Group Dynamics for Teams

Seventh Edition (Updated Edition)

Daniel Levi - California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, USA
David A. Askay - California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, USA

Other Titles in:
Business & Management (General) | Psychology (General)

August 2025 | SAGE Publications, Inc

Grounded in psychology research but with a practical focus on organizational behavior issues, Group Dynamics for Teams, Seventh Edition helps readers understand and participate in teams more effectively in day-to-day work. Best-selling authors Daniel Levi and David A. Askay thoroughly examine basic group dynamics concepts, such as goals, norms, cooperation, and communication, as well as review the main challenges that teams face, such as conflict, decision making, problem solving, creativity, and valuing diversity.

New to This Edition

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Introduction

Part I: Foundations of Teamwork

Chapter 1: Understanding Teams

1.1 Why Groups and Teams Matter

1.2 Defining Groups

1.3 Defining Teams

1.4 Why Organizations Use Teams

1.5 Purposes and Types of Teams

1.6 History of Teams and Group Dynamics

Summary

Discussion Questions 1

Team Leadership Challenge 1

Survey: Attitudes Toward Teamwork

Activity: Working in Teams

Chapter 2: Building Team Success

2.1 Components of Team Success

2.2 Inputs: Conditions for Team Success

2.3 Teamwork Processes and Emergent States

2.4 Outputs: Defining Team Success

2.5 The IMOI Model of Teamwork

2.6 Using Teams in the Workplace

Summary

Discussion Questions 2

Team Leadership Challenge 2

Activity: Understanding Team Success

Chapter 3: Navigating the Team’s Lifecycle

3.1 Models of Group Development

3.2 Group Socialization

3.3 Coordinating Structures: Goals, Roles, and Norms

3.5 Application: Jump-Starting Project Teams

Summary

Discussion Questions 3

Team Leadership Challenge 3

Activity: Observing Team Development

Activity: Developing a Team Charter

Part II: Dynamics Of Teamwork

Chapter 4: Affective, Motivational, and Cognitive Dynamics

4.1 The Dynamic Nature of Emergent States

4.2 Affective Dynamics

4.3 Motivational Dynamics

4.4 Cognitive Dynamics

4.5 Adapting to Changing Dynamics

Summary

Discussion Questions 4

Team Leadership Challenge 4

Activity: Tracking Team Dynamics

Chapter 5: Cooperation and Competition

5.1 Cooperation and Competition

5.2 Divers of Cooperation and Competition

5.3 Strategies for Managing Cooperation and Competition

Summary

Discussion Questions 5

Team Leadership Challenge 5

Survey: Cooperative, Competitive, or Individualistic Orientation

Activity: Understanding Competitive Versus Cooperative Goals

Chapter 6: Team Communication

6.1 Communication in Teams

6.2 Effective Communication Practices

6.3 Managing Emotions

6.4 Facilitating Team Meetings

Summary

Discussion Questions 6

Team Leadership Challenge 6

Survey: Team Emotional Intelligence

Activity: Observing Communication Patterns in a Team

Part III: Challenges And Growth in Teams

Chapter 7: Managing Conflict

7.1 The Nature of Conflict

7.2 Types of Conflict

7.3 Conflict Management Styles

7.4 Situational Factors Shaping Conflict

7.5 Engaging in Conflict

7.6 Principled Negotiation

Summary

Discussion Questions 7

Team Leadership Challenge 7

Survey: Conflict Management Styles

Activity: Observing Conflict Management Styles

Chapter 8: Social Influence and Power

8.1 Understanding Social Influence and Power

8.2 Social Influence

8.3 Types of Power and Influence Tactics

8.3 Power Dynamics and Imbalance

8.4 Responses to Power and Influence

8.5 Empowerment

8.6 Application: Communicating Assertively

Summary

Discussion Questions 8

Team Leadership Challenge 8

Activity: Using Power Styles—Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive

