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You are the manager of a software design firm that develops software programs for clients using
teams of specialists. One of your most successful teams has been together for nearly 5 years. In
the past, this team has performed effectively, and you have been very satisfied with the team’s
output. Recently, however, you have noticed a marked decrease in the team’s performance. You
investigate to determine the problem.
65) After interviewing all 7 team members, you determine that one of the team members
performs routine administrative tasks that are rarely visible to any of the other team members.
You suspect that this team member may be loafing off and lagging in his duties. You could most
likely improve that team member’s output by ________.
A) encouraging him to work more independently
B) making his work clearly visible to the other team members
C) empowering the team member to make decisions
D) providing him with administrative training
E) giving him additional assignments to complete
66) During an interview with one team member, you learn that several members of the team have
had conflicts regarding the content of a task to which the team was recently assigned. Are these
conflicts likely to be reducing the group’s productivity?
A) Yes, because interpersonal conflicts always hurt a team’s performance.
B) No, because conflicts based on personal animosity rarely affect team operations.
C) Yes, because task-related conflicts lead to poor team decisions.
D) No, because task-related conflicts usually benefit the performance of a team.
E) Yes, because disagreements about tasks usually lessen groupthink.