Business Discussion
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Newstrom14e_PPT_Ch12.pptxChapter Twelve Informal and Formal Groups
Organizational
Behavior
John W. Newstrom
Human Behavior at
Work
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14e
Learning Objectives
Group dynamics
The nature and effects of informal groups
Informal leaders
Differences between task and social leadership roles
Brainstorming, nominal, Delphi, and dialectic techniques
Weaknesses of group meetings
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Group Dynamics
Social process by which people interact face-to-face in small groups
Study of forces operating within a group
Groups have properties of their own
Differ from the properties of the individuals who make up the group
No two people can be understood without examining their relationship
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Types of Groups
Established by the organization and which have a public identity and goal to achieve
Formal groups
Emerge on the basis of common interests, proximity, and friendships
Informal groups
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Figure 12.1 - Differences between Informal and Formal Organizations
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Figure 12.2 - Formal and Informal Organizations and Their Effects
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Informal Leaders
Employee with the largest amount of status in the informal organization
Socialize new members into the organization
Perform complex tasks
Model and explain key norms
Build and sustain group cohesiveness
Use the high esteem of their position to balance the additional responsibilities
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Informal Leaders
Informal groups overlap
A group can have multiple informal leaders
One primary leader has more influence than others
Leaders can be identified by their distinctive behaviors
Drawback - Are not always the best formal manager
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Figure 12.3 - Potential Benefits and Problems Associated with the Informal Organization
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Cohesiveness
Indicated by how strongly the employees stick together, rely on each other, and desire to remain members of the group
Factors that increase cohesiveness
Creating competitions against other groups
Having frequent interactions among members
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Cohesiveness
Selecting members with similar attitudes, backgrounds, and values
Identifying a challenging group goal
Recognizing a major threat or common enemy to the group
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Problems Associated with Informal Organizations
Resistance to change
Cause of employee conformity
Encouraged by societal norms
Reference groups: Group whose norms a person accepts
Nonconformers may be pressured and harassed until they capitulate or leave
Role conflict
Not subject to management’s direct control
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Monitoring Informal Organizations
Network charts: Focus on either interpersonal feelings expressed among individuals or actual behaviors exhibited
Determines who trusts whom and selects an individual to negotiate a satisfactory compromise on an issue
Reveals:
Central individuals and isolated persons
Differences between what outsiders think is happening
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Guidelines for Influencing Informal Organizations
Accept and understand them
Identify various levels of attitudes and behaviors within them
Consider possible effects on informal systems when taking any kind of action
Integrate the interests of informal groups with those of the formal organization
Keep formal activities from unnecessarily threatening them
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Formal Groups
Time spent in formal groups is criticized as being:
Unproductive
Source of confusion and misinformation
An excuse for indecision on the part of an individual decision maker
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Formal Groups
Prevalence of negative attitudes is attributed to:
Lack of trust and missing or incomplete information
Belief that meetings are not part of work
Poorly-run meetings and a view that meetings are the end-result, not the means to an end
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Committees
Group in which members who have the authority to handle a problem meet to address and resolve it
Group’s authority is expressed in terms of one vote for each member
Limitation - People are unable to make adjustments from their normal work roles and relationships
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Figure 12.5 - Systems View of Effective Committees
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Agendas
Surface agenda: Official task of the group
Hidden agendas: Members’ private emotions and motives
Criteria for effective surface agendas
Distribute well in advance, specifying the date, time, place, and primary purpose of the meeting
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Agendas
List presenters, time allotted to them, and time available for discussion
Focus on decisions and accommodate new items, address items in priority order
Identify date, time, and place of the next meeting
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Figure 12.6 - Task and Social Leadership Roles
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Facilitating Effective Meetings
Consider who should and who should not be present
Select a good site for the meeting
Use technology to competently handle the meeting
Give appropriate credit to those who participate
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Facilitating Effective Meetings
Use open questions and directed questions
Reject superficial excuses
Inspire members to overcome obstacles
Balance serious discussions with time for fun
Summarize progress and identify unresolved issues
Make assignments for the future
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Structured Approaches
Brainstorming
Nominal group technique
Delphi decision making
Dialectic decision methods
Group decision support system
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Brainstorming
Encourages creative thinking in groups
Electronic brainstorming: Using computer technology
Guidelines for participants
Generate as many ideas with creativity
Build upon, extend, or combine earlier ideas and withhold criticism of others’ ideas
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Brainstorming
Underlying principles
Deferred judgment: All ideas are encouraged without criticism or evaluation
Quantity valued most as it breeds quality
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Brainstorming
Advantages
Group members are enthusiastic
Participation is broader than normal
Group maintains a strong task orientation
Ideas are built upon and extended
Members feel that the final product is a team solution
Disadvantages
Fear that one’s creative thoughts will be looked down upon
Independent thought and criticism of one’s ideas do not contribute to group cohesion
