Chapter 10 Review Essay Questions

Questions:

1. What are the similarities and differences between a group and a team?

2. As a manager, would you rather work with highly diversified teams or with more homogeneous teams? Why? Which types would be best for which types of situations?

3. Think about a group in which you have been involved at work, at school, or perhaps while playing a sport. What were the structural characteristics of the group? What were some of its norms? Would you characterize it as a group or as a team? Why?

4. Some students groan and complain when told they must participate in a group project. Why do you think this is? What is it about group work that irritates some students so much? After reading this chapter, can you think of ways to structure and lead a group to gain these individuals’ cooperation and motivation?

5. As a manager, if your workgroup is demonstrating considerable intragroup conflict, what would you do?

6. Which type of team – self-managing, cross-functional, global, or virtual – do you think is the most difficult to manage, and why?

7. How would you characterize your own level of group competency? What do you think are the most important KSAs relevant to groups and teams that you should master next?