12-1
Chapter 12 Teams: Processes and Communication Answer Key
True / False Questions
1.
Team processes are synonymous with “synergy.”
2.
Team characteristics—such as member diversity, task interdependence, team size, and so
forth—have an impact on team effectiveness.
12-2
3.
Lou chose the new product team very carefully, recruiting only the best performers from
marketing, operations, finance, and HR. She expected this group to design and develop a
stellar new product in record time. She doesn’t understand why this team composed only
of superstars has not lived up to her expectations. Lou’s group has not demonstrated
synergy.
4.
Getting more from the team than you would expect given the capabilities of its individual
members refers to process gain.
12-3
5.
Process gain is often driven by production blocking.
6.
Coordination loss is a necessary aspect of the team experience.
12-4
7.
It is easy to keep an accurate account of the contribution of each member in a team.
8.
Social loafing can hinder a team’s effectiveness.
12-5
9.
When teams engage in routine decision making, their activities are focused on generating
novel and useful ideas and solutions.
10.
Organizations no longer use brainstorming because of the problems associated with it.
12-6
11.
Tran needs to increase his team’s creativity. He calls them in to a meeting and tells them
they are to shout out as many ideas as they can think of for a new project. No one is to
analyze or criticize any ideas while this exercise is going on. Tran is using the
brainstorming technique.
12.
The nominal group technique involves utilizing a combination of individual and team
settings to generate ideas and solutions and arrive at a good idea.
12-7
13.
By making people write down ideas on their own, the nominal group technique increases
social loafing and production blocking.
14.
Leaders do a better job considering recommendations and making final decisions when
they do it together with team members.
12-8
15.
Interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team’s work but do not
directly involve task accomplishment itself are called creative processes.
16.
Teamwork activities that focus on preparation for future work are termed as transition
processes.
12-9
17.
Transition processes are relevant before the team actually begins to conduct the core
aspects of its work; they have no role between periods of work activity.
18.
Action processes become important before the team actually begins to conduct the core
aspects of its work.
12–10
19.
Conflict management is an action process.
20.
According to research, task conflict results in increased team effectiveness irrespective of
the trust on the team and the manner in which the conflict is managed.
12–11
21.
Noise increases the effort that the communicators need to exert to make the
communication process work.
22.
Kelly has thought a lot about how to explain why she is quitting her job. Now that she has
her thoughts in order, she is writing them down in a formal letter of resignation. Kelly is
engaged in the decoding part of the communication process.
23.
In a network structure, where more communication flows through fewer members, the
degree of centralization is higher.
12–12
24.
According to researchers, a cohesive team is always a high performance team.
25.
Cohesiveness tends to promote higher levels of team performance.
12–13
26.
Potency has a strong positive impact on team performance.
27.
Team potency is higher in teams that have found success in the past.
12–14
28.
Team states refer to the effectiveness of teams and the degree to which teams are
capable of remaining together as ongoing entities.
29.
Kat is not worried about offering contrary or radical ideas in team meetings because both
the team leader and the team members are supportive of new or even seemingly strange
ideas and don’t laugh at or criticize each other. Kat has a strong feeling of psychological
safety within her team.
12–15
30.
Teamwork processes have a moderate negative effect on team performance.
31.
Training intended to develop transportable teamwork competencies focuses on and occurs
in the context of an ongoing team experience.
32.
The shallowest level of cross-training involves positional modeling.
12–16
33.
Team process training helps a team function and perform more effectively as an intact
unit.
Multiple Choice Questions
12–17
34.
Daniel’s team is working on a project to create an effective marketing campaign for a
company that specializes in food processors. Daniel gathers all the necessary information
to help his team understand the product and the desires and needs of the client. He then
clearly explains the responsibilities of each member of the team. He is ensuring that his
team has high:
35.
A team’s strong belief that it can be effective across a variety of situations reflects which
of the following?
12–18
36.
_____ is a term that reflects the different types of communication, activities, and
interactions that occur within teams that contribute to their ultimate end goals.
12–19
37.
Getting more from the team than you would expect according to the capabilities of its
individual members is called:
38.
Process gain is synonymous with:
12–20
39.
The phenomenon of a team delivering “less than the sum of its parts” can be explained by
the term: