Ch+02+Comm.+in+Teams

=Ch 2, Communicating and working in teams.= = also check Communication 2.0 Videos Comm. 2.0= من اهم اسباب الإحباط هو اننا ننتظر التقدير من الاخرين. ... علينا ان نغير نظرتنا للناس. ... حتى يغيرون.

 After studying this chapter, you will be able to  1. Highlight the **advantages** and **dysfunctions** of working in teams 2. Identify eight guidelines for successful collaborative writing 3. Explain how wiki technology can help teams collaborate 4. Explain how group dynamics can affect team effectiveness 5. Discuss the role of etiquette in team settings, both in the workplace and in social settings 6. Describe how meeting technologies can help participants communicate more successfully 7. Describe the listening process and explain how good listeners overcome barriers at each stage of the process 8. Clarify the importance of nonverbal communication and briefly describe six categories of nonverbal expression
 * Learning Objectives **

Agile Team --- The Road to a **High Performing Team**. "Agile = Quick and Well-Coordinated actions" .... "To thing & act quickly" media type="youtube" key="yuHuSHoZlmk" height="240" width="425" media type="youtube" key="AIE_AdmdKao" height="240" width="425" Loomio

is an easy to use online groupware tool for group decision-making. It facilitates dispersed groups collaborate and discuss issues to reach decisions quickly and take constructive action.


 * New Think Theater, Idea Generation تولييد الافكار في بناء جيل مسؤول و مبادر يهتم بالعمل Iman Abida, Sonbola Prog **

Social Psychology

What is team-work: two important points in team-work that are: 1- **cooperation**: when people join forces to achieve a common goal (team members don't share responsibility). 2- **collaboration**: when people work together to achieve a common goal and interest(team members share responsibility).

Successful collaboration requires a number of steps: Characteristics of a successful team 1- Select collaborators carefully. 2- Agree on project goals before you start. 3- Give your team time to bond before diving in. 4- Clarify individual responsibilities. 5- Establish clear processes. 7- Avoid writing as group. 8- Make sure tools and techniques are ready and compatible across the team. 9- Check to see how things are going along the way.

This is a story about 4 people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was everybody’s job. Everybody thought anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done!  After studying this chapter, you will be able to : Comm. Team <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
 * [|Details]
 * [[file:tw-arafatmy/ch02.ppt|Download]]
 * 72 KB
 * [|Details]
 * [[file:tw-arafatmy/Comm in Teams and Teamwork.docx|Download]]
 * 50 KB

Building Higher Education Skills [|**Cairo University PATHWAYS**] **File Not Found**

Also you need to work on one or two of the following GROUPWARE tools: MS Groove or share-point, Webex. Google Drive, google docs, forms, site ..... wize hive, back-pack, zoho, IBM lotus,

Basics of Team Building
also check [] Team Diversification

1. Highlight the advantages and dysfunction of working in teams - Sharing information, by working collaboratively and interdependently. - Teamworking will provide a excellent chance to generate unconventionall creative ideas. - will improve the Decision Making Process.

- Positive relationships.and mutual respect. - Interaction. see <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">[|**Social Networking Media Goes Professional**] - Mutual trust and Interests - Common Goal and purpose. - Provide and utilize reliable ICT.
 * Team Requirements: ** Asma Dwikat.

2. Identify eight guidelines for successful collaborative writing White papers, Google docs, Public Wikispaces for team

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 9.5pt;">3. Explain how wiki technology can help teams collaborate 4. Explain how group dynamics can affect team effectiveness 5. Discuss the role of etiquette in team settings, both in the workplace and in social settings 6. Describe how meeting technologies can help participants communicate more successfully 7. Describe the listening process and explain how good listeners overcome barriers at each stage of the process <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">8. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 9.5pt;">Clarify the importance of nonverbal communication and briefly describe six categories of nonverbal expression

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 29.12px;">Group think & Conformity = KhanAcademy التوافق ليس هدفا او غاية ...بل الاختلاف في الاراء الوسيلة "للوصول الى رأي نصفة توافقيا" Getting along with the group, is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict to reach consensus without [|critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating] ideas. Group-think negatively affect : 1- Individual creativity,   2- uniqueness, and   3- independent thinking are lost in the pursuit of group cohesiveness, as are the advantages of reasonable balance in choice and thought that might normally be obtained by making decisions as a group.


