Managing Groups and Teams/Question Page

This book is organized around questions related to topics on the management of groups and teams. In this page, we want to list questions that would be relevant to the topic, to eventually formulate answers for them and incorporate them into the main body of the book.

Feel free to add questions to this list, and to reorganize them or group them together if you see common threads. As the questions are refined, they will be easier to answer.

For Future Study

Commitment

• How can different levels of commitment be avoided during the selection process?
• Is it necessary for all team members to be equally committed to a project?
• If large disparities exist, how can these be addressed?
• How should the team deal with members who are not committed?
• How should the team deal with members who have taken on more than their share?

Selection

• How can teams change membership composition without disrupting the remaining members?
• Are some personalities simply unsuited for teamwork?

Effective Use of Time and Resources

• What should the team and its members do when the tasks seem to be a waste of time?
• What should the team do when its mission and goals are ambiguous?
• How can the team choose an effective course of action when there are varying opinions on what to do?
• What can team members do when meetings are ineffective or confrontational?
• When should team members be flexible and when should they stick to their guns?
• How can team members choose effective task orders, assignments, etc.?
• What are some hallmarks of ineffective plans and how can these be avoided?
• What makes for effective time management?
• How can delegation be used effectively?

Team Culture

• How is team culture established?
• How can remote and isolated team members become acculturated?
• Is/should culture be established at the outset? Can culture be changed later on?

Social Graces

• What are the key social graces all team members should have?
• What social criteria are important when selecting members?
• What can teams do when members lack proper social graces?

Knowledge Differences Among Team Members

• How can teams deal with members who have different technical aptitudes?
• What are the conflicting dynamics between older members who have experience, but may lack the technical knowledge of younger members?
• Do varying levels of technical knowledge result in power inequalities?
• How can members communicate effectively in light of knowledge asymmetries?
• What can be done to avoid communication breakdowns?

Leadership

• What should team members do if the leaders motivations are political and do not have the teams best interest at heart?
• Should team members ask a leader to step down if they have lost confidence in him or her?
• What should a leader do if team members are losing confidence in him or her?
• How can leaders encourage healthy communication?
• What should people do when their role changes from team member to team leader?
• How can leaders remain objective? Should leaders always be objective?
• Do different organizations require different leadership styles—eg. government, military, academia etc.?
• In a leaderless team, how can one effectively assume the role of the leader?

Diversity in Teams

• What cultural differences should team members be aware of?
• How can team members ensure that cultural or political differences to not inhibit performance?