Exam 8: Groups and Teams

Formal groups perform two basic functions: __________ and __________.

The team is generating a lot of ideas on how to approach the management case study problem.Everyone seems to have a plan.Joe stands up and says,"I will make a list on the board of all of our ideas." Joe is acting as

Pablo has decided to start a soccer team at his school.He has been playing soccer for many years and is looking forward to being part of a team again.Once sign-ups are completed,he calls a team meeting.Pablo is not very forceful or outspoken,and nothing is accomplished at the meeting.Everyone just sits around and chats with each other.What problem does this signify and how can it be overcome?

ONLINEX is a large technology company,on its way to competing with Yahoo and AOL.ONLINEX acknowledges that its success is primarily due to the performance of its project teams.Unfortunately,project team members have increasingly missed project due dates and customers have complained about the company's products and services.Sallie Masterson,the vice president of human resources,is investigating the use of teams within the company.The CEO is very concerned and has asked Sallie to develop a plan to improve the performance of the company's teams. Most teams are cross-functional and are composed of vary diverse employees with different values and needs.Many employees also work virtually.Some employees want to work at the company due to its promotional opportunities while others desire the novelty and autonomy associated with work tasks.Once employees are hired,they experience a short orientation that focuses on human resource policies and procedures and the company's mentoring program.There is no formal training regarding group/team dynamics. Most teams rely on work product produced by other teams.This makes the teams interdependent and prone to conflict.Teams do not have shared goals and team leaders often report to different managers,making collaboration and cooperation a bit more difficult to achieve.The company tries to hire people who have teaming skills and a learning goal orientation. The company's CEO recently held a town-hall meeting to discuss industry competition and to extol the need for more effective teamwork in order to remain competitive.Some employees left the meeting feeling good about the CEO and the company's vision whereas others were more cynical.These latter employees complained about the lack of team-based rewards and poor hiring.More senior employees find some of the newly hired Millennials to be offensive and ill-prepared to work within the company culture. Sallie is staying late at work trying to come up with a plan of attack.Should she conduct an employee survey,hold town-hall meetings or focus groups,talk to customers,or implement team training? Use the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the Organizing Framework to address this situation.

Teams are a cornerstone of work life in today's organizations.

The ____ stage is often characterized by a climate of open communication,strong cooperation,and lots of helping behavior.Cohesiveness and personal commitment to group goals help the group achieve more than could any one individual acting alone

Which of the following is not a task role?

In a study of executives from 300 companies,the most desirable soft skill named was

During group meetings,Patty feels that everyone should have their say whenever the group makes an important decision.She makes sure that every group member gets the chance to put forth his or her own ideas during the meeting.Which of the following maintenance roles is Patty performing?

According to Schein,a crowd is merely a large group.

Carol takes over as CEO of Sandstorm Jeans,a company on the verge of bankruptcy.She institutes radical changes and eliminates 35 percent of the positions.Even after this,the remaining employees resist her ideas.This represent the ____ stage; it is a time of testing.

What has been shown by research to reduce social loafing?

Jeff says _____.He is performing a task role.

Wang joins MicroTech,a small startup technology company.His mission is to set up effective project teams quickly.What steps can Wang take to accelerate the development of these teams? Why is each step important?

As part of a work team in his office,it is Larry's job to make photocopies of relevant materials and hand them out to the team members during meetings.Which of the following task roles is Larry performing in his work team?

A(n)_______ helps guide behavior as well as avoid and overcome conflict.

The AnswerU group is a team of customer service advisors within the marketing department at Debarque that supports baby food products.The team,made up of parents and healthcare professionals,had recently undergone considerable changes.The coming year will bring more challenges as new,procedures,product launches,and training plans are put in place. It is important that the team gets help to deal with these changes in a positive way and is encouraged to become a more of a self-managing team.Describe what team building is and how it can help the AnswerU group.

Michele is a freelancer who works with a publishing company on an editorial team.She resides in Connecticut,while the company is based in Illinois.Michele attends team meetings via Skype and is in constant email contact.This is an example of a(n)____ team.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of high-performing teams?

Recent research shows that in the forming and storming stages of team development,teams perform better when members exhibit which of the following personality traits?