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Chapter 7

Teams

Case Study: The Team at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Emergency Department

Case Questions:

1. What types of problems might the hospital have encountered had it not included the nursing staff in decision making?

2. What was so valuable about seeing management engage in the new initiative alongside their subordinates?

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

The Difference Between Teams and Groups

Successful organizations value and understand teams

Teams help organizations meet growing demands of customers

Decentralization promotes creativity and innovation

Collaboration also promotes creativity; can happen in person or remotely

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

LO 7.1 Distinguish between teams and groups

A team is a collection of people brought together to apply their individual skills to a common project or goal.

Global competition means that organizations need to respond quickly to competitive pressures. Efficient, collaborative teams are one way

for organizations to meet the growing demands of their customers and stay ahead of the competition.

Employees have become more empowered through decentralization, the distribution of power across all levels of the organization.

Thanks to increasing technology, people are more connected than ever before. Take global design company IDEO for instance. While employees often meet in person in order to conduct field research, there are times when teams agree to work remotely using agreed methods of communication (e-mail, Slack, group messaging) to share information and ideas.

The Difference Between Teams and Groups

Teams and groups have subtle differences

Groups focus on achieving individual goals

Teams collaborate in a joint effort

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

A group usually consists of three or more people who work independently to attain organizational goals.

Groups focus on achieving individual goals, with the common organizational goal in mind. For example, in a small business, there might be three people in the marketing department: one might be focused on sales, another on branding, and a third on the administration associated with those tasks. Each employee will work independently and produce individual projects but all group members will still work toward the organization’s common goals.

In contrast, teams consist of a number of people, usually between three and seven, who use their complementary skills to collaborate in a joint effort.

Are Teams Effective?

Effectiveness depends on management

Most effective team members:

Are clear about their goals and roles

Attach personal meaning to their work

Understand the impact of their work

Have psychological safety

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

The effectiveness of work teams depends on how well they are managed and treated within the organization. A well-run team is usually productive,

innovative, loyal, and adaptable. Organizations that consistently nurture teams tend to experience reduced turnover and absenteeism.

Over a period of 2 years, researchers at technology giant Google carried out a study of over 180 teams at the company in an effort to

discover the components of an effective team.

The results were surprising. It turned out that it didn’t matter so much about who was on the team, but rather

how team members interacted with each other, structured their work, and viewed their contributions.

Interestingly, the findings showed that most important component of an effective team was psychological safety, which is a shared belief held by team members whether it is safe enough to trust each other well enough to take risks.

Are Teams Effective?

Psychological safety benefits include:

Open communication

Knowledge sharing

Greater reporting of errors

Improved learning behaviors

Ability to learn from failure

Increased creativity

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

While psychological safety may sound similar to trust, there is an important difference. Trust focuses on how one person might

perceive another, but psychological safety is more focused on how team members perceive the behaviors of the team as a

whole.

Are Teams Effective?

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Are Teams Effective?

How to build an effective team:

Nurture relationships

Honest feedback

Identify common goals

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

1. Nurture relationships

It’s not always easy to get along with everybody on the team, but investing in relationships builds trust and loyalty--both of which are key to a high-performing team.

2. Honest Feedback

Some leaders tend to shy away from giving “bad news” or negative feedback. Learning how to give honest feedback is a skill, but one that must be adopted to cultivate a culture of openness.

3. Identify common goals

Effective leaders identify and prioritize common goals to solidify the team--the message being that the team will only succeed if everyone works together. However, teams can fail if they are mismanaged; if they are not implemented properly, they can cause more harm than good. Explore the concept of teams further from the point of view of Derrick Hall, president and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the OB in the Real World feature.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Tuckman’s Five Stages of Becoming a Team:

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Adjourning

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

LO 7.2 Explain how team processes affect team outcomes

When teams first come together, they go through a number of stages in the process of becoming a team. In his original model of group development in 1965, psychologist Bruce Tuckman named the stages “forming, norming, storming, and performing” (Figure 7.2). Tuckman believed that these stages are essential for teams in order to grow together to confront challenges, solve complex problems, find solutions, make decisions, meet goals, and deliver results. Twelve years later, Tuckman created a fifth stage called “adjourning.”

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Forming: Meet together for the first time and discuss what lies ahead

Storming: Tensions arise and conflict occurs

Norming: Resolve conflict and become cohesive

Performing: Team becomes invested

Adjourning: Successful completion of project

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Forming: In the first stage of group development, the members meet for the first time, get to know each other, and try to understand where they fit within the team structure. They may discuss opportunities and challenges ahead, decide on goals, and assign tasks. During this period, team members focus on learning about each other, are polite to each other, and tend to avoid conflict.

