Building, leading and managing teams
E2 Chapter 7
Group
Any number of
people who:
are psychologically perceive
interact with one
aware of one themselves to be a
another
another group
Types of groups
Self directed/
Formal Informal Reference
autonomous
Multiskilled multidisciplinary
team team
Types of groups:
Formal groups:
Used by organisations to carry out tasks, communicate and solve problems. Membership is
normally formal, often determined or constrained by the organisation into departments or
divisions.
Informal groups:
Individuals join groups to meet their social and security or safety needs. Membership is
normally voluntary and informal. Individual members are dependent on each other,
influence each other's behaviour and contribute to each other's needs.
Reference groups:
These are grouping the individual does not currently belong to but wants to join, for
example a particular work group or committee.
Self directed and autonomous groups:
The ideas of these evolved from the work of Trist and Bamforth and through experiments
carried out in the 70s by Swedish car manufacturers Volvo and Saab. A self-directed or
autonomous group is one which is encouraged to manage its own work and working
practices.
Informal groups:
Managers need to pay attention to the formation of, and support for, formal groups and
also realise that they cannot ignore or suppress informal groups. In relation to informal
groups, it is important:
a) to let employees, know that managers understand and accept them while
discouraging dysfunctional behaviour in such groups
b) to try to anticipate how decisions will influence informal groups; and
c) to keep formal decisions from unnecessarily threatening informal groups.
Work teams:
A work team is a formal group. It has a leader and a distinctive culture and is geared
towards a final result.
An effective team can be described as 'any group of people who must significantly relate
with each other in order to accomplish shared objectives'.
In order to ensure that the team is truly effective, team members must have a reason for
working together. They must need each other's skills, talent and experience in order to
achieve their mutual goals.
Multiskilled teams bring together individuals who can perform any of the group's tasks.
These can be shared out in a flexible way according to availability and inclination.
Multidisciplinary teams bring together individuals with different specialisms so that their
skills, knowledge and experience can be pooled or exchanged.
Groups
Pros Cons
Increased
Conformity - peer pressure
productivity
Abilene paradox - Group
synergy ending up with an outcome
that no one wanted
Improved focus Risk shift/ Polarisation -
and Groups taking riskier decisions
responsibility than they would individually
Groupthink - members trying
Improved
to minimise conflict and reach
problem solving
consensus without thinking
Greater
creativity
Increased
satisfaction
Increased
motivation
Improved
information
flow
HOW TO AVOID:
Homogeneity
Alternatives
Membership
factors
Size of group
Members in other
groups
Task
Group
cohesiveness
Environmental
Isolation of group
factors
Climate of
management and
leadership
Groups
continually
changing
Dynamic factors
Success and
failure
Membership factors:
Homogeneity:
Similarity of members is preferred for simple tasks; it leads to easier working but less
creative problem-solving. A variety of skills and knowledge is more effective for complex
tasks.
Homogeneity of status, both internally and externally, leads to a more cohesive group.
Alternatives:
If the individual has alternatives, that is he or she can leave the group easily, his or her
dependence on the group is reduced. Similarly, if turnover of membership is high, the group
will tend to lack cohesion. Management may, of course, deliberately keep changing the
membership of awkward groups.
Size of group:
The importance of this factor depends on the nature of the particular task. Groups solve
problems more quickly and effectively than individuals, but one should also consider cost-
effectiveness. As the size of the group goes up, the average productivity of the members
goes down; there is less opportunity to participate; individuals’ contributions are less
obvious; cliques or factions may form; less work is done; and ‘social loafing’ or ‘social noise’
may increase.
Membership in other groups:
This may detract from the cohesion and effectiveness of the original group.
Environmental factors
Task: the nature of the task and its organisation must be compatible.
Isolation of the group: external threats and incentives are lower the more isolated the
group is.
The climate of management and leadership: the leadership style adopted should be
appropriate to the task. For example in organisations where management adopt
McGregor's Theory X approach, this can lead to anti-management groups forming, even if
only informally.
Dynamic factors
Groups are continually changing: It should be recognised that groups are changing all the
time, not just in membership but also in understanding each other and of the task.
Success and failure: There can be a tendency for groups to persist in failure.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
Forming:
At this initial stage, the team members are no more than a collection of individuals who are
unsure of their roles and responsibilities until the manager clearly defines the initial
processes and procedures for team activities.
Storming:
Most teams go through this conflict stage. As tasks get underway, team members may try
to test the manager’s authority and team preconceptions are challenged. Conflict and
tension may become evident. The conflict resolution skills and the leadership skills of the
manager are vital at this stage and he or she needs to be more flexible to allow team
members to question and test their roles and responsibilities and to get involved in
decision-making.
Norming:
This stage establishes the norms under which the team will operate and team relationships
become settled. Team procedures are refined and the manager will begin to pass control
and decision-making authority to the team members. They will be operating as a cohesive
team, with each person recognising and appreciating the roles of the other team members.
Performing:
Once this final stage has been reached the team is capable of operating to full potential.
Progress is made towards the set objectives and the team feels confident and empowered.
Not all teams automatically follow these four stages in this sequence and not all teams pass
through all the stages. Some get stuck in the middle and remain inefficient and ineffective.
Tuckman added a fifth stage:
Adjourning:
If a team remains for a long time in the performing phase, there is a danger that it will be
operating on automatic pilot. 'Groupthink' occurs to the extent that the group may be
unaware of changing circumstances. Instead, maintaining the team becomes one of its
prime objectives. In this situation it may be necessary for the group to 'adjourn' or be
suspended.
BELBIN’S TEAM ROLES
Belbin devised a personality test which highlighted key character traits.
He recognised that different personality types would prefer certain types of role. For
example, some individuals like interaction, while others prefer to work on their own. Some
individuals come up with original ideas but may not be able to take these forwards, while
others may not be good at generating new ideas but may be very good at progressing
existing ideas.
The theory suggests that if individuals’ characteristics are known then each individual can
adopt an appropriate role for their personality type. Where individuals are working in roles
which suit them, they are more likely to engage fully with the role, be more
motivated and perform better
There are several terms associated with role theory:
Role ambiguity arises when individuals are unsure what role they are to play, or others are
unclear of that person's role and so hold back co-operation. For example this can arise
when a new member joins an established group.
Role conflict arises when individuals find a clash between differing roles that they have
adopted. A company finance officer who uncovers fraud by senior management may feel a
conflict between the roles of professional confidentiality and honest citizenship.
Role incompatibility occurs when individuals experience expectations from outside groups
about their role that are different from their own role expectations
Role signs are visible indications of the role. Style of dress and uniform are clear examples
of role signs. These may be voluntary (a male accountant wearing a grey or blue suit and a
tie) or mandatory (in military, police and hospital occupations).
Role set describes the people who support a lead person in a major role, e.g. the clerk and
junior barristers would form part of a senior barrister's role set.
Role behaviour where certain types of behaviour can be associated with a role in an office
or works. For instance, the 'crown prince' behaving as if they are heir apparent to a senior
position.
Terms in role
theory
role
Role ambiguity Role conflict Role signs Role set Role behaviour
incompatibility
Increasing team
effectiveness
Improve Social
Build trust
communication interaction
DISTRIBUTIVE LEADERSHIP
• A distributed leadership perspective recognises that there are multiple leaders.
• From the leadership and management chapter it can be seen that traditionally
leadership has been viewed as the role of one person in charge of others, but this
view is changing.
• Distributive leadership is also known as shared, or collective leadership and involves
the sharing of the power base between a number of individuals.
• With distributed leadership, leadership is shared so that team members effectively
interact with and lead each other.
• This form of leadership is more horizontal in nature, compared to traditional
leadership which tends to be more vertical or hierarchical.
Dimensions of shared
leadership
Shared Social
Voice
purpose support
CONFLICTS
Inter group conflict ingredients
Group Observable
Frustration
identification group difference
Inter-group conflict requires three ingredients:
Group identification:
Employees have to perceive themselves as part of an identifiable group or department.
There has to be an observable group difference of some form:
The ability to identify oneself as a part of one group and to observe differences in
comparison with other groups is necessary for conflict.
Frustration:
This means that if one group achieves its goal the other will not; it will be blocked.
Frustration need not be severe and only needs to be anticipated to set off intergroup
conflict. Intergroup conflict will appear when one group tries to advance its position in
relation to other groups.
Confrontation
Managing intergroup conflict
Third part
conultant
Intergroup training
Member rotation
Superordinate
goals
There are a number of approaches which can be used to manage intergroup
conflict including:
Confrontation:
Occurs when parties in conflict directly engage one another and try to work out their
differences. Negotiation is the bargaining process that often occurs during confrontation
and that enables the parties to systematically reach a solution. Confrontation is not always
successful as there is no guarantee that discussions will focus on a conflict or that emotions
will not get out of hand.
Third-party consultants:
When conflict is intense and enduring, and department members are suspicious and
uncooperative, an expert third-party consultant can be brought in from outside the
organisation to meet with representatives from both departments.
Inter-group training:
A strong intervention to reduce conflict is intergroup training. This technique has been
developed by psychologists such as Robert Blake, Jane Mouton and Richard Walton. When
other techniques fail to reduce conflict to an appropriate level, or when other techniques
do not fit the organisation in question, special training of group members may be required.
Member rotation:
It means that individuals from one department can be asked to work in another
department on a temporary or permanent basis. The advantage is that individuals become
submerged in the values, attitudes, problems and goals of the other department. In
addition, individuals can explain the problems and goals of their original departments to
their new colleagues. This enables a frank, accurate exchange of views and information.
Superordinate goals:
Another strategy is for top management to establish superordinate goals that require
cooperation between departments. Conflicting departments then share the same goal and
must depend upon one another to achieve it.
Confrontation, third-party consultants and some training methods could also be
used to manage intra-group conflict.
SOLVING INTERGROUP CONFLICT THROUGH TRAINING:
The conflicting groups are The conflicting groups are
In the presence of both groups, group
both brought into a then separated and each
representatives publicly share the
training setting with the group is invited to discuss
perceptions of self and other that the
stated goal of exploring and make a list of its
groups have generated, while the
mutual perceptions and perceptions of itself and
groups are obligated to remain silent.
relationships. the other group.
Following this mutual
exposure, a more open In public session, again working through Before any exchange takes
exploration is permitted representatives, each group shares with the place, the groups return to
between the two groups other what discrepancies it has uncovered and private sessions to digest
on the now-shared goal of the possible reasons for them, focusing on and analyse what they
identifying further reasons actual, observable behaviour. have heard
for perceptual distortions.
A joint exploration is then conducted After this training
of how to manage future relations in experience, department
such a way as to encourage employees understand
cooperation between groups each other much better.
