I. Why Have Teams Become so Popular a.

Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than are traditional departments or other forms of permanent grouping b. Teams can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, disband c. Facilitate employee participation in operating decisions; management can democratize organizations and increase employee motivation II. Differences between GROUPS and TEAMS a. Work Group group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decision to help each member perform within his/her area of responsibility i. ii. iii. Performance is merely the summation of each group members individual contribution Have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort Goals: share info; Synergy: neutral, sometimes negative; Accountability: Individual: Skills: random and varied

b. Work Team generates positive synergy through coordinated effect i.

ii.

Individual efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of individual inputs Allows organizations the potential to generate greater outputs with no increase in inputs Goals: collective performance; Synergy: positive; accountability: Individual and mutual; Skills: complementary

iii.

III. Types of Teams problem solving, self-managed, cross functional, virtual a. Problem Solving Teams i. Problem Solving Teams 5 to 12 hourly employees who share ideas or offer suggestion on how work processes and methods can be improved; rarely have the authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions. 1. Employees only make recommendations b. Self Managed Work Teams

i.

Self Managed Work Teams groups of employees (10-15) who perform highly related or interdependent jobs and take on many of the responsibilities of their former supervisors 1. Involve planning, scheduling, assigning tasks to members, making operating decisions, taking action on problems and working with suppliers and customers 2. Fully self managed team select own members and have members evaluate each others performance 3. Supervisory position have decreased importance and may be eliminated 4. Problems: though they report higher job satisfaction, absenteeism and turnover rates are increased; effectiveness depends on strength and makeup of the team norms, the type of task and the reward structure

c. Cross Functional Teams i. Cross Functional Teams teams made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task 1. Allows those from diverse areas to exchange info, develop new ideas and solve problems and coordinate complex projects 2. Early stage of development is time consuming, must learn to work with diversity and complexity, takes time to build trust and teamwork
d. Virtual Teams use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed

members in order to achieve a common goal 1. Problems: less social rapport and less direct interaction among members; arent able to duplicate the normal give and take of face discussion; tend to be more task oriented and exchange less social emotional info especially when they havent personally met a. Report less satisfaction than face to face teams 2. To be effective: managers should ensure that:

a. Trust is established (1 inflammatory remark in a team member email can undermine team trust) b. Team progress is monitored closely so they dont lose sight of goal and team members dont disappear c. Efforts and products of the virtual team are publicized throughout the organization so they arent invisible e. Creating Effective Teams
i.

Teams differ in form and structure; model assumes that its already been determined that teamwork is preferable to individual work Components of effective teams ( Team Effectiveness Model)

ii.

1. Context a. Four contextual factors most related to team performance i. Adequate resources teams are part of larger organizations and thus rely on resources outside the group, scarcity reduces ability to perform job effectively

1. Must have support from organization including timely info, proper equipment, adequate staffing ii. Leadership and structure agreeing on specifics of work and how they fit together to integrate individual skills requires team leadership and structure
1. Multi-team systems different teams need to coordinate their efforts

to produce a desire outcome; leaders must empower team by delegating responsibility to them and they must play role of facilitator so the team coordinates effort and works together
iii.

Climate of Trust effective teams trust team and leader; Interpersonal trust facilitates cooperation, reduces need to monitor each others behavior and bonds members around belief that others on team wont take advantage of them 1. Trust allows for risk taking and vulnerabilities

iv.

Performance evaluation and reward systems individually oriented evaluation a reward system must be modified to reflect team performance 1. Individual performance evaluation may interfere with development of high performance teams 2. Should consider group based appraisals, profit sharing, gain sharing, etc

2.

Composition a. Abilities of member

i.

Team requires 3 different types of skills:

1. Team needs people who have technical

expertise
2. Team needs people who have the problem-

solving and decision making skills to identify problems, generate and evaluate alternatives and make competent choices.
3. Team needs people with good listening,

feedback, conflict resolution, and other interpersonal skills. INSIGHT INTO TEAM COMPOSITION:
1. When task entails considerable thought (solving a complex problem), high-ability

teams (intelligent members) do better than lower ability teams, especially when the workload is distributed evenly. They are more adaptable to changing situations; they can more apply existing knowledge to new problems. 2. When task is simple, is appropriate for low ability teams to tackle the problem. 3. Ability of the teams leader also matters. b. Personality of members Teams that rate higher in mean level of conscientiousness and openness to experience tend to perform better.

c. Allocation of roles Put more able, experienced, and conscientious workers in the most central roles in the team.

d. Diversity of Members

Demographic diversity is essentially unrelated to team performance overall. (except: gender and ethnic diversity dominated by white or male employees = negative effects) Diversity in function and expertise are positively related to group performance. (small and depend on the situation). Key is for members of diverse teams to communicate what they uniquely know and also what they dont know. 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 organization.

e. Size of Teams

The most effective teams have five to nine (use the smallest number who can do the task). DRAWBACKS: (when in large number) 1) Cohesiveness and mutual accountability declines 2) Social loafing increase 3) People communicate less
4) Trouble coordinating especially when pressured.

f. Member Preferences

When selecting team members, managers should consider individual preferences along with abilities, personalities and skills. High performing teams are likely to be composed of people who prefer working as part of a group.

g. Process Variables Member commitment to a common purpose Establishment of specific goals Team efficacy Managed level of conflict Minimized social loafing

h. EFFECTIVE and SUCCESSFUL TEAMS Begins by analyzing the teams mission Developing goals to achieve that mission Creating strategies for achieving the goals. Put a tremendous amount of effort and time into discussing, shaping, and agreeing on a purpose that belongs to them both (collectively and individually) Shows REFLEXIVITY (meaning they reflect on and adjust their master plan when necessary being able to adapt when conditions changes.

i. SPECIFIC GOALS

Facilitate clear communication Help teams maintain their focus on getting results.

j. TEAM EFFICACY

Effective teams have CONFIDENCE in themselves. To INCREASE efficacy management should:

I.

Help teams achieve small successes that build confidence Providing training to improve members technical and interpersonal skills

II.

k. MENTAL MODELS
l.

Knowledge and beliefs (psychological map) about how the work gets done.

CONFLICT LEVELS RELATIONSHIP CONFLICTS (dysfunctional) based on interpersonal incompatibilities, tension and animosity toward others TASK CONFLICTS teams performing non-routine activities disagreements among members about task content stimulate discussions; promote critical assessment of problems and option that leads to better team decisions. SOCIAL LOAFING members should be clear on what they are individually or jointly responsible (teams purpose, goals and approach) for.

m. OPTIONS FOR MANAGERS TO TURN INDIVIDUALS

INTO TEAM PLAYERS (selecting, training, rewarding)

Selecting (Hiring Team players)- be sure candidates can fulfill their team roles and technical requirement. Training (Creating Team Players) workshop helps employees improve their problem-solving, communication, negotiation, conflict management, and coaching skills. Rewarding (Providing an incentive to be a good team player) organizations reward system must be reworked to encourage cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones.