Page 175 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

158 Chapter 6

TABLE 6.1
Creating 1. Help members get to know each other. You do not have to become best
cohesiveness in friends, but teams perform better when members spend time getting to know
a face-to-face team one another. 76
2. Set clear, achievable group goals. High-performing, cohesive teams have a
compelling goal that is clear: “We want to win the state debate championship.”
77
3. Treat members with care and respect. Group work is not just about the task
but also about member relationships. Follow the ethical guidelines described
in Chapter 1.
4. Develop a group identity. This may include nicknames, rituals (e.g., Happy
Hour Fridays), mascots, insignia, and so forth. Encourage members to develop
a rich fantasy life.
5. Stress teamwork. Talk about what “we” have accomplished, not what “I” have
accomplished, like the Cleveland Cavaliers did.
6. Recognize member accomplishments. Look for ways to compliment and
praise members. Everybody appreciates attention and recognition.
7. Reward and celebrate group accomplishments. This can take the form of
recognition dinners, public praise, letters of recommendation, and so forth.
Outstanding leaders look for ways to celebrate group accomplishments in a
variety of ways.
8. Support both agreement and disagreement. Highly cohesive groups are
comfortable with disagreement. Conflict should be encouraged, not repressed.
When conflicts are resolved, group members often feel closer than ever.
9. Have fun! Teamwork isn’t only about completing the task—it’s about enjoying
and appreciating your fellow group members. Having fun, either during
meetings or during nontask special occasions, can help unify a group.

Virtual Team Building Cohesiveness in Virtual Teams A virtual team is one in which the members’
A group that meets interactions take place primarily through some combination of electronic systems,
78
primarily or such as telephone, computer, fax, and videoconferencing, instead of face-to-face.
exclusively through Because virtual team members may never meet face-to-face, building cohesiveness
some combination of and trust is especially challenging. Actually, because many teams use technology to
electronic means enhance their face-to-face work, Johnson and her colleagues suggest that it is more
(computers, accurate to think about computer mediation in teamwork as a continuum, from no
telephones, computer use to entirely virtual. These researchers found that there was a tipping
79
videoconferences, point—if more than 90 percent of a group’s work was conducted via computer media-
and so forth).
tion, members’ positive feelings and perceptions of the team’s effectiveness were
reduced. They suggest that even a small amount of face time would improve
effectiveness.
Being geographically dispersed does not automatically hurt a team. Bazarova
and Walther compared entirely dispersed, entirely collocated, and mixed groups
80
with some members together and some members dispersed. They found that
members of the dispersed groups were less likely to blame each other and make
other negative attributions, perhaps because they assumed that differences in the

gal37018_ch06_135_168.indd 158 3/28/18 12:36 PM