Groups, Teams, and Their Leadership

1
Chapter 13

• Groups, Teams, and Their Leadership

2
Chapter Goals

• The goal of this chapter is to explore the
  differences between group and individual
  phenomena and then move from group work to team
  work and how that can be most effective.

3
Defining Groups

• A group can be defined as two or more persons
  who are interacting with one another in such a
  manner that each person influences and is
  influenced by each other person.

4
Three Key Points For the Group Definition

• The definition incorporates the concept of
  reciprocal influence between leaders and
  followers, an idea considerably different from
  the one-way nature of influence implicit in the
  dictionarys definition of followers.
• Group members interact and influence each other.
  
• The definition does not constrain individuals to
  only one group.

5
The Impact of Group Size

• The greater number of people in a large versus a
  small group will affect the probability that any
  individual is likely to emerge as leader.
• As groups become larger, cliques are more likely
  to develop.
• Leaders with a large span of control tend to be
  more directive, spend less time with individual
  subordinates, and use more-impersonal approaches
  when influencing others.

6
Developmental Stages of Groups

• Forming Stage
• Storming Stage
• Norming Stage
• Performing Stage

7
Task Roles in Groups

• Initiating
• Information Seeking
• Information Sharing
• Summarizing
• Evaluating
• Guiding

8
Relationship Roles in Groups

• Harmonizing
• Encouraging
• Gatekeeping

9
Dysfunctional Roles in Groups

• Dominating
• Blocking
• Attacking
• Distracting

10
Symptoms of Groupthink

• Illusion of invulnerability
• Unquestioned assumption of the groups morality
• Collective rationalization

11
Symptoms of Groupthink
Cont.

• Self-censorship
• Illusion of unanimity
• Direct pressure on dissenting members
• Mindguards

12
Differentiating Between Groups and Teams

• Team members usually have a stronger sense of
  identification among themselves than group
  members do.
• Teams have common goals or tasks.
• Task interdependence typically is greater with
  teams than with groups.

13
Characteristics of Effective Teams

• A clear mission and high performance standards
• Leaders of effective teams spent a considerable
  amount of time assessing the technical skills of
  the team members.
• After taking stock of available resources and
  skills, good leaders would work to secure those
  resources and equipment necessary for team
  effectiveness.

14
Characteristics of Effective Teams
Cont.

• Leaders of effective teams would spend a
  considerable amount of time planning and
  organizing in order to make optimal use of
  available resources, to select new members with
  needed technical skills, or to improve needed
  technical skills of existing members.
• High levels of communication
• Minimize interpersonal conflicts

15
Three Critical Functions for Team Leadership

• Direction
• Design
• Development