Instructor’s resource manual and test bank for joining together: Group Theory and Group Skills, 11e (стр. 23 )

Norms are not built from scratch but develop from the values, expectations, and learned habits that the members bring with them when the group is first formed. Norms have powerful influences on communication in a group. Usually group members follow norms without question. This does not mean that norms do not change. Norms do change as expectations of appropriate member behavior change.

What norms have developed in your group? Do you all sense where you are supposed to sit? Do you all sense who should be listened to and who should be ignored? Do you interrupt one another, or is politeness a group norm? Are jokes allowed, or is the tone of the group serious? Are certain topics permissible and others avoided? Is the emotional involvement of members high or low? In answering these questions you will become more conscious of the norms that are present in your group. Spend the next twenty minutes discussing your group norms and listing them on a sheet of paper.

Additional Exercises for Chapter 5: Leadership

Personal Leadership Experience Task

Write a description of a time in your life when you engaged in your most significant and
effective leadership performance that represents your personal standard of excellence as a leader. Describe the details of the situation, including the place where it occurred, when
it took place, who was involved, what was your role, what were the results, and what
recognition (if any) you received. Also include what you learned about leadership from this experience.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Form a group of pare your descriptions. Write down four conclusions about leadership excellence. Be ready to share your conclusions with the entire class.

Our Conclusions About Our Leadership Experiences

Interpersonal Patterns

This exercise focuses on your interaction with other members of your group. It may help you think about how you conduct yourself in a group. The procedure is as follows:

1. The class divides into groups of three. Each person fills out the following checklist.

2. Analyze the meaning of the verbs you checked by following the instructions after the checklist.

3. Share with the other two members of your triad the results of the exercise and ask whether they perceive you in the same way or differently.

These twenty verbs describe some of the ways people feel and act from time to time. Think of your behavior in groups. How do you feel and act in groups? Check the five verbs that best describe your behavior in groups as you see it.

____acquiesce ____coordinate ____lead

____advise ____criticize ____oblige

____agree ____direct ____relinquish

____analyze ____disapprove ____resist

____assist ____evade ____retreat

____concede ____initiate ____withdraw

____concur ____judge

Two underlying patterns of interpersonal behavior are represented in the list of objectives: dominance (authority or control) and sociability (intimacy or friendliness). Most individuals tend to like either to control things (high dominance) or to let others control things (low dominance). Similarly, most persons tend either to be warm and personal (high sociability) or somewhat cold and impersonal (low sociability). In the preceding diagram, circle the five verbs you used to describe yourself in group activities. The set of ten verbs—horizontal for the dominance dimension and vertical for the sociability dimension—in which three or more verbs are circled represents your tendency in that pattern of interpersonal behavior.

The Furniture Factory

The purpose of this exercise is to give participants an opportunity to observe task-leadership and maintenance-leadership actions within a decision-making group. The procedure is as follows:

1. The class divides into groups of seven. Two members should volunteer to be observers. The task of the observers is to record the frequency of task and maintenance actions within the group.

2. The task of each group is to read and discuss the problem description that follows and rank the five possible solutions on the basis of how effective they would be in ensuring the least resistance to the proposed changes in work procedures. Each member of the group must be willing to sign the group answer sheet, indicating that he or she agrees with the group’s ranking and can explain the rationale for ranking the possible solutions in the order in which the group did so.

3. After deciding how the possible solutions are to be ranked, members discuss the nature of leadership within the group. The following questions may be used as a starter:

a. What leadership actions were present and absent in the group?

b. What leadership actions did each member engage in?

c. How do the members feel about their participation in the group?

d. How might the task effectiveness of the group be improved?

e. How might the relationships among group members be improved?

4. Each group shares its conclusions with the class.

5. The ranking of possible solutions by experts on organizational change appears in the Appendix to the textbook.

Problem Description: Furniture Factory Exercise

Lazy-Days Manufacturing Company is located in a small northern town. This small, family-owned business manufactures school furniture. Because of the opportunities for work available in a larger town located about 50 miles away, Lazy-Days must attract whomever it can and train them to do the job. Most of the 400 workers are women and young people just out of high school. Lazy-Days also hires some physically and mentally disabled adults as part of a special community program.

Until now, Lazy-Days has manufactured school furniture, but because of a fall in the economy, management has recognized a dire need to diversify its manufacturing capabilities. After a study of the market, they decided to add showroom display cases as a new product. If well made, this line will bring increased income and security to Lazy-Days Manufacturing.

Because of the difficulties in getting new workers, particularly trained ones, Lazy-Days would like to divert current personnel to the new jobs. However, the current workers are set in their ways and are highly resistant to and suspicious of changes at work. The last time changes were needed, workers demanded higher wages and threatened to unionize, and a few key people quit. If the new line is successful, Lazy-Days could raise wages, but this is not possible under current conditions. Available income must be used to help purchase the new equipment and finance necessary remodeling to accommodate it.

Michael Days, president of Lazy-Days, has listed several ways of approaching the workers about the needed changes. He has asked you to decide which alternative to use. As a group, rank these alternatives from 1 to 5 in terms of their effectiveness in bringing about the desired changes with the least resistance from the workers. Number 1 would be the most effective, 2 the next most effective, and so on through 5, the least effective. Remember, your decision can make the difference between the success and failure of Lazy-Days Manufacturing Company.

a. Mr. Days would send a memo to all employees telling them about the needed changes. He would then make the changes and lay off any employees who did not comply.

b. Mr. Days would meet with small groups of employees, explaining the need for the changes and the reasoning behind them. He then would ask everyone to help in designing and implementing the new jobs.

c. Mr. Days would meet with large groups of employees. He would enthusiastically describe the needed changes and present multicolored charts and film clips to make his points dramatically and forcefully. He would then implement the changes.

d. Mr. Days would send a memo to all employees explaining the need for the changes and asking them to go along with the changes for the good of the company.

e. Mr. Days would meet with large groups of employees, explaining the need for the changes and the reasoning behind them. He then would have the employees select representatives to work with him in designing and implementing the new jobs.

See following page for Observation Sheets.

Observation Sheet for Task Actions
	Group Members
Actions
Information and opinion giver
Information an opinion seeker
Direction and role definer
Summarizer
Energizer
Comprehension checker

Observation Sheet for Maintenance Actions
	Group Members
Actions
Encourager of participation
Communication facilitator
Tension reliever
Process observer
Interpersonal problem solver
Supporter and praiser

Observation Sheet for Task and Maintenance Actions
	Group Members
Actions
Information and opinion giver
Information an opinion seeker
Direction and role definer
Summarizer
Energizer
Comprehension checker
Encourager of participation
Communication facilitator
Tension reliever
Process observer
Interpersonal problem solver
Supporter and praiser

Answer to Furniture Factory Exercise: