Group behavior, teams and conflicts

1. Group behavior, teams and conflicts UHS 2062 LECTURES at UTM Skudai. Prepared by SitiRokiahSiwok, October 2010 srsiwok@gmail.com

2. Introduction • Employee seldom work in isolation ( Mullins, 2006). • Groups are characteristics of all social situations ( Mullins, 2006). • Most employee behaviour takes place in groups or teams; thus important to understand group dynamics (Aamodt, 2007) • People in groups influence each other in various ways. • Groups may develop hierarchies and leaders . • Style of leadership affect groups.

3. Definition of a group • No agreed definition. • Any no. of people interacting with one another, psychologically aware of one another and perceived themselves to be in a group ( Schein, 1988 in Mullins 2006). ( elaborate) • A definable membership, group consciousness, shared purpose, interdependence, interaction and ability to act in a unitary manner ( Adair, 1986 in Mullins 2006)

4. Definition of a group • Four criteria must be met (Gordon, 2001 in Aamodt, 2007): • Members see themselves as a unit • Group must provide rewards to members • Members of the group share a common goal • Corresponding effects(whatever happens to a member affects every other member).

5. Reasons for joining a group • Assignment • Physical proximity • Affiliation (to fulfill the need to be with people) • Identification • Emotional support • Assistance or help • Common interest • Common goals

6. Groups or teams? • Not all groups are teams • “ Teams occurs when a number of people have a common goal and recognize that their personal success is dependent on the success of others. They are all interdependent…” ( Crainer, 1998, in Mullins 2006)

7. Group or team? (Belbin, 2000 in Mullins 2006)

8. Factors affecting Group Performance • Group cohesiveness • Group homogeneity • Stability of membership • Isolation • External pressure • Group size • Group status • Group ability and confidence • Personality of group members • Communication network • Group role • Presence of others • Individual dominance

9. Factors affecting Group Performance • Group cohesiveness • It is the extent to which group members like and trust each other, committed to accomplish a team goal and share a feeling of group pride ( Beale, Cohen, Burke & McLendon, 2003 in Aamodt, 2007) • Group homogeneity • It is the extent to which members are similar • Homogeneous or heterogeneous will lead to the best group performance? • Stability of membership • The greater the stability, the greater the cohesiveness • Thus members who remain for long periods of time are more cohesive and perform better than groups that have high turnover (Bell, 2005 in Aamodt, 2007)

10. Factors affecting Group Performance • Isolation • Group that is isolated tends to be highly cohesive • External pressure • Groups that are pressured by external forces tend to be highly cohesive; which can be explained by the phenomena psychological reactance ( Brehm, 1966 in Aamodt, 2007) • Group size • Groups are most cohesive and perform best when the size is small. • However, not all small group are always the best; also depends on the tasks.

11. Factors affecting Group Performance • Group status • The higher the group status, the greater is the cohesiveness; thus a group can be made more cohesive by increasing its status, at least in the eyes of the members. • Group ability and confidence • Groups with high-ability members outperform groups with low-ability members • Groups whose members believe that their team can be successful perform better than those whose members are not confident. • Personality of group members • Groups with members who score high in openness and emotional stability will perform better that groups whose members do not have these characteristics ( Bell, 2005 in Aamodt, 2007)

12. Factors affecting Group Performance • Communication network • Communication network affects groups’ performance • The best network depends on the situation and the goals of the group. • A good leader must choose the best communication network which facilitates the achievement of the group’s goals.

13. Factors affecting Group Performance • Group role • The extent to which the members of a group assume their roles affect group performance • Members roles must fall into one of these categories: • (1) task-orientated roles, such as offering new ideas and coordinating new activities • (2) social-oriented roles, such as encouraging cohesiveness and participation • (3) individual role

14. Factors affecting Group Performance • Presence of others • Social facilitation provides the positive effects of the presence of others, but for easy tasks or well learned tasks. • Individual dominance • If the leader has an accurate solution to a problem in the group, then the group performs at high level.

15. Group conflicts • Working together in a group or teams always presents the potential for the occurrence of conflicts. • Conflict is the psychological and behavioral reaction to a perception that another person is keeping you from reaching a goal, taking away your right to act in a particular way or violating the expectancies of a relationship. • Key component to conflict is perception. • The level of conflict is a function of the importance of the goal, behavior or relationship.

16. Dysfunctional and functional conflicts • Most conflicts results in lower team performance, and lower members satisfaction, • Most conflicts are dysfunctional , as the conflicts prevents people from working together, lessens productivity and increases turnover. • Moderate degree of conflict , called functional conflicts can result in better performance- stimulate new ideas, increase friendly competition and increase team effectiveness. • Moderate conflicts reduce the risks of larger conflicts.

17. Types of conflicts • Interpersonal conflict • Individual – group conflict • Group –group conflict

18. What are the causes of conflicts?

19. Causes of conflicts • Competition of resources • Task independence • Jurisdictional ambiguity • Communication challenges • Beliefs • Personality ( Aamodt, 2007)

20. Conflicting styles • Avoiding style • Accommodating style • Forcing style • Collaborating style • Compromising style

21. Determining conflict style • Organization Conflict Inventory II (Rahim and Magner, 1995) • Cohen Conflict Response Inventory (Cohen, 1997)

22. Resolving conflict • Prevention /prior to conflict occurrence • When conflict first occurs • Third -party intervention

23. Prior to conflict occurring • An organisation should have a formal policy on how conflict to be handled, which states that : • Employees should first try to resolve their own conflicts • If the above is not successful, employees can utilise a third party intervention • Employees should receive training on the causes of conflict, ways to provent conflict and strategies to resolve it.

24. When conflict FIRST occurs • The two parties should be encouraged to use conflict resolution skills which they had learned. These skills include: • Expressing a desire for cooperation • Offering compliments • Avoiding negative interaction • Emphasizing mutual similarities • Highlighting common goals

25. When conflict FIRST occurs • Key to resolving conflict is to reduce tension and increase trust between the 2 parties; which can be accomplished by : • Stating an intention to reduce tension • Publicly announcing steps to be taken to reduce tension. • Inviting the other side to take action in to reduce tension. • Making sure all initiative are unambiguous.

26. Third party intervention • If conflict cannot be resolved, good to seek help-third party intervention, through mediation or arbitration.

27. Summary • Groups consists of multiple members who perceive themselves as a unit a and sharer common goal or goals • People joining groups due to a need for affiliation, a need for identification with success, a need for emotional support, a need for assistance, common goals , physical proximity and assignment. • Many factors contribute to a group success.

28. Summary • Teams have four developmental stages; namely forming, storming, norming and performing. • The team approach is not always the best. • Conflict has many causes, such as competition of resources etc. • People react to conflict differently • Conflict is part of life in an organization and can be managed wisely and successfully.

29. Reference: • Aamodt, M.G (2007). Industrial /organizational psychology. An applied approach. Belmont, CA: Thomson. • Mullins, L.J. ( 2006). Essentials of Organisational Behaviour. England: Prentice Hall