A substantial larger body of research evidence is available with regard to the relationship between personality traits and group attitudes and behavior. The general conclusions are as follows ( Robbins 2004):
Attributes that have a positive connotation in our culture tend to be positively related to group productivity, morale, and cohesiveness. These include: sociability, initiative, openness, and flexibility.
Negatively evaluated characteristics such as authoritarianism, dominance, and unconventionality tend to be negatively related to the dependent variables.
3. No single personality characteristic is a good predictor of group behavior.
Group Structure
Work groups in order to function as a coordinated unit need to have a proper structure where there must be certain elements like formal leadership, role clarity among group members. In the absence of these factors groups not only become conflict ridden , but also suffer from confusion, and function on a sub optimal level. Each element is explained briefly below:
1. Formal Leadership
Almost every work group must have a formal leader, which is typically identified by a title. The leader can play an important part in the group‘s success.
2. Roles
All group members are actors, where each is playing a role. While some of these roles may be compatible others create conflicts. Different groups impose different role requirements on individuals.
3. Role perception
For playing one‘s role effectively in a group, one‘s view of how one is supposed to act in a given situation must be clear leading to clear role perception. By watching and imitating senior members of a group the new comers learn how to take on their roles effectively and also learn how to play them well.
4. Role expectations
Tuning oneself and behaving in a socially desirable manner is a part of fulfilling role expectations in a given situation in the context of achieving group goals and organizational goals.
1. Role conflict
When a group member is faced with the challenge of playing multiple roles, role conflict may occur due to inability of the individual to balance all the roles effectively, thereby reducing role effectiveness, hampering the group and organizational goal attainment process.
Norms
All groups have norms—‖acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by the group‘s members.‖ Norms serve as a guideline for members detailing what they ought and ought not to do under certain circumstances. Though a work group‘s norms are unique, yet there are still some common classes of norms. They are:
Performance norms which comprise the following (Robbins 2003):
a. Explicit cues on how hard they should work, how to get the job done, their level of output, appropriate levels of tardiness, etc.
b. These norms are extremely powerful in affecting an individual employee‘s performance.
Appearance norms include things like appropriate dress, loyalty to the work group or organization, when to look busy, and when it is acceptable to goof off.
Social arrangement norms come from informal work groups and primarily regulate social interactions within the group.
Allocation of resources norms can originate in the group or in the organization.
Conformity
Strong research evidence suggests that groups can place strong pressures on individual members to change their attitudes and behaviors to conform to the group‘s standard. All groups do not have a equal sway over the members and those that have more influence are referred to as reference groups.
The reference group is characterized as one where the person is aware of the others; the person defines himself or herself as a member, or would like to be a member; and the person feels that the group members are significant to him/her.
Status
1. Status is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Inequality is the basis for any created social order where some are more powerful, enjoy greater benefits and also command access to resources differentially. This is also related to the risk taking ability of certain groups / individuals and by virtue of this
calculated risk taking ability they amass greater wealth and have superior position (status) in the hierarchy. The same is also true of groups where there is a hierarchy and all
Status and norms:
Research shows the following with regard to relationship between status and norms(Robbins):
High-status members of groups often are given more freedom to deviate from norms than other group members.
High-status people also are better able to resist conformity pressures. The previous findings explain why many star athletes, famous actors, top-
performing salespeople, and outstanding academics seem oblivious to appearance or social norms.
Status equity:
When inequity is perceived, it creates disequilibrium that results in corrective behavior.
The trappings of formal positions are also important elements in maintaining equity. Employees expect what an individual has and receives to be congruent with his/her status. For example: pay, office space, etc.
Groups generally agree within themselves on status criteria.
Individuals can find themselves in a conflict situation when they move between groups whose status criteria are different or when they join groups whose members have heterogeneous backgrounds.
Status and culture:
Cultural differences affect status. For example, the French are highly status conscious.
Countries differ on the criteria that create status:
-Status for Latin Americans and Asians tends to be derived from family position and formal roles held in organizations.
-In the United States and Australia, it tends to be bestowed more on accomplishments.
It is necessary to understand who and what holds status when interacting with people from a different culture other than our own.
Techniques Of Decision Making In Groups
Schein (1988) observes that groups may make decisions through any of the following six methods:
Decision in lack of response- In this type of decision making, ideas are forwarded without any discussion taking place. When the group finally accepts an idea, all others have been bypassed and discarded by simple lack of response rather than by critical evaluation.
Decision by authority rule- The leader makes a decision for the group, with or without discussion.
Decision by minority rule- Two or three people are able to dominate the group into
making a decision to which they agree.
Decision by majority rule - Here, viewpoint of the majority is considered as the group‘s
decision.
Decision by consensus – One alternative is accepted by most members and the other
members agreeing to support it.
Decision by unanimity- All group members agree totally on the course of action to be
taken. This is a ―logically perfect‖ group decision method that is extremely difficult to attain in actual practice.
Group productivity: the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making
The potential advantages of group decision making include (Maier, 1967):
1. Information—more knowledge and expertise is applied to solve the problem.
2. Alternatives—a greater number of alternatives are examined, avoiding tunnel vision.
3. Understanding and acceptance—the final decision is better understood and accepted by all group members.
4. Commitment—there is more commitment among all group members to make the final decision work.
The potential disadvantages of group decision making include:
1 Social pressure to conform—individuals may feel compelled to go along with the apparent wishes of the group.
2. Minority domination—the group‘s decision may be forced by one individual or a small coalition.
3. Time demands—with more people involved in the dialogue and discussion, group decisions usually take longer to make than individual decisions.
Work Teams
A team is a small group of people with complementary skills, who work actively together to achieve a common purpose for which they hold themselves collectively accountable (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). Team building
is a collaborative way to gather and analyze data to improve teamwork (Schermerhorn et al 2002). Team has following advantages (Robbins, 2003):
Teams typically outperform individuals. Teams use employee talents better.
Teams are more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment. Teams facilitate employee involvement.
Teams are an effective way to democratize an organization and increase motivation.
Types of Teams
The various types of teams have been described below:
Problem solving teams – small groups from same department who meet regularly to discuss ways of improving quality and efficiency.
Self-managed teams – small groups who take responsibilities of their own targets.
Cross-functional team – Employees from different work areas but from same hierarchical level, come together to accomplish a task.
Virtual team – team members, who are physically dispersed, use computer technology to connect with each other,