Chapter 10 Thursday March 26 2015 11 00 AM Why Have Teams Become So Popular Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than traditional departments or other forms of permanent groupings Quickly assemble deploy refocus and disband Differences B w Groups and Teams Word group a group that interacts primarily to share info and make decisions to help each ember perform within his or her area of responsibility They have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort Performance is merely the summation of each group member s individ contribution No positive synergy that could genetare a greater sum of inputs Work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort The individ efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of individ input Management is looking for positive synergy that will allow the org to increase performance Types of Teams Problem Solving Teams a team trying to figure out ways to improve quality efficiency and the work environment They have the authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggestions Self Managed Work Teams groups of employees who perform highly related or interdependent jobs and take on many responsibilities of their former supervisors Tasks planning scheduling work assigning tasks to members making operating decisions taking action on problems working with supplies and customers Fully self managed work teams even select their own members and evaluate each other s performance May not typically manage conflicts well members don t cooperate and power struggles ensue Cross Functional Teams Employees from the same hierarchical level but from different work areas who come together to accomplish a task Allows people from diverse areas within or between orgs to exchange info develop new ideas solve problems and coordinate complex projects It takes time to build trust and teamwork Virtual Teams teams that use computer tech to unite physically dispersed members and achieve a common goal Collaborate online videoconferencing email Org Behavioral Page 1 Collaborate online videoconferencing email Suffer from less social rapport and direct interaction among members May share less info 1 2 3 For virtual teams to be effective management should ensure Trust is established among members Team progress is monitored closely do not lose sight of its goals an no team member disappears The efforts and products of the team are publicized throughout the org team does not become invisible Creating Effective Teams 4 5 6 7 8 9 Context What Factors Determine Whether Teams Are Successful Adequate resources Every work team relies on resources outside the grop to sustain the org This support includes timely info proper equipment adequate staffing encouragement and administrative assistance Leadership and Structure Agreeing on the specifics of work and how they fit together to integrate individ skills requires leadership and structure Multiteam systems important in leadership Different teams coordinate their efforts to produce a desired outcome Leaders must empower teams by delegating responsibility to them Climate of trust Members of effective teams trust each other they also trust their leaders Interpersonal trust among team members reduces stress Performance Evaluation and Reward Systems Management should modify the traditional reward system Focus on hybrid systems and recognize individ members for their exceptional contributions Reward the entire group for positive outcomes Team Composition Abilities of Members Team s performance depends on knowledge skills and abilities of its individ members High ability teams are more adaptable to changing situations Ability of the team s leader matters Personality of members Org Behavioral Page 2 9 10 Personality of members Teams that rate higher on mean levels of conscientiousness and openness to experience tend to perform better Minimum level of team member agreeableness matters Open team members communicate better with one another and throw out more ideas Conscientious people are good at backing up other team members Good at sensing when their support is truly needed Allocation of Roles Teams with more experienced and skilled members performed better Managers should understand the individ strengths each person can bring to a team 11 12 13 14 Diversity of Members Organizational demography The degree to which members of a work unit group team or department share a common demographic attribute such as age sex race educational level or length of service in the org Org demography suggests age or date of joining can help predict turnover Cultural diversity may be an asset for tasks that call for a variety of viewpoints HOWEVER cultural diversity can have more difficulty learning to work with each other and solving problems Diversity in function edu and expertise are positively related to group performance but these effects are quite small and depend on the situation Size of Teams Small teams are key to improving group effectiveness 5 9 members Excess members cohesiveness and mutual accountability decline social loafing increases and more communicate less Member Preferences High performing teams are likely to be composed of people who prefer working as part of a group Team Processes Common Plan and Purpose Effective teams create strategies for achieving the goals Teams that consistently perform better have established a clear sense of what needs to be done and how Successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into discussing shaping and agreeing on a Org Behavioral Page 3 15 16 17 18 19 Successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into discussing shaping and agreeing on a purpose that belongs to them both collectively and individually Reflexivity teams who reflect on and adjust their master plan when necessary Some evidence suggest that teams high in reflexivity are better able to adapt to conflicting plans and goals among team members Specific Goals Specific goals facilitate clear communication They help teams maintain their focus on getting results Teams goals should be challenging Team efficacy effective teams that have confidence in themselves and believe they can succeed The greater the abilities the team develops confidence and the ability to deliver on that confidence Mental models organized mental representations of the key elements within a team s environment that team members share If team members have different ideas about how to do