Group behavior, teams and conflicts

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

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.

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)

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).

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

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)

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

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

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)

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

What are the causes of conflicts?

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Group behavior, teams and conflicts