Team Leadership

and Group Process

 Requirements of a Team
• Small Number
• Complementary Skills
• Committed to a Common Purpose and
Performance Goals
• Committed to a Common Approach
• Mutual Accountability
 Team Vs. Working Group
Team
• Shared leadership roles
• Individual and mutual
accountability
• Specific team purpose that
team delivers
• Collective products
• Open-ended meetings
• Discusses, decides and
Does real work together
Working Group
• Strong, focused leader
• Individual accountability
only
• Group’s purpose is same
as larger group
• Individual Products
• Efficient meetings
• Discusses, decides and
Delegates
The Five Stages of Group Development

Stage 5
Stage 4 Adjourning
Stage 3 Performing
Stage 2 Norming
Stage 1 Storming Groups may
Group disband, either
Forming Members
members after meeting
Members work together,
Members get work toward
come to resist developing their goals or
to know each getting their
control by close relation- because
other and jobs done
group leaders ships and members leave
seek to
and show feelings of
establish
hostility camaraderie
ground rules
TASK PERFORMANCE IN CULTURALLY DIVERSE
GROUPS: AN EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION

Good
Performance
Homogeneous

Standardized Performance Measure

4.00 groups were
better at first.

3.50 As time passed,

performance
differences
3.00 disappeared.
Diverse groups
2.50 Homogeneous groups

Poor
Performance
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4
Time
 Criteria for Team Effectiveness
• Does the Team’s Output Meet the Standards
of Those Who Have To Use It?
• Does the Team Experience Contribute to
the Personal Well-Being and Development
of Team Members?
• Does the Team Experience Enhance the
Capability of the Members to Work and
Learn Together in the Future?
 How To Improve Team
Performance
• Establish Urgency and Direction
• Select Members on Skills, Not Personality
• Focus on First Meetings and First Actions
• Set Clear Rules of Behavior
• Focus on Specific Goals
• Challenge Team with Fresh Information
• Spend Lots of Time Together
• Provide Feedback, Recognition, & Rewards
 Guidelines for Teambuilding
• Emphasize common interests and values
• Use ceremonies and rituals
• Use symbols to develop identification with the
group
• Encourage and facilitate social interaction
• Tell people about group activities and
achievements
• Conduct process analysis and alignment
• Increase incentives for mutual cooperation
 Questions to Consider
• Who participated most in your group?
• Who participated least?
• How was participation organized in your
group? Who organized it?
• Which behaviors helped your group
accomplish the tasks?
• Which behaviors hindered your group in
accomplishing the tasks?
 Advantages of a Group
• More Information Than Individual
• Possible Division of Labor
• Greater Acceptance of the Decision By the
Group
• Greater Understanding of the Decision By
the Group
 Disadvantages of a Group
• Individual is Faster than the Group
• Individuals or Subgroups can Dominate
Group Decisions
• Conformity and Groupthink
• Social Loafing
 Brainstorming
• Criticism is Not Allowed
• Freewheeling is Welcome
• Quantity is Encouraged
• Combination and Improvement Are Sought
 Delphi Technique
• Select Group Who Have Needed Expertise
• Survey Experts for Opinions
• Analyze and distill the Expert’s Responses
• Send Summarized Results to Experts and
Request That They Respond Again
• Repeat Until the Group Has Consensus
 High levels of
group cohesion
Groupthink: An Overview
Pressure to go along
with the group

Antecedent Reluctance to question

the group’s decisions
processes
Illusion that decisions
are unanimous
Symptoms Belief that the group
is inherently correct

Failure to consider all

alternatives
Reluctance to reexamine
Defects other options
Biased and incomplete
use of information

Result Poor decisions

 How To Prevent Groupthink
• Make Everyone a Critic
• Leader Avoids Stating Preferences or
Expectations
• Create Sub-Groups
• Reduce Insulation of Group to Outside
Influences
 SOCIAL LOAFING: ITS GENERAL FORM
(high)
Amount of Effort by Each Individual

The more people working on

a group task, the smaller the
contribution made by any one
member of the group will be.

(low)
On Person Small groups Large groups
Working People Working Together in Groups
Alone
Social Loafing: Is It a Universal Phenomenon
Good 26 In the collectivistic cultures of China
performance and Israel, people performed better
as part of a group than alone.
24 24.66

Standardized Performance Measure

23.83
In the United States,
23.18
people performed
22 better alone than in
Perform groups (i.e., social
in groups 20.79 loafing occurred).
Perform 20
alone

18 18.49

16 16.57
Poor
performance
Peoples Republic Israel United States
of China Country
 Potential Issues for Team
Mission
• Expected Grade?
• Utilization of People?
• Time Commitment?
• Desire for Skill Development Versus
Task Accomplishment?
• Other Issues?
 Team Building Activities
• Activities Related to One or More
Individuals
• Activities Oriented to the Group’s
Operations and Behaviors
• Activities Affecting the Group’s
Relationship with the Rest of the
Organization
 Types of Teams
• Groups reporting to the same manager
• Groups involving people with common goals
• Temporary groups formed to accomplish a
specific, one-time task
• Groups consisting of people whose work
roles are interdependent
• Groups with no formal links but whose
collective purpose requires coordination
 Types of Team Building
• Family group diagnostic meeting
– A set of activities designed to understand the
current structure, process, and effectiveness of
the team
• Family group team-building meeting
– A set of activities design to address and
improve a specific aspect of team functioning