Deck 15: Teams

Question 1

Teams are rich in performance potential even though they are complex in the way they work.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

One way that high performance teams can be distinguished is by the way members work with one another to achieve common goals.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Teams composed of "all-star" members who perform at high levels individually always make the best teams.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

It is not important that each team member be highly skilled in his/her job because another team member is expected to do more than their own individual job for overall success.

Question 5

Managers of successful teams often carefully plan and choreograph the team members' activities.

Question 6

It is a fallacy that the longer team members,such as surgeons and basketball players,work with each other the higher is the team success.

Question 7

Listening to others is not important as a team skill.

Question 8

Team contributions are the things that people do to help teams succeed and help their members enjoy the team experience.

Question 9

The principles of teams and teamwork cannot be applied to sports teams because the fan public expects only high individual performance and team results are unimportant.

Question 10

Communicating information and ideas is a "must have" team skill according to the textbook.

Question 11

As a general rule,we expect teams to perform at higher levels than individuals.

Question 12

A "must have" team skill as described in the textbook is encouraging and motivating others.

Question 13

As a general rule,successful high-performance teams must perform multiple tasks flawlessly and in perfect order and unison.

Question 14

Each team member must be aware of how his/her job fits into the overall scheme of the team's task.

Question 15

The "teamwork effect" may be described in general as a familiarity with working with each other on a team.

Question 16

Often less skilled individuals mold into high performing teams because they apply their skills and motivation to the team effort and want team success more than individual success.

Question 17

The benefits of team performance can happen even if team members make no positive team contributions.

Question 18

Accepting suggestions is a "must have" team skill.

Question 19

It is not necessary for individually scripted activities to fit seamlessly into team tasks.

Question 20

Teams have become less important in today's global society.

Question 21

Serving as a mentor or sponsor of a problem-solving team is an important team and teamwork role for managers.

Question 22

Serving as an agent of broad-based organizational change is an important team and teamwork role for managers.

Question 23

Fulfilling commitments is anachronistic in today's global world as a team skill.

Question 24

People arriving early and leaving late or taking things too seriously are some of the key problems typically associated with meetings.

Question 25

The supervisor,facilitator,participant,and coach are four important team and teamwork roles for managers.

Question 26

Persuading others to cooperate is never important as a team skill.

Question 27

Resolving and negotiating conflict is a "must have" team skill.

Question 28

The highest functioning teams never bother to build consensus as a team skill.

Question 29

Social imperfection refers to the presence of "free riders" who slack off because responsibility is diffused in teams and others are present to do the work.

Question 30

Nothing happening when the meeting is over and no one putting decisions into action are key problems typically associated with meetings.

Question 31

The creation of a whole greater than the sum of its parts is called teamwork.

Question 32

Two important management skills are knowing when a team is the best choice for a task and knowing how to work with and manage a team to accomplish a task.

Question 33

It is not necessary to avoid disruptive acts and words as a team skill.

Question 34

Being a member of a team rarely influences individual attitudes and behaviours.

Question 35

In your own career,it will never be necessary to work in or lead a team.

Question 36

More resources for problem solving,greater commitments to tasks,better control and work discipline,and more individual need satisfaction are just several benefits of teams.

Question 37

Social loafing refers to the presence of "free riders" who slack off because responsibility is diffused in teams and others are present to do the work.

Question 38

A team is a small group of people with complementary skills,who work together to accomplish shared goals while holding themselves mutually accountable for performance results.

Question 39

Personality conflicts and poor readiness to work,but not differences in work styles or task ambiguity,are commonly encountered problems in teams.

Question 40

The process of people actively working together in groups to accomplish common goals is called synergy.

Question 41

Cross-functional teams are expected to focus purely on functional concerns and demands.

Question 42

Meetings can and should be places where information is shared,decisions get made,and people gain understanding of each other.

Question 43

Because of information technology,virtual teams provide a problem-free approach to dealing with issues among team members at geographically dispersed locations.