 * Group-think** is a psychological phenomenon that can occur in groups of people. group think can be a positive or a negative effect ,the positive impact is to minimize conflict . Teams need to avoid the negative impact of groupthink .(to agree with the majority of the group, suppressing your own thoughts and ideas). Groups sometimes fall into a style of thinking where the maintenance of the group’s cohesion and **togetherness** becomes all-important and results in v**__ery bad decision-making.__**

Janis (1972) defines it as ** "a way of deliberating that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action." **

=The eight primary symptoms of group-think are:=


 * Illusions of invulnerability where the group think it is invincible and can do no wrong.
 * Collective efforts to rationalize or discount warnings.
 * Unquestioned belief in the moral correctness of the group.
 * Stereotyped views of the out-group, often as too evil, weak or stupid to be worth bothering with.
 * Self-censorship as people decide not to rock the boat.
 * Pressure to conform.
 * A shared illusion of unanimity (everyone always agrees with everyone else).
 * Protecting the group from contrary viewpoints, by self-appointed ‘mind-guards’.

Groupthink happens most often when the group is already cohesive, is isolated from conflicting opinions and where the leader is open and directive. The lack of a formal decision process is also common.

Problem-solving and task-oriented groups are particularly susceptible.

Resulting decisions are often based on incomplete information and fail to consider alternatives and risks.

Defending

The leader should avoid being too directive and be vigilant for groupthink effects. External opinions should be taken seriously or even having external people included in meetings. The group should be split into subgroups for reporting back and discussion. Individuals should be privately polled for personal opinions.

___

=**The difference between work individual & team work :**=

= = ||
 * =**work individual**= || = **team work**= ||
 * **Stick on the plan** || Creativity
 * We have control || Diversity ||
 * Faster || Quality ||
 * Independent thought || More time **↑↓ IT** ||
 * || New interpersonal relationship ||

=<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 26px;">Improving Group Dynamics at Mind Tool = <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">[|Helping Your People Work More Effectively Together. link]


 * [[image:http://www.mindtools.com/media/HomePage/improving-group-dynamics_AnnBaldwin_225x150.jpg align="right" caption="People standing on colored cogs."]] ||
 * People standing on colored cogs. ||

A "joker" in your team can create negative group dynamics. © iStockphoto/AnnBaldwin <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Imagine that you've brought together the brightest people in your department to solve a problem. You had high hopes for the group, so you feel frustrated when people can't come to a decision. ما هو سبب فشل افضل الاشخاص في التوصل الى حقول ضمن فريق Several factors are holding the group back: To start with, one person is very **critical of colleagues' ideas**. You suspect that her fault-finding is discouraging others from speaking up. **الناقد الصياد الذي يركز على اخطاء الاخرين فيحبطهم** Another has hardly contributed to the sessions at all. When asked for his opinion, he simply agrees with a more dominant colleague. **الشخصية الامعه** Finally, one group member makes humorous comments at unhelpful times, which upsets the momentum of the discussion. **النكتجي الساخر** These are classic examples of poor group dynamics, and they can undermine the success of a project, as well as people's morale and engagement. In this article, we'll look at what group dynamics are, and why they matter. We'll then discuss some examples of poor group dynamics, and we'll outline some tools that you can use to deal with them.

<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">What Are Group Dynamics?
<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist and change management** expert, is credited with coining the term **"group dynamics"** in the early 1940s. He noted that people often take on distinct roles and behaviors when they work in a group. "Group dynamics" __describes the effects of these roles and behaviors on other group members__, and __on the group as a whole__. More recent researchers have built on Lewin's ideas, and this work has become central to good management practice. A group with a positive dynamic is easy to spot. Team members trust one another, they work towards a collective decision, and they hold one another accountable for making things happen. As well as this, researchers <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> have found that when a team has a positive dynamic, its members are nearly twice as creative as an average group. In a group with poor group dynamics, people's behavior disrupts work. As a result, the group may not come to any decision, or it may make the wrong choice, because group members could not explore options effectively. <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">What Causes Poor Group Dynamics? <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Group leaders and team members can contribute to a negative group dynamic. Let's look at some of the most common problems that can occur:
 * ** Weak leadership **: when a team lacks a strong leader, a more dominant member of the group can often take charge. This can lead to a lack of direction, infighting, or a focus on the wrong priorities.
 * ** Excessive deference to authority **: this can happen when people want to be seen to agree with a leader, and therefore hold back from expressing their own opinions.
 * ** Blocking **: this happens when team members behave in a way that disrupts the flow of information in the group. People can adopt blocking roles such as:
 * ** The aggressor: ** this person often disagrees with others, or is inappropriately outspoken.
 * ** The negator: ** this group member is often critical of others' ideas.
 * ** The withdrawer: ** this person doesn't participate in the discussion.
 * ** The recognition seeker: ** this group member is boastful, or dominates the session.
 * ** The joker: ** this person introduces humor at inappropriate times.

