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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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• 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
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• 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
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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
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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:
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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:
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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?
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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
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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.
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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
Print
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.
© 2019 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
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
© 2019 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
Other Activities
Parker Team Player Survey is a self-assessment instrument to identify communication styles. Available
from CRM Press. (Same address as CRM Films.)
