Group Dynamics for Teams / Edition 6

by Daniel J. Levi, David A. Askay

Overview

Grounded in psychology research but with a practical focus on organizational behavior issues, Group Dynamics for Teams helps readers understand and participate in teams more effectively in day-to-day work. Best-selling author Daniel Levi and new co-author David A. Askay thoroughly examine basic group dynamics concepts, such as goals, norms, cooperation, and communication, as well as review the main challenges that teams face, such as conflict, decision making, problem solving, creativity, and valuing diversity. Throughout the book are discussions of the organizational context of teams, including the impacts of organizational culture, virtual teamwork, rewarding teams, and team building.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544309699
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/27/2020
Edition description:	Sixth Edition
Pages:	472
Sales rank:	613,144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Daniel Levi is a professor in the Psychology and Child Development Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California. He has an MA and a Ph D in environmental psychology from the University of Arizona. He teaches classes in teamwork and in environmental and organizational psychology. His teamwork class was designed primarily for engineering and business students at Cal Poly. He has conducted research and worked as a consultant with factory and engineering teams for companies such as Nortel Networks, TRW, Hewlett-Packard, and Philips Electronics. In addition, he has worked on international team research projects in Europe and Asia.

Dr. Levi’s research and consulting with factory teams primarily has focused on the use of teams to support technological change and the adoption of just-in-time and quality programs. This work examined a variety of team issues, including job redesign, training, compensation, supervision, and change management approaches. His work with professional teams primarily has been done with engineering design teams. These projects examined the use of concurrent engineering, self-management, and the globalization of teams. The topics of this work included the impact of information technology on teams, facilitation and training needs for professional teams, and the impacts of organizational culture and leadership.

Early work on the present book was sponsored by an engineering education grant from NASA. This project focused on the development of teamwork skills in engineering students working on multidisciplinary projects. This project led to the development of cases and activities for learning teamwork skills and research on teamwork training and evaluating and rewarding student teams. Recent research on student teams examines gender and cross-cultural issues, social support within teams, and bullying and hijacking in student teams.

David Askay is an assistant professor in the Communications Studies Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He earned a Ph D in Organizational Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2013) and teaches in the areas of groups, organizations, and technology.