==<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Strategies for Improving Team Dynamics == <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Use these approaches to improve group dynamics: <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Know Your Team <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">As a leader, you need to guide the development of your group. So, start by learning about the [|phases] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> that a group goes through as it develops. When you understand these, you'll be able to preempt problems that could arise, including issues with poor group dynamics. Next, use [|Benne and Sheats' Group Roles] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> to identify positive and negative group roles, and to understand how they could affect the group as a whole. This will also help you plan how to deal with otential problems <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Tackle Problems Quickly <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">If you notice that one member of your team has adopted a behavior that's affecting the group unhelpfully, act quickly to challenge it. Provide [|feedback] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> that shows your team member the impact of her actions, and encourage her to reflect on how she can change her behavior. <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Define Roles and Responsibilities <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Teams that lack focus or direction can quickly develop poor dynamics, as people struggle to understand their role in the group. Create a [|team charter] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> – defining the group's mission and objective, and everyone's responsibilities – as soon as you form the team. Make sure that everyone has a copy of the ocument, and remind people of it regularly. <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Break Down Barriers <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Use [|team-building exercises] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> to help everyone get to know one another, particularly when new members join the group. These exercises ease new colleagues into the group gently, and also help to combat the "black sheep effect," which happens when group members turn against people they consider different. Also, explain the idea of the [|Johari Window] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> to help people open up. Lead by example: share what you hope the group will achieve, along with "safe" personal information about yourself, such as valuable lessons that you've learned. <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Focus on Communication <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Open communication is central to good team dynamics, so make sure that everyone is communicating clearly. Include all of the forms of communication that your group uses – emails, meetings, and shared documents, for example – to avoid any ambiguity. If the status of a project changes, or if you have an announcement to make, let people know as soon as possible. That way, you can ensure that everyone has the same information. Opinionated team members can overwhelm their quieter colleagues in meetings. Where this happens, use techniques such as [|Crawford's Slip Writing Method] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, and make sure that you develop strong [|facilitation] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> skills. <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Pay Attention <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Watch out for the warning signs of poor group dynamics. Pay particular attention to frequent unanimous decisions, as these can be a sign of [|groupthink] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, [|bullying] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, or free riding. If there are frequent unanimous decisions in your group, consider exploring new ways to encourage people to discuss their views, or to share them anonymously.
 * ** [|Groupthink] : **this happens when people place a desire for consensus above their desire to reach the right decision. This prevents people from fully exploring alternative solutions.
 * ** Free riding: ** here, some group members take it easy, and leave their colleagues to do all the work. Free riders may work hard on their own, but limit their contributions in group situations; this is known as "social loafing."
 * ** Evaluation apprehension **: team members' perceptions can also create a negative group dynamic. Evaluation apprehension happens when people feel that they are being judged excessively harshly by other group members, and they hold back their opinions as a result.

Social Intelegance

Key Points
The term "group dynamics" describes the way in which people in a group interact with one another. When dynamics are positive, the group works well together. When dynamics are poor, the group's effectiveness is reduced. Problems can come from weak leadership, too much deference to authority, blocking, groupthink and free riding, among others. To strengthen your team's dynamics, use the following strategies: Keep in mind that observing how your group interacts is an important part of your role as a leader. Many of the behaviors that lead to poor dynamics can be overcome if you catch them early.
 * Know your team.
 * Tackle problems quickly with good feedback.
 * Define roles and responsibilities.
 * Break down barriers.
 * Focus on communication.
 * Pay attention.

<span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This is just one of hundreds of skill-building tools and resources on __this site__ <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">. Click [|here] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">for [|more articles] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, subscribe to our [|free newsletter] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, or [|become a member] <span style="color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> for just US$1.

