Chapter 11 Teams Characteristics and Diversity A team consists of two or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task oriented purpose o A special type of group o The interactions among members within teams revolve around a deeper dependence on one another than the interactions within groups o The interactions within teams occur with a specific task related purpose in mind Cognitive and physical abilities needed in a team depending on the nature of Task Types 1 Disjunctive Tasks Group performance is disproportionately dependent on the team s task strongest member You want the person with the best skill set to do the task EX A group quiz One good performer can bring the whole group up 2 Conjunctive Tasks Group performance is disproportionately dependent on the weakest member The weakest link is what determines your success failure EX A musitical trio circus performers One bad performer can bring the whole group down 3 Additive Tasks Where everyone s input is important All group members perform the same job and group performance is a sum of individual performance EX Relay race class average Team diversity is the degree to which members are different from one another in terms of any attribute that might be used by someone as a basis of categorizing people o Value in diversity problem solving approach Makes your team better at problem solving to be diverse Benefit of diversity in teams o Similarity attraction approach Diversity can be counterproductive bc people tend to avoid interacting with others who are unlike them o Surface level diversity Differences such as age sex race ethnicity and physical disabilities that are observable typically unchangeable and easy to measure Someone who is different to you could be b c of a bad first impression Differences that are immediately observable Have a negative impact at first but tend to disappear over as members get to know each other more o Deep level diversity Diversity of attributes that are inferred through observation or experience such as one s values or personality Time increases the negative impacts of these attributes Stages of Team Development 1 Forming Where the group is just coming together Characterized with anxiety and uncertainty Members are cautious of behavior Group members are learning how to act with group members The focus for group members during this stage is to become familiar with each other and their purpose not on work Determine when they will meet how the team with be organized what resources are made available to their group 2 Storming Where conflict and competition is at its greatest Now have a feel of who they are as a group Begin to address important issues to the group Address individual roles and responsibilities Individuals who are leaders start taking control and other passive members stay quiet Issues may still emerge though All members have an increased need for clarification Want to know leadership authorities rules responsibilities evaluation system Must be answered so group can move on to next stage not all groups get past this stage 3 Norming Where group becomes a cohesive unite Team roles have been decided but they are still not working efficiently A sense of community is established and the group remains focused on the group s purpose and goal Leadership is shared and members are willing to adapt to the needs of the group 4 Performing Characterized by a state of interdependence and flexibility The team reaches the performing stage when hard work leads without friction to the achievement of the team s goal This is the peak where have have effectiveness and progress Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together and trusts each other enough to allow independent activity Roles and responsibilities change according to need in an almost seamless way Group identity loyalty and morale are all high and everyone is equally task orientated and people orientated This high degree of comfort means that all the energy of the group can be directed towards the task s in hand 5 Adjourning This is about completion and disengagement both from the tasks and the group members Individuals will be proud of having achieved much and glad to have been part of such an enjoyable group They need to recognize what they ve done and consciously move on Some authors describe stage 5 as Deforming and Mourning recognizing the sense of loss felt by group members Product is handed off to a different group of people Bc everyone has individual personalities you develop cultures Personality Inertia Based on improving Punctuated Equilibrium Groups can repeatedly cycle through the storming and performing stages with revolutionary change taking place during short transitional windows For organizations and groups who understand that disruption conflict and chaos are inevitable in the life of a social system these disruptions represent opportunities for innovation and creativity Outside force creating you to improve Task interdependence the degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for the information materials and resources needed to accomplish work for the team Task interdependence is moderately correlated to team performance How much each team member relies on the other Task interdependence has a weak correlation to team commitment Chapter 12 Teams Processes and Communication Team processes reflects the different types of activities and interactions that occur within teams and contribute to their ultimate end goals o Team characteristics like member diversity task interdependence team size and so forth affect team processes o Team processes in turn have a strong impact on team effectiveness How well they work in a team effects how successful they are Process gain is getting more from the team that you would expect according to the capabilities of its individual members o It is where the outcome of team effort is greater than the sum of the individual team members abilities synergy Process loss is getting less from the team than you would expect based on the capabilities of its individual members There are two causes of process loss 1 Coordination loss 2 Motivational loss is when team members don t work as hard as they normally would bc someone is not pulling their weight It is a loss of motivation that can be measured and can be associated with a fail of a project or task because you can see that people have lost their
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