Understanding Work Teams Learning Outcome: 1. Describe Formal and Informal Group 2. Define Group Norms 3. Explain Group Cohesiveness and Conformity 4. Define Groupthink 5. Understand the Concept of Team Building 6. Describe a Quality Circle

Formal and Informal Group Group where people interact to meet a shared goal, sense of purpose. In organization contain two kind of groups; a. informal work groups b. formal work groups

Informal Work Groups Formed voluntary by members of an organization - through personal contacts and interactions Interest group : members share a purpose or concern Social Experience : contacts or interactions at work Develop where employees work close together

Informal Work Groups Effect of informal groups - affect productivity - employees morale - success of managers - create loyalty Hawthorne Studies - result from power of group; set own productivity levels and pressure workers to meet them.

Formal Work Groups Establishes to carry out specific tasks - can exist for short or long time period - example “Task force” with single goal in designing a new product or resolving problem. Group Norms - informally regulate the behavior of the group members - loyal to group and expected to hold on it - it doesn’t govern every action but only those important survive - affect productivity levels and operating procedures or other work-related activities.

Formal Work Group Development Stages Stage of Group Development Forming High commitment Low competence Members come to the group committed, but they have not developed competence in working together Storming Lower commitment Some competence Members come to the group committed, but they have not developed competence in working together Norming Variable commitment High competence Commitment changes while competence remains constant Performing High commitment High competence Commitment and competence remain high

Formal Work Groups Group Behavior Cohesiveness Conformity Groupthink Degree of attraction among group members Determine strength of group norms The smaller the number in a group the better Determine the success towards achieving the objectives Accept and follow group norms Need consistent behavior of members - similar to personal attitudes, beliefs, behavior - feel pressure to accept - rewards or sanctions for comply or not comply Group members lose ability to think as individual and confirm at expense of their good judgment

Formal Work Groups - Pressure Group Group is broken up 110 100 Group Pressure 90 80 70 60 50 Group Production Level 40 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Entire group worked together Operate, an isolate, on her own

The Important of Work Teams Helps organization meet its goal Group has more knowledge and information than individual Create more effective and efficient organization Improve productivity and maintain competitive edge Bringing men and women from different background together

The Important of Work Teams Linking pin (Manager) Work group WG WG Source: Rensis Likert Linking-pin concept: manager’s roles in work group Managers are members of overlapping groups, link formal work group to the total organization Effective formal work group – called Team Building Process of establishing cohesive group – achieve its goal

Supervisor is an authority granted by top management: Groups and Leaders Supervisor is an authority granted by top management: 1. Gain Acceptance Supervisor assign to a formal work group must work to gain acceptance as leader. - know their task well - communicate information effectively -treat workers with respect - make fair judgment - gain trust and respect of employees

Groups and Leaders 2. Encouraging Participation Building an effective team requires a nontraditional managerial approach Share responsibility, acting more as a coach than a manager Provide group with a vision Offer members the possibility of designing a state-of-the-art product or service Supervisor lead by example

Group Decision Making Group decision in organization are made by group rather than individuals There are at least two primary reasons for this; 1. desire to develop more and better alternatives 2. to get best ideas and to improve their implementation

Advantages of Group Decision Decision as their own set of strength and neither ideal for all situation Provides more complete information Generates more alternatives Increase acceptance of a solution Increase legitimacy

Advantages of Group Decision Provides more complete information develop through diversity of experience and perspective to the decision making Generates more alternatives have greater quantity and diversity of information Increase acceptance of a solution - many decision fail after final choice has been made because people do not accept the solution - participation of people affected by the solution and help to implement it, they are likely to accept the solution and encourage others to accept it. Increase legitimacy the decision making process is consistent with democratic ideals and perceived as more legitimate

Disadvantages of Group Decision Time consuming Minority domination -members are not perfectly equal -they are different in term of:- rank/position, experience, knowledge, verbal skills, influence others etc. 3. Pressure to confirm - social pressure in groups such as “Groupthink” Ambiguous responsibility - group is shared responsibility, but who is actually responsible for the final outcome? - group decision any responsibility of any single member is watered down

Disadvantages of Group Decision Groupthink -Style of thinking often in cohesive groups - attempt to reduce conflict and reach agreement without thoroughly evaluating alternative actions The Symptoms of groupthink: Feelings of invulnerability where danger is ignored and excessive risks are taken Rationalizing anything contrary to group assumption Overriding belief in the morality of the group regardless of ethical outcomes Stereotyping opposition as weak and ineffectual Pressuring group members not to be disloyal to the group Self-censoring individual ideas not in harmony with the group viewpoint Illusion of unanimous agreement with silence viewed assent Mindguards who shield the group from adverse outside information

Improve Decision Group Making Brainstorming (process of generating ideas) - problem share and understand by all group members - “free-wheel” as many alternatives in a give time - No criticism allow, all alternatives recorded for later discussion Nominal Group Technique (restricts discussion) - members required to operate independently Electronic Meetings - blend the nominal group technique with sophisticated computer and videoconferencing technology - immediate feedback in given and discuss

Leadership Skills 1. Motivation (what supervisor does on employee) -define as:- aim, desire, end, impluse, intention, objective, and purpose -motivation getting people to exert a high degree of effort on their job - motivation must come within an employee - supervisor must create an environment that encourages motivation on part of the employees - Motivation can best be understood using the following sequence of events: Needs Drives or motives Accomplishment of goals

Leadership Skills 2. Understanding People (individual has a unique personality and makeup) - need to motivate differently - as people work for different reasons When supervisor attempt to understand behavior of an employee; - must understand that people do things for a reason - reason can be imaginary, inaccurate, distorted, unjustifiable, but it is real to the individual Pygmalion effect (self-fulfilling prophecy) - tendency of an employee to live up to the supervisor’s expectations. - supervisor expects an employee to succeed – he usually did, supervisor expects an employee to fail- he usually did.

Leadership Skills 3. Job satisfaction(relate to motivation) - individual general attitude or mind set towards the job - can be affected by working condition, pay, benefits - organizational morale, refer to individual feeling of being accepted by , and belonging to, a group of employees through common goals, confidence in their desirability, and progress toward them. - morale also related to group attitudes, while job satisfaction is more of an individual attitude.

Leadership Skills 3. Job Satisfaction Perceived opportunities elsewhere Commitment to the organization – loyalty, devotion Job satisfaction Perceived long-range opportunities Social relationships Working conditions Job dissatisfaction Lack of commitment to the organization – turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, accidents, strikes, grievances, sabotage Compensation Job design Supervision