Reflection Summary Of Record live Lecture 6
Deonpalmgrove
567Su13Lecture6Teams.pptxManaging Groups & Teams
MGT 567
Dr. Brandon Randolph-Seng
A group is different from a team in both scope and composition
A team is a particular type of group: a coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals
Ideally, a team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose for which they are mutually accountable
Differences between Groups and Teams?
Teamwork
Jack Welch: former GE CEO
“We now know where productivity comes from. It comes from challenged, empowered, excited, rewarded teams of people”
Teams are being used more by firms because of the need for diverse knowledge and perspectives in order to be innovative and stay competitive
These teams make important decisions in organizations
E.g., Management teams, task forces, product development teams
Team Decision Making
The purpose of assembling a team
Perform, get results, and achieve victory in the workplace
The best managers are those who can gather together a group of individuals and mold them into an effective team
Accomplish larger, more complex goals, than what would be possible for an individual working alone
Combine multiple skills or where buy-in is required from several individuals
Teams are only as good as their weakest link
While Michael Phelps has been dubbed “the world’s greatest swimmer,” he could not have achieved his record 8 gold medals in one Olympic games without the help of his teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak.
Team Creative Problem Solving
Adopt a questioning attitude
Establish an environment of acceptance in which ideas are considered before they are judged
Examine the problem from new angles; try stating it in atypical ways
Break the problem into its components and list as many alternatives as possible for each component; combine the alternatives to create new variations
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How do you really feel about teams?
I could have completed this project by myself in one-third of the time – a frustrated business student
The only committee that ever got anything done was a committee of one – a faculty member about a university task force
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Groups can also bring about the "worst" in us. Groups can result in a situation where the "whole is less than the sum of its parts." This may be when group pressures smother individual creativity, or when a group is dominated by one or two members and the rest just withdraw. Groups can be a big waste of time and energy; they can enforce norms of low rather than high productivity. They sometimes make notoriously bad decisions. Groups can exploit, stress, and frustrate their members.
Why does the CBA have you work in teams:
learn new skills from other team members
take some risks; take some chances; make your mistakes here;
make sure you get feedback from team members
find out what your strengths and weaknesses are
It is inevitable that you will experience problems, the same problems you will have with task teams in your work life. It is our goal that you use this opportunity to develop your skills in identifying and dealing with problems during the life of the group while there is still time to take meaningful action. Use this as a chance to develop and practice your skills, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, get feedback from others and ultimately to take from this experience some knowledge and skills that you can take with you to your future work.
Why do teams work?
Synergy
Ability to handle complex problems
Team communications support problem-solving
Social support
Teams have fun
More flexible (quickly assembled, deployed, refocused, disbanded)
Most new organizational models depend on them (networked, clustered, nonhierarchical, horizontal)
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So, groups can be wonderful or terrible, productive or stagnant, imprisoning or freeing, conformist or creative as the chart above highlights. In our personal lives, when a group doesn't satisfy our needs, we can often walk away. But in our work world, this is usually not the case. We must develop the skills to make sure groups we are in are effective; this is true whether we are the "leader" of the group or not. We must develop an understanding of how groups work, what separates effective from ineffective groups. It is important that we develop the tools and skills to know whether a group is effective or not before it is too late and to know how to take corrective action if changes are needed.
How do teams work well?
Through a Strong Performance Focus
Performance challenges can energize teams
Leaders need to promote performance ethic rather than just team-building environment
Individualism is OK if managed
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Burlington Northern intermodal story – performance challenge (they were last in their field) provided the incentive for team effort
Group activity: Analyze the Burlington Northern case with Effective Team Characteristics
Team Basics What makes a good team?
Smaller team size
Complementary skill base
Technical/functional
Problem-solving/decision-making
Interpersonal
Common purpose
Common approach
Mutual accountability
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The ideal size for a team depends on the task at hand
Groups larger than 10 members tend to be harder to coordinate and often break into subteams to accomplish the work at hand
Team Basics: How to have a Common Purpose?
Is focused on the team’s product (not the organization’s or an individual’s)
Sets tone and aspiration
Defines specific, measurable, and compelling performance goals
Facilitates clear communications and constructive conflict
Helps team maintain focus
Reduces status barriers
Allows for small wins → commitment
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Common purpose – exists only because of the team’s effort, conveys a rich and varied set of meanings to guide what the team needs to do to meet goals, gives team a team identity (beyond the sum of the individuals)
Sets tone and aspiration – teams develop direction, momentum, and commitment by working to shape a meaningful purpose; generally is derived from an opportunity or demand put in their path; direction from management frames the performance requirements of the company, then the team moves on from there by creating specific and actionable goals
Specific performance goals are an integral part of purpose – takes broad directives and translates them into specific and measurable performance goals
Identifies the team’s work product (differentiated from organization’s goals)
Specificity facilitates clear communications and constructive conflict within team
Attainability of specific goals helps team maintain focus on getting results (perf)
Specific objectives reduce status barriers – a leveling effect that helps team functioning—look at individuals on the basis of their skills
Specific goals allow small wins – which build member commitment
Specific goals are compelling
Team purpose and specific performance goals depend on each other to stay relevant and vital
Richer and more meaningful than short-term goals
Gives team an identity (beyond the sum of the individuals)
Is important to each member
Each member
Understands and can articulate the purpose
Can define the purpose for outsiders
Explores the implications of the purpose
Team Basics: Common Approach
Who will do which jobs
How schedules will be set and adhered to
What skills need to be developed
How the group will make and modify decisions
Approach needs to:
Be concrete, clear, and understood
Capitalize on skills
Require all members to contribute
Be modified and improved when needed to get the job done
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Common approach – how they will work together to accomplish their purpose
Agreeing on the specifics of work and how it fits together to integrate individual skills and advance team performance is at the heart of shaping a common approach
Team Basics: How to have Mutual Accountability?
