Week Two Reflection Post

Key Concepts Week 2 CLP

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Group Goals

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• People want to achieve goals they are unable to achieve by themselves  they form group

• But do group goals exist in and of themselves?

• Or are group goals the combination of individual members’ goals? What do you think?

What are Group Goals?

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GROUP GOALS NEED TO BE S – SPECIFIC T – TRACKABLE AND MEASURABLE

A – ACHIEVABLE BUT CHALLENGING

R – RELEVANT T – TRANSFER INVOLVE GROUP MEMBERS IN THE

PROCESS OF FORMING GOALS – OWNERSHIP

WHAT IS A START GOAL YOU CAN HAVE FOR THIS

CLASS?

Commitment to Group Goals

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Operational Goals

• Specific steps to achieving goals are clear and identifiable

• Observable, countable, and specific indicators will make it evident when the goal has been achieved

Advantages:

• Better communication among group members

• Guidance in planning and carrying out group tasks

• Help for the group in evaluating both the group process and the group product

• Rational conflict resolution

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How to Set Effective Group

Goals?

• Look for and recognize hidden agendas

• Accept that they are legitimate and must be worked on

• Survey-feedback method

• Program evaluation and review, or critical path method

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Social Interdependence

Theory

• Social interdependence exists when individuals share common

goals, and each individual’s outcomes are affected by the

actions of the others.

• The type of interdependence structured in a situation

• determines how individuals interact with each other

• Social interdependence is different from social dependence and

social independence.

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• Goal interdependence

• Celebration/reward interdependence

• Resources interdependence

• Role interdependence

• Identity interdependence

• Environmental interdependence

• Fantasy interdependence

• Task interdependence

• Outside enemy interdependence

Types of Positive Interdependence

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Research on the Effects of Cooperation (Meta analysis), Compared to Competition and Individualistic Efforts

• Efforts to achieve and produce

• Quality of relationships

• Psychological adjustment and competence

• Effect sizes are significantly higher for methodologically high quality

studies of pure cooperation (as opposed to mixtures of cooperative,

competitive and individualistic efforts)

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Efforts to Achieve and Produce

• Cooperation, compared to competition and individualistic efforts, leads to

• Intrinsic motivation, high expectations for success

• Greater effort to achieve

• More positive cross-ethnic relationships

• Long term retention

• Higher level reasoning and critical thinking

• Creative thinking – process gain

• Group-to-Individual transfer of learning

• Positive attitudes towards the task

• More time on task

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Quality of Relationships

• More liking among individuals 

• Stronger group cohesion 

• Absenteeism and turnover of membership decrease

• Feeling of personal responsibility to the group

• Willingness to listen and be influenced by colleagues

• Commitment to each other’s professional growth and success

• Social support

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Psychological Adjustment and Competence

• Individualistic attitudes are related to a number of indices of pathological psychology.

• Basic self-rejection

• Egocentrism

• Competitiveness is related to a mixture of healthy and unhealthy characteristics.

• Conditional self-esteem

• Egocentrism

• Cooperativeness is positively related to

• Emotional maturity

• Self-confidence, independence and autonomy

• Well-adjusted social relations

• Strong personal identity

• Ability to cope with adversity

• Social competencies

• Basic trust and optimism about people

• High self-esteem

• Increased perspective taking skills

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BROADER CONTEXT

IS COOPERATIVE

BETWEEN GROUPS

(NOT INDIVIDUALS)

TASK: NONDIVISIBLE,

WELL-PRACTICED

EVENLY MATCHED

COMPETING TEAMS

WINNING IS OF

GREAT IMPORTANCE

Under What Conditions are Competitive Efforts Effective?

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Broader context is cooperative

Goal perceived as important, relevant, worthwhile

Individuals expect to be successful

Task is simple, achievable, clear

Under What Conditions Are Individualistic

Efforts Effective?

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The Basic Elements of Cooperation

• Positive interdependence – sink or swim together

• Outcome interdependence

• Mean interdependence

• Individual accountability

• Promotive interaction

• Social skills

• Group processing

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Development of Cooperative

Relationships

Durable and frequent interactions – more at stake in the future than in the present

Recognition ability

Emotional investment in the other group members

Tit-for-tat strategy

Avoiding the temptation to exploit other group members’ cooperation

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Social Interdependence and the Real World

• All three types of interdependence exist simultaneously and continuously.

