INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

MCSHANE AND GLINOW (5TH ED.) - TEAM DYNAMICS

to have tight interactive

OUTLINE interdependence.
I. Teams and Informal Groups
A. Informal Groups Self-directed They are organized around work
II. Group Processes Teams processes that complete an
A. Team Development
entire piece of work requiring
B. Team Norms
several interdependent tasks.
C. Team Cohesion
D. Team Trust
They also gave substantial
III. Common Problems that Occur in Teams autonomy over the execution of
A. Social Loafing those tasks.
B. Advantages and Disadvantages in Teams
C. Constraints on Team Decision-Making Advisory Teams They provide recommendations
to decision makers; include
committees, advisory councils,
TEAMS AND INFORMAL GROUPS work councils, and review
panels; may be temporary, but
● Teams: groups of two or more people who interact
often are permanent, some with
and influence each other, are mutually accountable
frequent rotation of members.
for achieving common goals associated with
organizational objectives, and perceive themselves
Task Force Teams Usually multiskilled, temporary
as a social entity within an organization.
teams whose assignment is to
● This definition has a few important components
solve a problem, realize an
worth repeating.
opportunity, or design a product
○ All teams exist to fulfill some purpose.
or service.
○ Team members are held together by their
interdependence and need for collaboration to Skunkworks Multiskilled teams that are
achieve common goals. usually located away from the
○ Team members influence each other, although organization and are relatively
some members may be more influential than free of its hierarchy; often
others regarding the team’s goals and initiated by an entrepreneurial
activities. team leader who borrows
○ A team exists when its members perceive people and resources to design
themselves to be a team. a product or service.

Virtual Teams Teams whose members operate

TEAM TYPE DESCRIPTION
across space, time, and
Departmental It consists of employees who organizational boundaries and
Teams have similar or complementary are linked through information
skills and are located in the technologies to achieve
same unit of a functional organizational tasks; may be a
structure; usually minimal task temporary task force or
interdependence because each permanent service team.
person works with employees in
Communities of Teams bound together by
other departments.
Practice shared expertise and passion for
Production/Service Typically multiskilled, team a particular activity or interest;
/Leadership Teams members collectively produce a main purpose is to share
common product/service or information; often rely on
make ongoing decisions; information technologies as the
production/service teams main source of interaction.
typically have an assembly-line
type of interdependence,
whereas leadership teams tend

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INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
MCSHANE AND GLINOW (5TH ED.) - TEAM DYNAMICS
○ Adjourning: occurs when the team is about to
INFORMAL GROUPS
disband.
● Why do informal groups exist? ● Two Distinct Processes during Team Development
○ Human beings are social animals. ○ Developing Team Identity
■ Our drive to bond is hardwired through ■ The transition that individuals make from
evolutionary development, creating a need viewing the team as something “out there”
to belong to informal groups. to something that is part of themselves.
○ Social identity theory states that individuals ○ Developing Team Competence
define themselves by their group affiliations. ■ Team members develop habitual routines
■ Thus, we join groups because they shape that increase work efficiency.
and reinforce our self-concept. ■ They also form shared or complementary
○ Informal groups accomplish goals that cannot mental models regarding the team
be achieved by individuals working alone. resources, goals and tasks, social
○ In stressful situations, we are comforted by the interaction, and characteristics of other
mere presence of other people and are team members.
therefore motivated to be near them. ■ Team mental models are visual or
relational mental images that are shared
by team members.
INFORMAL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONAL
OUTCOMES
TEAM ROLES
● Social Networks: important sources of trust building,
information sharing, power, influence, and employee ● Role: a set of behaviors that people are expected to
well-being in the workplace. perform because they hold certain positions in a
● Social Capital: the knowledge and other resources team and organization.
available to people from a durable network that ○ Some roles help the team achieve its goals;
connects them to others. other roles maintain relationships within the
● Informal groups potentially minimize employee team.
stress because group members provide emotional ○ Some team roles are formally assigned to
and informational social support. specific people.
○ This stress-reducing capability of informal ● Team members are typically assigned specific roles
groups improves employee well-being, thereby as their formal job responsibilities.
improving organizational effectiveness. ○ Yet, throughout the continuous team
development process, people vary their formal
roles to suit their personality and values, and
GROUP PROCESSES the wishes of other team members.
● Many roles exist informally, such as being a
cheerleader, initiator of new ideas, or an adviser who
TEAM DEVELOPMENT encourages the group to soberly rethink their
● Stages of Team Development actions.
○ Forming: a period of testing and orientation in ○ The informal roles are shared among team
which members learn about each other and members, but many are eventually associated
evaluate the benefits and costs of continued with specific team members.
membership.
○ Storming: marked by interpersonal conflict as
ACCELERATING TEAM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
members become more proactive and
TEAM BUILDING
compete for various team roles.
○ Norming: the team develops its first real sense ● Team Building: consists of formal activities intended
of cohesion as roles are established and a to improve the development and functioning of a
consensus forms around group objectives and work team.
a common or complementary team-based ○ It is more commonly applied to existing teams
mental model. that have regressed to earlier stages of team
○ Performing: team members have learned to development due to membership turnover or
efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts. loss of focus.

