Teamwork & Leadership

Introduction to Organizational Studies: Grade 12 (Form VII)

Teacher & Parent Guide Assignment #1 (The Tuckman Model) Assignment#2 (Comprehension Passage) Assignment #3 (Who Would You Want To Follow?) Assignment #4 (Leadership Traits)

Glossary of Terms & Concepts:

An Introduction to Teamwork: (notes and background information)

An Introduction to Leadership: (notes and background information)

An Introduction to Groups & Teamwork:
(notes and background information)

Group:
A collection of of individuals who share a common set of norms, having differentiated roles, acting together toward the joint pursuit of common goals. (Focus: group structure and group processes)

Team: (as defined by:Katzenbach & Smith (1986). The Wisdom of Teams. Harvard Business Review Press.)
"A small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, and common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable."

Types of groups (2):
1. Formal Groups: (prescribed by an authority in an organization)
a) permanent group: functional group (sales group etc.)
b) task group: less permanent, usual created to solve immediate or upcoming issues.

2. Informal Groups: (exclusive of the authority in an organization)
Evolve naturally out of collective self interest (common interests, social needs, friendship etc. among the members of an organization and are not the result of deliberate organizational design.

Reasons for Joining Groups:
security
social needs
self-esteem
economic self-interest
mutual interest
physical proximity

Group Structure and Processes:

Characteristics of Successful Teams:
(selected from the following website: http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/misc/cc351.htm#tbs)

shared goals and objectives
trust openness and honest communication
a sense of belonging (cohesiveness)
diversity valued as an asset
creativity & risk taking encouraged and rewarded
constantly improving
interdependent members
effective decision making
participative decision making: changing/shifting roles

Effective Team Members (and therefore teams):
An effective team member has a positive, encouraging attitude, is above average on the achievement scale, and has the necessary skills to make a contribution. An effective team member is friendly and flexible, is seen as a giver, and is not jealous of other team members and their accomplishments. An effective team member is tolerant of others, does not intimidate, and will not be intimidated by others. People that are seen as superstars or overachievers by other team members usually do not fit into a team environment very well because they are used to doing things by and for themselves. Underachievers who may be seen as unmotivated and habitually negative are frequently rejected by the team.

Productive Team Member Characteristics:

Response Salience:
The tendency to focus on objects that relate to our immediate needs or wants. 

Response Disposition:
The tendency to recognize familiar objects more quickly than unfamiliar ones.

Source of information: Steers, Richard and Stewart Black. (1994). Organizational Behaviour. HarperCollins College Publishers, New York.

An Introduction to Leadership:
(notes and background information)

Bases of Power:

1. Referent Power:
   where person B looks up to or admires person A... also called charismatic power because allegiance is based on interpersonal attraction of one individual for another...
    

2. Expert Power:
   demonstrated when person A has knowledge or expertise relative to person B... assumed creditability...
    

3. Legitimate Power:
   another name for an assigned authority... exists when person A has the right or privilege to exert power in a certain domain over person B...
    

4. Reward Power:
   occurs when person A controls what rewards that person B wants... pay raises, promotions, job assignments, flexible hours, playing time etc...
    

5. Coercive Power:
   based primarily on fear and intimidation through the administration of punishments... “punishment power”, including, but not limited to: demotion, firing employees, failing students...

Conflict:
Conflict can be either functional (stimulate innovation or change), or dysfunctional (stress, reducing goal achievement) in work situations depending on the nature of the conflict, its intensity, and its duration. Too much or too little conflict may also affects outcomes.

Types of Conflict:

1. Goal Conflict: occurs when one or more people desire another goal.

2. Cognitive Conflict: occurs when one or more persons holds ideas that are inconsistent with the others in the group.

3. Affective Conflict: occurs when one or more persons feelings, emotions, or attitudes are incompatible with those of the other members.

4. Behavioral Conflict: occurs when one or more persons does something that is unacceptable with the group...

Levels of Conflict:

1. Intrapersonal: typically the “approach-avoidance” conflict. (ie. incompatible ethics with the organization)

2. Interpersonal: where two group members disagree on at least one issue. (ie. personal or work-related problems)

3. Inter-group: disagreements between two or more groups. (ie. competing for resources)

4. Inter-organizational: disputes between two or more organizations. (ie. OPEC)

Conflict-Handling Leadership Styles:

1. Competing

2. Collaborating

3. Compromising

4. Avoiding

5. Accommodating

Source of information: Steers, Richard and Stewart Black. (1994). Organizational Behaviour. HarperCollins College Publishers, New York.
 

And finally...

 to read a paper based on the ideas of educationist Neil Postman, entitled
"Assessing the Value of Technology in Education", click on the book icon below...

to view a mock 'commercial' made by the Form VII Organizational Studies
students at Bishop's College School, in Lennoxville, Quebec, created with
Apple Computer's "iMovie", please click on the image below...

for a list of great educational websites press the red button below!


This website, created for a Technology & Teaching Education course taken
at Bishop's University, was last updated on Wednesday, June 11th, 2003.