Table of Contents

New to This Edition
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
Part I: Characteristics of Teams
Chapter 1: Understanding Teams
Learning Objectives
1.1 Why Groups and Teams Matter
1.2 Defining Groups
1.3 Defining Teams
1.4 Why Organizations Use Teams
1.5 Purposes and Types of Teams
1.6 History of Teams and Group Dynamics
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 1
Survey: Attitudes Toward Teamwork
Activity: Working in Teams
Chapter 2: Defining Team Success
Learning Objectives
2.1 Nature of Team Success
2.2 Conditions for Team Success
2.3 Characteristics of Successful Teams
2.4 Positive-Psychology View of Team Success
2.5 Using Teams in the Workplace
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 2
Activity: Understanding Team Success
Part II: Processes of Teamwork
Chapter 3: Team Beginnings
Learning Objectives
3.1 Stages of Group Development
3.2 Group Socialization
3.3 Team Goals
3.4 Team Norms
3.5 Application: Jump-Starting Project Teams
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 3
Activity: Observing Team Development
Activity: Developing a Team Charter
Chapter 4: Understanding the Basic Team Processes
Learning Objectives
4.1 Motivation
4.2 Group Cohesion
4.3 Team Roles
4.4 Task and Social Behaviors
4.5 Team Adaptation and Learning
4.6 Basic Team Processes in Virtual Teams
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 4
Activity: Tracking Teamwork Behaviors
Chapter 5: Cooperation and Competition
Learning Objectives
5.1 Teamwork as a Mixed-Motive Situation
5.2 Why Are People in Teams Competitive?
5.3 Problems With Competition
5.4 Benefits of and Problems With Cooperation
5.5 Application: Encouraging Cooperation
Leading Virtual Teams: Building Trust and Social Relationships
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 5
Survey: Cooperative, Competitive, or Individualistic Orientation
Activity: Understanding Competitive Versus Cooperative Goals
Chapter 6: Communication
Learning Objectives
6.1 The Communication Process
6.2 Flow of a Team’s Communication
6.3 Emotional Intelligence
6.4 Facilitating Team Meetings
6.5 Communication Skills for Team Meetings
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 6
Survey: Team Emotional Intelligence
Activity: Observing Communication Patterns in a Team
Part III: Issues Teams Face
Chapter 7: Managing Conflict
Learning Objectives
7.1 Conflict Is Normal
7.2 Sources of Conflict
7.3 Types of Conflict
7.4 Conflict Management
7.5 Preventing and Preparing for Team Conflict
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 7
Survey: Conflict Management Styles
Activity: Observing Conflict Management Styles
Chapter 8: Social Influence and Power
Learning Objectives
8.1 Understanding Social Influence and Power
8.2 Types Of Power
8.3 Power Dynamics
8.4 Empowerment
8.5 Application: Acting Assertively
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 8
Activity: Using Power Styles—Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive
Chapter 9: Decision Making
Learning Objectives
9.1 Decision Making in Teams
9.2 Deciding How to Decide: Evaluating Decision-Making Approaches
9.3 Individual Decision Making
9.4 Group Decision Making
9.5 Crowd and Algorithmic Decision Making
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 9
Activity: Making Consensus Decisions
Activity: Group Versus Individual Decision Making
Chapter 10: Leadership and Followership
Learning Objectives
10.1 Defining Leadership
10.2 Leadership Emergence
10.3 Models of Effective Leadership
10.4 Team Leadership
10.5 Followership
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 10
Activity: Observing the Leader’s Behavior
Chapter 11: Problem Solving
Learning Objectives
11.1 Understanding Problems
11.2 Descriptive Approach: How Teams Typically Solve Problems
11.3 Rational Problem Solving: How Teams Should Solve Problems
11.4 Application: Constructing a Shared Mental Model Through Process Mapping
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 11
Activity: Using Problem-Solving Techniques
Chapter 12: Creativity, Innovation, and Design Thinking
Learning Objectives
12.1 Creativity and Innovation
12.2 Four Phases of the Idea Journey
12.3 What Is Design Thinking?
12.4 The Design Thinking Process
12.5 Promoting Team Creativity and Innovation
12.6 Virtual Creativity
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 12
Activity: Comparing Different Creativity Techniques
Chapter 13: Diversity and Inclusion
Learning Objectives
13.1 The Importance of Diversity
13.2 Difference and Diversity
13.3 How Diversity Operates
13.4 Effects of Diversity on Team Performance
13.5 Application: Supporting Diversity and Inclusion
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 13
Survey: Work Group Inclusion
Activity: Understanding Gender and Status Differences in a Team
Part IV: Organizational Context of Teams
Chapter 14: Team, Organizational, and International Culture
Learning Objectives
14.1 What Is Culture?
14.2 Team Culture
14.3 Defining Organizational Culture
14.4 Organizational Culture and Teamwork
14.5 Dimensions of International Culture
14.6 International Differences in Teamwork
14.7 Multinational Teams
14.8 Cultural Intelligence
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 14
Survey: Individualism–Collectivism
Activity: Evaluating a Team’s Culture and Cultural Context
Activity: Comparing Teams in the United States and Japan
Chapter 15: Virtuality and Teamwork
Learning Objectives
15.1 Virtuality and Virtual Teams
15.2 Communication Technologies
15.3 Geographic Dispersion
15.4 Managing Virtuality on Teams
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 15
Activity: Developing Norms for Virtual Teams
Activity: Experiencing Teamwork in a Simulated Virtual Team
Chapter 16: Evaluating and Rewarding Team Performance
Learning Objectives
16.1 Performance Management
16.2 Evaluating Performance
16.3 Rewarding Performance
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 16
Survey: Individual Versus Team Rewards
Activity: Evaluating and Rewarding a Project Team
Activity: Team Halo Effect
Chapter 17: Team Development Interventions
Learning Objectives
17.1 What Are Team Development Interventions?
17.2 Team Building
17.3 Types of Team-Building Programs
17.4 Team Training
17.5 Types of Training
Summary
Team Leadership Challenge 17
Activity: Team Building
Activity: Appreciative Inquiry of Teamwork
Appendix: Guide to Student Team Projects
A.1 Starting the Team
A.2 Planning and Developing the Project
A.3 Monitoring the Project and Maintaining Teamwork
A.4 Performing Team Writing
A.5 Wrapping Up and Completing the Project
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The author’s analysis is very up-to-date, for he includes chapters on very recent analyses of teams, such as questions of diversity and teams-communicating-via-computers. . . . The book’s key strength is its aim to help students and professionals better understand the groups to which they belong by reviewing key concepts in the area of groups."

Donelson R. Forsyth