Chapter 9: Decision Making

9.1 Decision Making in Teams

9.2 Deciding How to Decide: Evaluating Decision-Making Approaches

9.3 Individual Decision Making

9.4 Group Decision Making

9.5 Crowd Platforms and Artificial Intelligence

Summary

Discussion Questions 9

Team Leadership Challenge 9

Activity: Making Consensus Decisions

Activity: Using AI to Augment Group Decision Making

Chapter 10: Leadership and Followership

10.1 Defining Leadership

10.2 Leadership Emergence

10.3 Models of Effective Leadership

10.4 Team Leadership

10.5 Followership

Summary

Discussion Questions 10

Team Leadership Challenge 10

Survey: Leadership Styles

Activity: Exploring Leadership Perceptions

Chapter 11: Problem Solving

11.1 Defining and Navigating Problems

11.2 Descriptive Approach: How Teams Typically Solve Problems

11.3 Rational Problem Solving: How Teams Should Solve Problems

11.4 Application: Constructing a Shared Mental Model Through Process Mapping

Summary

Discussion Questions 11

Team Leadership Challenge 11

Activity: Using Problem-Solving Techniques

Chapter 12: Creativity, Innovation, and Design Thinking

12.1 The Process of Creativity and Innovation

12.2 Promoting Team Creativity and Innovation

12.3 Overview of Design Thinking

12.4 The Design Thinking Process

Summary

Discussion Questions 12

Team Leadership Challenge 12

Activity: Redesigning the Office Hours Experience Using Design Thinking

Chapter 13: Diversity and Inclusion

13.1 The Importance of Diversity

13.2 Difference and Diversity

13.3 Information Processing: The Promise of Cognitive Diversity

13.4 Social Categorization Processes

13.4 Supporting Diversity and Inclusion

Summary

Discussion Questions 13

Team Leadership Challenge 13

Survey: Work Group Inclusion

Activity: Exploring Cognitive Diversity and Information Elaboration

Part IV: Organizational Context of Teams

Chapter 14: Team, Organizational, and National Culture

14.1 What Is Culture?

14.2 Team Culture

14.3 Organizational Culture

14.4 National Culture

14.5 Multinational Teamwork

Summary

Discussion Questions 14

Team Leadership Challenge 14

Activity: Developing Your Team Culture

Activity: Evaluating Cross-Cultural Dynamics in American Factory

Chapter 15: Virtuality and Teamwork

15.1 Virtuality and Virtual Teams

15.2 Using Collaboration Technologies

15.3 Distance

15.4 Managing Virtual and Hybrid Teams

Summary

Discussion Questions 15

Team Leadership Challenge 15

Activity: Developing Norms for Virtual Teams

Activity: Navigating Communication Challenges in Virtual Teamwork

Chapter 16: Evaluating and Rewarding Team Performance

16.1 Performance and Performance Management

16.2 Planning Performance

16.3 Monitoring Performance

16.4 Reviewing Performance

16.5 Rewarding Performance

16.5 Improving Performance Management Systems

Summary

Discussion Questions 16

Team Leadership Challenge 16

Survey: Individual Versus Team Rewards

Activity: Evaluating and Rewarding a Project Team

Activity: Team Halo Effect

Chapter 17: Team Development Interventions

17.1 Defining Team Development Interventions

17.2 Team Building

17.3 Designing Team Training Programs

17.4 Specialized Types of Training

Summary

Discussion Questions 17

Team Leadership Challenge 17

Activity: Conducting a Needs Analysis

Activity: Team Building Facilitation

Appendix: Guide to Student Team Projects

References

Index

Supplements

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Levi and Askey's latest edition of Group Dynamics for Teams is one of the best texts on teams that I know. They cover many of the important topics that teams will encounter from formation through dissolution in a fashion that undergraduate and graduate students alike will find engaging and informative. Practitioners in various fields engaging in team leadership ought to read and digest this comprehensive text.

Jerald H. Walz

Virginia Tech

Levi and Askay offer an in-depth discussion of team and team dynamics from social and psychological positions. The book is thoroughly researched and well-written. In using past editions, students have commented on how informative this material is for them and that the exercises and activities help them to apply essential knowledge to their contexts. I highly endorse this book for graduate and undergraduate team and teamwork studies.

M.D. Kinoti

Regis University

Levi & Askay provide students and instructors an important academic resource, notable for its wide range of topics, clear presentation, and relevant activities. Group Dynamics for Teams provides comprehensive insights and a reader-friendly format that enhances my students' learning experience.

Tammy Rice-Bailey

Milwaukee School of Engineering

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