Psychology 2061A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Psych, Social Loafing, Agreeableness
14 Dec 2016
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Psych 2061: Chapter 7 Text Notes
• Teams
o Together everyone accomplishes more
o Two or more people working interdependently toward the
achievement of a common goal
o Interact and share a common goal (tasks are interdependent)
o Are brought together to perform tasks relevant to the
organization
o Have different roles and responsibilities (may be
interchangeable)
o Rooted in an overall organizational system that sets constraints
on and provides context for the team
• Groups
o Made up of individuals working on interdependent tasks but not
necessarily requiring interdependent work
• Types of groups and teams
o The extent to which the members interact with each other on
their individual tasks
o The interdependence of tasks
o The extent to which the roles and tasks are well defined and
formalized
o The extent to which the members are interchangeable
• Team member interaction and Task Interdependence
o Task interdependence: the extent to which performance on
team-ased are depedet o other eers’ perforae
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o Team member interaction: the extent to which members
interact with each other while completing their job tasks
o Ex, synchronized swimming team is highly interactive and highly
depedet o eah other’s perforae vs diving team score is
the sum of all individual scores and performance of one diver
will not directly impact the performance of another
• Role Definition and Interchangeability
o Role definition: the extent to which members have highly
defined (and sometimes regulated) roles within the group, such
that they are differentiated from other specific roles within the
group
▪ Low role definition → all members perform the same
general tasks
▪ Can also have specific rules in each role
o Interchangeability: the extent to which members can fulfill any
of several roles on the team
▪ Team members perform essentially the same tasks
▪ Ex, in tennis, doubles partners have interchangeable roles
(ex, serving, volleying, baseline)
o Categories of Teams
▪ Production teams: members manufacture tangible
products on a cyclical basis (ex, assembly line teams)
▪ Service teams: members interact with and assist clients on
a regular basis (ex, sales teams)
▪ Project teams: whose members temporarily come
together for specific purposes and tasks (ex, computer
software development)
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▪ Management teams: members work together to provide
leadership and support for subordinate employees and
work units
▪ Action and performance teams: members are
interdependent specialists working on a time-constrained
task (ex, surgical teams)
▪ Advisory teams: members are experts and have been
brought together for a specified period (usually short
term) to advise and assist on a specific task or project
▪ Can also differentiate based on how groups operate, make
decisions, etc. (above categories are listed as the products
or services offered by each team)
▪ Work crews: groups of 2+ people who come together
quickly to perform a specific task and do not undergo a
specific developmental process (ex surgical teams and
military combats) → highly specialized, trained and follow
specific guidelines (guidelines allow the group to function
effectively even if there is lack of development or
socialization between members)
▪ Autonomous work teams: teams in which the
interdependent members are given a substantial amount
of control over their work and who are assigned whole
tasks (aka self-managing teams)
• Increased productivity and quality of work,
decreased absenteeism and turnover
• Self-managed teams
• May created increased strains for themselves = limits
productivity
▪ Virtual work groups: groups involving two or more
interdependent team members who are separated
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