[]

Here are Eight Techniques to Manage Virtual Teams
There are two types of teams - co-located and virtual. Co-located teams have the ability to get together face-to-face when needed. Virtual teams are not able to do this. They cannot communicate as easily or effectively. Therefore, there are different techniques required to manage virtual teams. These techniques will help your virtual teams be as successful as your co-located teams.
 * **Establish team objectives.** The team members need to know and understand what it is that they are doing together. If people only understand their own role and their own work, they will always just be individual contributors.
 * **Remind everyone they are a team.** If the team members think they are all working independently, they will act independent. If they know they are part of a team working on common objectives and deliverables, they will tend to feel better about their work and be more active in their collaboration with other team members.
 * **Obtain the right technology.** The technology is there to support virtual teams - there is really no reason to be without it. This includes fast access to the Internet, audio conferencing, videocams, collaborative software, shared directories, etc.
 * **Look for opportunities to “socialize.”** Team members located together have opportunities to socialize throughout the day. Virtual teams don’t usually have this same opportunity to interact with each other, so it is more important for the project manager to look for ways they can bond. This might include getting everyone together one time in a face-to-face setting – perhaps a Project Kickoff meeting.
 * **Be sensitive to cultural difference.** It is possible that your virtual team all thinks and acts the same way. However, more and more virtual teams consist of people from multiple countries and multiple cultures. If you are the project manager on this type of team, make sure you have some appreciation for the differences in how people work and how they behave.
 * **Communicate, communicate, communicate.** The project manager needs to be extra proactive in his communication to make sure everyone understands what is expected. People can start to feel isolated if they do not receive regular communication. It is hard enough to keep everyone informed on a “regular” project. The communication lines on a virtual team must be opened up especially wide. The project manager can provide this steady stream of communication.
 * **Adjust and compromise on time differences.** The project manager needs to recognize that what is convenient for the project manager is not always convenient to the team members. For instance, if you are a manager in a global company it may not be practical to start all project meetings at 9:00 am . That may be convenient to the manager but it can result in resentment from people in other global locations that need to stay very late for these meetings.
 * **Give people shorter assignments.** This is not the time to give people long assignments and hope that they are completed by the deadline. Instead of assigning a six-week activity, for instance, the project manager should assign the work in three two-week activities. In the former case, you would not know for sure if the work was done for six weeks. In the later case, you can tell every two weeks if the work is on track.

<span style="color: #3a1cf2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16.8px;">Collaborative Group Decisions in the age of the Web 2.0

<span style="font-family: Roboto,arial,sans-serif;">Loomio is a free, open-source web application that helps groups make better decisions together the dynamic open discussion process to come to better decisions.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Loomia Tutorial

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Roboto,arial,sans-serif;">we are undergoing a digital transformation on this planet right now with three billion people already connected via smartphones and computers, the

opportunity for rapid mobilization of large-scale social movements and change has never been greater as Ginseng Larson from world remarks yesterday we can turn information technology into relationship technology, but to accomplish this we must actually use and embrace the tools at our disposal we must embed into our actions and design into these new systems in emphasis on openness diversity fairness and collective action then Knight and his amazing team of collaborators at Loomio are pioneers in these new cooperative paradigms Loomio is a part of the Inspiral network known Inspirals a community of a whole bunch of social enterprises that are building appropriate technology solutions to tackle social and environmental challenges.

Building High Performance Team

Social Loafing vs Social Facilitation "Many Hands Make Diminishing Responsibilities" التسكع الإجتماعي : media type="youtube" key="qv9mImMYJQY" height="360" width="640" To avoid social loafing, make sure everyone in a group knows that they can be easily EVALUATED by others. ====<span style="background-color: #576f4d; color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,times; font-size: 12pt;">// Free riders // are people who consume more than their fair share of a resource, or shoulder less than a fair share of the costs of its production. ==== @http://www.rcgates.com/psyc/sp18.html
 * 1) Increases (to a point) as group size increases.
 * 2) The tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their effort toward a common goal than when they are individually responsible.
 * 3) Occurs on "additive tasks" where the group's achievement depends on the sum of the individual efforts.
 * 4) Reduced to the extent a task is challenging, appealing, & involving. Also, the commitment one feels toward a group can affect social loafing.