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Understanding Group Processes and Teams

This document discusses various topics related to groups and teams, including: 1) It describes the typical behaviors (roles) expected of individuals in social contexts and how roles can become ambiguous or differentiated as groups develop. 2) It discusses the prestige and social status that groups and individuals can have, both formally through official positions and informally through personal characteristics. 3) Factors that influence how cohesive, or desiring to remain together, group members are include the severity of initiation, external threats, time spent together, group size, and history of success.

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John Britton
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8 views12 pages

Understanding Group Processes and Teams

This document discusses various topics related to groups and teams, including: 1) It describes the typical behaviors (roles) expected of individuals in social contexts and how roles can become ambiguous or differentiated as groups develop. 2) It discusses the prestige and social status that groups and individuals can have, both formally through official positions and informally through personal characteristics. 3) Factors that influence how cohesive, or desiring to remain together, group members are include the severity of initiation, external threats, time spent together, group size, and history of success.

Uploaded by

John Britton
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Group Processes

and Work Teams

Chapter 8
Types of Groups

2
How Groups are formed?

3
Role Concepts
 Role:
Role The typical behavior that
characterizes a person in a specific
social context.
 Role Expectations:
Expectations The behaviors
expected of someone in a particular
role.
 Role Ambiguity:
Ambiguity Confusion arising from
not knowing what one is expected to do
as the holder of a role.
 Role Differentiation:
Differentiation The tendency for
various specialized roles to emerge as
groups develop. 4
Cards Used in Asch’s Study

5
Status
 The relative prestige, social position, or
rank given to groups or individuals by
others.
 Formal Status: The prestige one has by
virtue of his or her official position in an
organization.
 Status Symbols: Objects reflecting the
position of any individual within an
organization’s hierarchy of power.
 Informal Status: The prestige accorded
individuals with certain characteristics that
are not formally recognized by the 6
Group Cohesiveness
The strength of group members’
desires to remain a part of the
group.
Influencing factors:
 Severity of initiation
 Conditions of high external
threat or competition
 Time spent together
 Group size
 History of success 7
Social Loafing

8
Overcoming Social Loafing
 Make each performer
identifiable
 Make work tasks more
important and
interesting
 Reward individuals for
contributing to their
group’s performance
 Use punishment
threats
9
Group Decision Making
 Strengths  Weaknesses
 More complete  More time

information consuming
 Increased  Increased

diversity of views pressure to


 Higher quality of conform
decisions  Domination by

 Increased one or a few


acceptance of members
solutions  Ambiguous

responsibility
10
Group Decision Making
(cont’d)

11
Beware: Teams Aren’t Always
the Answer
 Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:
 Is the work complex and is there a need for

different perspectives?
 Does the work create a common purpose or

set of goals for the group that is larger than


the aggregate of the goals for individuals?
 Are members of the group involved in

interdependent tasks?

12

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