• When a competitive person joins a cooperative group

• Interaction pattern among group members becomes competitive

• Newcomer is not aware of the change, only the group members

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Trusting and Trustworthiness

Trust

• Willing to risk beneficial or harmful consequences by making oneself vulnerable to other people

• Openness

• Sharing

• Support

• Acceptance

Trustworthiness

• Willingness to respond to another person’s risk-taking in a way that the other person will experience beneficial consequences

• Accepting and supporting does not mean agreeing

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Destroying Trust • Just one betrayal is enough to destroy trust, AND

• Distrust is extremely resistant to change

• 3 types of behavior that will decrease trust:

• Rejection, ridicule or disrespect as a response to the other person’s disclosure

• Not reciprocating openness

• Refusing to disclose your thoughts after the other person expressed acceptance, support and cooperative intentions

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Establish superordinate goals – goals that are

compelling and can only be achieved by

cooperation

Increase resource interdependence

Express cooperative intentions

Always keep your word Be absolutely and consistently trustworthy

“Test the waters” – make yourself

vulnerable to the other person

Apologize sincerely Build a tough but fair reputation

How Can I Reestablish Trust That Was Lost?

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Trusting As A Personality Trait

• Though trust is a quality of the relationship, not that of the person, some people are more willing to trust than others.

• Interpersonal Trust Scale – Rotter (1971)

• High trusters are

• More trustworthy

• More likely to give others a 2nd chance, to be liked and sought out as friends

• Less likely to lie and be unhappy, conflicted or maladjusted

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Independence (individual work)

• Positive – cooperation

• Negative – competition

Interdependence structured in the situation

• Positive interdependence

• Individual accountability

• Face-to-face promotive interaction

• Social skills

• Group processing

Cooperation

Summary

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Group Communication

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Communication Challenges

• Why, despite our best intentions, do humans consistently experience communication challenges?

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Definition

• Broad definition: Any verbal or nonverbal behavior perceived by other group members

• More commonly defined as: a message sent by a group member to one or more receivers with the conscious intent of affecting the receivers’ behavior.

• Effective communication: the receivers interpret the message the same way as the sender intended it.

• Complexity of multi-person communication

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The Group Communication Process

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Sending Messages Effectively

• Clearly own your message (I, my)

• Make your message clear and complete

• Make your verbal and nonverbal messages congruent

• Be redundant

• Check for understanding

• Consider the receiver’s frame of reference

• Describe other’s behaviors without interpreting/evaluating

• Describe your feelings by name/action/figure of speech

• Consider your credibility

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Receiving Messages Effectively

• Paraphrase the content of the message accurately and without evaluating it

• Describe your perceptions of the sender’s feelings

• Negotiate the meaning of the sender’s message until there is agreement

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Communication In

Problem-Solving Groups

• Problem solving effectiveness is determined by the pattern of communication

• Three views of communication patterns:

• Interaction analysis

• One- and two-way communication in authority hierarchies

• Communication networks

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Interaction Analysis

Three levels:

• Relative frequency and length of communication

• Who communicates to whom

• Who triggers whom and in what ways

Bales’ (1953) Equilibrium theory and Interaction-Process Analysis

Homans’ (1950) theory of the balance activity between external and internal systems

Gouran and Hirokawa (1996) -- promotive and counteractive functions of communication

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Communication Networks

• Communication networks influence

• The emergence of leadership

• How the organization develops

• The morale of group members

• The efficiency of problem solving

• The complexity of the task determines which network is more efficient

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Communication Patterns in Authority Hierarchies

• Communication network determines the amount and type of information members receive from each other. Communication is selective!

• Informal communication network

• Information gatekeepers

• Technological gatekeepers

• Formal communication network

• One-way communication with or without feedback

• Processes:

• Leveling

• Sharpening

• Assimilation

• Two-way communication

• Establish cooperative group climate

• Promote the attitude that all members’ ideas are of interest

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Influences on the Effectiveness of Group Communication

• Group climate

• Competitive – defensive communication

• Cooperative – more accurate and complete

• Group norms

• Physical setting

• Seating arrangements – group ecology

• Humor

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Group Communication Summary

Group communication: when group members send messages to each other with the conscious intent of affecting each other’s behavior.

