SUMMARY: TEAMS AND
LEADERSHIP
Tinneke Nijs
VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL 2024-2025
,CHAPTER 1: BASIC GROUP DYNAMICS AND
TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?
› Groups
› What is a group
› Why groups?
› Types of groups
❖ Teams
› Group development
› Group properties
› A team effectiveness model
› Work design
› Team composition
› Context
› Process
WHAT IS A GROUP?
WHAT ARE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF A GROUP?
“two or more individuals, defining themselves as members of a group (Tajfel, 1981)
“two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives”
(Robbins & Judge, 2012)
› Interdependent: people depend on each other to complete their goals, so they need each other to complete
their goals
WHY GROUPS?
3 big reasons
› Evolutionary
- Working together to ward off enemies, to find food, to hunt, …
- Better chances for survival and reproduction
- We developed a universal need to belong as humans wich became really important for survival
1
, • Being excluded was really bad bc without protection you couldn’t survive or reproduce so being part of
a group is/was important evolutionary or you would die
› Cognitive
- Social identity
› defining themselves based on being part of a group exp. I’m Belgium, I’m a parent, I’m
female, …
› you can be part of different groups (exp. Parent, woman, runner, teacher, …)
- Group gives direction to behavior and thoughts/thinking (social norms – guidelines)
› Utilitarian: Social exchange
- Benefits of being part of a group: material goods, helping; psychological goods: friendship, love,
approval, social support – reasons to stay
- Costs of being part of a group: invest time, money; conflicts, stress, power struggles – reasons to
leave group
• We think in a cost benefits ratio and if we find a group with a better ratio we could leave our existing
group and join a different group if we find that we give more then that we get
TYPES OF GROUPS
4 types of groups
› Intimacy groups
o Exp. Family, romantic partner, friends
› Task groups
o Exp. Sports team, cast of a play, team at work
o Have a common task to complete
› Social category
o Exp. Woman, black people, Americans, doctors
o Broad social cat. That you can belong to like; Sex, gender, ethnicity, nationality, occupational
› Loose association
o Exp. People at the cinema, at a bus stop, living in the same area
o Is more of a random set of people that are physically together
2
, Entitativity: the degree to which a group of people is perceived as bonded together in a coherent unit (how “groupy”
is a group?)
› Intimacy and task group score high on entitavity
› How much of a group is this group?
9 dimensions/characteristics to describe a group (see table 12.1)
Permeability: doorlaatbaarheid/how easy of hard it is to get into the group or leave the group
3
LEADERSHIP
Tinneke Nijs
VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL 2024-2025
,CHAPTER 1: BASIC GROUP DYNAMICS AND
TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?
› Groups
› What is a group
› Why groups?
› Types of groups
❖ Teams
› Group development
› Group properties
› A team effectiveness model
› Work design
› Team composition
› Context
› Process
WHAT IS A GROUP?
WHAT ARE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF A GROUP?
“two or more individuals, defining themselves as members of a group (Tajfel, 1981)
“two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives”
(Robbins & Judge, 2012)
› Interdependent: people depend on each other to complete their goals, so they need each other to complete
their goals
WHY GROUPS?
3 big reasons
› Evolutionary
- Working together to ward off enemies, to find food, to hunt, …
- Better chances for survival and reproduction
- We developed a universal need to belong as humans wich became really important for survival
1
, • Being excluded was really bad bc without protection you couldn’t survive or reproduce so being part of
a group is/was important evolutionary or you would die
› Cognitive
- Social identity
› defining themselves based on being part of a group exp. I’m Belgium, I’m a parent, I’m
female, …
› you can be part of different groups (exp. Parent, woman, runner, teacher, …)
- Group gives direction to behavior and thoughts/thinking (social norms – guidelines)
› Utilitarian: Social exchange
- Benefits of being part of a group: material goods, helping; psychological goods: friendship, love,
approval, social support – reasons to stay
- Costs of being part of a group: invest time, money; conflicts, stress, power struggles – reasons to
leave group
• We think in a cost benefits ratio and if we find a group with a better ratio we could leave our existing
group and join a different group if we find that we give more then that we get
TYPES OF GROUPS
4 types of groups
› Intimacy groups
o Exp. Family, romantic partner, friends
› Task groups
o Exp. Sports team, cast of a play, team at work
o Have a common task to complete
› Social category
o Exp. Woman, black people, Americans, doctors
o Broad social cat. That you can belong to like; Sex, gender, ethnicity, nationality, occupational
› Loose association
o Exp. People at the cinema, at a bus stop, living in the same area
o Is more of a random set of people that are physically together
2
, Entitativity: the degree to which a group of people is perceived as bonded together in a coherent unit (how “groupy”
is a group?)
› Intimacy and task group score high on entitavity
› How much of a group is this group?
9 dimensions/characteristics to describe a group (see table 12.1)
Permeability: doorlaatbaarheid/how easy of hard it is to get into the group or leave the group
3
