Mullins L.J. Management and organisational behaviour, Seventh edition

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CHAPTER 14 WORKING IN GROUPS AND TEAMS

MANAGEMENT IN ACTION 14.2

Barriers come down to build up team spirit

585

Corporate executives who regard ‘team-building’ exercises as

a chance to let their hair down may well have paused for

thought following news that a Railtrack session led to the sus-

pension of a senior manager for allegedly drunken behaviour.

Yet the perception that corporate bonding events are a

well-earned opportunity to pop a few corks endures – and

catering for them is a booming business for hotels and man-

agement consultants, worth £600m a year.

Alcohol-fuelled antics at the Railtrack team-building exer-

cise last week allegedly outraged clients and staff at the

Balmer Lawn Hotel in Hampshire, and led to the suspension

of Paul White, head of national contracts.

Earlier this month, Jim Hodkinson lost his job as chief

executive of New Look, the fashion retailer, for groping the

bottom of a female colleague during a corporate event.

But Roland Ayling, general manager of Dunston Hall hotel

in Norwich, which regularly hosts company get-togethers, is

not surprised. ‘Of course, you get people becoming boister-

ous from drinking,’ he says. ‘That’s part of the day.’

Although some events may get out of hand, once out of

the office barriers come down as managers mingle with sec-

retaries. That is why companies are happy to spend often

large sums of money to help their employees get to know

each other better, in the belief that it will help them work

more efficiently.

‘During team-building events, employees will develop a

rapport which they have never had before,’ says Jason

Ludlow, of Events UK, which organised a team-building

treasure-hunting trek in the New Forest for Railtrack man-

agers last week.

However, not everyone agrees. Critics say few employees

bring back the newly found complicity to the office. ‘Nobody

ever forgets where the hatchet is buried,’ says one former

Marks and Spencer manager, who is a veteran of many

bonding sessions. ‘The sense of common purpose developed

during these exercises dissipates once it is subject to the

hurlyburly of everyday life at work.’

An advertising manager adds: ‘When people feel they are

under pressure to bond, they stay away from these events

and from one another afterwards.’

Popular team-building exercises include treasure hunting,

clay pigeon shooting and sailing. Some will be tailor-made to

reflect subtly a main corporate activity. For example, employ-

ees can be asked to help strangers in the street fix a tyre to

test customer service skills. Some managers question the rel-

evance of the games they have to play. ‘The fact that I can

build a raft to cross the river does not mean I can manage

people properly,’ says Edward Pickard who used to work at

Aon Corporation, the insurance brokerage, before joining

Tindall Riley.

(Reproduced with permission from the Financial Times Limited, © Financial

Times.)

Photo: Jurgen Reisch/Getty Images

586

PART 5 GROUPS AND TEAMWORK

1 Discuss critically and with supporting practical examples the likely advantages and disad-

vantages of working in a small group or team.

2 Contrast different types of communication networks. Give examples of a situation in which

each type of network is likely to be most appropriate.

3 Assess the practical value to the manager of the analysis of individual behaviour. Explain

how you would go about constructing a sociogram.

4 Distinguish between: (a) group task roles; (b) group building and maintenance roles; and (c)

individual roles. Give your own examples of each of these types of group member roles.

Suggest a framework for the analysis and categorisation of patterns of individual behaviour in

group situations. What considerations need to be kept in mind when using such frameworks?

6 Explain what is meant by: (a) ‘groupthink’; (b) the risky-shift phenomenon; and (c) brain-

storming. Assess critically the likely standard of individual, compared with group or team

performance.

7 Explain the meaning and purpose of sensitivity training. Give your views on the relevance and

practical value of group dynamics.

8 Detail fully the main factors to be considered in a review of effective teamworking.

Attempt, preferably, to observe a small group or project team at work; alternatively, next time

you are involved in a small group discussion observe the members of your group.

a (i) Explain the nature of the content of the group’s discussion and contrast this with the

process of the discussion.

(ii) Complete the grid below by giving a tick in the appropriate box to denote the behaviour

of individual members in terms of:

– group task roles;

– group building and maintenance roles;

– individual roles.

b Explain the conclusions you draw concerning the conduct and apparent effectiveness of

the group.

