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CHAPTER 7

Working in Teams

Resource Guide

The opening page of each chapter in Communicating at Work lists desired learning outcomes. The

Resource Guide will assist you in locating activities and resources from the text and Instructor Manual

that are relevant to each objective.

Chapter Objectives

Resources

Identify the kinds of communication that

distinguish a group from a team.

Key terms: team, and work group

In the text:

Activities: 1

Case Study: Learning Teamwork from

Firefighters, Comedians, and Musicians

Instructor’s Manual online:

Discussion Launchers: 1-4

Classroom Activities: 1

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of face–

to–face and virtual teams and describe ways to

address the disadvantages.

Key terms: virtual team

In the text:

Activities: 2

Technology Tip: Apps for Teamwork

Instructor’s Manual online:

Discussion Launchers: 5

Classroom Activities: 2

Compare and contrast various approaches to

leadership, leader–member relations and power

distribution and explain their impact on teams.

Key terms: authoritarian leadership style, coercive

power, connection power, contingency approaches

to leadership, democratic leadership style,

designated leader, emergent leader, expert power,

functional roles, information power, laissez–faire

leadership style, leader–member exchange (LMX),

life–cycle theory of leadership, position power,

referent power, reward power, self–directed work

teams, style approach to leadership, task roles, and

trait approach to leadership

In the text:

Activities: 3-5

Case Study: Servant Leadership in Action

Career Tip: Sleep Deprivation and Leadership

Culture at Work: Japanese Baseball: A Portrait of

Collectivism

Instructor’s Manual online:

Discussion Launchers: 6-8

Classroom Activities: 3,4

Written Application Exercises: 1, 2

Video Activities: 1, 2

Identify and apply guidelines for effective

communication in teams regarding roles, goals,

norms, cohesion, conformity and creativity.

Key terms: brainstorming, cohesiveness,

groupthink, hidden agenda, norms, relational roles,

and risky shift

In the text:

Activities: 6-8

Self–Assessment: Evaluating Your Team’s

Communication Effectiveness

Ethical Challenge: The Unproductive Teammate

Career Tip: Devil’s Advocate and Other Anti–

Conformity Tools

Discussion Launchers: 9-13

Classroom Activities: 5-8

Video Activity: 3

About Chapter 7

Teams and groups are ubiquitous in business and industry today. This chapter identifies key

characteristics of work groups and helps students recognize communication behaviors that set top

performing teams apart from mediocre work groups. Tips for working in virtual teams are presented

The chapter provides an overview of scholarly approaches to studying leadership. Leader–member

exchange and emergent leadership are discussed. Key sources of power and influence in groups are

discussed.

The importance of filling functional roles (both task and relational) and managing dysfunctional roles

is highlighted, building on the concepts of task and relational communication introduced in Chapter 4.

The interfacing of personal and team goals is discussed, and strategies are provided for addressing

Personal Reflection for Individual Journaling Assignment

Consider a group you’ve participated in that exhibited characteristics of groupthink. What were

these characteristics? Using specific examples, describe how the tendency toward groupthink

impacted your group’s interaction, decisions, and interpersonal dynamics. Now that you know

Discussion Launchers

1. What was the most productive work or community group you were ever part of? What made it

so? Try to identify the factors that contributed to its productivity.

2. What was the most ineffective work or community group you were ever part of? Identify the

factors that made it ineffective, and suggest how it could have become more effective.

3. Think of a group you’ve been a member of that did not function well as a team. Which

characteristics of a team did it lack? Suggest how you might have helped the group develop those

team characteristics.

4. Suggest five tasks that would be best suited for group work and five tasks that would be best

suited for individual work. Have you ever participated in a group that was attempting to

accomplish a task that would have been better suited for an individual? What happened?

5. Have you ever participated in a virtual group? Describe your experience. What was satisfying?

What was frustrating? If you were to participate in another virtual group, what might you do

differently?

