8-1 Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin

8-2 Groups, Teams, and Their Leadership “We are born for cooperation, as are the feet, the hands, the eyelids, and the upper and lower jaws.” ~Marcus Aurelius Chapter 1010

8-3 Introduction Groups and teams are different for more reasons than solely the skills, abilities, values, and motives of those who comprise them. Group perspective looks at how different group characteristics can affect relationships both with the leader and among the followers. –This is the interesting twist to the Interactional Framework –It’s almost like a sub-level to the “Followers” component.

8-4 Individuals Versus Groups Versus Teams Team members usually have a stronger sense of identification among themselves than group members do. Teams have common goals or tasks. Task independence typically is greater with teams than with groups. Team members often have more differentiated and specialized roles than group members. Teams can be considered as highly specialized groups.

8-5 The Nature of Groups Group: Two or more persons interacting with one another so that each person influences and is influenced by each person. –Group members interact with and influence each other. –This definition incorporates the concept of reciprocal influence between leaders and followers.

8-6 Group Size Leader emergence is partly a function of group size. –Which size groups more commonly have leaders emerge from them? Bigger or smaller groups? As groups become larger, cliques are more likely to develop. Group size can affect a leader’s behavioral style. –Span of control –Group effectiveness.

8-7 Group Phenomena Social loafing: Phenomenon of reduced effort by people when they are not individually accountable for their work. Social facilitation: People increasing their level of work due to the presence of others. Groupthink: People in highly cohesive groups or in extremely convincing (well defined roles) often become more concerned with striving for unanimity more than in objectively evaluating different courses of action.

8-8 Group Roles & Norms Group roles: Sets of expected behaviors associated with particular jobs or positions. Norms: Informal rules groups adopt to regulate and regularize group members’ behavior. –Simplify what behavior is expected of group members. –Help the group to avoid embarrassing interpersonal problems. –Express the central values of the group and defines the group’s identity.

8-9 Group Cohesion Group cohesion: The glue that keeps a group together. Highly cohesive groups interact with and influence each other more than do less cohesive groups. –Highly cohesive groups may have lower absenteeism and lower turnover. –Greater cohesiveness does not always lead to higher performance. Highly cohesive groups may sometimes develop goals contrary to the larger organization’s goals.

8-10 Effective Team Characteristics and Team Building Effective teams and effective leaders do some or all of the following: –Effective teams have a clear mission and high performance standards. –Leaders of effective teams spend a considerable amount of time assessing the technical skills of the team members. –Effective leaders spend considerable time planning and organizing –High levels of communication helped minimize conflicts.

8-11 Effective Team Characteristics and Team Building (continued) Four standards that need to be in place for a team to work effectively: –Task structure –Group boundaries –Norms –Authority

8-12 Building the Perfect Team Teams should not just be haphazardly assembled. They need to be BUILT. A team should be built like a house or automobile: –Start with a concept –Create a design –Engineer it to do what you want it to do –Manufacture it to meet those specifications