**4.2. Action phases**

Action phases relate to the team's activities aimed specifically toward goal accomplishment [15]. This phase concentrates on team activities that lead toward goal attainment. The action phases have four processes: monitoring progress toward goals, systems monitoring, team monitoring and backup responses, and coordination activities [15]. The first process, monitoring progress toward goals, relates to team members paying attention to, interpreting, and communicating information that allows team members to assess and provide feedback to the team's progress. The second process, systems monitoring, tracks a team's resources and environment. Team monitoring and backup responses, the third process, provides support services for team members. This process gives team members individual feedback, coaching/mentoring, assistance in task completion, etc.… The last process, coordination activities, related to "the process of orchestrating the sequence and timing of interdependent actions" [15]. This process is conducted by individual members as a shared-leadership role, and by the team's leader/manager if one is assigned.

#### **4.3. Interpersonal phases**

The interpersonal phases relate to those team activities that are primarily concentrated toward managing relationships, internal and external. Interpersonal phases are different from the transition and action phases in that they are mostly present throughout the duration that the team is formed. The interpersonal processes involve three processes: conflict management, motivating/confidence building, and affect management [15]. Conflict management is geared toward managing conflict so that constructive conflict is facilitated and destructive conflict is diminished. Understanding conflict in small group settings requires viewing conflict from the individual's perspective as well as from the perspective of the collective. Conflict is prevalent throughout a team's formation, a further discussion of conflict that takes place in small group settings, intragroup conflict, will be provided in the next section. Conflict management focuses on identifying areas of agreement and disagreement among team members, identifying any barriers relating to task accomplishment, to better identify intragroup conflict. Conflict management then optimizes collaborative efforts around conflict by collectively selecting the best course of action in resolving conflicting issues. The second process in the interpersonal processes, motivating/confidence building, involves "activities that develop and maintain members' motivation and confidence with regard to the team accomplishing its goals and objectives" [16]. The last process, affect management, facilitates emotional balance among team members. This last process monitors members' emotions, social cohesion, team member frustrations and excitement, as well as examining team morale [16].

### **4.4. Putting the pieces together**

their goal or objective [15]. LePine et al. [16] described these transition phases as: "Actions that teams execute between performance episodes". Among the transition phases, Marks et al. [15] identified three processes: mission analysis, goal specification, and strategy formation and planning. Mission analysis involves team member's interpretation and evaluation of the team's mission, identification of the team's goal and its environment, and assessing resources required compared to resources available [15]. Goal specification relates to prioritizing goals of the team as well as associating these goals with the organization. Strategy formulation and planning identifies decisions that need to be made to achieve the team's goal, the team's expectations, assignment of duties, lines of communication, along with setting priorities and deadlines. Stout et al. [17] identified that teams high in planning (e.g., strategy formulation and planning phase) are more effective at communicating with team members at critical times, when needed the most.

Action phases relate to the team's activities aimed specifically toward goal accomplishment [15]. This phase concentrates on team activities that lead toward goal attainment. The action phases have four processes: monitoring progress toward goals, systems monitoring, team monitoring and backup responses, and coordination activities [15]. The first process, monitoring progress toward goals, relates to team members paying attention to, interpreting, and communicating information that allows team members to assess and provide feedback to the team's progress. The second process, systems monitoring, tracks a team's resources and environment. Team monitoring and backup responses, the third process, provides support services for team members. This process gives team members individual feedback, coaching/mentoring, assistance in task completion, etc.… The last process, coordination activities, related to "the process of orchestrating the sequence and timing of interdependent actions" [15]. This process is conducted by individual members as a shared-leadership role, and by the team's leader/manager if one is assigned.

The interpersonal phases relate to those team activities that are primarily concentrated toward managing relationships, internal and external. Interpersonal phases are different from the transition and action phases in that they are mostly present throughout the duration that the team is formed. The interpersonal processes involve three processes: conflict management, motivating/confidence building, and affect management [15]. Conflict management is geared toward managing conflict so that constructive conflict is facilitated and destructive conflict is diminished. Understanding conflict in small group settings requires viewing conflict from the individual's perspective as well as from the perspective of the collective. Conflict is prevalent throughout a team's formation, a further discussion of conflict that takes place in small group settings, intragroup conflict, will be provided in the next section. Conflict management focuses on identifying areas of agreement and disagreement among team members, identifying any barriers relating to task accomplishment, to better identify intragroup conflict. Conflict management then optimizes collaborative efforts around conflict by collectively selecting the best course of action in resolving conflicting issues. The second process in the interpersonal processes, motivating/confidence building, involves "activities that develop and maintain members' motivation and confidence with regard to the team accomplishing its goals and objectives" [16]. The last process, affect management, facilitates emotional balance

**4.2. Action phases**

72 Organizational Conflict

**4.3. Interpersonal phases**

The taxonomy of team processes presented by Mathieu et al. [18] incorporates transition phase processes that evaluate past achievements and plan future achievements with action phase processes that involve activities dedicated to goal accomplishment. Throughout the transition and action phase processes, interpersonal processes are continually being managed. Mathieu et al. [18] identified: "Some processes are more likely to occur during transition periods, whereas others are more likely to occur during action periods. Interpersonal processes are expected to occur throughout transition and action phases". Of these interpersonal processes, conflict is a key determinant that is not only prevalent in all small group settings, but it has the potential to be destructive to the point of preventing a team from accomplishing its stated goals. This chapter further identifies these different intragroup conflicts and addresses how best to manage these conflicts.
