Learning Goal: I’m working on a business multi-part question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
Instructor Comments
Norms are the rules and guidelines groups establish as control mechanisms for members. Behavior, which falls outside the group norms, is not tolerated and, if continued, will result in the group not accepting the non-complier as a member. Because individuals desire acceptance by groups to which they belong, they accept the pressures of that group to conform to certain behaviors.
Low performance-related norms would be indicative of a highly cohesive, yet dysfunctional, group. Low performance-related norms could range from intentional shirking of duties to outright sabotage of departmental goals. Employees who barely do the minimum requirements are adhering to low performance-related norms. It is not uncommon that such individuals spend more of their time and energy trying to figure out ways to “beat the system” than they do in helping the work unit achieve its goals.
The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the performance-related norms established by the group. A highly cohesive group is not necessarily a productive group. If such a group has low performance-related norms, its performance will also be low. If performance-related norms are high, both a cohesive group and a less cohesive group will be more productive. The ideal, of course, is a group which is both, cohesive and which has high performance-related norms.
The only way informal groups could be eliminated would be to design formal groups in such a way that all friendships and common interests could somehow be eliminated. It is highly unlikely the redesign of informal groups could ever be accomplished. Formal groups cannot offer the social contact, friendship, and commonality that informal groups can. Informal groups appear in the work environment in response to the need for social contact. They appear naturally, and no amount of management intervention can eliminate them.
Teams typically outperform individuals when the tasks being done require skills, judgment, and experience. The pressures of increasing competition, both foreign and domestic, have forced companies to restructure themselves to compete more effectively and efficiently. Teams are a way to utilize employees’ talents better. They are more flexible and responsive to changing events, because they can be quickly assembled, deployed, refocused, and disbanded.
A pseudo team is not really a team at all, but a group of individuals who simply work together. There is no common purpose, and poor communication, antagonistic conflicts and avoidance of responsibilities result in negative synergy. All combine to equal underperformance. A real team, on the other hand, contains people with complementary skills who are equally committed to a common purpose, its goals, and approach work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
Complete assignment part 2 and part 3 and questions below
Part 2:
Correlate your experience working in a team to the Internet article posted in Part 1:
- Provide specifics about your team experience.
- Incorporate textbook concepts.
- How could you better your team skills?
- Cite and reference as necessary.
Part 3:
As a class, we have been a group working with teams, all semester long…
- State what you liked about working with the students in this class.
- How did they help you better your group skills?
- What types of people do want to work with in the future?
- What type of a supervisor do you feel you will be in the future?
