management
Rock1027
Teams.pptMGT 551
Leading Effective Teams
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Terms and Definitions
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Team
A collection of people with complementary skills who work together to accomplish shared goals while holding each other mutually accountable for performance results.
This is but one definition of a team, but I like it and so we will begin our discussion of teams by breaking down this definition with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of teams and their value to the workplace environment.
The first aspect of the definition is the term ‘Collection’. This signifies more than there must be multiple people in a team. It signifies that the people have to have some connection to each other and why they are in this team. A team is not just a random group of people clustered in the same place, it shares a multitude of characteristics.
The next aspect is the concept of these people having ‘Complementary skills’. This is necessary for the success of the team, because if everyone shared the same skill set, the team might lose out on optimizing its task. Also, people being good at a variety of skills can allow the team to divide and conquer tasks and use those skills to keep the team on point, and produce better work. In addition, by individuals having complementary skills, each member can feel they bring something unique to the success of the team.
Working together is an important team aspect. Team members must ‘check their egos’ and work in concert to produce synergy – an outcome better than individuals working alone or separately.
Shared goals are also important because the team must understand and agree to its goals and work toward them first, not their own self-serving goals.
Each team member must be ‘mutually accountable’ to the others in that each member holds up their end of the bargain and expects the same of others. There should be meetings and reports to keep everyone individually, as well as the overall team and its progress, on track.
Finally, Performance results are certainly important because the team must achieve the goals for which it has been created or some adjustment might need to be made in order for the team to accomplish its goals. For example, if a team is charged with creating a new model of automobile and they struggle to do so, some team members may have to be added, removed or reassigned, or some other adjustment might have to be made in order to help the team achieve what it has been charged to do.
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Why teams are good for organizations
- Teams are good for people
- Teams can improve creativity
- Teams can make better decisions
- Teams can increase commitments to action
- Teams help control their members
- Teams help offset large organization size
The nature of teams in organizations
Synergy
Results of a team effort can create results far beyond the sum of individual efforts
As we see from this definition, synergy is a the result of a team effort is greater than the sum of the efforts of the individuals on the team.
We often see this on sports teams, when a team roster looks only mediocre, but the team members are able to achieve results much better than believed. The concept of synergy is akin to ‘team excellence’.
In the coming slides we will look at some of the aspects that are necessary for a team to be set up to achieve synergy.
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Types of Teams
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Types of Teams
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How Teams and Their Members Function
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Social facilitation
- The tendency for a person’s behavior to be influenced by the presence of others
Social facilitation theory
- indicates that working in the presence of others creates an emotional arousal or excitement that stimulates behavior and therefore affects performance
How Teams Function
Positive
- Can get member excited to perform at higher levels than they do in their permanent jobs.
Negative
- Can cause members to become “social loafers” or lead to “Groupthink”
Social Facilitation
Social loafing
- The tendency of people to work less hard in a group than they would individually.
- Reasons for social loafing
- Individual contributions are less noticeable in the group context
- Some prefer to see others carry the workload
Social Facilitation
Ways of preventing social loafing
- Define roles and tasks to maximize individual interests
- Raise accountability by making individuals’ performance expectations clear and identifiable
- Tie individual rewards to performance contributions to the group
Social Facilitation
Team Decisions
Consensus – After thorough discussion most team members favor one decision and
other members agree to support
the decision.
Groupthink – Tendency of members of
highly cohesive teams to lose their
critical evaluative capabilities and make
poor decisions
While teams and team members would like to have unanimous agreement on all decisions related to their work, the truth is that people see things differently and that means that some individuals will have to go along and get along. High performance teams accept that they will agree with some decisions and disagree with others. The ability to disagree with a decision and still support the decision and the team is called consensus. It is important that teams experience some level of consensus from its team members in order to get things done and work towards synergy.
Groupthink is a potential pitfall of teams where the members agree on too many aspects without considering counter viewpoints or pushing the team toward its best performance. This can happen as team members become very comfortable with one another, so much so that they stop critically evaluating others and their work, ideas and such. This is potentially dangerous to a team’s quest for excellence.
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- Direct social pressure against divergent views
- Self-censorship of concerns
- Illusion of invulnerability to failure
- Illusion of unanimity
Groupthink
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- Encouragement of divergent views
- Open expression of concern / ideas
- Awareness of limitations / threats
- Recognition of members uniqueness
- Recognition of views outside the group
- Discussion of collective doubts
“Teamthink”
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Ways to avoid groupthink
- Have the leader avoid seeming partial to one course of action
- Create subgroups that each work on the same problem
- Have group members discuss issues with outsiders and report back
- Invite outside experts to observe and react to group processes
- Assign someone to be a “devil’s advocate” at each meeting
Groupthink vs. Teamthink
Team Members and
Their Roles
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Team Member Roles
Task Driver
Practicality Pusher
Creative Visionary
Process Facilitator
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While this information does not explicitly exist in the text, it is still important information for you to consider when working in your next team. Team members tend to naturally take on roles that fit their personalities and should contribute to the team achieving its goals.
