Groups and TeamsMore and More TeamsKinds of TeamsTeam EffectivenessTeams Develop Over Time Team ChallengesTeam Performance CurveTeam Performance VideoGroup CohesivenessRoles In GroupsX-Teams’ Expandable TiersGroups and Teams15.301 Managerial PsychologyJohn S. CarrollMore and More Teams• Last year, how many teams were you on?• Business is increasingly team-based as departments and hierarchies yield to projects and networks. Flexibility requires expertise where the work is done.• We live our lives in groups: family, MIT living group, class, club, sports team, committee, project team,…• Teams leverage varied expertise, motivate performance, offer learning opportunities, give emotional support...Kinds of Teams• Your project team is a temporary formal work group• Groups can be temporary or permanent, formal (created by an organization) or informal (created by individuals to fulfill their needs), focused on work, socializing, personal growth, etc.Team Effectiveness• How many of you were on a team that did really well? Do you know why?• Any teams that messed up? In terms of:– Performance goals (quality, quantity, timeliness, efficiency, innovation)– Member satisfaction (meet individual needs, maintain trust)– Team learning (skills, perspectives, behaviors)– Customer satisfaction (external stakeholders)Figure by MIT OCW.TimeFormingStormingNorming Performing?ProductivityHappinessWorkloadTeams Develop Over TimeTeam Challenges• Changes such as starting up, adding a new person, or beginning a project challenge a team to grow • We can simplify team development into stages or challenges that may be experienced many times • Forming: Who are we? Who leads? Who cares?• Storming: We are different. We disagree.• Norming: We set goals, assign tasks, develop routines, manage conflict, hold each other accountable• Performing: We coordinate, trust each other, care• Renewing/Disbanding: We learn, revisit our goals, thank each other, say goodbyeTeam Performance Curveperformanceteam effectivenessworking groupteamhigh-performing teamTeam Performance Video• Working Group– Only common purpose is to complete a task– Focus on individual performance– Incremental results•Team– Complementary skills, division of labor– Commitment to team purpose & performance– Mutual accountability– Able to overcome barriers– Higher performance• High Performance Team– And members committed to each other’s personal growthKatzenbach & Smith The Wisdom of TeamsEverything In Groups?• Research shows group brainstorming produces fewer ideas than nominal group (individual) brainstorming• Yet people persist in believing in group benefits21264810#unique ideastraditionalelectronic(Gallupe & Cooper, Sloan Mgmt Rev, 1993)Process Losses• Cost in time for meetings• Coordination losses depend on taskbaseball: success is 90% member skillbasketball: success is 35% skill• Motivation lossesdiffusion of responsibility/social loafing• Political struggles, influence processeswho gets air time, power, rewards? hierarchy, majority vs. minority influenceSocial Loafing• depends on identifiability of contributionssoundpressure1234alwaysidentifiableneveridentifiablereal group# on teamNorm Formation• Groups form norms (expected and typical behaviors), e.g., who will sit where, who talks a lot, how do we divide up work, how is conflict handled, who leads, how are emotions expressed• Sherif found that groups converged on a group norm for the autokinetic effect• Group norms could be influenced by an extreme confederate• Individuals could be replaced over generations but the norm remainedIt moved about3.5 inchesPERSON APERSON BPERSON CConvergenceAveragedistanceestimatesAlone GroupSession 1GroupSession 2GroupSession 3Figure by MIT OCW.Group Cohesiveness• Cohesiveness is attraction to the group• Similarity/identity, proximity, success, few alternative sources of reward, shared threat lead to more cohesiveness• Cohesiveness can be good, but it can lead to conflict avoidance, poor results, defensiveness toward outsiders, GroupThink (more next time)Roles In Groups• Newcomer, task coordinator, facilitator, emotion manager, scout, ambassador• Leadership can be distributed• Fuzzy boundaries: Mortensen (2004) found groups think they know who is in the group but disagree• Ancona et al find more X-Teams where people are differentially “core” to the teamX-Teams’ Expandable TiersCore member tierOperational tierOuter net tierCore: carry team identity, create strategy and make key decisionsOperational: do ongoing work, focus on specific tasks and decisionsOuter-net: specialized expertise for separable tasks, join and leaveBacon & eggs breakfast: pig is committed; chicken is involved; the cow is a providerAncona et al, MIT Sloan Mgmt Rev