Sending and receiving skills

• Analysis of communication patterns:

• Interaction analysis

• One- and two-way communication in authority hierarchies

• Communication networks

Analysis of communication patterns:

The more cooperative the climate in the group, the more effective communication tends to be

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Controversy and Creativity

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Difference Of Opinion Leads To Inquiry, And Inquiry Leads To

Truth Thomas Jefferson

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Controversy And Decision Making

Controversy: When One Person’s Ideas, Information, Conclusion, Theories, And Opinions Are Incompatible With Those Of Another, And The Two Seek To Reach An Agreement

Deliberate Discourse: Discussion Of Advantages And Disadvantages Of Proposed Actions

Debate: When Two Or More People Present The Best Case For Their Positions And A Judge Declares A Winner

Concurrence Seeking: When Group Members Inhibit Discussion To Avoid Any Disagreement

Individualistic Decision Making: When Individuals Independently Decide On A Course Of Action Without Talking To One Another

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Step:

• Prepare

• Present

• Open Discussion

• Perspective Reversal

• Synthesis

Phrase:

• Our Best Case Is...

• The Answer Is... Because...

• I Disagree Because...

• You Should Agree With Me Because...

• Your Position Is...Because...

• Our Best Reasoned Judgment Is...

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Theory Of Constructive Controversy

• Conflict among group members as to which course of action to take in controversy may be structured along a continuum

• At one end of the continuum is constructive controversy and at the other end is concurrence seeking

• Each way of structuring conflict in decision making situations leads to a different process of interaction among group members

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Organizing Information And

Deriving Conclusions

Presenting And Advocating Positions

Uncertainty Created By Being Challenged By Opposing Views

Epistemic Curiosity And Perspective

Taking

Reconceptualization, Synthesis, Integration

Process Of Controversy

Have You Learned Lessons Only Of Those Who Admired You, And Were Tender With You, And Stood Aside For You?

Have You Not Learned Great Lessons From Those Who Braced Themselves

Against You, And Disputed The Passage With You?

Walt Whitman, 1860

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Mediating Conditions

Cooperative Goal

Structure

Skilled

Disagreement

Disagreeing With

Other’s Ideas While

Confirming Other’s

Competence

Perspective-Taking

Differentiating

Before Seeking An

Integration

Rational

Argumentation

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Minority Influence

• Minority Influence Occurs When Group Members Who Are In The Opinion Minority Persuade Members In The Opinion Majority To Change Their Opinion And Agree With The Minority

• Opinion Minorities Are Most Persuasive When:

• They Remain Steady In Their Views

• They Once Held The Majority Position

• They Are Willing To Compromise

• They Have Support From Others

• They Present Their Views As Compatible With Majority View

• Group Members Want To Make An Accurate Decision

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Structuring Constructive

Controversies

Propose Several Courses Of Action

Form Advocacy Teams

• Research Position And Prepare Persuasive Presentation

• Presentations

• Open Discussion: Advocacy, Refutation, Rebuttal

• Perspective Reversal

• Drop Advocacy, Make Best Reasoned Judgment About Issue

• Process How Effectively Procedure Was Followed

Engage In Controversy Procedure

Implement The Decision

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REAFFIRM COOPERATIVE GOAL OF MAKING BEST

DECISION POSSIBLE

PROMOTE CONTROVERSY AMONG DIFFERENT OPINIONS

AND PERSPECTIVES

SET ASIDE TIME FOR REFLECTION

MEET TO MAKE FINAL DECISION

Developing Creativity

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Creative Problem Solving Requires Open-Mindedness

Open Minded Individuals Are Willing To Attend To,

Comprehend, And Gain Insight Into Information, Ideas,

Perspectives, Beliefs Different From Their Own.

