Organizational Behaviour - Chap10: The Nature of work Groups and Teams

Chapter 10: The Nature of work Groups and Teams
Q1. At what stage in the five-stage model of group development might groups exert the most control over their member’s behaviours?
- One well-known model of group development is Bruce W.Tuckman’s five stage model
- The 5 stages are;
1. Forming- members try to get to know each other and establish a common
understanding.
2. Storming – group is in conflict, members resist being controlled by the group and disagreements arise concerning the leadership in the group
3. Norming – members develop close ties, feelings of friendship and camaraderie abound, and group members share a common propose
4. Performing-members work toward achieving their goal
5. Adjourning – the group disbands once the goal is achieved
- By end of the norming stage, group members agrees on standards to guide behaviour in the group

Q2. Do most members of an organization want to work in teams? Why or why not?

Q3. In what situations might the advantages of large group size outweigh the disadvantages?
- There are 5 characteristics of work groups; group size, composition, function, status & efficacy
- Group size is an important determinant of the way the group members behave
- In large groups, members are less likely to know each other, and may have little personal contact. This makes the sharing of information difficult
- The advantage of large groups are; great number of resources at their disposal to accomplish their goals
- A second advantage of larger groups are the benefits that come from the division of labour-dividing up work assignments to individual group members
- When the need for large resources and the for a big assignments, larger groups are preferred. An organization or company is an example of large group

Q4. In what kinds of situations might it be especially important to have heterogeneous groups?
- Group composition is one of the groups characteristics
- Group composition refers to the characteristics of members of a group
- A homogeneous group have many characteristics in common
- A heterogeneous group do not have many characteristics in common
- Heterogeneous group able to make a good decision due to the background differences which carries the own different views
- The variety of resources available also enable them to perform at higher levels
- Their differences will encourage challenges of ideas and ways of doing things which will result in better outcome
- Heterogeneous teams are well suited to work on new projects which need new and creative inputs

Q5. Why are roles an important means of controlling group members’ behaviours in self managed work teams?
- Roles, rules and group norms are 3 ways of how groups control their members
- Role is a set of behaviours or tasks a person is expected to perform by virtue of holding a position in a group or organization
- A self-managed work team is a team with no manager or a team assigned member to lead the team
- Members of self-managed work team are responsible for ensuring the team accomplishes its goals and for performing leadership tasks
- Well defined role will ensure all members know how to contribute to ensure the group goals are achieved

Q6. Why do groups need rules?
- Rules specify behaviours that are required and those that are forbidden
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Q7. How are rules that specify how to perform a particular tasks are developed?
- Rules can be developed in written form such as standard operating procedures
- This will help to ensure the group members perform the tasks correctly & efficiently

Q8. Why might a group keep following a dysfunctional norm or a norm that prevents the group from achieving its goals?
- Group norms are informal rules of conduct
- Dysfunctional norms happens when group goals are inconsistent with organizational goals
- Group follow a dysfunctional norms when their groups goals is being achieved
- When groups are not rewarded accordingly when the organization achieved its goals with groups following functional norm then the group might opt for dysfunctional norm to ensure its goals is being achieved

Q9. Do all groups socialize their members? Do all groups need to socialize their members? Why or why not
- The process by which newcomers learn the roles, rules and norms of a group is socialization
- The ability of a group to control its members’ behaviours depends in the extent to which newcomers learn the groups roles, rules and norms
- All groups socialize their members and all groups need to socialize its members

Q10. Is socialization ever completely finished, or is it an ongoing process?
- Socialization is an ongoing process, changes in the organization will lead to changes in roles, rules and also norms
- Continuous socialization ensure groups responds to this changes effectively