MGMT 3000 1st Edition Lecture 20 Outline of Last Lecture I Chain of command II Authority III Job specialization IV Organization Process Outline of Current lecture I Teams II Types of teams III Work team characteristics IV Stages of team development V Enhancing team effectiveness VSCurrent Lecture Teams Work teams consist of a small number of people with complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for pursuing a common purpose achieving performance goals and improving independent work processes People who work on separate projects in the same department are not considered a team More important in many industries because help organizations respond to specific problems and challenges Advantages of teams Teams improve customer satisfaction Teams help firms improve product and service quality Can Increase speed and efficiency when designing and manufacturing products Teamwork leads to increased job satisfaction o Cross training training team members to do all or most of the jobs performed by other team members Teamwork shares the advantages of group Decision making Disadvantages of teams These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Initially high turnover Many people are not comfortable with team work Social loafing occurs when workers withhold their efforts and fail to perform their share of the work Groupthink members of cohesive groups feel pressure not to disagree with each other When to use teams Use teams when Clear and engaging reason or purpose Job can t be done unless people work together Rewards can be provided for teamwork Ample resources are available Teams will have clear authority to manage and change how work gets done Don t use teams when No clear purpose Job can be done by people working independently Rewards are provided for individual effort and performance Resources are not available Management continues to monitor and influence how work gets done Types of teams Autonomy is the degree to which workers have the discretion freedom and independence to decide how and when to accomplish their jobs Traditional work groups have smallest amount of autonomy 2 or more people work together to achieve a shared goal o Report to managers Employee involvement teams have somewhat more autonomy meet on company time on a weekly or monthly basis to provide advice or to make suggestions to management concerning specific issues o Ex Plant safety customer relations o Voluntary membership Semiautonomous work groups Provide advice and suggestions to management but also have authority to make decisions and solve problems related to major tasks required to produce a product or service o Trained in different sills and tasks o Managers still have a role Self managing teams differ from semiautonomous work groups in that team members manage and control all of major tasks directly related to production of a product or service without first getting approval from management Self designing teams are like self managing teams but can also control and change the design of teams themselves Cross functional teams are composed of employees from different functional areas of the organization Virtual teams are groups of geographically and or organizationally dispersed workers who use technology to accomplish an organizational task o Rarely meat face to face use email Skype etc o Flexible and efficient o Team members need to learn to express themselves in new contexts Project teams are created to complete specific one time projects or tasks with limited time o Develop new products improve products or build new offices o Led by project manager o Drawing employees form different functional areas reduces communication barriers o Flexible Work team characteristics Team norms informally agreed on standards that regulate team behavior o Let team members know what is expected of them o If group has negative norms then they perform negative behaviors Team cohesiveness extent to which team members are attracted to a team and motivated to remain in it Cohesive groups experience lower turnover Cohesive teams achieve high levels of performance In order to promote cohesiveness o Make sure all team members are present at team meetings o Create additional opportunities for team mates to work together o Engage in non work activities as a team o Companies build team cohesiveness by making employees feel that they are part of an organization Team size Very small or very large teams may not perform as well as moderately size teams Ideal size is between 6 and 9 members o Small enough for members to get to know each other and large enough to take advantage of diverse skills If teams are too large members find it hard to get to know one another and may split into small groups o Can also face minority domination small group dominates the team o May not have time for all member to present input o Also face logistical issues If team is to small o Lack diversity of skills and knowledge o Unlikely to gain advantages of team decision making such as in large teams Team conflict Conflict is inevitable in teams Primary cause of team conflict is disagreement over team goals and priorities C type or Cognitive conflict focuses on problem related difference of opinion o Leads to improvements in performance of team A type of Affective conflict refer to emotional reactions that can occur when disagreements become personal rather than professional o BAD Stages of team development 1 Forming initial stage getting acquainted with team members a Form initial impressions b Get a sense of what it will be like to be part of the team 2 Storming conflicts and disagreements occur a Team members work together different personalities and work styles clash b Disagree on what to do and how to do it 3 Norming team members begin to settle into their roles group cohesion grows and positive team norms develop 4 Performing performance improves because team has finally matured into an effective functioning team a Team members become loyal to one another b Teams get a lot of work done If management is not effective then performance may begin to decline by going through these stages 1 De norming team performance begins to decline as size scope goals or members of the team change 2 De storming team comfort level decreases a Team cohesion weakens as members resist conforming to norms and quit participating in activities 3 De forming team