Question 44

Some key problems typically associated with meetings are: the discussion lacks candour;people are unwilling to tell the truth;and the right information isn't available,so decisions get postponed.

Question 45

Formal work groups are officially recognized and supported by the organization.

Question 46

Starting with social messaging,assigning clear roles,and choosing members carefully are key to leading successful virtual teams.

Question 47

According to the perspective that organizations are interlocking networks of groups,managers and leaders serve as "group processors" because they make the whole team function properly.

Question 48

The trend toward greater empowerment in organizations is associated with new developments in the use of teams.

Question 49

Informal groups that emerge because members basically help one another do their jobs are called support groups.

Question 50

Committees,project teams,task forces,and cross-functional teams are used relatively infrequently in the modern workplace,whereas employee involvement teams enjoy extensive,widespread usage in the modern workplace.

Question 51

Cross-functional teams are indispensable to organizations because they eliminate the barriers that separate departments and people.

Question 52

Informal groups can help satisfy social needs otherwise left unmet.

Question 53

Cross-functional teams are expected to seek creative solutions and to think and act cross-functionally.

Question 54

Informal groups that emerge for a wide variety of personal reasons including shared nonwork interests)are called friendship groups.

Question 55

A committee is a formal team of people working together outside their daily job assignments to pursue a specific purpose.

Question 56

An autonomous work group is a temporary group created to solve a specific problem.

Question 57

According to the perspective that organizations are interlocking networks of groups,managers and leaders serve as "linking pins" because each manager or leader acts as a superior in one work group and as a subordinate in the next higher-level one.

Question 58

Difficulty in establishing good working relationships may occur in virtual teams due to the depersonalization that results from the absence of face-to-face interaction.

Question 59

Virtual teams should begin with social messaging that allows members to exchange information about themselves to personalize the process.

Question 60

Project teams or tasks forces bring together people from various parts of an organization to work on common problems,but do so on a temporary basis.

Question 61

Inputs to group process include the organizational setting,the nature of tasks,team size,and membership characteristics.

Question 62

An effective team is defined as one that achieves and maintains high levels of task performance,achieves and maintains member satisfaction,and remains viable for the future.

Question 63

Membership characteristics of teams include members who have the right skills mix and values and personalities that are compatible.

Question 64

In the life cycle of a team,the initial task orientation and interpersonal testing of individual members occurs in the forming stage.

Question 65

Team diversity can present significant group process challenges because of different values,personalities,experiences,demographics,and cultures among the members.

Question 66

The threshold point at which team size becomes a significant input factor in effective group process is 12 team members

Question 67

In the life cycle of a team,conflicts over tasks and ways of operating as a team occur in the storming stage.

Question 68

Since group process is essential to team effectiveness,it guarantees team success.

Question 69

In considering the results that any team must achieve,performance means that a work group or team is expected to transform resource inputs into product outputs that have some value for the organization.

Question 70

Group process includes how well team members communicate,make decisions,and handle conflicts.

Question 71

In considering the results that any team must achieve,gratification means that members should experience satisfaction from performance results and their participation in the process.

Question 72

Self-management responsibilities include planning and scheduling work,training members,distributing tasks,meeting performance goals,ensuring quality,and solving day-to-day problems.

Question 73

Self-managing teams operate with participative decision making,shared tasks,and responsibility for many managerial tasks.

Question 74

The phases or stages in the life cycle of any team are forming,storming,norming,performing,and adjourning.

Question 75

The more heterogeneous the team,the easier it is to manage team member relationships.

Question 76

Group process refers to how the members of a team actually work together as they transform inputs into outputs.

Question 77

The transition from traditional work settings to self-managing teams is usually effortless.

Question 78

Teams of workers whose jobs have been redesigned to create a high degree of task interdependence and have been given decision-making authority are called autonomous work groups.

Question 79

Members of self-managing teams do not evaluate one another's performance contributions,nor do they hire or fire team members.

Question 80

The organizational setting is an input factor to group process that is concerned with providing support in the form of information,material resources,technology,spatial arrangements,organization structures,and rewards.