6. How does leadership emerge in a group that has no common history? Give examples from groups

you’ve been part of or observed. Can you think of situations where leadership didn’t follow the

7. Who is the best leader you’ve ever worked for or observed? What kind of leadership did that

person employ? What made that person effective?

8. How does your perception of power vary or coincide with the description in the book? Describe

different types of power you have in groups you belong to, and explain why you classify your

9. Using some of the groups you belong to, cite examples of differences between your individual

10. What impact is created when a group member violates one of the group’s norms? Suggest

productive ways to manage this impact.

11. Have you ever been a member of a group that is not cohesive, or that is too cohesive? What have

you, as one person, tried to do to increase (or decrease) cohesiveness? If you haven’t tried to

improve the level of cohesiveness, why not?

12. Have you ever participated in a group that displayed the characteristics of groupthink or risky

shift? What happened? Why did this happen? How might you have prevented groupthink from

occurring?

13. If a friend came to you for advice for improving the cohesiveness of a college study group to

which she belongs, what would you tell her?

Classroom Activities

1. Team Characteristics

Objective: Students will learn about team characteristics through direct observation.

Procedure: Assign students at least one week ahead of time to visit a meeting of a task group. Ideas

include city councils, faculty meetings, library resource groups, environmental advocacy groups, and

2. Participate in Your Own Virtual Meeting

Objective: Students will experience a virtual meeting first–hand.

Procedure: Students will need computer access for this activity, so you may need to assign it as

homework or sign up for the computer lab for one class session. If you have a limited number of

computers available, teammates can work as pairs rather than as individuals. To prevent students from

The team will simulate the first organizational meeting of a hypothetical ongoing team project. The tasks

for this organizational meeting are:

• Exchange names and contact information (e–mail and phone).

• Draw up a set of team norms (both task and relational).

• Assign task and relational roles to team members (including facilitator).

• Schedule the team’s next three hypothetical one–hour meetings (NOT during class time)

at times when all members can be present.

Class Discussion: After teams have completed their first virtual meeting, debrief students.

• What was rewarding about your virtual team experience?

• What was challenging about your virtual team experience?

• Which specific activities were the most difficult to complete? Why?

• What difficulties might you encounter if you were using a virtual team meeting to make a

complex business decision?

• What suggestions would you give to a team that had to rely on virtual technology to

3. Assessing Leaders

Objective: The purpose of this activity is to give students the opportunity to examine and evaluate the

role of group “leader.”

Procedure: Divide the class into groups of about five students. Instruct each group to attend a formal

meeting of an established small group outside the classroom (e.g., a civic group, community group,

religious group, counseling group, or work group). Using the characteristics of leaders and their use of

Class Discussion: After completing this activity, the following questions could be used to facilitate class

discussion.

• Which styles of leadership did you witness? Give specific examples.

• How was power used in each group situation you observed?

• Were these leaders effective? Why or why not?

• What could the leader have done to be more effective?

4. Leadership Grid

Objective: Students will be able to distinguish behaviors that illustrate each of the five leadership styles

Procedure: Review the characteristics of the five styles of leadership illustrated in Figure 7–1. Label five

columns on the board, corresponding to the leadership types. Describe several situations to the class. For

each situation, ask students to identify which style of leadership Blake and Mouton would recommend.

Write the scenario in the appropriate column. Here are some examples of situations you could suggest:

• Social Loafer: You are the leader of a student group in which one student is clearly a “social

loafer.” The other students in the group are becoming resentful. What style of leadership

should you use?

• Forced Overtime: You are the manager of a group of engineers charged with developing cell

phone components that can withstand super–heated temperatures. The group has been

making fairly good progress, but the deadline is fast approaching, and the project is not yet

completed. It is mid–December and several engineers have requested time off, but you realize

that overtime work seems to be the only way to get the product out on time. What style of

leadership should you use?

• High School Teacher: You are a newly hired high school teacher. At first you were pleased

with the way your classes were progressing, but now several students are testing your

authority by disrupting the class with loud and impolite comments. What style of leadership

should you use?

Class Discussion: After you have identified styles of leadership for three or four different situations,

discuss advantages and disadvantages of each style.

