Group Dynamics for Teams

About the Book

Grounded in psychological research but with a very practical focus on organizational behaviour issues, this book explains the basic psychological concepts of group dynamics with a focus on their application with teams in the workplace.

The book begins with an overview of how teams are being used in the workplace and the factors that relate to team success. It goes on to examine basic topics such as goals, norms, cooperation, and communication while reviewing the main challenges teams face, including conflict, decision making, problem solving, creativity, and valuing diversity. The final section analyzes the use of teams in the workplace, including the impact of organizational culture, technological support for teams, differences among types of work teams, team building, and team evaluation and reward.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: CHARACTERISTICS OF TEAMS Chapter 1 - Understanding Teams Learning Objectives 1.1 Defining Groups and Teams 1.2 Purposes and Types of Teams 1.3 Why Organizations Are Using Teams 1.4 History of Teams and Group Dynamics Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 1 Activity: Groups Versus 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 Using Teams in the Workplace Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 2 Activity: Understanting Team Success PART II: PROCESSES OF TEAMWORK Chapter 3 - Team Beginnings Learning Objectives 3.1 Stages of Teamwork 3.2 Group Socialization 3.3 Team Goals 3.4 Group Norms 3.5 Application: Jump-Starting Project Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 3 Survey: Attitudes Toward Teamwork Activity: Observing Team Norms 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 Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 4 Activity: Observing Task and Social 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 Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 5 Survey: Cooperative, Competitive, or Individualistic Orientation Activity: Understanding Competitive Versus Cooperative Goals Chapter 6 - Communication Learning Objectives 6.1 Communication Process 6.2 Flow of a Team′s Communications 6.3 Building Trust 6.4 Facilitating Team Meetings 6.5 Communication Skills for Team Meetings Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 6 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 Impact of Conflict 7.4 Conflict Resolution Approaches 7.5 Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration 7.6 Managing Team Conflicts Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 7 Survey: Conflict Resolution Styles Activity: Observing Conflict Resolution Styles Chapter 8 - Power and Social Influence Learning Objectives 8.1 Definitions of Power and Social Influence 8.2 Types of Power 8.3 Power Dynamics 8.4 Empowerment 8.5 Application: Acting Assertively Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 8 Activity: Using Power Styles - Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive Chapter 9 - Decision Making Learning Objectives 9.1 Value of Group Decision Making 9.2 Approaches to Group Decision Making 9.3 Decision-Making Problems 9.4 Decision-Making Techniques 9.5 Application: Consensus Decision Making Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 9 Activity: Consensus Decision Making Chapter 10 - Leadership Learning Objectives 10.1 Alternative Designs of Leadership for Teams 10.2 Approaches to Leadership 10.3 Situational Leadership Theory 10.4 Self-Managing Teams 10.5 Application: The Functional Approach to Leading Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 10 Survey: Leadership Styles Activity: Observing the Leader′s Behavior Chapter 11 - Problem Solving Learning Objectives 11.1 Approaches to Prolem Solving 11.2 Descriptive Approach: How Groups Solve Problems 11.3 Functional Approach: Advice on Improving Group Problem Solving 11.4 Prescriptive Approach: Rational Problem-Solving Model 11.5 Problem-Solving Teams 11.6 Application: Problem-Solving Techniques for Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 11 Activity: Using Problem-Solving Techniques Chapter 12 - Creativity Learning Objectives 12.1 Creativity and Its Characteristics 12.2 Individual Creativity 12.3 Group Creativity 12.4 Organizational Environment and Creativity 12.5 Application: Group Creativity Techniques Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 12 Activity: Comparing Different Creativity Techniques Chapter 13 - Diversity Learning Objectives 13.1 The Nature of Diversity 13.2 Causes of Diversity Problems 13.3 Problem of Diversity 13.4 Effects of Diversity 13.5 Application: Managing Diversity Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 13 Survey: Attitudes Toward Diversity Activity: Understanding Gender and Status Differences in a Team PART IV: ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT OF TEAMS Chapter 14 - Team and Organizational Culture Learning Objectives 14.1 Team Culture 14.2 Defining Organizational Culture 14.3 Dimensions of Organizational Culture 14.4 Organizational Culture and Teamwork 14.5 Transnational Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 14 Survey: Individualism-Collectivism Activity: Evaluating a Team′s Culture Chapter 15 - Virtual Teams Learning Objectives 15.1 Use of Communication Technologies 15.2 Communication Impacts 15.3 Team Impacts 15.4 Selecting the Right Technology 15.5 Challenge of Virtual Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 15 Activity: Developing Netiquette for Virtual Teams Chapter 16 - Evaluating and Rewarding Teams Learning Objectives 16.1 Team Performance Evaluations 16.2 Reward Systems 16.3 Rewarding Individual Team Members 16.4 Team and Organizational Reward Programs 16.5 Relationship of Rewards to Types of Teams Summary Team Leader′s Challenge 16 Survey: Individual Versus Team Rewards Activity: Evaluating and Rewarding a Project Team Chapter 17 - Team-Building and Team Training Learning Objectives 17.1 What is Team-Building? 17.2 Does Your Team Need Team-Building? 17.3 Types of Team-Building Programs 17.4 Team Training 17.5 Types of Training Summary Team Leader′s 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 Group Writing A.5 Wrapping Up and Completing the Project References Index About the Author

