UGBA105: Organizational BehaviorClass agenda: Teams and Teamwork in OrganizationsWhat is a team?Slide 4Read your way to a better team!What kinds of teams exist in organizations?The myth of the executive teamAn entrepreneurial teamA product development team in a mature corporationWhat is good about teams?Are teams or individuals better at decision-making?What are the downsides to teamwork?The problem of groupthinkSlide 14A Contemporary ExampleThe value of diversity and dissent (Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)Are teams always better?Teams were a bad fit for Levi’sBut teams are key to Southwest Air’s fast turnaroundsDesigning effective teamsHow are teams structured? Like this?Or like this?Slide 23Cultural patterns of functional teamsCultural patterns of dysfunctional teamsSlide 26Training for teamworkOutward Bound and similar team-building programs may helpLeadership in teamsSlide 31Leadership - followership roles rotate in mature teamsLeadership behaviors: Instrumental (task-oriented)Leadership behaviors: Maintenance (socio-emotional)How dysfunctional leaders ariseMore dysfunctional rolesLeading a dysfunctional teamKey points to rememberTuesdayUGBA105: Organizational BehaviorWeek 3: Managing Teams2Class agenda: Teams and Teamwork in Organizations– Defining and describing teams in organizations– The goods and bads of teams and the problem of “fit”– Steps in team design–Excerpts from “12 Angry Men”– Leadership in teams3What is a team?“A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”Katzenbach and Smith: “The Discipline of Teams”4Top ManagementTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsTeamTeamProcessCoordinatorsNew product development processOrder fulfillment processProcurement, logistics processThe team concept is central to the design of the modern horizontal organization5Read your way to a better team!6What kinds of teams exist in organizations?•Executive and entrepreneurial teams•Off-line problem-solving teams–Task forces–Quality circles; safety; productivity•On-line production teams–E.g., NUMMI, Saturn•Cross-functional (and cross-product) process teams–Product development•Boundary-spanning (Chrysler)–Strategic planning–Customer service (e.g., Xerox)7The myth of the executive team8An entrepreneurial team9A product development team in a mature corporation10What is good about teams? •Greater flexibility•Greater motivation •Less resistance to change •Empowered people•Improved coordination & cooperation •Improved accountability & responsibility•Superior decision-making11Are teams or individuals better at decision-making? •Teams make more accurate decisions•Teams bring together greater diversity of skills, knowledge, points of view•Teams (diverse ones) are more creative•Greater acceptance of decisions by team members12What are the downsides to teamwork?•Slowness, inefficiency•Coordination costs •Increased uncertainty and risk •Accountability problems •Politics, conflict, stalemate•Groupthink13The problem of groupthinkDefinition: When members fail to disagree, to bring up doubts and fears, or to bring up information that contradicts the team’s decision. Suddenly, they are going in a direction that makes no one happy simply because no one wants to cause conflict.Components:–Illusion of invulnerability–Rationalizations collectively devised to discount negative feedback–Unquestioning belief by members in team’s inherent morality and stereotyped negative views of external detractors–Direct pressure on any individual who expresses doubts about the team’s shared illusions or questions validity of the majority view–Reluctance to deviate from what appears to be team consensus despite misgivings, and tendency to minimize personal doubts–Escalation of commitment1415A Contemporary ExampleOn February 7, 1999, the audit committee of Enron Corporation’s board of directors gathered in London to hear rather startling news. The company’s auditors described Enron’s accounting practices as “high risks.” David B. Duncan, who headed up the Arthur Anderson L.L.P. team at the company, informed the committee that Enron’s accounting was “pushing the limits” and was “’at the edge’ of acceptable practice”. However, none of the directors “objected to the procedures described by the auditors, requested a second opinion, or demanded a more prudent approach.”--John A. Byrne (Feb 2002) Business Week16The value of diversity and dissent (Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)•Exposure to minority viewpoints, even when they’re wrong, stimulates divergent thought and a search for information –Leads to better performance and decision-making, more creativity. –Downsides are: conflict, low morale, persecution of minorities•How about role playing at dissent: The devil’s advocate? –Doesn’t work. Need an authentic minority. Devil’s advocates can reinforce the convictions of the group. We profit from people with whom we disagree. But we don’t give them credit – we get angry.17Are teams always better? Achieving “fit” to: –People–Culture–Management–Tasks and technology–Formal structure–Formal systems18Teams were a bad fit for Levi’s19But teams are key to Southwest Air’s fast turnarounds20Designing effective teamsThe set-up•Size •GoalsThe resources•Authority/empowerment•Material resources•InformationThe structure•Roles and skills•Demographics •IncentivesThe culture•Values and norms •Training21Market-ingMarket-ingEngineeringEngineeringManu-facturingManu-facturingHuman ResourcesHuman ResourcesManage-mentManage-mentHow are teams structured? Like this? Account-ingAccount-ing22Or like this? Market-ingMarket-ingHuman resourcesHuman resourcesEngin-eeringEngin-eeringAccount-ingAccount-ingManu-facturingManu-facturing23Roles that every team should have:Facilitator: Moderator of group process. Makes sure the group stays on target and points out issues that may derail the group. Not the decision maker (the group is), so does not have final say on any decision.Timekeeper: In charge of making sure the group stays on track (e.g., you don’t stay up until 4:00am working on a marketing project).Recorder: In charge of taking notes. Effectively, the “group memory”,