Deck 12: Making Teams Work: What Can I Do

Question 1

An examination of effective team member characteristics reveals:

A) A preoccupation with building trust among the members.
B) Many of the same transformational qualities as effective team leaders.
C) An exaggerated emphasis on communication competencies.
D) A prioritized set of expectations for team cohesion or "getting along" with others.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Unlike traditional team leaders, transformational leaders:

A) Motivate others to work
B) Sell others on their ideas
C) Arouse others to a higher level of performance
D) All the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Less than half of all U.S. organizations rely on work teams.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Ground rules should be allowed to emerge; planning these in advance can stifle group creativity.

Question 5

Which of the following tasks are highly suitable for teams and teamwork?

A) Specialized, sophisticated tasks like electrical work
B) Creative tasks like writing songs or painting a picture
C) Highly controversial issues designed to diffuse individual blame or responsibility
D) Tasks that require a variety of specialized skills, like designing a marketing campaign

Question 6

Transformational team leaders:

A) Communicate a vision.
B) Apply negative sanctions only when necessary.
C) Are less likely to emerge in virtual groups.
D) Are common in most work teams.

Question 7

Teams require significant direction to coordinate individual strengths and skills.

Question 8

Not all groups are teams.

Question 9

When individuals in a group prioritize cohesiveness over conflict, flawed decisions and failed policy follow. This phenomenon is called:

A) Group deliberation
B) The contagion effect
C) Groupthink
D) The "lost in a crowd" effect

Question 10

Which team is typically short lived and exist to tackle a single issue or policy?

A) Project teams
B) Production teams
C) Ad hoc teams
D) Virtual teams

Question 11

The degree of virtuality negatively affects:

A) Team distance
B) Team member satisfaction
C) Organizational support
D) Perceived consensus

Question 12

When compared to individuals working alone, groups or teams of people working together almost always result in:

A) Higher quality decisions.
B) Greater creativity.
C) Making complex tasks more doable.
D) All the above.

Question 13

Teams that focus on processing information, such as planning, making decisions, and solving problems are called:

A) Project teams
B) Production teams
C) Differentiated teams
D) Deliberate teams

Question 14

The "bad apple" effect refers to team members who:

A) Withhold effort and communicate negative affect
B) Are unable or are incapable of participating in the team
C) Engage in social loafing
D) Reject the goals of the organization

Question 15

Groups or work teams rely on norms, roles, ranks, and controls in order to function.

Question 16

Groups and teams result in higher quality decisions and products than individuals working alone.

Question 17

Those who criticize teamwork activity as unproductive and useless are typically:

A) Those who lack skills interacting in teams.
B) Those who lack a sense of urgency.
C) Social loafers.
D) Those who work in virtual teams.

Question 18

Team potency is largely a function of:

A) The complexity of the task assigned
B) The level of organizational support
C) The team's standards for performance
D) Ground rules

Question 19

The "bad apple" member can be managed by:

A) Team members' efforts to punish or sanction bad behavior
B) Team members' decision to exclude the individual
C) Giving the individual a lot of positive attention
D) None of the above.

Question 20

Group members who engage in social loafing likely to do so because:

A) They assume others on the team are loafing, too.
B) They are guilty of group think.
C) They know they won't get caught.
D) They perceive that the others simply won't care what they do.

Question 21

List and describe three reasons why some groups are successful.

Question 22

Explain why teams sometimes make sense in a business setting.

Question 23

Demotivated teams with a lack of urgency about their tasks are likely to fail.

Question 24

Almost any or all tasks are suitable for team work

Question 25

List and describe three of the reasons why groups fail.

Question 26

Individual priorities can get in the way of teamwork.

Question 27

Good personality characteristics and communication habits are stronger in group contexts than bad personality characteristics and communication habits.

Question 28

Explain why teams sometimes DON'T make sense in a business setting.

Question 29

Because videoconferencing makes meetings easier and less expensive, people much prefer them over face-to-face meetings

Question 30

How do teams differ from groups?

Question 31

What are the four ways that transformational leaders make a difference in their groups and teams.

Question 32

When a "bad apple" emerges, his or her teammates' first reaction is to try to change that person.