About the Author :
Daniel Levi is a retired professor in the Psychology and Child Development Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California. He holds an MA and a PhD in environmental psychology from the University of Arizona. He has taught classes in teamwork, environmental psychology, and organizational psychology. His teamwork class was designed primarily for engineering and business students. He has conducted research and worked as a consultant with factory and engineering teams for a variety of technology companies. In addition, he has worked on international team research projects in Europe and Asia. Dr. Levi’s research and consulting with factory teams primarily 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 was focused on 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 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. It led to the development of cases and activities for learning teamwork skills and research on teamwork training and evaluating and rewarding student teams. Additional research on student teams examined gender and cross-cultural issues, social support within teams, and bullying and hijacking in student teams.

Review :
Great coverage of the material. Written at the right level. Good examples throughout the book. Working in teams is a very important part of administration of social agencies. Students work as a team, and this book gives useful information for teamwork. May be considered for future adoption. adopted the new edition Contents reflect the course offered and materials covered in the program. Have used previous edition Too much emphasis on social psychology issues, not enough I/O psychology research focus, but will consider for a masters course in human relations next year. A collection of the most important theoretical approaches to studying groups in organisations in one book. A good starting point for Master level students. Good coverage of all relevant topics. Excellent overview of group dynamics issues faced in teams. A very interesting read. It is the best textbook for our purposes out there at the moment. I have given the book a good look now. I think it broadly covers the same range of topics as our current book (′Making the team′) but I found it less accessible. It doesn′t have as many examples, worksheets etc and is more focused on summarising / using existing literature. That would be fine for a more traditional class perhaps at UG level, but we use this as a supplementary text in the full-time MBA and don′t actually ′teach′ from it, i.e. students only read it themselves and need to be able to use it in a practical setting (a project running over two terms). Thanks for sending it to me nonetheless and I am sure it took some time before I could properly evaluate it. Enables students to develop insight into team dynamics An excellent book on the topic. Provide a overview on the topics and give students a excellent glance on the topic, as well as a opportunity to understand difficult topics. An easy to read look at teams and their development, useful for both the student and the practitioner. Very good, with examples.
Easy to understand and very useful. Comprehensive - covers all that I need and then some. Great integration of theory and demonstrated practical connections that students can relate to. Also, great integration of self-analysis surveys and exercises for individual development. (Also, includes some nice instructor resources.) Very useful text for student′s reflecting on their work experiences. really good textbook, easy to read for the undergraduates but would have liked more interactive exercises to use in class This book is used a supplemental reading in the Functioning as a team member in the workplace and then in a practical exchange programme where the concepts are put into practice by the students when planning a week seminar for visiting students. This book provides a broad overview of the basic concepts of group dynamics in teams. The text is easy to read and is therefore recommendable as an introduction at the undergraduate level. A very interesting and captivating book. I found the informations presented in the book very ussefull and easy to understand, regardless of the level of knoledge students have. The book is an excelent course material and I intend to recommend it to my students and to the University Library as an essential material for next year′s course. The book coveres all the important aspects of group dynamics and also of organizational psychology, and can be used for both of theese courses. It is very well structured and has many tables meant to help organize the material and attract attention. A great book for psychology classes! Thank you for this great help in structuring my courses! I used this text in Spring 2011. It was very successful. I will use it again next time I teach the class I used a book more directly related to lean production.