Failure to set and follow ground rules
Organizational history of not taking action to implement ideas
Only one person can speak at a time
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Nominal Group Technique
Nominal group: Members have minimal interaction prior to producing a decision
Members are brought together and given a problem
Solutions are developed independently and ideas are shared in a structured format
Brief time is allotted for clarifying queries
Members individually designate their preferences by secret ballot and group decision is announced
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Nominal Group Technique
Advantages
Opportunity for equal participation by all members
Prevention of dominance of discussion by any one member
Tight control of time that the process allows
Disadvantages
Members are frustrated by the rigidity of the procedure
Members gain no feelings of cohesiveness
Members do not get their social needs satisfied
Members do not benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas
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Delphi Decision Making
Delphi decision groups: Panel of relevant people chosen to address an issue
Series of questionnaires are sequentially distributed to the respondents
Panelists are asked to:
Identify future problems
Project market trends
Predict a future state of affairs
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Delphi Decision Making
Explanations of their conclusions can be shared
Written responses are summarized and fed back to members
Participants make another decision based on the new information
Process is repeated until responses converge and a final report is prepared
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Delphi Decision Making
Advantages
Elimination of interpersonal problems
Efficient use of experts’ time
Adequate time for reflection and analysis by respondents
Diversity and quantity of ideas generated
Accuracy of predictions and forecasts made
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Figure 12.8 - Steps in Dialectic Decision Making
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Dialectic Decision Method (DDM)
Offers a way to overcome problems of incomplete evaluation of options in decision-making groups
Benefits
Better understanding of proposals, underlying premises, and pros and cons
Members feel more confident about the choice they made
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Dialectic Decision Method (DDM)
Limitations
Propensity to forge a weak compromise to avoid choosing sides
Focusing more on who were the better debaters
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Crowdsourcing
Contemporary method for obtaining inputs from a wide variety of individuals
Involves outsourcing a large-scale task to a group of self-selected persons who then work together to produce a single solution
Crowdsourcing can either draw from internal or external resources
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Potential Outcomes of Formal Group Processes
Support for decisions
Quality of decisions and problem solving improves
Individual development
Social facilitation: Members try harder to contribute on a task just because other people are around
Conformity: Members are alert to the perceived expectations and norms of the majority
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Consensus
Group engages in widespread input gathering, which results in a shared level of understanding
Consensus-oriented members can and will support the decision made
Ideas for reaching consensus
Conduct periodic and nonbinding straw polls
Suggest a supermajority vote
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Consensus
Ask members to withdraw controversial proposals or stand aside to let the group proceed
Create a subgroup and empower it to make a decision
Distill the concerns into major groups to pinpoint patterns of problems
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Consensus
Expedite closing of discussion by letting:
Each member speak for a limited time
Representatives of major positions speak for all others
Facilitation: Helping a group:
Attain resounding success
Maximize its efficient use of time
Feel satisfied with its efforts
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Role of Effective Facilitators
Encourage a group to separate idea-getting from idea-evaluation
Generate multiple solutions to evaluate
Avoid personal attacks
Attain balanced contributions from its members
Add on others’ ideas
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Role of Effective Facilitators
Identify criteria for judging potential solutions
Processing: Setting aside time at the end of a meeting to examine:
What went well and what went poorly
How the group’s behavior could be improved
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Weaknesses of Committees
Slowness and expensiveness
Groupthink: Tendency of a tightly knit group to bring individual thinking in line with the group’s thinking
Symptoms
Self-censorship of critical thoughts
Rationalizing their actions
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Weaknesses of Committees
Illusion of invulnerability, unanimity, and morality
Reliance on self-appointed mind-guards
Stereotyping others outside the group
Pressure on dissidents to conform to the group
Reduced by a devil’s advocate or by red teaming
Devil’s advocate: Guardians of clear and moral thinking who provide constructive criticism
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Weaknesses of Committees
Red teaming: Subset of a group:
Challenges underlying assumptions
Takes an adversary’s viewpoint
Proposes scenarios that have not been considered
Polarization: Individuals bring to the group their strong predispositions toward a topic
Risky shift: Willingness to take chances with organizational resources as a group than they would as individuals
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Weaknesses of Committees
Escalating commitment: Persevering in advocating a course of action despite rational evidence that it will result in failure
Selective perception results in confirmation bias
Ego needs of the decision makers affect decisions
Admiration of leaders who are risk takers
Group decisions dilute and thin out responsibility
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Weaknesses of Committees
Social loafers: Individual members who shirk responsibility with justifications
Other related problems
Linearity bias - Propensity to make overly simple cause-effect conclusions
Egocentrism - Temptation to overemphasize our own importance while forcing a decision
Framing bias - Temptation to be overly influenced by how the problem was presented
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Weaknesses of Committees
Self-confidence bias - Premature belief that the best solution has already been uncovered
Anti-statistical bias - Reluctance to examine relevant statistical information and give them weight
Overcome through:
Proper group structures to be selected
Group size is an important factor
Various leadership roles to be played
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