MGMT 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Spacetime, Social Loafing, Role Conflict
MANAGING TEAMS
• A team refers to multiple people psychologically contracted together to achieve
common goals, while sharing accountability for outcomes
• A group is similar however no psychological contract is involved and
interdependency is not assumed
• Why do we form groups?
• Safety in numbers
• Belongingness shapes identity
• Situations (formal/informal and open/closed)
• Social impact refers to the strength of ties between individuals in a group, the spatio-
temporal closeness of individuals (in person vs. Skype → “physicalness” of method
of communication), and the size of the group
• Group properties
• Social facilitation (Hawthorne effect)
• Conformity and obedience
• Groupthink (harmony)
• Social loafing (withdrawal of effort by some while others do majority)
• Types of teams
• Action (military)
• Advice (decision-making committees)
• Project (R&D)
• Production (maintenance)
• Functional (HR) – managerial hierarchies and specific core functions
• Cross-functional (marketing and sales) – involving people from different
disciplines coming together to work collaboratively
• Self-managing – highly autonomous, empowered to make decisions,
separate recruitment and budget
• Dispersed – geographically
• Virtual
• Developing teams
• Properties
• Degree of permanence
• Skills
• Autonomy and influence
• Level of task
• Spatio-temporal context
• Development
• Purpose of producing something (outcome, product, discovery)
• Development is a journey (not in stages)
• Forming → Storming → Norming → Performing
• Roles
• Role ambiguity
• Gender roles
• Reflexivity
• Accounting for the presence of researcher on investigation
• One’s roles, assumptions and behaviours
• Conflict refers to when one or people/groups perceives that their interests are or will
be negatively affected by the interests of others. This can be functional or
dysfunctional, and may occur when either people want the same thing but access is
limited, or when people do not want the same thing and cannot agree
• Managing team conflict
Collaborative
This approach seeks a win/win solution. There tends to be a problem-
solving high concern for self and others. Emphasis is on being open,
Document Summary
This can be functional or dysfunctional, and may occur when either people want the same thing but access is limited, or when people do not want the same thing and cannot agree: managing team conflict. There tends to be a problem- solving high concern for self and others. Forcing exchanging information, exploring and examining differences, and reaching an effective solution acceptable to both parties. This approach usually leads to a lose/lose position. There tends to be a low concern for self and others, and so withdrawal, buck-passing, sidestepping situations tend to be the norm in order to avoid conflict situations. The needs of the other party are ignored or downplayed and one"s own interests are central to the outcomes. Accommodating this approach leads to a lose/win outcome. The others" interests are valued over one"s own interests. Often cohesiveness is sought over conflict even if it means losing out. In this orientation, both parties win a little and lose a little.