ASSIGNMENT 1

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Names of group members (or reference numbers)

Group task roles

Group building/maintenance roles

Individual roles

Totals

CHAPTER 14 WORKING IN GROUPS AND TEAMS

From your experience of working within a small group and/or project team at work, and as

directed by your tutor, attempt to undertake at least two of the following tasks.

TASK 1

Consider how individual members fit best into the Belbin’s revised nine team roles (Table

14.1, page 557).

Elaborate on both:

■ their specific team-role contribution; and

■ their allowable weaknesses.

Comment critically on the extent to which the people identified collectively help to form a bal-

anced and comprehensive list of team-roles.

TASK 2

Analyse the communication network(s) adopted and level of interaction among members

(Figure 14.2, page 559). Comment critically on the general level of satisfaction apparently

experienced by individual group members.

TASK 3

Classify individual member roles in terms of the amount of emphasis placed on:

■ task functions;

■ maintenance functions; and

■ self-oriented behaviour.

Comment critically on the overall structure or pattern of interrelations among members of the

group/team.

ASSIGNMENT 2

587



588

PART 5 GROUPS AND TEAMWORK

TASK 4

Using your understanding of Sociometry, provide in confidence to your tutor the names of

two people from your group/team with whom you would:

■ most prefer to accompany you on a ‘safari’ type holiday;

■ feel least uncomfortable in confiding to about a potentially embarrassing personal health or

hygiene problem; and

■ choose to discuss concern about progress on your course of study or at your place

of work.

TASK 5

Develop a list of critical indicators that you believe would best provide objective measures of

how successfully the group/team is performing and its contribution to the overall effective-

ness of the organisation.

Working within a small group, and as directed by your tutor, adopt a brainstorming approach

to providing as many uses as possible for:

■ a 1970 edition of an American 900-page textbook on management; and

■ a man or woman’s leather belt

Elect a member to record all of your responses. At the end of the allotted time delete any

obvious duplication, total the numbers of ideas for each separate exercise, and then be pre-

pared to share and compare with ideas and total scores from other groups.

What conclusions do you draw from this assignment?

Assignment 2 continued

ASSIGNMENT 3

CHAPTER 14 WORKING IN GROUPS AND TEAMS

OBJECTIVES

Completing this exercise should help you to enhance the following skills:

 Analyse the range of roles that are necessary for most teams to work effectively.

 Evaluate the role(s) you play within the team.

 Identify which roles could be developed and used more to increase effectiveness.

EXERCISE

Referring to the 12 Roles Summary Sheet below, you are required to:

1 Complete the Team Role – Self Assessment Sheet.

2 Refine and validate the results by asking others who know you well to complete the Team

Role – Colleague Assessment Sheet for you.

3 Compare the results and instigate a discussion to understand the reasons for colleagues’

perceptions of you.

4 Observe the way in which people operate who are strong in the roles in which you are

weak and consider ways in which you can use your strengths to help others develop.

Rolessummary Sheet

PERSONAL AWARENESS AND SKILLS EXERCISE

589

Team leader Challenger Expert

Forms the team Adopts unconventional approaches Provides specialist expertise

Identifies strengths and weaknesses Looks afresh Acts as expert witness

Determines contributions Challenges accepted order Provides professional viewpoint

Monitors performance Provides the unexpected

Calls meetings Ideas man

Provides structure Challenges complacency

Reviews team needs Provides stimulus

Provides radical review

Ambassador Judge Innovator

Develops external relationships Listens Uses imagination

Shows concern for external environment

Evaluates Proposes new methods

Sells the team Ponders Evaluates ideas

Builds bridges Avoids arguments Nurtures ideas

Avoids advocacy Builds on others’ ideas

Promotes justice Visualizes opportunities

Avoids rushing Transforms ideas into strategies

Acts logically Deals with complex issues

Acts pragmatically Provides vision

Provides balance Provides ingenuity

Checks wild enthusiasm Provides logic

Seeks the truth Helps understanding

Diplomat Conformer Output pusher

Promotes diplomatic solutions Fills gaps Self motivated

Has high influence Co-operative

Preoccupation with output and results

Good negotiator Helps relationships ‘Drives’