• Does one style seem to be more effective than others in all situations, or does the best choice

of style depend on the situation?

• Which styles seem to be effective most often? Why?

• Which styles seem least effective in most cases? Why?

5. Observing and Identifying Group Roles

Objective: The purpose of this activity is to provide students an opportunity to identify task and

maintenance roles in a group.

Procedure: There are several ways to promote observation and identification of group roles. The class

can be divided into halves or quarters, depending on its size. Each two groups should form concentric

1. Each student in the class will receive between 1 and 50 points for class participation this

semester. Devise a plan to determine the number of participation points each student should

2. The budget for the Communication Department has been increased. Create and prioritize a

list of items that, if funded, would best satisfy student needs.

3. Money has been allocated for three new support positions at our college. These are not

instructor positions, but they may be any type of support services. Provide a plan for use of

4. This group is a student liaison committee to facilitate communication between students and

administration. There is no additional money. Provide a directive to the administration citing

5. Money has been allocated for grounds and physical plant improvements at our college. How

could the physical environment be improved to meet student academic, social, and safety

needs? Prepare a concrete list of ideas and prioritize them.

Class Discussion: After completing this activity, the following questions could be used to facilitate class

discussion.

• Who filled which roles?

• Which roles were unfilled? Why?

• Did you observe competition for roles by group members? Which roles?

• Why would group members see their own performance differently than other members?

6. Roles in Group Discussion

Objective: After completing this activity, students should be able to identify and understand the various

roles people fill during group discussions. Further, they should be able to recognize the specific methods

for capitalizing on constructive roles and minimizing the interference of destructive roles. Finally, group

members should be able to indicate how communication skills can facilitate effective group discussion.

Procedure: Organize students into groups, and give each group member one of the role descriptions

listed below. Each group member should also receive The Bob Lee Case Study located at the end of this

section. The discussion of the case study should take 10–15 minutes. After each group has reached a

decision, have the students discuss their observations and reactions to each of the roles they enacted or

observed. The discussions should focus on a description of each person’s behavior, trying to ascertain the

assigned role. Students should also describe their reactions to each of the roles and report the effect of the

roles on group communication.

• Authoritarian Leader: You are the leader of this group. You should control the procedures

and decisions made by the group. You may ask for others’ opinions, but the final decision is

yours.

• Silent Member: You do not want to participate in this group because you feel you have

nothing important to contribute. If others ask for your opinion, you usually say “I don’t

know” or switch the focus to some other group member. You are attentive, but silent.

• Repetitive Member: You like to hear yourself talk. You think your ideas are good and that

everyone should listen to you. You tend to interrupt others to state your own opinions.

• Negative Member: You are argumentative. You like to argue for the sake of arguing. You

seldom offer suggestions or solutions, but that doesn’t prevent you from criticizing others.

You like to tear apart others’ ideas, even if it means using fallacious arguments or misleading

information.

• Highly Intelligent Member: You know (or think you know) all there is to know about the

Class Discussion: Class discussion could focus on the various roles assumed by group members and on

methods of interacting and resolving conflict issues when confronted with a variety of different

personalities.

• Categorize the roles played by students in this group according to those listed in Table 7-5 in

your text.

• Which roles were functional? Which were nonfunctional?

• Did any student fill both functional and nonfunctional roles? Give examples.

• How could these students involve a silent member in the group discussion?

• How effective is an authoritarian leader in a discussion of values?

• What can a group do with a deviant member, such as a clown?

• How can you manage a member who acts like a know–it–all?

• What should you do if one member keeps repeating herself or asks for frequent explanations?

7. Creating a Group Contract

Objective: Students will understand the importance of establishing group norms, functional roles,

and a shared goal early in the group process.

Procedure: If you assign a group project to your students, ask them to create a group contract before

• a list of functional roles that need to be filled in this group, with each role assigned to at least

one individual.

• the group’s shared goal.

After the group has written the contract, all members should sign and date the document. The group

should give you the original. Each student should keep a copy.

