place which initiates major changes, then a second phase of inertia follows the transition, and finally the group's last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity. The punctuated-equilibrium model characterizes groups as exhibiting long periods of inertia interspersed with brief revolutionary changes triggered primarily by their members' awareness of time and deadlines.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

17. Exhibit 6-5 The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
Completion
Transition
First
Meeting
Phase 1
Phase 2
(High)
(Low) A
(A+B)/2
Time B
Performance
Material pertinent to this illustration is found on page 215.
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model. It’s been found that
(1) The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
(2) The first phase of group activity is one of inertia.
(3) A transition takes place at the end of the first phase, which occurs exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time.
(4) The transition initiates major changes.
(5) A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
(6) The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
These findings are shown in Exhibit 6-5.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

18. Paper Tower Exercise
Each group will receive 20 index cards, 12 paper clips, and 1 package of crayons (24 colours). Using these materials you will build a paper tower that will be judged on: height, stability, and beauty.
Step 1 (10 minutes): Plan your construction. No building allowed.
Step 2 (15 minutes): Construct the tower. Be sure to put your group number somewhere on the tower.
Step 3 (5 minutes): Towers will be delivered to the front of the room, where they will be judged by the class.
This exercise is described on page 239.
Use this slide to briefly describe the exercise to the class.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

19. Paper Tower Questions
Step 4: In small groups, discuss the following questions:
Did your group have a leader? Why or why not?
How did the group respond to ideas during the planning stage?
To what extent did you follow the five-step model of group development?
List helpful behaviours? Explain.
List dysfunctional behaviours? Explain.
This exercise is described on page 239.
These are the debriefing questions I use after the towers are built.
Chapter 6, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada