7.8 Conclusion
Reflection Activity
Returning to Abe’s story from the beginning of this chapter, as a leader on the technology side of her team’s work, how might she share what she knows without overwhelming other team members? What type of leadership style would help Abe have a positive impact on her team’s success implementing the new software required for Financial Analysts?
Quick Quiz
Glossary
Adjourning stage – members leave the group.
Autocratic leaders – set policies and make decisions primarily on their own, taking advantage of the power present in their title or status to set the agenda for the group.
Blocker – blocks attempts at consensus consistently.
Coordinator – brings ideas, information, and suggestions together.
Defensive Communication – communication characterized by control, evaluation, and judgments.
Democratic leaders – facilitate group discussion and like to take input from all members before making a decision.
Dominator – dominates discussion, not allowing others to take their turn.
Elaborator – builds on ideas and provides examples.
Evaluator-critic – evaluates ideas and provides constructive criticism.
Forming stage – individual group members come to know each other.
Face-detracting strategies – communication strategies involving messages or statements that take away from the respect, integrity, or credibility of a person.
Face-saving strategies – communication strategies that protect credibility and separate message from messenger.
Group – three or more individuals who affiliate, interact, or cooperate in a familial, social, or work context.
Group communication – the exchange of information with those who are alike culturally, linguistically, and/or geographically.
Group dynamics – involve the interactions and processes of a team and influence the degree to which members feel a part of the goal and mission.
Group norms – customs, standards, and behavioural expectations that emerge as a group forms.
Groupthink – the tendency to accept the group’s ideas and actions in spite of individual concerns.
Initiator-coordinator – suggests new ideas of new ways of looking at the problem.
Joker or Clown – seeks attention through humour and distracts group members.
Laissez-faire leaders – take a “hands-off” approach, preferring to give group members freedom to reach and implement their own decisions.
Leadership – a complex of beliefs, communication patterns, and behaviours that influence the functioning of a group and move a group toward the completion of its task.
Microgroup – a small, independent group that has a link, affiliation, or association with a larger group.
Norming stage – the group establishes norms, or informal rules, for behaviour and interaction.
Orientation stage – another name for the forming stage.
Performing stage – the group accomplishes its mandate, fulfills its purpose, and reaches its goals.
Primary groups – meet most, if not all, of one’s needs.
Recorder – records ideas, examples, suggestions, and critiques.
Recognition seeker – relates discussion to their accomplishments; seeks attention.
Secondary groups – often include work groups, where the goal is to complete a task or solve a problem.
Special-Interest pleader – relates discussion to special interest or personal agenda.
Storming stage – a time of struggles as group members sort out their differences.
Supportive communication – communication focused on the topic under discussion and not personalities of those involved in the discussion.
Teams – a form of a group normally dedicated to production or problem solving.
Additional Resources
National Research Council Canada. Management Competencies (including Teamwork and Communication): Behavioural Competencies
Government of Canada: Teamwork and Cooperation
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