Dogmatism: Relatively Closed Organization Of Beliefs About

Absolute Authority That Provides Framework For Intolerance

Toward Others

Open Vs. Closed Belief Systems

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Closed-Minded Individuals

• Less Able To Learn New Beliefs Or Change Old Beliefs

• Less Able To Organize New Beliefs Into Existing Cognitive Structures During Problem Solving

• Less Accepting Of Belief-Discrepant Information

• More Resistant To Changing Beliefs

• More Frequently Reject Information Threatening Their Beliefs

• Have Less Recall Of Contrary Information

• Evaluate Consistent Information More Positively

• Tend To Evaluate Information On Basis Of Who Said It

• Less Able To Resolve Conflicts (See Compromise As Defeat)

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Brainstorming

Invented To:

• Encourage Divergent Thinking

• Produce Many Different Ideas In Short Period Of Time

• Ensure All Members Participate Fully

• Ground Rules For Brainstorming:

• No Criticism Or Evaluation

• Expect Wild Ideas

• Only Quantity Of Ideas Counts, Not Quality

• Build On Other’s Ideas

• Focus On Single Issue

• Promote Congenial, Relaxed, Cooperative Atmosphere

• All Members Have To Contribute

• Record All Ideas

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Making Brainstorming Work

• Most Research Suggests that Brainstorming is More Effective Than Members Working Individually to Generate Ideas

• Focus On Retrieving Relevant Information From Long- Term Memory

• Members Tend To Generate Ideas From Same Category

• Priming Is Presenting Brainstormers With Ideas From Low-Accessible Categories

• Creative Groups May Be Easier To Create Than Creative Individuals

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Controversy Is Essential For Effective Decision

Making

Many Groups Avoid Controversies

There Are Multiple Positive Outcomes Of

Controversy

Process Of Controversy Involves Creating

Uncertainty Which Leads To Epistemic

Curiosity

There Are Conditions That Mediate The Effectiveness Of

Controversy

Minority Influence Depends On And

Enriches Controversy

Controversies May Be Structured

Certain Democratic Citizenship Skills

Depend On Controversy

Creative Problem Solving Depends On

Controversy

There Are Ways To Develop And Foster

Creativity

Creativity Requires An Open (vs Closed) Mind

Brainstorming Works When There Is Priming

Major Points

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He That Wrestles With Us Strengthens Our Nerves And Sharpens Our Skill.

Our Antagonist Is Our Helper Edmund Burke

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Team Development and Training

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• Team is a set of interpersonal interactions structured to achieve established goals

• Team consists of two or more individuals who • Are aware of their positive interdependence as

they strive to achieve mutual goals, • Interact while they do so, • Are aware of who is and is not a team member • Have specific roles or functions to perform • Have a limited life span of membership

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Team: High Interdependence

• Mutual Goals

• Role Differentiation And Integration

• Joint Efforts Required

Working Group: Low

Interdependence

• Individual Goals For Each Member

• No Role Differentiation

• Each Member Can Achieve Goal

Alone

Make Brainstorming Work

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Types Of Teams

• Setting:

• Work

• Learning

• Sports

• How They Are Used:

• Problem Solving Teams

• Special Purpose Teams

• Self-Managing Teams

• What They Do:

• Recommend

• Make Or Do

• Run, In Charge

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Electronically Linked Teams

Benefits:

• Communication Is Asynchronous

• Communication Is Fast

• Participation Is Equalized, Less Affected By

Prestige And Status

• Participants Feel Freer To Speak Their Minds,

Throw Out New Ideas, Disagree With Someone

In A Higher Position

• Ability To Link With Other Teams, Offices,

Locations

Shortcomings:

• Relies On Plain Text

• Text Is Ephemeral, Quickly Deleted Without

Consideration

• Participants Less Constrained, Influenced By

Conventional Norms

• Anonymity Results In Less Individuality,

Empathy, Guilt, Concern

• Lacks Richness Of Face-To-Face Interaction

• Subject To Security Issues And Technical

Downtime

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Research On Teams

• Johnson & Johnson (1992)

• Working In Cooperative Teams Resulted In Higher Individual Productivity And Achievement Than Did Working Alone, Competitively Or Individually

• Working In Cooperative Teams Resulted In Higher Group Productivity Than Did Working In Teams With Competitive Or Individualistic Structures

• Freeberg & Rock (1987): Cooperation Among Members Important Influence On Team

Productivity

• Qin, Johnson, & Johnson (1995): Members Of Cooperative Teams Outperformed Individuals

