Chapter 1
TRUE-FALSE
T F 1. Most people begin work with a new group without preconceived ideas about the pro-
cess.
T F 2. Working in groups usually involves more time and energy than working alone.
T F 3. It’s fairly easy to develop a career path where one can avoid working in groups.
T F 4. Greater diversity in a group’s membership provides the bases for greater potential in
finding effective solutions.
T F 5. Group and team are simply different words for the same thing.
T F 6. There is some element of risk involved when someone expresses ideas, facts, and
opinions in a group.
T F 7. One reason group work has increased in the workplace is that people are more com-
mitted to implementing decisions they were involved in making.
T F 8. Task processes are those interactions that affect the quality of the communication in a
team.
T F 9. Viewing a group as a subsystem recognizes it as one of several groups functioning in
a larger unit.
T F 10. The focus on quality in organizations initially brought people together in quality
circles to identify areas for improvement as well as to create and implement plans.
T F 11. The first thing for a group to do at its initial meeting is to decide how it will reach its
goal.
T F 12. According to the authors, group and team are different words for the same thing.
T F 13. People tend to generalize from experiences and form expectations that color future
events for them.
T F 14. You can always predict a member’s behavior based on his or her culture.
T F 15. Whatever your academic major may be, you very likely will work in groups and
teams in your career.
T F 16. Teams work in context of other groups and systems.
T F 17. Communicating in groups and teams may present a dilemma between individuals’
desire to communicate and apprehension about the effect it may have.
T F 18. The more diverse a team’s membership is, the less the potential a team has for new
ideas.
T F 19. The best way to get teamwork started is to get right on the task.
T F 20. If your future career is in the arts or sciences, you probably will work as an individual
rather than as a team member.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is one of the differences between a group and a team?
A. The number of members
E. None of the above
2. Behaviors that groups develop by agreement or over time as acceptable ways for doing
things (e.g., dress styles, formality of communication) are:
D. Interdependency
E. None of the above
3. Which of the following best describes the relationships between task and transactional pro-
cesses?
A. Task and transactional processes are unrelated.
B. Task processes develop the climate in which transactional processes are effective.
4. Which of the following best describes communication in groups and teams?
A. It’s a process.
B. It’s risky.
5. A diverse group of people who share leadership responsibility creating a group identity in an
interconnected effort to achieve a mutually defined goal within the context of other groups
and systems, the authors call a:
A. Small discussion group
6. According to the authors, the first thing for a new group to do in its initial meeting is to:
A. Set goals
B. Prepare agendas
7. A group of employees, drawn from different departments and areas of an organization, who
work together to improve an area of an organization, is known as:
A. An ad hoc group
D. A task force
8. The authors recommend all of the following guidelines for getting your first team on solid
beginnings EXCEPT:
A. Orient the team toward task processes
9. In discussing the groundwork for success, the authors recommend all of the following
EXCEPT:
A. Get to know one another
B. Identify special strengths of the members
10. The advantage(s) for a team having a diverse membership is/are:
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
ESSAYS
1. Why have groups and teams become more significant in the workplace over the last few
2. Compare and contrast a group and a team. In what ways are they similar? In what ways do
3. Identify the key variables in communication between two people. In what ways do their
functions become more complex in a group of five people?