Unit VIII IOP

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Work in the 21st Century

Chapter 13

Teams in Organizations

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Module 13.1:

Types of Teams

• Reasons for increased use of teams: – Work can be performed concurrently rather

than sequentially

– Innovation & creativity promoted

– Enable quick, effective development/delivery of products & services

– Organizations learn & retain learning more effectively

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Groups & Teams: Definitions

• Groups include members who may work together or may just share some resources

• Teams include members whose tasks are interdependent; Work towards a common goal & share responsibility for outcomes

• Groups & Teams have too much in common for any grand distinctions

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Types of Teams

• Quality circles

– Typically involve 6-12 employees who meet

regularly to identify problems/generate ideas

– Positive outcomes in short term but gains

not sustained over time (honeymoon effect)

– They remain popular in Japan, but less so in

United States

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Types of Teams (cont’d)

• Project teams

– Created to solve particular problem

– Disbanded after problem solved or project

completed

– Raise some organizational challenges –

multiple reporting relationships.

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Types of Teams (cont’d)

• Production teams

– Consist of front-line employees who produce a tangible output

– Autonomous work group: Type of production team with control over a variety of functions

• Research findings unclear, more research is necessary

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Virtual Teams

• Composed of widely dispersed members

working together toward a common goal;

linked through technology

• Pose several advantages to organizations

• Trust is a critical concern; Increase via:

– Virtual-collaboration, virtual-socialization, and

virtual-communication behaviors

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A Specialized Team:

Airline Cockpit Crew

• Benefit from an organizational context that

provides:

– Challenging objectives

– Prior training and

education

– A consistent

information system

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A Specialized Team:

Airline Cockpit Crew

• Airline cockpit crews have very real teamwork requirements,

particularly in an emergency

• A spectacular example was the Hudson River landing of US

Airways flight 1549 in January 2009

• The pilot, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, has a

master’s degree in I-O psychology and was professionally

involved in crew resource management research and training.

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Module 13.2: A Model of

Team Effectiveness

• Input-Process-Output Model

– Enables understanding of how teams

perform & how to maximize performance

Figure 13.1

The Input-Process-Output

Model of Team Effectiveness

Source: Adapted from Gladstein (1984)

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Team Inputs

• Organizational context

– Provide necessary

resources

• Team task

– Task to be performed

• Team composition

– Attributes of team

members

– Shared mental models

• Team diversity

– Demographic &

psychological diversity

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Team Outputs

• Team performance

– Often reflected in objective measures

• Team innovation

• Team member well-being

Shared Mental Model

• Organized way for team members to think

about the way a team will work.

• Helps team members understand and predict

the behaviors of their team members.

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Team Diversity

• Demographic diversity

– Differences in observable attributes or demographic

characteristics such as age, gender, and ethnicity

• Psychological diversity

– Differences in underlying attributes such as skills,

abilities, personality characteristics, attitudes, beliefs,

and values; may also include functional, occupational,

and educational backgrounds

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Team Processes

• Norms

– Informal rules of a

team

• Communication &

coordination

– Social loafing

• Cohesion

– Degree of desire to

remain in team

• Decision making

– Groupthink

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Groupthink Processes in Action?

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Module 13.3:

Special Issues in Teams

• Team appraisal & feedback

– Should provide team with information

needed to identify team problems & further

develop team capabilities

– Extent to which team behaviors & outputs

can be measured must be considered

– ProMES

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Team-role theory (Belbin, 1993)

– Effective teams contain a combination of

individuals capable of working in 9 team roles

– Used predominantly in Europe & Australia

• Plant

• Resource investigator

• Coordinator

• Shaper

• Monitor evaluator

• Team-Worker

• Implementer

• Completer

• Specialist

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Team Development

• Changes occur in teams as they develop over time

• 5 stages of development

1. Orientation (forming)

2. Conflict (storming)

3. Structure (norming)

4. Work (performing)

5. Dissolution (adjourning) PhotoLink/Getty Images

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Team Training

• Involves coordinating performance of individuals who work together to achieve a common goal

• 4 Strategies

– Cross-training

– Team coordination training

– Team leader training

– Guided Team Self-Correction Training

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Cultural Issues in Teams

• Applying Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

– Implications for teams

• Individualism vs. collectivism

• Long-term vs. short-term orientation

• Effect of cultural & national

backgrounds of team members

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Teams and Culture

• Team horizon

– Cultural dimension that

affects whether managers &

employees focus on short or

long-term goals

• Teams tend to be well-received

in collectivistic cultures