Chapter Three
Foundation of Group Behavior
Defining Teams and/or Groups
• Group: Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent,
who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
• Groups can be classified as formal or informal:
Formal Group: are defined by the organization’s structure with
designated work assignments establishing tasks. Further sub
classification of formal group include:
• Command Group: A group composed of the individuals who
report directly to a given manager
• Task Group: Those working together to complete a job or task
in an organization but not limited by hierarchical boundaries
Informal Group: Alliances that are neither formally structured
nor officially approved. Created in response to the need for
social contact , personal relationships or special interests. Deeply
affect behavior and performance
Cont’d
• Interest Group: Members work together to
attain a specific objective with which each is
concerned
• Friendship Group: Those brought together
because they share one or more common
characteristics
Why people form/join a team/group?
• Some reasons are looking for Security, Status, Self-
esteem, Affiliation, Power, Goal Achievement etc…
More over, Why TEAM work? Together Everyone
Achieves More!
Stages in Team/Group development
Forming(Orientation): nominating, familiarizing, and helping
them feel comfortable with their fellow members
Storming(Power Struggle): characterized by “fight or flight”,
tension, conflict , disagreements etc.
Norming(Cooperation and Integration): ground rules and norms
development (trust, commitment , communication, idea sharing
increases)
Performing(Synergy): the task starts
Adjourning(Closure) ( if temporary)
Obstacles to Team/Group Productivity
• Conformity
• Diffusion of responsibility (“not my job”)
• Group thinking
• Obedience/respect to authority vs.
empowered creativity
• Lack of management support or resources
• Norms
Effective Team: to increasing
• Consist of competent, committed members
productivity
• Work collaboratively in an atmosphere of respect and trust
• Understand how to measure achievement of their goal
• Tends to have relaxed, comfortable and more of informal
atmosphere
• The task is well understood, goal oriented and accepted
• The team members listen to each other to increase participation.
• Members tend to express both their feelings and ideas freely.
• Conflicts and disagreements center on the ideas and methods, not
around personalities and people (members)
• Decisions are usually based on consensus not on majority votes
• Generally, effective team Have clear purpose defined and accepted
mission, vision, goal and task that increases :Participation, civilized
disagreeing ,open communication, shared leadership, and self
assessment
Implication for performance and satisfaction
• Performance: Typically, clear role perception,
appropriate norms, low status differences, and
smaller, more cohesive groups lead to higher
performance
• Satisfaction: Increases with:
• High correspondence between boss’s and
employees’ perceptions about the job
• Not being forced to communicate with lower-
status employees
• Smaller group size
Are teams and groups same?