Orientates the team Jack of All Trades Imposes time scales

Builds alliances

Avoids challenges to accepted order

Chases progress

Aids consensus Observes Shows high commitment to task

Pragmatic Conservative Intolerant

Sees way ahead Abrasive

Quality controller Supporter Reviewer

Checks output orientation Builds morale Observes

Preoccupation with quality Puts people at ease Reviews performance

Inspires higher standards Ensures job satisfaction Promotes regular review

Acts as team conscience Resolves conflicts Gives feedback

Shows relationship concern Gets to root of problem Acts as ‘mirror’

Gives advice Looks for pitfalls

Supports Is process-orientated

Encourages



PART 5 GROUPS AND TEAMWORK

Personal awareness and skills exercise continued

Team Role – Colleague Assessment Sheet

Referring to the descriptions on the Roles Summary Sheet place in rank order your per-

ception of how strongly the person plays each role.

Rank the strongest role 1 and the weakest 12.

910

11 12

Make remarks which you feel would be helpful in:

(a) Developing weak roles.

(b) Enabling the person to play roles which you feel would be helpful to the team.

590

Team Role – Self Assessment Sheet

Review the twelve roles outlined on the Roles Summary Sheet and rank them according

to the frequency with which you play each role.

910

11 12

Summary

Strong roles Weak roles

CHAPTER 14 WORKING IN GROUPS AND TEAMS

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. ‘Teamwork: Success Through People’, Advisory Booklet,

ACAS, April 2003, pp. 6–7.

2. See, for example: Allcorn, S. ‘Understanding Groups at

Work’, Personnel, vol. 66, no. 8, August 1989,

pp. 28–36.

3. Guirdham, M. Interactive Behaviour at Work, Third edi-

tion, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2002), p. 463.

4. Obeng, E. All Change, Pitman Publishing (1994).

5. Crainer, S. Key Management Ideas: Thinkers that changed

the management world, Third edition, Financial Times

Prentice Hall (1998), p. 238.

6. James, J. Body Talk at Work, Judy Piatkus (2001), p. 211.

7. Belbin, R. M. Management Teams: Why They Succeed or

Fail, Butterworth-Heinemann (1981).

8. Belbin, R. M. Team Roles at Work, Butterworth-

Heinemann (1993).

9. Furnham, A., Steele, H. and Pendleton, D. ‘A

Psychometric Assessment of the Belbin Team-Role Self-

Perception Inventory’, Journal of Occupational and

Organizational Psychology, 66, 1993, pp. 245–61.

10. Arroba, T. and Wedgwood-Oppenheim, F. ‘Do Senior

Managers Differ in The Public and Private Sector? An

Examination of Team-Role Preferences’, Journal of

Managerial Psychology, vol. 9, no. I, 1994, pp. 13–16.

11. White, J. ‘Teaming with Talent’, Management Today,

September 1999, pp. 57–61.

12. Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A. and Macrosson, W. D. K.

‘The Distribution of Belbin Team Roles among

UK Managers’, Personnel Review, vol. 29, no. 2, 2000,

pp. 124–40.

13. Bavelas, A. ‘A Mathematical Model for Group

Structures’, Applied Anthropology, vol. 7, 1948, pp. 19–30,

and Bavelas, A. ‘Communication Patterns in Task-

Oriented Groups’, in Lasswell, H. N. and Lerner, D. (eds)

The Policy Sciences, Stanford University Press (1951).

14. Leavitt, H. J. ‘Some Effects of Certain Communication

Patterns on Group Performance’, Journal of Abnormal

and Social Psychology, vol. 46, 1951, pp. 38–50. See also:

Leavitt, H. J. Managerial Psychology, Fourth edition,

University of Chicago Press (1978).

15. Shaw, M. E. ‘Communication Networks’, in Berkowitz,

L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol.

1, Academic Press (1964).

16. Moreland, R. L. and Levine, J. M. Understanding Small

Groups, Allyn and Bacon (1994).

