HumOrg Module 5: Engage

Direction: Answer the following discussion questions with your group mates.

1. Why is it important to make a distinction between “group” and “team”? What kinds
of behaviors might be different in these assemblages?

The word “teams” and “groups” are used interchangeably, they might have similar
concepts but they have different connotations. They may seem synonymous, but they do
have different definition especially if used in an organizations. Groups are a collection of
individuals who coordinate their individual efforts. They are usually under the authority
of a manager or a leader who makes the final decision. Furthermore, group members
meet their own interests in a group and typically have no regard for the group's collective
goals. Individual leadership, individual accountability and individual work products are
the ones being emphasized in a group. On the other hand, a team is a formal group of
people who share common purpose and a number of challenging goals. Team members
are much more committed to achieve its common goal as they know that it affects
everyone in a team. Teams have higher expectations than in groups because members are
much more concerned and committed to do everything just to accomplish their set of
goals. That is why shared leadership, mutual accountability, and collective work product
are being emphasized in teams because they value each other’s efforts and trust. Hence, it
is just right and important to acknowledge the distinction between these two terms in
order to avoid misaddressing, to be able to identify their real function which will allow
the entity’s other workers to approach the right group of people and to evaluate how they
are able to contribute to the success of the organization’s goals.

2. How are organizational characteristics different for a team-based organization?

Organizational characteristics are features or aspects of an organization

which is being practiced and adopted in order to operate successfully and attain the
set objectives. The traditional organization retains characteristics such as being
authoritative or hierarchical in a sense that power flows vertically and upward.
Workers tend to follow a chain of command mostly coming from the top management
 and their respective managers or leaders. Employees are bound to follow certain
standards or norms and it’s very rare for an employee, who is not in the position, to
express or contribute an idea. When it comes to job categories, traditional
organizations tend to accumulate workers with similar job descriptions and in return
workers see no signs of connection between the effort they contributed and the end
product due to non-specific categorization of area of work. Furthermore, traditional
organizations honor their workers' hard work based on the type of employment,
individual efficiency and seniority. On the other hand, team-based organizations
works differently, it rejects the idea of power in hierarchy and recognize the abilities
and skills coming from the employees regardless of what position they are in. It
provides sense of satisfaction and entitlement to the employees especially that they
get to contribute decisions relating their expertise. Through this, employees are being
taught how to quickly react to the changes and existing problems. As a result, the
organization's innovation, creativity, and versatility will all improve. Furthermore,
workers are rewarded based on team success and individual skill sets, which is a
much superior compensation scheme to one seen in traditional organizations.

3. How do composition, size, norms, and cohesiveness factors affect group

performance?

Composition, size, norms, and cohesiveness are some of the factors that affect
group performances. Firstly, group composition can be divided into two categories:
homogeneous and heterogeneous. The former denotes a group of members that have
common traits and attributes, while the latter denotes a group with a diverse membership.
What a group composed of can affect a member’s sense of belongingness and work
satisfaction, all of which contribute to an employee's productivity, and therefore can have
an impact on the group's overall performance. Second, group composition is divided into
two categories: small groups and big groups. The size of a group will have a positive
impact on its results. When it comes to smaller tasks, smaller groups are more effective
and have better participant engagement among members, while larger groups are more
likely to be competitive in challenging tasks due to their numerical superiority. Third,
norms reflect the group’s identity, implying that the greater the degree of conformity
present in a group the greater the likelihood of producing efficient and successful tasks.
That is because norms are created and adopted in order to help a group survive, clarify
and make the attitudes of group members more predictable, avoids the group to any
embarrassing circumstances, and express the group’s value. Lastly, cohesion in a group is
the most important factor that affects group performance. Cohesiveness refers to the
willingness of a member to stay or in short how united are the members in a group. If
there is cohesion, then there will be good communication, trust, collaboration and better
relationships which means it would be much easier to work together and achieve certain
goals. Thus, the greater the cohesion of a group, the higher the productivity will be
visible in the group performance.

4. What can happen if your organization prematurely starts building a team-based

organization by clarifying the mission and then selecting the site for the first work
teams?
A shift in an entity's organizational structure from traditional to team-
based is a significant decision that must be well-planned and executed in phases. If an
organization prematurely starts implementing this change directly through classifying
mission and selecting the first work site, it is no doubt that it will just result to a waste
of efforts, costs and other resources of the entity. A butterfly's life cycle begins with a
small egg, develops into a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and finally transforms into this
magnificent and vibrant flying creature, similar with an entity it must go through
certain phases in order for it to be successful in implementing this change of
organizational structure. The entity shouldn’t jump from one phase to another
especially if the decision of an organization isn’t fully developed yet. Establishing
leadership, forming a steering committee, conducting a feasibility study and making
the go/no-go decision are the stages needed to be completed before the classification
of mission and selection of worksite. Vesting the leadership to a certain individual is
vital as he/she determines how willing the employees are to take in this change and
must have the ability to create and authorize future responses to obstacles ahead. This
person is also responsible for forming this steering committee which is a group of
 people that evaluates the entity’s readiness for a team based environment, gathers and
analyzes data relating to the planning and preparation of the change. Following the
formation of the committee, a feasibility study must be completed to determine if
employees are able to adjust to the changes, whether the company's framework and
culture are ready to accommodate a team-based structure, and whether the community
can accept this shift. After these three stages, the go/no-go decision should be done.
And this will become the green light whether the entity will pursue the change of
organizational structure to team-based. If the conditions coincide that they are ready
then it will now proceed to the classification of mission and selection of first
worksite.
A premature organization cannot start to classify its mission or summarize the
benefits it can get ahead if there hasn’t a decision made. Thus, if the phases to
incorporate a team-based organization are not yet completed, an undeveloped
decision of the organization would simply waste all of the time and money, so even if
it’s a lengthy process, it should be pursued because it will pay off in the end.

5. If employees are happy working in the traditional boss-hierarchical organization,

why should a manager even consider changing to a team-based organization?

Any organization's success is determined by its employees and their ability to

collaborate as a team. Furthermore, it is essential for organizations to consider
transitioning from a traditional boss-hierarchical organization to a team-based
organization because it allows employees to learn new skills, explore new
opportunities, and exercise their creativity in ways that benefit the organization
through new ideas and increased commitment. Further to that, communication among
employees is much more accessible and effective. Employees can exchange
information more easily, which promotes responsiveness, allowing them to fix
existing problems more quickly. It also uplifts employees’ confidence as under team
based organization, they are able to contribute ideas and collaborate with other skilful
individuals. More to that, reduction of cost and other resources, enhance work
performance and culture, low absenteeism and more satisfaction from employees and
other positive outcomes will result if an entity chooses shifting to team-based
organization. Therefore, a manager should consider transitioning to a team-based
organization as it is more flexible than traditionally structured organizations because
it can shift employees from one team to another to optimize their skills and talent
while also keeping them motivated with new challenges. And employees who work in
groups are more likely to understand their specific roles in the organization and to
feel validated and empowered.