ONLY FOR MAESTRO
Managing work teams
Chapter 9
After reading this chapter you should have a good understanding of:
The difference between groups and teams.
The importance of managing workplace teams and enhancing their effectiveness.
The advantages and disadvantages of using teams.
The different types of workplace teams.
The stages of team development and effective leadership behaviors in each stage.
The five components of designing successful teams.
The two kinds of conflict and their definitions.
Chapter Learning Objectives
Work teams have become common in many organizations
Team are beneficial for organization because they:
Increase communication
Generate new and innovative ideas
Create a sense of vitality and synergy in the company
Improve effectiveness, efficiency, and overall company performance
Managing teams
Work Teams Examples
A Work Team is a group of individuals possessing complementary talents skills that jointly pursue a common business objective or goal.
A Work Group is comprised of individuals operating towards a business goal with little or no collaboration between group members
Work groups versus work teams
Work Groups versus Work Teams
Work Groups
Work Teams
Share Information
Neutral
Individual
Random and varied
Individual
Combined performance
Positive
Individual and mutual
Complementary
Collaborative
Goal
Synergy
Accountability
Skills
Decision Making
Are you a team player?
-Or-
Do you prefer to work alone?
Team Player Inventory
Use the Team Player Inventory in Exhibit 9.6 to determine your preference for teamwork.
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Organizational Advantages:
Shared ideas and innovation
Increased speed and efficiency in product development
Better decisions come from teams
Increased customer satisfaction
Product and service quality
Employee job satisfaction
Advantages of teams
Employee Advantages:
Improved office relationships
Development of ability and knowledge through sharing of work
Feeling of connectedness
Job satisfaction
Organizations often adopt team-based environments for three main reasons
Increased efficiency
Sharing of ideas that fosters collaboration and innovation
Better decision-making with teams
Advantages of teams
Two main disadvantages:
Social Loafing can occur
Team members who do not perform their share of the work and allow others to do most of the work
Typically found in larger teams where they can easily blend into the background
Groupthink
Desire for harmony or conformity in a group may result in illogical, irrational, or unscientific decision-making
Disadvantages of teams
the larger the team, the less individual effort. Indeed, social loafing is more probable in larger groups because it can be difficult to categorize the efforts or individual team members. Social loafers are less likely to assume responsibility for a task. Social loafers count on blending into the background, where their lack of efforts isn't easily spotted. In other cases, social loafers are armed with a variety of excuses and delay tactics. In some instances this can lead to conflict, resentment, and low workplace morale.
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Three C’s of motivation to reduce social loafing
Collaboration
Involve team members
Content
Give meaning to becoming involved with the team
Choice
Create the opportunity to have input from all members into team involvement
Reducing social loafing
Often occurs as a result of
High group cohesiveness leads to lack of individuality
Insulation of the group from other areas of the organization, lack of rules, norms, impartial leadership, diverse experiences, and knowledge level among the group
Situational contexts including recent group failures, decision involving moral dilemmas, overpowering external threats
Groupthink
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Symptoms of group think
Excessive Optimism
Belief in rightness of
the cause, ignoring
consequences
Rationalizing any signs or warnings
that challenge the group
Stereotyping those who oppose
Silence is agreement
Members are under pressure
not to express disagreement
Self-appointed members
who shield the group from
dissention
Type I: Overestimations of the group — its power and morality
Illusions of invulnerability includes creating excessive optimism and encourages risk taking.
Unquestioned belief in the group’s morality. Members belief in the rightness of the cause and therefore ignore the consequences of their actions.
Type II: Closed-mindedness
Rationalizing signs or warnings that might challenge the assumptions of the group.
Stereotyping those who are opposed to majority opinion or the group, such as stupid or biased.
Type III: Pressures toward uniformity
Self-censorship of opinions or ideas that deviate from the seeming group consensus are not expressed.
Illusions of unanimity among group members. Silence is viewed as agreement and majority views and judgments are assumed to be unanimous.
Direct pressure to conform is placed on members who question the group. Members are under pressure not to express dissenting arguments.
Mindguards— self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information. Members who shield the group leader and members from information that is problematic or contradictory to existing information.
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Groupthink
Rationalizing
Type III: Pressures towards uniformity
Type II: Closed-mindedness
Type I: Overestimation of the Group
Illusions of invulnerability
Unquestioned belief
Stereotyping
Self-censorship
Illusions of unanimity
Direct pressure
Mind guards
Assign the role of ‘critical evaluator’ to each member
Allows each member to speak freely and express objections and doubts
Leaders should not express opinion, preference, or expectation when assigning group tasks
Leaders should remove themselves from most group meetings to avoid influencing the outcome
Organization should set up multiple independent groups that work on the same task
Examine each effective alternative
Discuss the group’s ideas with people outside of each group
Invite one or more outside experts into meetings to facilitate discussion and challenge the members’ views
Assign the role of ‘devils advocate’ to one member per meeting to question assumptions and plans
8 Ways to Reduce group think
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Problem-solving Teams
Designed for specific issues
Helping to solve organizational problems
Look at how to improve quality, effectiveness, and efficiency
Self-managed Teams
Highest degree of autonomy
Take on supervisory responsibilities
Seek to manage and control resources, make and provide the product or service, ensure timely deliveries.