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INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
MCSHANE AND GLINOW (5TH ED.) - TEAM DYNAMICS
● Some team-building interventions clarify the team’s group and want to align their behavior with the
performance goals, increase the team’s motivation team’s values.
to accomplish these goals, and establish a
mechanism for systematic feedback on the team’s
HOW TEAM NORMS DEVELOP
goal performance.
● Others try to improve the team’s problem-solving ● Norms develop as soon as teams form because
skills. people need to anticipate or predict how others will
● Some clarify and reconstruct each member’s act.
perceptions of his/her role as well as the role ○ Even subtle events during the team’s formation
expectations that member has of other team can initiate norms that are later difficult to
members. change.
● A popular form of team building is aimed at ● Norms also form as team members discover
improving relations among team members. behaviors that help them function more effectively.
○ This includes activities that help team members ○ A critical event in the team’s history can trigger
learn more about each other, build trust in each formation of a norm or sharpen a previously
other, and develop ways to manage conflict vague one.
within the team. ● A third influence on team norms is the past
○ Popular interventions such as wilderness team experiences and values that members bring to the
activities, paintball wars, and obstacle-course team.
challenges are typically offered to build trust.
● One problem is that team-building activities are
PREVENTING AND CHANGING DYSFUNCTIONAL
used as general solutions to general team problems.
○ A better approach is to begin with a sound
TEAM NORMS
diagnosis of the team’s health and then select ● The best way to avoid norms that undermine
team-building interventions that address organizational success or employee well-being is to
weaknesses. establish desirable norms when the team is first
● Another problem is that team-building is applied as formed.
a one-shot medical inoculation that every team ○ One way to do this is to clearly state desirable
should receive when it is formed. norms as soon as the team is created.
○ In truth, team-building is an ongoing process, ○ Another approach is to select people with
not a three-day jumpstart. appropriate values.
● Team-building occurs on the job, not just on an ● Leaders often have the capacity to alter existing
obstacle course or in a national park. norms.
○ Organizations should encourage team ● Team-based reward systems can also weaken
members to reflect on their work experiences counterproductive norms.
and to experiment with just-in time learning for ● If dysfunctional norms are deeply ingrained and the
team development. previous solutions don't work, it may be necessary to
disband the group and replace it with people having
more favorable norms.
TEAM NORMS
● Norms: the informal rules and shared expectations
that groups establish to regulate the behavior or
TEAM COHESION
their members. ● Team Cohesion: the degree of attraction people feel
○ Apply only to behavior, not to private thoughts toward the team and their motivation to remain
or feelings. members.
● Norms exist only for behaviors that are important to ○ It is a characteristic of the team, including the
the team. extent to which its members are attracted to
● Norms are also directly reinforced through praise the team, are committed to the team’s goals or
from high-status members, more access to valued tasks, and feel a collective sense of team pride.
resources, or other rewards available to the team. ● Team cohesion is an emotional experience, not just
○ Team members often conform to prevailing a calculation of whether to stay or leave the team.
norms without direct reinforcement or
punishment because they identify with the