Here, we will focus on 4 roles that members can play within a team and how they relate to task and maintenance contributions. A leader may attempt to assign these roles, but it is better if they are natural to the group member’s traits.
The Task Driver is a results-oriented member. This individual keeps the team focused on the ultimate completion of the team’s goal. This person is constantly making sure the team is focused on what tasks it needs to get done, when it needs to get tasks done and who is accountable for getting tasks done. This person may become easily frustrated if they feel that the group is being too social at the expense of getting its tasks done well and in a timely manner. This person may be the most ‘Type A’ in the team. They may be elected ‘leader’ by the team or be appointed leader by whomever created the team, or if the team decides it does not need a formal leader, will play the role of pseudo-leader in always making sure the team knows why it has been assembled and is moving toward that end result.
As we can see from the model, the Process Facilitator plays a role opposite that of the Task Driver. The individual in this role keeps tabs on interpersonal dynamics, focuses on working relationships, and may manage misunderstandings in the team. While the Task Driver moves the team forward, the Process Facilitator makes sure that this is not done at the expense of the cohesion of the team or the feelings of belonging and satisfaction of its members.
For example, the Task Driver may seek a quick solution and push the team to make decisions before everyone on the team has had at least some input. The Process Facilitator would be the one to gatekeep and make sure that people are at least offered the opportunity to contribute and that members are feeling ok about the team, its goals and processes.
The Creative Visionary is the individual on the team who is always risk taking, considering opposite ideas, relying on uncertainty, and looking for multiple possibilities. This is the person who is constantly asking the question, ‘what if’ and brainstorming ideas that may seem everything from difficult to achieve to far-fetched. This individual can become aggravating because they may always be looking for new ‘out there’ ideas, but it is important not to squelch their ideas because they can lead to better solutions, ones that the team had previously not considered or discounted.
As we can see from the model, the Practicality Pusher plays a role opposite of the Creative Visionary. This is the individual on the team who looks at the practical feasibility of achieving team goals through the ways the Creative Visionary has explored. This individual is practical and works in concert with the Task Driver to keep the team moving forward and not get mired in ideas that are unfeasible that might be getting pushed by the Creative Visionary.
Teams should look to strike a balance between being task oriented and maintenance oriented when it comes to team process, and being creative and practical when it comes to solutions.
Team Member Contributions
There are 2 general contributions an individual may focus on within the team. These are task contributions and maintenance contributions. We will discuss these in detail in this slide. For example, training supports task activities and team building supports maintenance activities.
Task contributions go directly to the team’s purpose. They include activities like being focused on deadlines, brainstorming ideas, strategizing how work will get done, coordinating information and such. Anything that moves the team forward directly toward why the team was brought together is considered a task contribution.
Maintenance contributions support the emotional aspects of the team as a social system. They include activities like resolving conflict, listening to others, and offering support. One important maintenance contribution is gatekeeping, where individuals encourage others to participate in the team’s activities, so all can get involved for the good of the team, its feeling and its charge.
The concept of Distributed Leadership is when all members are responsible for recognizing when task or maintenance activities are necessary. For example, everyone making sure to curtail disruptive behaviors that can cause problems for the team, including excessive joking, aggressiveness and / or non-participation.
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Team Formation
and Development
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Team Development Stages
We already discussed the Forming stage, where the team is assembled and members come together.
In the Storming stage, team members will conflict over tasks and what should get done, how things will get done, and personalities will clash. Task ambiguities will also get clarified in this stage, causing some members to feel, ‘this is not what I signed up for’ and leave the team.
In the Norming stage, cooperation is the name of the game. In this stage, members reach agreement over tasks and processes, and interpersonal conflict gives way to balancing personal agendas and team goals and members tend to support versus challenge.
In the Performing stage, team members work diligently toward accomplishing team goals. Teamwork is high and members get along well.
In the Adjourning stage, those teams that are temporary will disband. However, not all teams adjourn. In the case of project teams, a good team may pick up another project. There are also committees whose work continues in quarterly cycles and members continue to serve on the committee cycle after cycle.