Working Competitively Or Individualistically

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Organizational Context

Mass-Production Structure: Reduce Costs Of

Making Large Quantities Of Same Products

Authority Hierarchy

Divide Work Into Small Component Parts

Individuals Work Separately From Others, Low

Interdependence

Individuals Compete With Co-Workers, Low Social

Support

Emphasizes Personal Motivation And Responsibility

Team-Based Structure: Continuous

Improvement Of Quality Of Products

Individuals Work As Part Of Teams, High Social

Support

Small Groups Create Whole Product, High

Interdependence

Hierarchy Of Teams Or “Families”

Emphasizes Group Goals, Leadership, Group

Responsibility

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Organizational Development

• Organization Is A Set Of Interpersonal Relationships Structured To Achieve Established Goals.

• Organizational Development Is Use Of Diagnosis And Intervention Procedures To Promote Effective Interpersonal, Group, And Intergroup Behavior Within The Organization

• Organizational Effectiveness Is The Extent To Which The Organization Achieves Its Goals With The Use Of Minimal Resources

• Achieving Organization’s Goals

• Maintaining Effective Working Relationships Among Members

• Adapting To External Environment

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Action Research Model

• Diagnose Current Organizational Functioning

• Build Normative Theory

• Measure Current Functioning

• Analyze Data

• Give Feedback To Relevant Members

• Discuss And Plan How To Improve

• Implement Action Plan

• Re-Diagnose

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Team Building • Analyzing work procedures and activities to improve team productivity,

quality of relationships, level of social skills, and team adaptability

• Aimed at increasing long-term team effectiveness

• Based on action research model

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Forming The Team

• Keep Size Of Teams Small

• Select Members On Basis Of Expertise And Skills

• Provide Resources

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Establishing The Team

• Redefine Mission Into Specific Team Goals (Positive Interdependence)

• Establish Individual and Team Accountability

• Build Team Commitment

• Provide Training in Task and Team Skills

• Promote Group Processing

• Conduct Administrative Tasks

• Frequent Meetings Where Members Promote Each Other’s Success

• Structure First Meetings Carefully

• Establish Clear Rules Of Conduct

• Expose Team To New Facts And Information

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Building Team Commitment Top Management Gives Team Task

Team Redefines Task Into Mutual Goals

• Define Work Products

• Facilitate Clear Communication And Constructive Conflict Resolution

• Measure Progress

• Level Power And Status

• Allow Group To Achieve Short-Term Goals

• Provide Compelling Symbols Of Accomplishment

Mutual Goals Are Translated Into Specific Performance Goals That:

• Individual

• Team

Accountability:

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Assessing Quality Of Work

• Flowchart

• Cause-And-Effect Diagram

• Check Sheet

• Pareto Chart

• Run Chart

• Scatter Diagram

• Histogram

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Using Teams For Training

• Enhances Achievement Through Oral Rehearsal And Discussion

• Members Provide Each Other With Feedback

• Members Encourage And Motivate Each Other

• Promotes Attitude Development

• Changes Self-Identity

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Total Quality Management

• TQM: Using Teams To Continuously Improve The Processes By Which a Product or Service is Produced

• Continuous Improvement:

• Involve Everyone In Search For Incremental Improvements

• Provide Training, Resources, Authority To Identify And Solve Problems

• Set High-Performance Target And Measure Results

• Focus Visions On Needs Of Customer

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Continuous Improvement Procedure

• Form Teams

• Select A Process For Improvement

• Define The Process Clearly

• Develop A Design For Gathering Information About the Process to Analyze Its Effectiveness

• Generate An Improvement Plan

• Institutionalize Changes That Work

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Dealing With Problem Behaviors

• Passive Uninvolvement

• Active Uninvolvement

• Independence

• Taking Charge

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Summary on Team

A team is a set of interpersonal interactions structured to achieve established goals

Teams are more effective than Individuals working by themselves

There are differences between a mass-production organization and a team-based high- performance organization

Team effectiveness can be ensured by focusing on team development

Total Quality management fosters continuous improvement

Teamwork problems can be solved

THANK YOU.