17. Belbin, R. M. Changing The Way We Work, Butterworth-

Heinemann (1997), p. 13.

18. Stanley. T. J. ‘The Challenge of Managing a High-

Performance Team’, SuperVision, vol. 63, no. 7, July

2002, pp. 10–12.

19. Moreno, J. L. Who Shall Survive? Beacon House (1953).

See also: Moreno, J. L. and Jennings, H. H. The

Sociometry Reader, Free Press of Glencoe (1960).

20. Rogers, E. M. and Kincaid, D. L. Communication

Networks: Towards a New Paradigm for Research, The Free

Press (1981), p. 92.

21. Bales, R. F. ‘A Set of Categories for the Analysis of Small

Group Interaction’, American Sociological Review, vol.

15, April 1950, pp. 257–63.

22. Bales, R. F. Personality and Interpersonal Behaviour, Holt,

Rinehart and Winston (1970).

23.

Benne, K. D. and Sheats, P. ‘Functional Roles of Group

Members’, Journal of Social Issues, vol. 4, 1948, pp. 41–9.

24. Coghlan, D. ‘Managing Organizational Change

Through Teams and Groups’, Leadership & Organization

Development Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, 1994, pp. 18–23.

25. Whitfield, J. M., Anthony, W. P. and Kacmar, K. M.

‘Evaluation of Team-Based Management: A Case Study’,

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 8,

no. 2, 1995, pp. 17–28.

591

DISCUSSION

■ To what extent do you agree with the list of 12 roles needed to make most teams effective?

■ Comment honestly and critically on your colleague’s team role assessment sheet. Did the

ranking surprise you?

■ What conclusions do you draw from this exercise?

Visit our website www.booksites.net/mullins for further questions, annotated weblinks,

case material and Internet research material.

592

PART 5 GROUPS AND TEAMWORK

26. Green, J. R. ‘Team Building in Practice’, Chartered

Secretary, November 1997, pp. 34–5.

27. James, J. Body Talk at Work, Judy Piatkus (2001), p. 212.

28. Kets de Vries, M. ‘Beyond Sloan: Trust Is at the Core of

Corporate Values’, in Pickford, J. (ed.), Financial Times

Mastering Management 2.0, Financial Times Prentice

Hall (2001), p. 268.

29. Douglas, M. ‘Why Soft Skills Are an Essential Part of

the Hard World of Business’, Manager, The British

Journal of Administrative Management, New Year 2003,

pp. 34–5.

30. ‘Teamwork: Success Through People’, Advisory Booklet,

ACAS, April 2003, p. 31.

31. Kravitz, D. A. and Martin, B. ‘Ringelmann Rediscovered:

The Original Article’, Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, May 1986, pp. 936–41.

32. See, for example: Karau, S. J. and Williams, K. D. ‘Social

Loafing: A Meta-Analysis Review and Theoretical

Integration’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

October 1993, pp. 681–706.

33. Hall, P. ‘Team Solutions Need Not Be the Organisational

Norm’, Professional Manager, July 2001, p. 45.

34. See, for example: Blanchard, K. and Bowles, S. High Five:

None of Us Is As Smart As All of Us, HarperCollins

Business (2001).

35. Stanley, T. J. ‘The Challenge of Managing a High-

Performance Team’, SuperVision, vol. 63, no. 7, July

2002, pp. 10–12.

36. Guirdham, M. Interactive Behaviour at Work, Third edi-

tion, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2002), p. 498.

37. Kogan, N. and Wallach, M. A. ‘Risk-Taking as a

Function of the Situation, the Person and the Group’,

in Newcomb, T. M. (ed.) New Directions in Psychology III,

Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1967).

38. For a comprehensive review of the ‘risky-shift’ phe-

nomenon, see, for example: Clarke, R. D. ‘Group

Induced Shift Towards Risk: A Critical Appraisal’,

Psychological Bulletin, vol. 76, 1971, pp. 251–70. See

also: Vecchio, R. P. Organizational Behavior, Third edi-

tion, Harcourt Brace and Company (1995).

