group behavior, teams and conflict

8/2/2019 Group Behavior, Teams and Conflict

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What is a GROUP? two or more people who perceive

themselves as a group and interact

in some way.

must involve some degree of

structure and permanency


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According to Gordon (2001);To be called a group, four criteria must be met.

1. The members of the group must see

themselves as a Unit

2. Group Rewards

3. Corresponding Effects

4. Common goal


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ASSIGNMENT

Most common reason forjoining a groups is that

employees are assigned tothem


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Physical Proximity

People tend to formgroups with peoplewho either live or

work nearby.


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Affliation

.

Involves our need to be

with other people. Thus,one reason people join

groups is to be near and

talk to other people


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Identification

The desire tohave an identity


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Emotional Support

To obtainemotional support

from our groups


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Assistance or HelpTo obtain

assistance or helpfrom our groups


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Common interestPeople often join groups

because they share acommon interests.


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Common GoalsPeople often join a

group because they

have a common

goal.,


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Group Synergy refers to the idea that two heads (or more) are

better than one.

"The whole is greater than the sum of itsparts,"

groups are often capable of producing higher

quality work and better decisions that can anindividual working alone.


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SecurityBy joining a group, individuals can reduce

the insecurity of 'standing alone.' People

feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, andare more resistant to threats when they

are part of a group.


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PowerWhat cannot be achieved

individually often becomespossible through group action.

There is power in numbers.


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When several people individually work on a

problem but do not interact

When several individuals interact to solve aproblem


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BRAINSTORMINGNominal Group

Ideas are more creative Higher quality

Most effective (single

problems)

Interacting Group

Most effective (complex

problems)


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Factors Affecting GroupPerformance


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Group Cohesiveness Is the extent to which group

members like and trust one

another, are committed toaccomplishing a team goal, andshare a feeling of group pride

(Beale, Cohen, Burke, & McLendon,2003)


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In general, the more cohesive the group, thegreater its:

Productivity and Efficiency (Beale et al.,2003)

Decision Quality (Mullen, Anthony, Salas,

& Driskell, 1994) Member Satisfaction (Brawley, Carron &

Widmeyer, 1993; Deluga & Winters, 1991)

Member interaction (Shaw & Shaw, 1962) Employee Courtesy (Kidwell, Mossholder,

& Bennett, 1997)


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BUT...Cohesiveness can also lower

group performance, especially in awork setting.

It is not always necessary for

ultimate group success.


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Group Homogeneity Is the extent to which its members

are similar.

A homogeneous group containsits members who are similar insome or most ways, whereas

A heterogeneous group containsits members who are moredifferent than alike.


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Aamodt, Kimbrough, and Alexander (1983)

hypothesized that previous research yieldedmixed results because the compositions ofthe best performing actually somewhere

between completely homogeneous and

completely heterogeneous. These authorslabeled them slightly heterogeneous.

Although group performance is best inslightly heterogeneous groups, the group

member who is different may not have thesame satisfaction as the rest of the groupmembers.


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Stability of Membership

The greater the stability of thegroup, the greater the

cohesiveness.Isolation

Groups that are isolated or locatedaway from other groups tend to

be highly cohesive.


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Outside Pressure

Groups that are pressured by outsideforces tend to become highly cohesive.To some degree, this response to

outside pressure can be explained bythe phenomenon ofpsychologicalreactance (Brehm, 1966). When webelieve that someone is trying to

intentionally influence us to take someparticular action, we often react bydoing the opposite.


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Group Size Groups are most cohesive and

perform best when group size issmall.

Studies have shown that large groupshave lower productivity, lesscoordination, and lower morale and

are less active, less cohesive and morecritical than smaller groups.


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Group StatusThe higher the groups status,

the greater its cohesiveness.

Important Point: A group canbe made more cohesive by

increasing group status.


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Group Ability and Confidence NOT surprisingly, groups with high-

ability members outperform those withlow ability member Furthermore, groups

whose members believe that their teamcan be successful both at a specific task(high team efficacy) and at tasks ingeneral (high team potency) perform

better than groups whose members arentas confident about their probability forsuccess.


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Personality of the Group MembersGroups whose members have

task-related experience and score

high in the personalitydimensions of openness toexperience and emotional stability

will perform better than groupswhose members do not have thesecharacteristics.


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Communication Structure orNetwork For a group to perform successfully,

good communication among its membersis essential. A variety of communication

networks can be used by small groups,and even more complex networks arepossible with larger groups.

A good leader carefully chooses thecommunication network that bestfacilitates the goals of his group.


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Group RolesIs the extent to which its members

assume different roles. For a group

to be successful, its membersroles must fall into one of the twocategories:

Task oriented and

Social oriented


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Task oriented Rolesinvolve behaviorssuch as offering new ideas,

coordinating activities, and findingnew information.

Social oriented Rolesinvolve

encouraging cohesiveness andparticipation.

A third category the Individual Role includes blocking group activities,calling attention to oneself, andavoiding group interaction.


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Presence of Others: SocialFacilitation and Inhibition

Social Facilitation involves the

positive effects of the presence of

others on an individuals behavior;

Social Inhibition involves the

negative effects of otherspresence.


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Audience Effects. The phenomenon

of audience effects takes place when agroup of people passively watch anindividual. The strength of having anaudience present is a function of at

least three factors. Latane (1981)hypothesized these factors to be:

1. Audiences size

2. Physical proximity to the person orgroup,

3. Its Status.


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Coaction.The effect on

behavior when two or more

people are performing thesame task in the presence ofone another.


