Organisational Behaviour
Lesson 4: Work Group & Team Behaviour
Lecturer: Raymond Wiranatakusuma
rwiranatakusuma@[Link]
Today’s Lesson
◼ Groups and Teams
◼ Team Properties & Performance
◼ Group’s/Team’s Decision Making
◼ How managers can create an effective team
Groups & Teams
◼ A group is any collection of two or more
people who interact with one another, but
they may not necessarily be working toward
a common goal. (Robinson, 2001)
◼ A team is a group of individuals who are
interdependent in their tasks, share
responsibility for outcomes, and work
toward a common goal or purpose.
(Katzenbach & Smith, 1993)
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
Robinson, G. L. (2001). The Social Dynamics of Groups and Teams. Social Psychology Press.
8-3
Group’s/Team’s Properties
Norms
Roles
Status
Size
Cohesiveness
Norms
◼ Acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by the members
◼ Tell members what they ought and ought not to do under
certain circumstances
8-5
Roles
• To engage in a set of expected behavior
patterns that are attributed to occupying a given
position in a social unit
• Role Perception – how individuals understand
and interpret the expectations, behaviors, and
responsibilities associated with a particular role,
• Role Expectations – how others believe one
should act in a given situation
• Role conflict – when an individual finds that
compliance with one role requirement may
make it more difficult to comply with another
Visit: [Link]
Status
◼ A socially defined position or rank given to members by others
◼ What determines status?
◼ The power a person wields over others
◼ A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals
◼ An individual’s personal characteristics
8-7
Impact of Status
◼ High-status members of groups often are given more freedom to deviate
from norms
◼ Interaction among members of groups is influenced by status
◼ When individuals perceive inequity in their status (e.g. in terms of power,
position, recognition, or rewards) they often engage in corrective behavior to
restore a sense of fairness or balance.
◼ Cultural differences affect status.
8-8
Size
◼ Smaller teams are faster at completing tasks
◼ Individuals perform better in smaller groups
◼ Social loafing - tendency to expend less effort in a group than as an
individual – tends to be lower in a small group
8-9
Amazon’s 2 Pizza Team Rule
Cohesiveness
◼ The degree to which members of the teams are attracted to each other
and motivated to stay in the team
◼ Related to the team’s productivity
8-11
Relationship of Cohesiveness to Productivity
8-12
How Can Managers Encourage Cohesiveness?
1. Make the team smaller
2. Encourage agreement with team’s goals
3. Increase the time spent together
4. Increase the status and perceived difficulty of team’s
membership
5. Stimulate competition with other teams
6. Give rewards to the team rather than to individual members
7. Physically isolate the team
8-13
Team’s Decision Making
Strengths Weaknesses
◼ Generate more complete ◼ Conformity pressures
information and knowledge ◼ Discussions can be dominated
◼ Increased diversity of views by one or a few members
◼ Increased acceptance of a ◼ Ambiguous responsibility for
solution the final outcome
8-14
Groupthink
◼ Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a group of
people make ineffective decisions because the desire for harmony and
consensus within the group overrides realistic evaluation of alternatives.
◼ In groupthink, members prioritize agreement and cohesiveness over critical
thinking and individual opinions, which can lead to poor decision-making and
flawed outcomes.
◼ Symptoms:
◼ Members pressure any doubters to support the alternative favored by the majority
◼ Doubters keep silent
◼ Group interprets members’ silence as a “yes” vote for the majority
8-15
Conformity and the Asch Studies
◼ Members avoid being visibly different
◼ Members with differing opinions feel extensive pressure to
align with others
8-16
The Asch Experiment
Risky Shift
◼ Risky shift refers to a phenomenon where, in a group decision-making
context, individuals tend to make riskier choices or decisions when they are
part of a group compared to when they are making decisions alone.
◼ This behavior occurs because:
◼ group dynamics, such as shared responsibility, the influence of others, and a
desire to conform to group norms, can lead to more extreme or risk-taking
behaviors.
◼ people feel less accountable for the outcomes when they are in a group, or
because the group may be influenced by the "risky" ideas or attitudes of other
members.
Discussion
◼ Suggest ways to minimise or prevent:
◼ Social Loafing
◼ Groupthink
◼ Risky Shift
8-19
Psychological Safety
Four Types of Teams
9-21
Problem-Solving Teams
◼ Share ideas or offer
suggestions on how work
processes and methods can be
improved
◼ Rarely given authority to
unilaterally implement any of
their suggested actions
9-22
Self-Managed Work Teams
◼ Typically 10-15 employees
◼ Team takes on supervisory responsibilities in addition to job tasks
◼ Select and evaluate members
◼ Effectiveness is situationally dependent
9-23
Cross-Functional Teams
◼ Members from diverse areas within and between organizations
◼ Exchange information
◼ Develop new ideas and solve problems
◼ Coordinate complex projects
◼ Development may be time-consuming due to complexity and
diversity
9-24
Virtual Teams
◼ Computer technology ties physically dispersed members together to
achieve a common goal
◼ Differentiating factors from other teams
◼ Absence of para-verbal and non-verbal cues
◼ Limited social context
◼ Ability to overcome time and space constraints
9-25
Creating Effective Team - Composition
◼ Abilities of members
◼ Personality
◼ Allocating roles
◼ Diversity
◼ Size of teams
◼ Member flexibility
◼ Member preferences
9-26
Creating Effective Team - Process
◼ Member commitment to a common purpose
◼ Establishment of specific team goals
◼ Team efficacy
◼ Managed level of conflict
◼ Minimizing social loafing
9-27
Creating Effective Team - Shaping Team Players
◼ Selection – in addition to technical skills, managers must select
employees who have the interpersonal skills to be team players
◼ Training – workshops on problem-solving, communications,
negotiation, conflict-management and coaching skills help build
team members
◼ Rewards – rework to encourage cooperative efforts rather than
competitive ones
9-28
CONCLUSION – SO WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED TODAY?
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END OF LESSON
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