Arises out of specific performance goals
Can be measured against specific performance goals
Is a joint responsibility for purpose, goals, approach, and performance – “If one of us fails, we all fail”
All members feel responsible for measures
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Mutual accountability – arise out of specific performance goals; differs from individual accountability; if one of us fails, we all fail
Questions Each Team Should Ask
What are we here to do?
How shall we organize ourselves?
Who is in charge of what?
Who cares about our success?
How do we work through problems?
How do we fit in with other groups?
What benefits do members need from the team?
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Barriers to Effective Teams
Challenges Knowing Where to Begin
Dominating Team Members
Poor Performance of Team Members
Poorly Managed Team Conflict
Key to successful team design is to have clear norms, roles, and expectations among team members
Team Norms and Contracts
Norms are shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team
A team contract includes established ground rules, goals, and roles
The team-building process
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BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM
Communicate high standards
Set tone from first meeting
Create sense of urgency
Choose members with needed skills
Set clear rules; model desired behaviors
Give positive feedback
Reward high performance
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Levels of Conflict
Intrapersonal conflicts: Incompatible goals
Approach-approach conflict (equally attractive)
Avoidance-avoidance conflict (equally unattractive)
Approach-avoidance conflict (both pos/neg)
Interpersonal conflict (opposition w/ another person)
Intergroup conflict (opposition w/ another team/group)
Interorganizational conflict (competition of firms)
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What Creates Conflict Within an Organization?
Conflict occurs when parties disagree over substantive issues or when emotional antagonisms create friction between them.
Substantive conflict (organizational goals pursued, how accomplish)
Emotional conflict (interpersonal difficulties, most difficult to deal with)
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What Creates Intergroup Conflict?
E.g., The Prisoner’s Dilemma: Only enough evidence to convict two people of lesser offense unless can get one to confess (turn the other person in w/ confession)
Conflict is between Prisoner A and B because it is not known what they will do until it is done.
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BETWEEN Groups
Each group views the other as an enemy
One’s own group strengths are overstated while those of the other are understated
Hostilities increase and communications decrease between the groups
When forced into interaction, group members listen only to what reinforces their original predispositions toward one another
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WITHIN Each Group
Members become closer knit and evidence increased loyalty; group cohesion increases
Concern for the accomplishment of the group’s task grows; members become more task-oriented
Group members become more willing to accept a single leader
Activities become highly structure and organized
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What Happens to the WINNER?
Group cohesion is retained
A high level of intragroup cooperation emerges
Group stereotypes have been confirmed
A casual, playful & “fat and happy” attitude develops; complacency
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What happens to the LOSER?
If the situation is ambiguous, they deny or distort the reality of losing; “judges were biased”
The loser becomes more tense, ready to work hard, while looking for someone to blame
If the loss is accepted, the losing group tends to splinter, and unresolved conflicts emerge
Cooperation and concern for member needs decreases
The losing team learns about themselves because their stereotypes have been disconfirmed; a reevaluation occurs
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How to “Control” Existing Intergroup Competition?
Identify a common enemy
Appeal to a common goal
Bring representatives of each group together
Train members in group and interpersonal skills
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How to “Prevent” Future Intergroup Competition?
Reward groups for contributions to organization as a whole
Reward groups for help given to one another
Stimulate frequent interaction among members of various groups
Don’t let groups withdraw or become isolated from one another
Rotate members among groups
Avoid win-lose competitions for scarce resources
Emphasize sharing of resources for the common good
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The Two Faces of Conflict – Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict
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Conflict = Social Dilemmas
Many social dilemmas involve more than two parties
Tragedy of the Commons
Centrally located grassy pasture in old England
What leads to the tragedy of the commons?
When resources not partitioned, people consume more than they realize
FAE: I had to protect myself from exploitation (situational), they are being greedy (dispositional)
First eager to get what you can, then to minimize losses, then to avoid defeat
Immediate interests of individual pitted against interests of group (long-term interests of the individual)
How can social dilemmas be resolved?
Regulation
If taxes were voluntary how many would pay their fair share?
At what point does regulation’s cost exceed its benefits?
How can social dilemmas be resolved?
Make the group small
Avoid excess: “I could not have made a difference anyway”
Identify more w/ group success (group identity)
Less likely to take more than their equal share
150 people max size
How can social dilemmas be resolved?
Communication
To resolve social dilemma people must communicate
Devises group norms, consensus expectations
More likely to cooperate when face-to-face
No discussion – 30%, establish trust – 80%
Communication reduces mistrust
How can social dilemmas be resolved?
Change the payoffs
Increase rewards for cooperation, decrease for exploitation
E.g., Carpool lanes
How can social dilemmas be resolved?
Appeals to altruistic norms
Knowing the consequences of noncooperation has little effect
Yet people adhere to social norms (responsibility, equality, reciprocity)
Define a situation in a way that implies these norms (serve the public good)
Communication (If you do that to us you are going to have to live w/ it for the rest of your life)
Course Notes
Quiz questions will come from the live sessions. A review sheet is provided under Doc Sharing on eCollege
Quiz #3 will open on eCollege Tomorrow until 30th. Once click on link will have 40 min to complete
Workshop should be well on the way
Next Live Session: June 27th
Team Development Part II Due on eCollege by June 29th @ 11:59 PM