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Explaining Social Facilitation EffectsPerformance increases when the

task is easy or well learned;performance decreases when thetask is difficult or not well-

learned.


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The first explanation holds that mere presence ofothers naturally produces arousal.

The second explanation states that a coactingaudience provides a means for comparison.

The third explanation evaluation apprehension hypothesizes that judgment by others causes thedifferential effects of social facilitation.

The fourth explanation proposes that the presenceof others is distracting to the individual who istrying to perform a task.


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Social Loafing Considers the effect on individual

performance when people work

together on a task. Although it is clear that social loafing

occurs especially in poor performers, it

is not clear whyit occurs.


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One theory is that because group members realizethat their individual efforts will not be noticed,there is little chance of individual reward.

A second theory, called the free rider theorypostulates that when things are going well, a groupmember realizes that his effort is not necessaryand thus does not work as hard as he would if hewere alone.

A third theory, called the sucker effect ,hypothesizes that social loafing occurs when agroup member notices that other group membersare not working hard and thus playing him for a

sucker.


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Individual Dominance Another variable that can affect group

performance is individual dominanceby a leader or single member.


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GroupthinkThe term groupthink was coinedby Janis (1972) after studying the

disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of1961. Janis (1972) proposed theconcept of groupthink to explain

how some of the nationsbrightest men could hatch an ill-conceived plan.


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Groupthinkmost oftenoccurs when the group Is cohesive

Is insulated from qualified outsiders Has an illusion of invulnerability, infallibility,

or both Believes that it is morally superior to its

adversaries Is under great pressure to conform

Has a leader who promotes a favoritesolution Has gatekeepers who keep information from

other group members.

b d d i


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Groupthink can be reduced inseveral ways.

First, the group leader should notstate his own position or beliefs

until late in the decision-makingprocess.

Second, the leader should promote

an open discussion and encouragegroup members to speak.


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Third, a group or committee canbe separated into subgroups to

increase the chance ofdisagreement.

Finally, one group member can be

assigned the job ofdevilsadvocate one who questionsand disagrees with the group.


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, Mara Nica


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the job requires high level of employee

interaction

A team approach will simplify the job

A team can do something an individual

cannotthere is a time to create a team and properlyteam members


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According to Devine, Clayton, Phillips,Dunford, and Melner


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GROUP CONFLICT

Joy Rose I. Desoloc


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Conflict is the psychological andbehavioral reaction to a perception

that another person is either:

keeping you from reaching a goal, taking away your right to behave in a

particular way, or;

Violating the expectancies of arelationship.


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PERCEPTION is one of the keycomponents of conflict.

most conflict results in lower teamperformance and lower member

satisfaction meta-analysis by De

Dreu and Weingart


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DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT occurs whenone or both parties feel a loss of control

due to the actions of the other party and

has its greatest effect on team

performance when the task beingperformed is complex.

FUNCTIONAL CONFLICT moderate degreeof conflict that can result in better

performance.


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Types of Conflict

INTERPERSONAL confict occurs betweentwo individuals.


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Types of Conflict

INDIVIDUAL-GROUP conflict occurswhen the individuals needs are

different from the groups needs,

goals, or norms.


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Types of Conflict

GROUP-GROUP conflict occursannually as departments fight for

budget allocations and space.


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Causes of Conflict

COMPETITIOPN for RESOURCES- when demand fora resource exceeds its supply, conflict occurs.

TASK INTERDEPENDENCE- comes when the

performance of some group members depends onthe performance of other group members.

JURISDICTIONAL AMBIGUITY- is found when

geographical boundaries or lines of authority isunclear.


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Causes of Conflict

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS-it can bephysical, cultural or psychological.

BELIEF- conflict can occur when individualsor groups believe that they

are superior to other people or groups have been mistreated by others are vulnerable to others and are in harms

way

cannot trust others Are helpless or powerless (Eidelson &

Eidelson, 2003)


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Cuases of Conflict

PERSONALITY- conflict is often theresult of people with incompatible

personalities who must work

together.

TYPE NEED OBSESSION DESCRIPTION BEST WAY TO HANDLE


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Tank Control Task

completion

Pushes, yells, gives

orders, intimidates

Dont counterattack

or offer excuses, hold

your ground.

Sniper Control Taskcompletion

Uses sarcasm,criticizes,

humiliates others

Call them on theirsarcasm and have

them explain what

was really behind

their comment.

Know-It-All Control Task

completion

Dominates

conversations,

doesnt listen

Acknowledge their

knowledge, make your

statements appear asif they are in

agreement

Whiner Perfection Task quality Constantly

complains

Focus their complaints

on specifics and

solutions.

No Person Perfection Task quality Disagrees witheverything

Dont rush them or

argue; acknowledge

their good intentions.

Nothing

Person

Perfection Task quality Doesnt do

anything

Be patient and ask

them open-ended

questions.

TYPE NEED OBSESSION DESCRIPTION BEST WAY TO


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HANDLE

Yes Person Approval Being liked Agrees to

everything

Talk honestly and let

the person know it is

safe to disagree with

you.

Maybe

Person

Approval Being liked Wont commit or

make a decision

Help them learn a

decision-making

system, and then

reassure them about

the decisions they

make.

Grenade Attention Being

appreciated

Throws tantrums Dont show anger,

acknowledge their

complaint, and give

them a chance to cool

down.

Friendly

Sniper

Attention Being

appreciated

Uses jokes to pick

on people

Give them attention

when they are not

making fun of you.

Think-

They-

Know-It-All

Attention Being

appreciated

Exaggerates, lies,

gives advice

Give them attention

and ask them for

specifics; dont

group behavior, teams and conflict

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