4 -Types of work teams
Cross-functional Teams
Created to coordinate complete projects or accomplish a specific task requiring expertise
Intentionally composed of employees at the same hierarchical level but from different functional areas
Effective at exchanging information and perspectives
Virtual Teams
Geographically or organizationally dispersed employees using technology to meet and accomplish tasks
Ability to overcome time and space constraints
More flexible and less costly
Types of work teams
Five components to required to design an effective work team
Establish team Norms
Create team Cohesiveness
Assign team Roles
Limit team Size
Group Diversity is a must
Designing work teams
Norms
Informal standards that regulate team behavior and allow members to function effectively
Linked to positive organizational outcomes
Influencing stronger organizational commitment
Improved job and organizational satisfaction
Deeper trust in management
Best to establish positive norms early in the stages of group development
Team norms
Cohesiveness
Extent to which members are attracted to a team and motivated to stay a part of the team
Promote cooperative behavior
Improves member satisfaction, loyalty, and participation
Increases team performance
Better communication between members
Higher shared accountability
Reduce turnover
Team cohesiveness
Functional Roles
Support teams to successfully and productively attain their goal
Two types of roles:
Task Roles
Socio-Emotional Roles
Non-functional Roles
Detract from the team and hinders performance
Two types of roles:
Non-participative Roles
Hindering Roles
As team size increase, the need to differentiate between the roles of individuals increase
Team roles
Task Roles
Help the project stay on task and move forward
Organized and proficient at sequencing
Socio-emotional Roles
Help communication, participation, and preserving team relationships
Inclusive and encouraging
Functional roles
Non-participative Roles
Absent, inattentive, or unengaged individuals
Hindering Roles
Individual actions that delay or obstruct the team’s progress
Uncooperative
Degrading others
Passive-aggressive behaviors
Non-functional roles
Optimal team size is between 5-9 people
Smaller groups have higher levels of participation
In larger groups, members are more likely to appear busy
Optimal size allows for members to take advantages of diversity in expertise, skills, and knowledge.
Team size
Team member diversity
Significant uniqueness of the personalities on the team
Diverse views allow for better decision-making and improves team performance
Organizations must build diverse teams with individuals who possess a focus on teamwork
Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism
Team diversity
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions theory (Greet Hofstede, 1984) defines individualism-collectivism as “the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups.” defined as the degree of difference between believing one should be self-sufficient and that loyalty to one's self is more important than loyalty to one's team or company. Individualists, who put their welfare and interest and those of their immediate family first, generally prefer independent tasks. They may prefer to work alone. In contrast, collectivists, who put group, team, or company interests ahead of self-interests, generally prefer interdependent tasks. They may prefer to work with others. However the degree of individualism-collectivism should not preempt the need for team member diversity, as individualist may be appropriate to garner wide variances.
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Developed by Bruce Tuckman
Discovered teams move through five phases necessary for growth and maturity
Phases of team development:
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Stages of team development
Forming:
‘Meet and greet’ stage
Norming:
Team settles into roles and works productively
Performing:
Team is effective, efficient, and fully functioning
Storming:
Disagreements and conflicts arise
Adjourning:
Project is complete and team separates
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Forming
“Meet and greet stage”
Members are polite and try to avoid conflict
Forming initial impressions, gathering information, and assessing group fit
Stages of team development
Team leaders should:
Facilitating the ‘meet and greet’
Allow time to get to know one another
Set early ground rules
Open discussion on team structure
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Storming
Disagreements and conflicts arise
Level of comfort in expression increases
Team members become more assertive and willing to state opinions
The team will be ineffective if it does not resolve present issues and move to the next phase
Stages of team development
Team leaders should:
Ensure differences are channeled in a productive manner
Foster an environment of professionalism and respect in conversations and discussions
Drive the focus towards team goals and performance
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Norming
Establishment and acceptance of team roles and structure
Team members learn to work together productively after working through issues
Team members settle into their roles as they decide goals and objectives
Stages of team development
Team leaders should ensure:
Participation and engagement is high
Team norms are positive and performance oriented
Members operate as a unit but do not for cliques or factions
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Performing
Team is an effective and efficient fully functioning team
Brainstorming and ideas are now debated instead of personal agenda
High cohesiveness
Stages of team development
Team leaders should ensure:
Positivity remains high
Team has access to all required resources, information, and material
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Adjourning
After the completion of the task or project
Reviewing of successes and failures
Stages of team development
Team leaders should:
Conduct evaluations
Help the team celebrate successes
Identify strengths to retain
Explore possible improvements for the future
Recognize personal involvement and investment
Help the team transition to the next assignment
While every team does not pass through each stage, those that do tend to become better performing teams
Ineffective teams go through a process of decline, passing through the stages of:
De-norming
De-storming
De-forming
Stages of team development
De-norming
Deterioration of team performance
Erosion of guidelines and norms as group members’ interests and expectations change
Can be caused by shifts to the team
Changes in size, scope, or goals
De-storming
Decrease in group cohesiveness
Undercurrent of discontent resides among group members
Comfort level is weakened
Group resists conforming to team norms
Stages of group decline
De-forming
Characterized by team member isolation
Members battle to gain control as team falls apart
Team members try to avoid one another and isolate themselves from the leaders
Team performance declines
Stages of group decline
Constructive conflict (Type C)
Conflict in which the benefits outweighs the costs
Team members come together for the greater good
Opens communication, discussion, and provides a platform for collaboration and high-quality ideas
Destructive conflict (Type A)
Damage outweighs the benefits
Leads to personal attacks and hostility
Team conflict
Two primary types of conflict:
Cognitive conflict (c-type conflict)
Task-oriented conflict
Associated with issues in regards to schedules, resources, and the work itself
Leads to negotiations, creative decision-making, and improved team performance
Willingness to resolve issues with the goal of identifying alternatives and finding the best solution
Can help groups reduce the risk of groupthink
Team conflict
Affective conflict (a-type conflict)
Emotional conflict
Focused on personal differences and disputes than professional
Decreases team member satisfaction, commitment, and performance
Team members may hold grudges or become apathetic when disagreements occur
Team conflict
End Chapter 9