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INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
MCSHANE AND GLINOW (5TH ED.) - TEAM DYNAMICS
better interpersonal relationships, thereby reducing
INFLUENCES ON TEAM COHESION
dysfunctional conflict.
● Member Similarity: in team settings, the ○ With better cooperation and more conformity to
similarity-attraction effect means that teams have norms, high-cohesion teams usually perform
higher cohesion - or become cohesive more quickly better than low-cohesion teams.
- when members are similar to each other. ○ Cohesion motivates employees to perform at a
○ Diversity tends to undermine cohesion, but this level more consistent with team norms, so when
depends on the type of diversity. those norms conflict with the organization's
● Team Size: smaller teams tend to have more success, high cohesion will reduce team
cohesion than larger teams because it is easier for a performance.
few people to agree on goals and coordinate work
activities.
TEAM TRUST
○ Small teams have less cohesion when they lack
enough members to perform required tasks. ● Trust: positive expectations one person has toward
● Member Interaction: when team members perform another person in situations involving risk.
highly interdependent tasks and work in the same ○ A high level of trust occurs when others affect
physical area. you in situations where you are at risk but you
● Somewhat Difficult Entry: the more elite the team, believe they will not harm you.
the more prestige it confers on its members, and the ● Trust includes both your beliefs and conscious
more they tend to value their membership in the feelings about the relationship with other team
unit. members.
● Team Success: cohesion in both emotional and ● Trust can also be understood in terms of the
instrumental, with the latter referring to the notion foundation of trust.
that people feel more cohesion to teams that fulfill ○ Calculus-based Trust: a logical calculation
their needs and goals. that other team members will act appropriately
○ Individuals are more likely to attach their social because they face sanctions if their actions
identity to successful teams than to those with violate reasonable expectations.
a string of failures. ■ It offers the lowest potential trust and is
● External Competition and Challenges: team easily broken by a violation of expectations.
cohesion tends to increase when members face ■ It cannot sustain a team’s relationship,
external competition or a valued objective that is because it relies on deterrence.
challenging. ○ Knowledge-based Trust: predictability of
○ This might include a threat from an external another team member’s behavior.
competitor or friendly competition from other ■ It also relates to confidence in the other
teams. person's ability or competence.
○ Cohesion can dissipate when external threats ■ Offers a higher potential level of trust and is
are severe because these threats are stressful more stable because it develops over time.
and cause teams to make less effective ○ Identification-based Trust: mutual
decisions. understanding and an emotional bond among
team members.
■ It occurs when team members think, feel,
CONSEQUENCES OF TEAM COHESION
and act like each other.
● People who belong to high-cohesion teams are ■ It is the potentially strongest and most
motivated to maintain their membership and to help robust of all three types of trust.
the team perform effectively.
● High-cohesion team members spend more time
DYNAMICS OF TEAM TRUST
together, share information more frequently, and are
more satisfied with each other. ● People usually believe their teammates are
○ They provide each other with better social reasonably competent and they tend to develop
support in stressful situations. some degree of social identity with the team.
● Members of high-cohesion teams are generally ● Trust is fragile in new relationships because it is
more sensitive to each other’s needs and develop based on assumptions rather than well-established
experience.

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INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
MCSHANE AND GLINOW (5TH ED.) - TEAM DYNAMICS
○ Trust tends to decrease rather than increase ○ Production Blocking: a time constraint in team
over time. decision-making due to the procedural
requirement that only one person may speak at
a time.
COMMON PROBLEMS THAT OCCUR IN TEAMS
● Evaluation Apprehension
● Process Losses: resources expended toward team ○ A decision-making problem that occurs when
development and maintenance rather than the task. individuals are reluctant to mention ideas that
● Brooke’s Law: the principle that adding more people seem silly because they believe that other team
to a late software project only makes it later. members are silently evaluating them.
○ Mythical Man-Month ○ It is most common when meetings are
attended by people with different levels of
status or expertise, or when members formally
SOCIAL LOAFING
evaluate each other’s performance throughout
● Social Loafing: the problem that occurs when the year.
people exert less effort when working in teams than ● Pressure to Conform
when working alone. ○ Team cohesion leads employees to conform to
○ It is most likely to occur in large teams where the team’s norms.
individual output is difficult to identify. ■ This control keeps the group organized
● There is less social loafing when each team around common goals, but it may also
member’s contribution is more noticeable. cause team members to suppress their
● Social loafing is also less likely to occur when the dissenting opinions, particularly when a
task is interesting. strong team norm is related to the issue.
● It is also less common when the team’s objective is ○ Conformity can also be subtle.
important. ■ To some extent, we depend on the opinions
● Social loafing occurs less frequently among that others hold to validate our own views.
members who value team membership and believe ● Groupthink
in working toward the team’s objective. ○ The tendency of highly cohesive groups to
value consensus at the price of decision quality.
■ The concept includes the dysfunctional
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TEAMS
effects of conformity on team
● Employees have a drive to bond and are motivated decision-making.
to fulfill the goals of groups to which they belong. ■ It also includes the dysfunctional
○ This motivation is particularly strong when the consequences of trying to maintain
team is part of the employee’s social identity. harmony within the team.
● People are more motivated in teams because they ○ Groupthink supposedly occurs when the team
are accountable to fellow team members, who is isolated from outsiders, the team leader is
monitor performance more closely than a traditional opinionated, the team is under stress due to an
supervisor. external threat, the team has experienced
○ This is particularly true where the team’s recent failures or other decision-making
performance depends on the worst performer, problems, and the team lacks clear guidance
such as on an assembly line, where how fast from corporate policies or procedures.
the product is assembled depends on the
speed of the slowest employee.
● Under some circumstances, performance improves
when employees work near others because
coworkers become benchmarks of comparison.
● Employees are also motivated to work harder
because of apprehension that their performance will
be compared to others’ performance.

CONSTRAINTS ON TEAM DECISION-MAKING

● Time Constraints

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