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Forming: Honeymoon stage, testing waters, superficial
Management style: directive
Storming: Conflict and resistance to team structure, tasks
Still feeling as individuals not as team
Management style: Directive and Supportive
Norming: Group cohesion develops, norms are developed for resolving conflicts, making decisions, completing assignments, members accept the team
Management style: More supportive, less directive
Performing: Payoff stage: Relationships, structure, purpose, and goals attained
Management style: Supportive, let them go
Team Stages
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Forming stage
- Initial entry of members to a group
- Member challenges
- Getting to know each other
- Discovering what is considered acceptable behavior
- Determining the group’s real task
- Defining group rules
Team Stages
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Storming stage
- A period of high emotionality and tension among group members
- Member challenges
- Hostility and infighting
- Formation of coalitions and cliques
- Clarification of members’ expectations
Team Stages
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Norming stage
- Sometimes called initial integration
- The point at which the group really begins to come together as a coordinated unit
Team Stages
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- Evaluating team effectiveness
- Purpose
- Performance measures
- People
- Process
- Meetings
- Practice
- Leadership
- Team transitions
Group Norms
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Performing stage
- Marks the emergence of a mature, organized, and well-functioning group
- Structure is stable
- Members are motivated by group goals
Team Stages
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Team Process and Decision Making
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Steps In The Decision Making Process
If you subscribe to a systematic decision making approach, it is important to have steps that you can follow each time you have a decision, whether it is programmed or non-programmed.
These are steps that, if followed, can help a manager make a decision, avoid ethical issues and get results. We will discuss each in detail.
Think, when did you use this formal system (or some form of it) in your life? We will discuss this class.
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Decision by lack of response
- One idea after another is suggested without any discussion-taking place
Decision by authority rule
- The chairperson, manager, or leader makes a decision for the group
Decision by minority rule
- A few people are able to dominate the group into making a decision to which they agree
Team Decision Process
Decision by majority rule
- Formal voting may take place, or members may be polled to find the majority viewpoint
Decision by consensus
- Discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most members and the other members agree to support it
Decision by unanimity
- All group members agree totally on the course of action to be taken
Team Decision Process
Model for Effective Teams
Teams require a variety of factors in order to be successful. There are inputs that are necessary to set the team up for success. There are processes that must be well-handled. And there are ways teams use to measure their success. We will discuss all of this in detail.
With regards to inputs, these are what must be considered when assembling a team in order for the team to be set up for success. Inputs include the organizational setting, the nature of the task, the team size, and the characteristics of its members. The Organizational Setting includes what resources the team needs, what technology it needs, a structure that works for the team and its members, rewards for the team and information the team needs to make decisions.
Every team needs some Resources in order to get their tasks completed and meet their goals. As we have discussed, resources can include the right time schedule to accomplish their goals, some money in order to purchase elements needed, and the right people to get the team’s goals accomplished. For this example, we can also include technology here and even the right space for the team to work. This is why some teams that are assembled to create a new product are actually given space to work away from the organization in order to be free of the organization’s culture that might inhibit their creativity.
Teams need Structures in order to get their tasks done. Some teams choose to elect or appoint a team chairperson, while others choose to make decisions in a democratic style. Other teams may choose to form sub-teams in order to maximize skills and efficiency. Whatever the structure the team chooses, as long as it is inclusive to its members and accomplishes its goals, it is effective.
Individuals need Rewards and teams need rewards. The rewards a team and its members need must not be relegated to when the team finishes its tasks and accomplishes its goals. There must be rewards along the way. Can you imagine being on a team for an auto manufacturer whose task it is to create a new concept car? That might take 2 years. What if your rewards for the good work along the way were not rewarded until the team was finished? That is a long time to wait for a reward. So, the team must be rewarded or reward itself and its members along the way for its ‘small victories’ on the road to success. Also, the members must have some idea of the rewards will be (as we discussed with regard to instrumentality and motivation) and must find the rewards of value to them (as we discussed with regard to valence and motivation).
Individuals and teams need Information as well. The information a team might need could include company information, task information, market information, and confidential information. When I was on a committee at a previous job I worked in human resources and had access to employee information that was valuable for us to make decisions.
The nature of the Task is important for teams as well. Clarity is especially important for team success. If the task is too ambiguous, members may struggle to get started. This may cause paralysis for fear of making mistakes, or it may cause fights about what strategy to use. Also, the team could begin their work going in the wrong direction, thus wasting valuable time in having to start over. Therefore, if you are assembling a team, make sure to clarify to every member before they accept the offer to join what it is that the team is expected to accomplish and by when and why they have been chosen for the committee. Task Complexity is also an issue for teams. If the task is seen as too easy, members might not take it seriously or devote the necessary time and attention to it. Thus, work might not be as good or solutions not as optimal. If the team members see the task as too hard, their expectancy might reduce, and they may give up easily.
Team Size is something that must be taken into consideration when assembling a team. Too many members and the team might have trouble coordinating meetings, schedules and such. Too few and the team might lack skills or people to get the job done.
Finally, Members and their characteristics are important to team success. With regard to Abilities, members should have complementary skills as we have previously discussed. Team member Values must coincide with that of the organization, otherwise, members might sabotage team or steer them in the wrong direction if they get frustrated. Personalities among team members are important in that members must be able to ‘get along’ enough to get the job done. And finally, member Diversity is important because members from a variety of backgrounds can provide unique insights to the team.