Storming: After a period of time, tensions may arise between members and different personalities might clash, leading to conflict within the team. Some teams do not survive the storming stage, but the ones that do become all the stronger for it. By openly discussing and resolving issues, the team can put its differences aside and focus instead on the work at hand.

Norming: The team members resolve the conflict and begin to work well together and become more cohesive. Members become more tolerant and understanding of each other’s differences and begin to appreciate different strengths. Common to revert to storming stage when new tasks are assigned.

Performing: The team becomes invested in achieving its goals and operates as a unit. At this stage, there is high loyalty and trust between members. Team members are motivated on achieving common goals and can make decisions without supervision.

Adjourning: The final stage takes place when individuals either leave the team or have no reason to be in further contact with their teammates--successfully completing a group project.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Punctuated Equilibrium developed by Connie Gersick

Teams do not develope in Tuckman sequence

Illustrate where change is stable and where it becomes volatile

Start with forming and norming--low performance

Move on to storming--high performance

Finally, adjourning

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Punctuated equilibrium is a method of understanding organizational change by illustrating where change is relatively stable and where it becomes more volatile

For instance, when teams first come together, they tend to perform at a low level for a period of time that is more or less equal to half the time until the deadline or due date. At some point, the team transitions upward to a higher level of performance when the team task(s) are really accomplished. Within the context of the Tuckman model, this means that groups tend to start off by combining the forming and norming stages, before going through a period of low performance, followed by storming, a period of high performance, and then finally adjourning.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Team norms and cohesion

Norms are ground rules that impact team functioning.

Team norms can be more important than team smarts.

Teams that adhere to norms are more cohesive.

Too much cohesion can have negative impact.

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

The effectiveness of many teams depends on it norms, or the informal rules of behavior that govern the team.

A recent study called Project Aristotle carried out by Google showed that team norms were more important than team smarts when it came to successfully completing an assignment. In sum, the right norms can increase a team’s intelligence whereas the wrong norms can hamper it.

Cohesion is the degree to which team members connect with each other. A cohesive team is more motivated, communicates better, and reports higher levels of satisfaction than less cohesive teams.

An overly cohesive team may be prone to inflexibility or resistance to change. It may also limit team members’ ability to express their own personal thoughts and feelings for fear of upsetting the group dynamic. Too much cohesion can also lead to lack of accountability and decision making.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Team charters:

Ensure good communication

Create positive work cohesion

Should be created in early stages of team formation

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

A charter is a type of document that outlines the purpose of the team, the benefits of the project, the required objectives, and expected timeframe.

Managers are responsible for ensuring that team members have been given clear direction and feel confident enough in their roles in order to achieve the goals of the project described in the charter efficiently and effectively.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Teams perform better when they have good synergy.

More committed to goals

Apply diverse skills and abilities to tasks

Willingness to share information and knowledge

Process gains

Social facilitation

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Team are more likely to perform well when they have good synergy, or the interaction that makes the total amount of work produced by a team greater than the amount of work produced by individual members working independently.

Teams that achieve positive synergy will produce a number of process gains, which are the degree to which certain factors contribute to team effectiveness. Social facilitation, which occurs when individuals perform tasks better in the presence of others, can contribute to group effectiveness.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Bad team synergy can lead to toxic negativity

One member can impact entire team

Process losses

Social loafing

Cyberloafing

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

In contrast, a team without good synergy can lead to process losses, the factors that detract from team effectiveness. Process losses include personality clashes or unproductive conflict; and the inability to focus on certain tasks.

Social loafing, also known as “free riding” which is the reduced effort people exert in a team compared to the amount they supply when working independently.

Cyberloafing is also a process loss, or accessing the internet for personal use while pretending to be working, such as checking Facebook or playing YouTube videos.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Processes and Outcomes

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Types of Teams

Virtual teams

Neck, Organizational Behavior, 2e. © SAGE Publishing, 2020.

LO 7.3 Compare the various types of teams in organizations today

Many global companies now operate in virtual teams. A virtual team is a group of individuals who work together from different geographic locations and rely on communication technology such e-mail, video conferencing, instant messaging, and other electronic media, to collaborate.

Virtual teams save on travel costs--communication and cultural understanding are important to operating a successful virtual team.