39. Shaw, M. E. Group Dynamics, McGraw-Hill (1976).

40. Janis, J. L. Victims of Groupthink, Houghton Mifflin

(1972) and Janis, J. L. Groupthink, Second edition,

Houghton Mifflin (1982).

41. Hambrick, D. ‘Putting the Team into Top Management’,

in Pickford, J. (ed.), Financial Times Mastering

Management 2.0, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2001),

p. 289.

42. Osborn, A. F. Applied Imagination: Principles and

Procedures of Creative Thinking, Scribner’s (1963).

43. Diehl, M. and Strobe, W. ‘Productivity Loss in

Brainstorming Groups: Towards the Solution of the

Riddle’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol.

53, 1987, pp. 497–509.

44. See, for example: Bishop, S. and Taylor, D. Developing

Your Staff, Pitman Publishing/Longman Training,

(1994).

45. See, for example: Waterman, R. The Frontiers of

Excellence, Nicholas Brealey (1994).

46. Cooper, C. L. and Mangham, I. L. (eds) T-Groups: A

Survey of Research, Wiley (1971), p. v.

47. Luft, J. Group Processes: An Introduction to Group

Dynamics, Second edition, National Press (1970). (The

term ‘Johari Window’ was derived from a combination

of the first names of the original authors, Joseph Luft

and Harry Ingham.)

48. Davis, K. Human Behavior at Work, Fifth edition,

McGraw-Hill (1977), p. 183.

49. Davis, K. and Newstrom, J. W. Human Behavior at Work:

Organizational Behavior, Eighth edition, McGraw-Hill

(1989).

50. See, for example: McKenna, E. Business Psychology and

Organisational Behaviour, Lawrence Erlbaum (1994).

51. For an overview of experimental small group methods

and training needs, see, for example: Smith, P. B. Group

Processes and Personal Change, Harper and Row (1980).

See also: Brown, R. Group Processes: Dynamics Within

and Between Groups, Basil Blackwell (1988).

52. Wilson, J. ‘Building Teams – with Attitude’, Professional

Manager, September 1998, p. 13.

53. Browning, G. ‘Brain Food: Matters for the Mind to

Chew On’, Management Today, April 2000, p. 20.

54. Riches, A. ‘Emotionally Intelligent Teams’,

Organisational Change & Leadership Development,

www.anneriches.com.au, accessed 11 March 2003.

55. Teamwork: Success Through People. Advisory Booklet,

ACAS, April 2003, p. 34.

56. South African Employment Equity Act, 55, 1998.

57. Belbin, R. M. Management Teams, Butterworth-

Heinemann (1991); supported by a computer software

package used under licence from Belbin and Associates.

58. Misselhorn, H. J. Understanding and Managing your

Organization, M.O.D. Consulting (S.A.) (1998).

59. Misselhorn, H. J. The Head and Heart of Management,

M.O.D. Consulting (S.A.) (2003).

60. Experiential learning refers to the learning that occurs

from active first-hand involvement in the subject or

task to be learned, plus meaningful feedback to the

learner from successful and unsuccessful understand-

ing or performance.

61. These nine team roles were not developed from con-

ceptual models but based on empirical observations by

Belbin and his team over a number of years at Henley-

on-Thames Management College. The terms used help

to get away from the management jargon and find

words which capture, in layman’s language, something

of these typical behaviour patterns.

Use the Financial Times to enhance your understanding of the context and practice of management and

organisational behaviour. Refer to articles 8, 14 and 15 in the BUSINESS PRESS section at the end of the

book for relevant reports on the issues explored in this chapter.

ORGANISATIONAL

STRUCTURES

Part 6

Part 2

THE

ORGANISATIONAL

SETTING

Part 3

THE ROLE OF

THE MANAGER

Part 7

MANAGEMENT

OF HUMAN

RESOURCES

Part 8

IMPROVING

ORGANISATIONAL

PERFORMANCE

Part 5

GROUPS AND

TEAMWORK

Part 1

MANAGEMENT AND

ORGANISATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR

Part 4

THE

INDIVIDUAL

Part 6

ORGANISATIONAL

STRUCTURES

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