As students are drawing up their contracts, circulate around the room, encouraging them to develop

See the sample contract below.

Group Contract [created: March 12, 20xx]

Team Members / Contact Information

Cook, Blake 519–2432 turtle2@gmail.com

Gamble, Jerry 532–2041 gamje@yahoo.com

Garcia, Maria 953–2022 mgar@yahoo.com

Team Norms

Relational norms:

• Encourage participation from everyone.

• Respect one another’s opinions.

• Refrain from cell phone use.

Team Member Roles

Relational roles:

Ioane Participation encourager

Shelley Referee

Maria Person to contact if you have to miss a meeting

Task roles:

Maria Facilitator

8. Promoting Effective Communication in Student Groups

Objective: Students will apply guidelines from the chapter to situations that might occur in student

groups.

Procedure: Review the chapter guidelines for “What Makes a Group a Team,” “Functional Roles of

Group Members,” and “Effective Communication in Groups and Teams.” Divide the class into groups,

and distribute the worksheet (located at the end of this section) titled “Managing Counterproductive

Class Discussion: Compare and discuss students’ suggestions.

• What characteristics of effective teamwork are being violated in each situation?

• What guidelines could you bring to bear to help manage this situation?

• How does your solution demonstrate guidelines for maintaining a supportive communication

Group Observation Form

TASK FUNCTIONS

EXAMPLES (specific comments or

nonverbal behaviors)

Information/opinion giver (offers facts, relevant

evidence; opinions)

Information/opinion seeker (asks others for

relevant information/ opinions)

Starter (initiates task-related behavior, “Let’s

get moving”)

Direction giver (gives directions on doing the

task)

Summarizer (reviews and identifies themes in

what’s been said)

Diagnoser (assesses group behavior, “We spend

a lot of time…”)

Gatekeeper (regulates who speaks, “Bill hasn’t

had a turn. John, before you speak again, could

we hear from Mary?”)

Reality tester (checks group ideas against reality

of time, rules, constraints, “Could we plan a

carnival in three weeks?”)

Other comments:

RELATIONAL FUNCTIONS

Participation encourager (motivates members

to be involved, lets them know they’re valued)

Harmonizer (mediates interpersonal conflicts

among group members)

Tension reliever (helps relieve anxiety and

pressures in group)

Evaluator of emotional climate (paraphrases

observed social and emotional climate, “We’re

all uneasy about the new manager.”)

Praise giver (gives compliments and acclaim to

group members)

Empathic listener (listens without evaluation to

members’ concerns)

DYSFUNCTIONAL ROLES

Blocker (prevents progress by raising objections

constantly)

Attacker (aggressively questions others’ motives

or competence)

Recognition seeker (repeatedly brags and

inappropriately calls attention to him/herself and

his/her own accomplishments)

Joker (clowns or jokes in excess of tension relief

and distracts group)

Withdrawer (refuses to participate, take a stand,

or respond to others)

Other comments:

The Bob Lee Case Study

Bob Lee was taking a difficult required course during his junior year at Strivemore University.

Bob needed a B average to keep his scholarship, and he needed his scholarship to attend the university.

But no matter how hard he studied, he could only get Cs and Ds on the weekly tests that determined his

grade in the course. The professor curved the grades of the 30 students in the class, and Bob just couldn’t

seem to come out on top of the curve.

After the fourth test, Bob complained to a fraternity brother who was in the same class. The

fraternity brother gave him some inside information. He swore Bob to secrecy and then told him that the

professor didn’t correct or grade his own tests, but that a graduate assistant did it for him. The grader

Isn’t this unethical?

Shouldn’t the professor be told?

But, then again, what if the fraternity brother or someone else were expelled?

What about the other students at the bottom of the curve?

If you were Bob, what would you do?

