Consequences

1. Consequences

2. Consequences • Solutions to Problems • Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Improved Information Flow • Organizational Change • Review of the Systems Approach

3. Solutions to Problems • Quality of Solutions • Groups have the potential to make better-quality decisions than the same individuals would make if working alone. • In those instances when group performance does not surpass individual performance, the group process has been counterproductive.

4. Solutions to Problems • Quality of Solutions • Teams can help increase value: • By performing the same function at a lower cost. • By increasing function while reducing costs. • By increasing function while increasing costs by a proportionally smaller amount. • By decreasing function while decreasing cost by a proportionally greater amount. • It has been found that groups are better at solving complicated tasks requiring reasoning and elimination of poor solutions.

5. Solutions to Problems • Quality of Solutions • Groups are altering their form with changes in geography, tighter budgets, increased technology, and the global search for the very best subject matter experts. • Virtual groups have evolved and specific teams skills and dynamics are necessary to achieve high quality solutions.

6. Solutions to Problems • Acceptance of Solutions • For solutions to be effective, they must be of high quality and they must be accepted by those who must carry them out.

7. Solutions to Problems • Acceptance of Solutions Three types of problem situations can be identified: • Problems requiring high quality but low acceptance are best solved by persons with a high level of technical knowledge and expertise. • Problems requiring high acceptance but low quality may include all individuals who may be affected by the results of the decision. • Problems requiring high quality and high acceptance should utilize problem-solving groups.

8. Solutions to Problems • Acceptance of Solutions • People generally are resistant to changes that affect their lives, especially if these changes are initiated by others. • Group decision making and “people involvement” can be powerful assets in increasing satisfaction and overcoming resistance to change.

9. Solutions to Problems • Acceptance of Solutions • There are several factors to remember in overcoming resistance to change. • People will accept changes that they have a part in planning. • Changes will be accepted if they do not threaten our security. • Changes will be more readily accepted when people are involved in gathering the facts that indicate the need for change. • Greater acceptance and commitment will result when the changes are kept open to further revision based on the success or failure of the new procedures.

10. Solutions to Problems • Acceptance of Solutions • For long-term success, teams must function in a responsible manner, and management must possess a high degree of trust and confidence in the system.

11. Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Meetings designed to share perceptions of one another to inform each other of particular problems can potentially clear up and reduce areas of misperception and misunderstanding. • Cohesion is a result of group interaction, but it in turn influences other things • Small group interaction has the potential of increasing interpersonal relations and cohesiveness.

12. Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Team Building • Larson and LaFasto (1989) identified eight dimensions of team excellence: 1. Clear, evaluating goal 2. Results-driven structure 3. Competent team members 4. Unified commitment 5. Collaborative climate 6. Standards of excellence 7. External support and recognition 8. Principled leadership

13. Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Team Building – Heathfield (2005) offers twelve tips for successful team building: • Clear expectations • Context • Commitment • Competence • Charter • Control

14. Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Team Building – Heathfield (2005) offers twelve tips for successful team building: • Collaboration • Communication • Creative Innovation • Consequences • Coordination • Cultural Change

15. Changes in Interpersonal Relations • Virtual Team Building – Virtual groups and teams can benefit fro team building. –Virtual teams cuts down on travel costs and saves money.

16. Improved Information Flow • Communication in small groups can result in an increased knowledge level and increased coordination among group members based on the sharing of information. • Rogers (1995) finds that some people by nature are earlier adopters of new ideas whereas others are more resistant to change.

17. Improved Information Flow • Another factor is the tendency for subgroups to form so that information that passes between groups is restricted. • Lawrence and Lorsch (1969) have referred to problems of this nature as differentiation-integration problems.

18. Improved Information Flow • Adopter Categorization on the Basis of Innovativeness

19. Organizational Change • The Ten Commandments of Implementing Changes: 1. Analyze the organization and its need for change. 2. Create a shared vision and common direction. 3. Separate from the past. 4. Create a sense of urgency. 5. Support a strong leader role.

20. Organizational Change • The Ten Commandments 6. Line up political sponsorship. 7. Craft an implementation plan. 8. Develop enabling structures. 9. Communicate, involve people, and be honest. 10. Reinforce and institutionalize change. Source: Jick, 1993, p. 195.

21. Organizational Change • Peter Drucker (1999) has offered the following advice for leaders on managing change: 1. Introduce change on a small scale. 2. Budget for change. 3. Balance change and continuity.

22. Organizational Change

23. Organizational Change • The Strategic Doom Cycle

24. Organizational Change— Practical Tips Hitchcock and Willard (1995) offer the following practical tips for using teams to help create organizational change. • The business concept must be viable. • Recognize that the right to make a decision is separate from the competency to implement it. • Clarify what decisions should be made at certain levels, and establish a mechanism to move decisions among these levels.

25. Organizational Change— Practical Tips • Hitchcock and Willard • Codify the principles that will guide you, and establish a mechanism to hold everyone accountable for carrying out those principles. • Devise a system for resolving conflicts and differences. • Establish an equitable way for distributing profits or rewards that is consistent with the egalitarian nature of democracy.

26. Organizational Change • Rogers (1995) and his colleagues found that people accept change along a distribution that is a bell-shaped curve. • Innovators • Early adopters • Early majority • Late majority • Laggards

27. Review of the Systems Approach • Four potential consequences of group interaction are: (1) solutions to problems, (2) changes in interpersonal relations, (3) improved information flow, and (4) organizational change. • Small group interaction must be viewed as a system of interrelated variables in which a change in any one variable creates changes in the other variables in the system.

28. Review of the Systems Approach • Information flow may be improved as a result of interaction; but with a highly structured communication network and authoritarian leadership, communication flow might actually diminish. • Numerous studies have shown that it takes a comprehensive (systems) approach to successfully create large-scale organizational change.