Team Process is important with regard to the throughputs for the team in the way it gets its tasks done toward its goals. These must be addressed in forming and storming stages of team development.
Team Communication is important with regard to how members will communicate (email, meetings, conference calls), how often the team will communicate (daily, weekly, as needed) and the setting of meeting standards with regards to being on time, work expectations and such.
Teams also need to come to consensus on Decision making strategies. Will it be done by the team leader unilaterally? Must it be unanimous? Will votes be taken to check for majority rule? How decisions will be made is an important aspect of team success and must be decided upon early in team development.
Agreement on how the team operates is a central aspect of team Norms. Members must know what is expected of them and what behavior is considered acceptable versus unacceptable in order to know if the team is the right for them and vice versa.
Finally, members must balance between Cohesion and Conflict in the team. Too much conflict and the team may struggle to achieve its goals. Too much cohesion and good ideas might not get revealed because members may not want to ‘rock the boat’ when their idea might offer the best solution.
With regard to outputs, Team Effectiveness is critical. Any team can not do a good job. It is important that teams and their members understand how to being all the inputs and throughputs together for a successful output. There are 3 main outcomes a team should strive for, task performance, member satisfaction and team viability. Task performance is obvious. Did the team accomplish what it was created to do? Yes or no and why? If yes, well done. If no, what happened? Was it an issue of inputs being not right or enough, the wrong team members, or a task issue? Member satisfaction is important because if the team accomplished its goals, but members walked away feeling unappreciated, unvalued or disrespected, then something went wrong. Was it members who didn’t ‘fit’ together personality-wise? How did members feel about their work? The team’s work? The team’s culture? These are the questions that need answers with regard to member satisfaction. This coincides with Team viability, which is whether the team should continue or disband and why? Do they want to continue? Is the team temporary or continuing? The answers to these questions address the team’s viability.
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Effective Teams
Membership composition
- Mix of abilities, skills, backgrounds and experiences of the members
Diverse teams
- Generally more effective
Homogenous teams
- May be easier to manage
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The tendency for increasing diversity among group members to make it harder for group members to work together, even though the diversity itself expands the skills and perspectives available for problem solving.
Diversity – Consensus Dilemma
Inputs that affect team performance
- Team size
- Nature of the task
- Organizational setting
Team process
- The way members
work together
Effective Teams
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Role ambiguity
- occurs when a person is uncertain about his or her role
Role conflict
- occurs when a person is unable to meet the expectations of others
Cohesiveness
- the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain a part of the team
Conflict vs. Cohesiveness
Team Communication
Team performance is affected by use of communication networks. As we discussed in the previous slide, the communication processes for a team are important for the team’s success. It is less important which of the 3 displayed communication patterns the team uses, as it is that members agree to the process. Their buy-in will set the team up for success.
The Interacting Group is an example of a Decentralized communication network. In this system, all members communicate directly with each other. For tasks that require much creativity, problem solving and communication, this is an optimal system. Members in this system are interdependent in that they work together throughout the process.
The Coacting Group is an example of a Centralized communication network. This system requires members to communicate through a central hub or center point, usually the team leader. In this system, individuals work independently, then communicate to the hub member, who then disseminates information to all other team members. When a job is a collection of simple tasks, a team can be assembled with specialists who work independently, and the hub member can collect all the work and create the finished product.
The counteracting Group is an example of a Restricted communication network. In this system, the team and its members may break into sub-teams because of issue-specific conflicts. As the text states, there are some times when this may occur to the benefit of the team and its creative process, but it can be a risky, because if conflict increases too much, and these sub-teams fail to communicate well, members may become antagonistic and restrict communication. Restricted communication may be the cause or result of an “out-group”.
Decision making is selecting a course of action. As we briefly discussed, teams must decide how they will make decisions. This can include unilateral (where the leader makes the decision alone), consultative (where input is collected but the leader decides), team (where the team decides together – often unanimously), and majority rule (51% say ok, then ok). One way that has proven effective is Consensus, where, after thorough discussion most team members favor one decision and other members agree to support the decision. Consensus requires a great deal of cooperation and trust. Members must believe that their fellow members and their perspectives are to the team’s benefit for them to support a decision that they may not be in full agreement with.
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Effective teams achieve high levels of:
Task performance
- Members attain performance goals regarding quantity, quality, and timeliness of work results
Members satisfaction
Members believe that their participation and experiences are positive and meet important personal needs
Team viability
Members are sufficiently satisfied to continue working together on an ongoing basis
Effective Teams
How to Analyze a Team and its Process
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- Participation
- Influence
- Group climate
- Membership
- Feelings
Refer to the article Note on Process Observation by Gabarro and Harlan and the Team Behavior Aspects reference for details into these traits
Team Behavior Aspects
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