Work Applications

1. Consider your present or a past job. Did you work in a group or a team? Explain, using each of the six characteristics in Exhibit 8-1. Note: You may want to select one job and use it to answer the work applications throughout this chapter.

LO: 8-1: State the difference between a group and a team.

2. Identify a group or team you belong to, and describe its size, composition, leadership, and objectives.

LO: 8-3: Discuss the five components of group structure.

3. Identify at least two norms that developed in a group/team of which you were a member. Explain how you knew they were norms and how the group enforced those norms.

LO: 8-4: Define the six components of group process, relating how they are used to maximize team performance.

4. Recall a group from a present or past job. Identify the group’s stage of development and the leadership style. Did the leader use an appropriate style? Explain what can be done to improve the group’s structure and/or process.

LO: 8-5: Describe the four major stages of group development by relating the appropriate management style usually associated with each.

5. Think about the leadership style of a present or past boss. Did that person behave as a group manager or as a team leader? What made you classify the person this way?

LO: 8-6: Indicate how to develop groups into teams.

6. Recall a meeting you have recently attended. Did you receive an agenda prior to the meeting? How well did the leader conduct the meeting? Give ideas on how the meeting could have been improved. Did the group have any problem members? How well did the leader handle them?

LO: 8-7: Explain how to plan a meeting, conduct it, and handle problem members during the meeting.

Additional Work Application Questions (not in the book)

1. Identify task groups used in an organization you work for or have worked for. Specify whether each group is a task force or a standing committee.

LO: 8-3: Discuss the five components of group structure.

2. Identify members of a group or team you have been on, and state the primary role each played in the group.

LO: 8-4: Define the six components of group process, relating how they are used to maximize team performance.

3. Identify the level of cohesiveness in a group or team of which you are or have been a member.

LO: 8-4: Define the six components of group process, relating how they are used to maximize team performance.

4. Recall a group of which you were a member. List each member, including yourself, and identify each person’s level of status within the group. Explain why each member had the level of status you identified.

LO: 8-4: Define the six components of group process, relating how they are used to maximize team performance.

5. Give examples of team rewards and recognition where you work(ed).

LO: 8-6: Indicate how to develop groups into teams.