Managing Counterproductive Behaviors in Groups

Use guidelines from the text to plan specific steps a student group could use to constructively manage the

1. LATENESS: At the second meeting, Peg came in a few minutes late. That was bad enough, but now

she’s coming 10–15 minutes late to very meeting. What’s worse, Angelica and Robert have started

2. SKEPTICISM: Dan constantly makes negative comments. Our brainstorming activities fail because he

makes fun of our efforts. Some people in the group are losing their enthusiasm and have stopped saying

3. MONOPOLIZING: Rajiv is very opinionated. He keeps talking, and he rambles on and on. It feels like

we can’t get a word in edgewise.

4. SILENT DISAGREEMENT: Adelle sits around rolling her eyes about almost everything we say. We

can tell from the look on her face that she doesn’t like our ideas. It makes us feel like she doesn’t like us,

5. GOSSIPING: Geri and Toni keep talking about the boss and his personal adventures. They’ll make

6. REPETITION: Pierre keeps repeating himself over and over. We feel like we’ve finished discussing

one topic and we move on to another, but he jumps back and repeats himself again. It seems like we can’t

Written Application Exercises

1. Emergent Leadership

Write an essay in which you discuss the following:

• Think of a time when you felt comfortable exerting leadership in a group. What conditions

contributed to your comfort level? What did you do to attain and maintain leadership?

• Describe an instance when either you or someone you knew tried to lead a group but failed. What

2. Contingency Leadership

Review Fiedler’s and Hersey & Blanchard’s contingency models. Develop your own list of the most

important contingencies that you think should be considered in deciding what type of leadership would be

most effective in various situations. Using your list, decide what type of leadership you would

recommend for each situation below. Explain your reasoning.

a. a group of college students studying together for a final exam

b. a heart transplant team

c. a task force of neighbors trying to rid the neighborhood of “crack” dealers

Video Activities

1. Power in Groups

Objective: Students will analyze the emergence, manifestation, and impact of power in small groups.

Procedure: The video Lord of the Flies (William Golding) illustrates how power could play out in a

small group. Show students a relevant clip from the video, asking them to observe the role of power in the

group’s interactions.

Class Discussion:

Class discussion could include questions such as:

• Describe examples of leadership emergence.

• What types of power existed in the group? How do you know?

• What impact did such power have on group members?

2. Leadership Emergence in “Twelve Angry Men”

Objective: Students will identify principles of leadership, influence, and power in groups as illustrated in

the video Twelve Angry Men, which depicts group interaction during a jury meeting. This film also

illustrates stages of the group process, which will be presented in the next chapter.

Group Problem Solving from the next chapter. Students will focus on their assigned topic and come to

class prepared to discuss how it played out in the video.

3. Group Communication Characteristics

Objective: Students will observe examples of group communication characteristics in a video that

focuses on the interactions of a small group.

Procedure: Assign students to watch a video depicting the interactions of a small group, or show a

relevant portion of the video in class. Examples of such videos are Apollo 13, Stand by Me, and Joy Luck

Club. Ask students to note examples of characteristics of small–group communication outlined in the

Additional Resources

Bellman, G.M. & Ryan, K.D. (2009). Extraordinary groups: How ordinary teams achieve amazing

results. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey–Bass.

Provides an easy to follow model, well presented research, and case studies. Highlights the role of

self–awareness in transforming groups.

DeRosa, D. & Lepsinger, R. (2010). Virtual team success: A practical guide for working and leading

from a distance. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

DVD

Effective Communication in Teams. 35 min. Educational Video Group, Inc.

Uses dramatized teaching skills for managing conflict in high performance teams.

Facilitative Leadership: Teamwork, Planning, and Conflict Management. 39 min. Educational Video

Group, Inc.

Four segments cover ways to set goals, create plans, and deal with conflict.

How to Work with People. (2000). 21 min. Insight Media

Teaches students how to evaluate the impact of their own personality type on group dynamics and

how to manage conflict in groups.

Team Building: What makes a Good Team Player? CRM Films.

This video is designed to look at different styles of communication and lead team players to

Other Activities

Parker Team Player Survey is a self–assessment instrument to identify communication styles. Available

from CRM Press. (Same address as CRM Films.)