Types of Teams

Self-managing:

Grow faster, more productive

Can struggle with internal conflict and trust

Problem-solving:

Cognitively diverse teams are best for this type of team

Cross-functional:

Can be effective in small and large companies

A self-managing team is a group of workers who manage their own daily duties under little to no supervision. Numerous examples show that companies with self-managed teams tend to grow faster, are more productive and profitable, and have a lower turnover of employees. However, research also suggests that self-managing teams often struggle with internal conflict, trust, and accountability issues.

A problem-solving team consists of a small group of workers who come together for a set amount of time to discuss and resolve specific issues.

A cross-functional team is comprised of a group of workers from different units with various areas of expertise to work on certain projects.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Context and Composition

LO 7.4 Apply the model of team effectiveness to evaluate team performance

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Context and Composition

Team contextual influences:

Team resources

Task characteristics

Organizational systems and structures

There are three main contextual influences: team resources, task characteristics, and organizational systems and structures.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Context and Composition

Task characteristics

Interdependence has three levels:

Pooled

Sequential

Reciprocal

Interdependence is the extent to which team members rely on each other to complete their work tasks.

There are three levels of interdependence:

Pooled interdependence occurs when each team member produces a piece of work independently of the others.

Sequential interdependence takes place when one team member completes a piece of work and passes it on to the next member for his or her input, as on an assembly line.

Reciprocal interdependence happens when team members work closely together on a piece of work, consulting with each other, providing each other with advice, and exchanging information.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Context and Composition

Team composition depends on:

Size

Skills and abilities

Personalities

Diversity of its members

ASA model

Typically, a team is characterized by four qualities: its size as well as the skills and abilities, personalities, and diversity of its members.

Size: A recent study by management consulting firm Bain shows that decision-making effectiveness is reduced by 10% when more than seven people join a team.

Skills and abilities: It’s the way talent interacts in the context of team processes that brings results.

Personalities: Teams typically need a balance between extraverts and introverts.

Diversity of members: Ensuring diversity on a team can be a challenge. Recall from Chapter 2 that diversity includes surface-level factors such as race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and age, as well as deep-level factors such as personality and beliefs.

A Model of Team Effectiveness: Context and Composition

Psychologist Benjamin Schneider’s attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) model (see Figure 7.8) states that people are functions of three interrelated

dynamic processes: attraction, selection, and attrition, all of which influence organizational culture.

This theory explains why team members who are perceived as sharing similarities are selected as a good “fit,” while those who do not fit in tend to leave the team. However, there must be a balance between diversity and similarity, because too many people behaving in a similar way can stunt growth and have a negative effect on insight and creativity due to the lack of unique viewpoints.

Team Decision-Making

Brainstorming alone

Slow down the creative process

Start drawing

Nominal group technique

Delphi technique

LO 7.5 Identify the advantages and disadvantages of different team decision-making approaches

One approach to team decision-making is the concept of brainstorming, which is generating creative, spontaneous ideas from all members of a group without making any initial criticism or judgment of them. Studies have shown groups who brainstorm together are less productive--try brainstorming alone at first.

Brainstorming alone is a useful way of coming up with new, creative ideas without being influenced by the group. Once everyone brainstorms alone, they can get together to compare and build off of ideas.

Some members want to skip brainstorming in order to reach closure but slowing down the creative process helps ensure enough ideas are generated to find the right solution to the problem.

Drawing is useful because it helps describe ideas that are difficult to explain in words, and also appeals to part of the brain dedicated to visual processing. It is also helpful to include words in sketches or diagrams to aid interpretation.

The nominal group technique is a structured way for team members to generate ideas and identify solutions. Each member is asked the same question in relation to a work issue and requested to write down as many solutions as possible. Answers are read aloud and recorded for discussion. Then the ideas are put to the vote. Useful for bigger groups.

The Delphi technique is a method of decision-making in which information is gathered from a group of respondents within their area of expertise. Questionnaires are sent to a select group of experts, whose responses are collated and reviewed, and then a summary is returned to the group with a follow-up questionnaire. Again, the experts provide their answers. The process continues until the group agrees on a common answer and a decision is reached.

Team Decision-Making

Advantages of team decision-making:

Increased staff engagement

Consensus decisions

Better decisions

Disadvantages of team decision-making:

Time-consuming meetings

Group think

One important factor that can negatively affect team decision making is groupthink, a psychological phenomenon in which people in a cohesive group go along with the group consensus rather than offering their own opinions.