CHAPTER 8. INTERPERSONAL AND GROUP DYNAMICS ... - …

1 CHAPTER -by- CHAPTER Notes and Teaching SuggestionsCopyright 2003 by Joan V. Gallos and Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Company, 989 Market St., SanFrancisco, CA 94103 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the 1 - CHAPTER 8. INTERPERSONAL AND GROUP DYNAMICSCHAPTER 8 OVERVIEWC hapter 8 Summary_____In CHAPTER 8, the authors explore INTERPERSONAL and GROUP DYNAMICS in spend much of their time at work interacting with others. They often findthemselves pondering why people behave as they do and what to do about it.

2 Skills inunderstanding and handling INTERPERSONAL relationships are essential for goodmanagement, powerful leadership, and effective organizations. The authors argue thatinterpersonal relationships in organizations most often go awry not because managerialintentions are incorrect or insincere but because managers lack INTERPERSONAL on the work of Argyris and Sch n, the authors present a normative model foreffective INTERPERSONAL behavior in organizations. It requires:1. Skills in understanding distinctions between espoused theories and Avoidance of self-protective, Model I patterns of INTERPERSONAL interaction that blameothers and limit An emphasis on common goals and mutual influence in Open communication and public testing of assumptions and The ability to combine advocacy with the section on GROUP DYNAMICS , the authors explore the interface betweenindividuals and groups.

3 They note, Small groups are often condemned for wasting timewhile producing little, but groups can be both satisfying and efficient. In any event,organizations cannot function without them. The authors discuss the distinction betweentask and process in GROUP functioning and examine four central human resource issuesconcerning groups: (1) informal roles; (2) GROUP norms; (3) INTERPERSONAL conflict; and (4)leadership and decision 8 concludes with an exploration of different managerial styles,acknowledging the need for managers to have language and concepts to help themunderstand and manage individual differences and GROUP DYNAMICS . The authorsemphasize that basic understanding of informal roles, norms, INTERPERSONAL conflict, andleadership is essential to GROUP Notes and Teaching SuggestionsCopyright 2003 by Joan V.

4 Gallos and Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Company, 989 Market St., SanFrancisco, CA 94103 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the 2 - CHAPTER 8 Key Terms _____Interpersonal competence: The ability to understand and interact effectively withothers; proposed as a basic managerial skill by Argyris; similar to emotional theory: An account that individuals provide when describing, explaining, orpredicting their : An implicit program or set of rules that specifies how to behave.

5 Theories-in-use guide what people actually I: A model of INTERPERSONAL behavior embodying the core assumption thatorganizations are dangerous and competitive and leading to self-protection, secretiveness,and the belief that any problems are caused by II: Argyris and Sch n s alternative to Model I, in which people (1) emphasizecommon goals and mutual influence; (2) communicate openly and publicly testassumptions and beliefs; and (3) combine advocacy with intelligence: According to Salovey and Mayer, a set of skills that includesawareness of self and others and the ability to handle both emotions and term updates the older term social intelligence, the ability to understand andmanage men and women, boys and girls to act wisely in human relations (Thorndike,1920, p.)

6 228).Consideration: The degree to which a manager shows concern for andsensitivity to structure: The degree to which a manager actively structuressubordinates norms: Informal rules that govern how the GROUP will function andhow members will conduct 8 Major Case Examples_____ The case of Anne Barreta Enron The task GROUP : Karen, Bob, Teresa, Tony, and Susan The friendly fire incident in Iraq The camping familiesChapter-by- CHAPTER Notes and Teaching SuggestionsCopyright 2003 by Joan V. Gallos and Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Company, 989 Market St., SanFrancisco, CA 94103 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the 3 -SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 8 The central ideas in CHAPTER 8 revolve around the DYNAMICS , difficulties, and dilemmas ofhuman interaction.

7 Instructors can focus on:1. Understanding the complexities of INTERPERSONAL Exploring GROUP Developing managerial skills for handling INTERPERSONAL relationships in methods appropriate for each approach are described in the sections that exercises keyed to the approaches appear in Student Exercises for CHAPTER 8, beginning on page 8: A Focus on Understanding INTERPERSONAL Exchanges_____Interpersonal interactions are filled with potential for confusion, ambiguity, andmisunderstandings. Exploring why this is so and what can be done is one possible focusfor working with CHAPTER 8: Cases Focusing on Understanding INTERPERSONAL ExchangesThe Anne Barreta case presented in the CHAPTER is a perfect starting place for a focus onunderstanding INTERPERSONAL exchanges, and many other cases that lend themselves to thisfocus are available as well.

8 The Anne Barreta case is rich in possibilities, and the gender and affirmative actionissues keep things lively despite the amount of case analysis that the authors providein the CHAPTER . In fact, some of the power of discussing this case comes from the veryfact that students who have read the CHAPTER often feel as if they already knoweverything that really happened can use the Barreta case to reinforce the reality that thingsare never as simple and straightforward as they seem at a first can push to explore the wide number of possible explanations forwhat might really be going on here for example, what if it was not Harrythat started the rumor?

9 Who might have and why? What if it was Steve?What might his motivation be? What might he gain from all this? Bycasting doubts on the seemingly obvious role that Harry played in all this,students in large or small groups can devise strategies for testing theirvarious assumptions and hunches. Since there is a good chance that manyof the strategies will fall into Model I theories-in-use and mystery-masterymodels of INTERPERSONAL behavior, instructors can work these issues intotheir processing of student Notes and Teaching SuggestionsCopyright 2003 by Joan V. Gallos and Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Company, 989 Market St., SanFrancisco, CA 94103 All rights reserved.

10 No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the 4 -There are other ways to work with the Anne Barreta case as well. For example,focus not solely on Anne and Harry but on Steve and how a manager deals withstrong conflicts and tensions between two subordinates. Students in large or smallgroups can examine Steve s management style, his strategies for managing Anne andHarry, his responses to the rumor situation, his choice of setting for the meeting withAnne, the ways in which he has contributed to the situation that Anne finds herself in,and so on.