understanding work teams.pdf - sbs elearning

UNDERSTANDING WORK GROUPS AND TEAMS

Groups Defined

• A group of two or more people, in face to face interaction , each aware of their group membership and interdependence, as they strive to achieve their goals.

• Groups affect the behaviour of the individuals who compose them

Group Tasks

• Additive Tasks- A task whose accomplishment depends on the sum of all group members efforts.

• Conjunctive Tasks- A task whose accomplishment depends on the performance of the groups least talented member.

• Disjunctive Tasks- A task whose accomplishment depends on the performance of the group’s most talented member.

Formal and Informal Groups

• Formal Groups- These have been consciously created by management to accomplish a defined task that contributes to the organizations goals.

• Informal Groups- A collection of individuals who become a group when they develop interdepencies ,influence one another’s behaviour , and contribute to mutual need satisfaction.

Characteristics of Formal Groups

• They are task oriented

• They tend to be permanent

• They have a formal structure

• They are consciously organized by management to achieve organizational goals.

• Their activities contribute directly to the organization’s collective purpose.

Group Development Process

Stage 1: Orientation 1) Forming •Establish interpersonal relationships •Conform to organizational traditions and standards •Boundary testing in relationships and task behaviours

Stage 2. Redefinition 2)Storming •Conflict arising because of interpersonal behaviours •Resistance to group influence and task requirements

Stage 3. Coordination 3) Norming •Single leader emerges •Group cohesion established •New group standards and roles formed for members

Stage 4: Formalization 4) Performing •Members perform tasks together •Establish Role Clarity •Teamwork is the norm

Group Development Process cont. Stage 5 : Adjourning- In this stage the group

may disband , either because the task has been achieved or because the members have left.

Teams

• As organizations have restructured themselves to compete more effectively and efficiently , they have turned to teams as a better way to use employees talents.

• Teams are more flexible and responsible to changing events.

• Are Groups and Teams One and the Same Thing?

Differences Between Teams and

Groups Groups • Group is two or more

individuals interacting and interdependent who come together to achieve a particular objective.

• Work groups have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort.

• Their performance is merely a summation of each group members individual contribution.

Teams

• A work team generates positive energy through coordinated effort.

• The individual effort results in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of those individual outputs.

Differences Between Groups and

Teams Work Groups

• Share Information

• In terms of synergy it is neutral.

• Accountability remains at individual level.

• Skills are varied and random

Work Teams

• Emphasize on collective performance

• Synergy is positive

• Accountability is individual and mutual.

• Skills are complementary

Types of Teams

Classification of Teams

Examples

ADVICE Committees Review Panels and Boards Quality Control Circles Advisory Councils •Employee Involvement Groups

ACTION •Sports Teams Entertainment Groups •Expeditions Negotiating Teams •Surgery Teams Cockpit Crews

PROJECT Research Groups Planning Teams Architect Teams Engineering Teams Development Teams Task Forces

PRODUCTION Assembly Line Teams Manufacturing Cells Mining Teams Hospital receptions Data Processing Groups Maintenance Crews

Types of Teams

• Action Teams- A team that executes brief performances that are repeated under new conditions. Its members are technically specialised to coordinate its output with those of other units.

• Project Teams-Consists of individuals who have been brought together for a limited period of time , from different parts of the organization to contribute towards a management specified task.

Types of Teams cont.

• Cross Functional Teams- Employees from different functional departments who meet as a team to complete a particular task.

• Cross functional teams are :

- Representative

- Temporary

- Innovative

Types of Teams cont.

• Production Teams- A stable number of individuals who are responsible for performing day to day core operations.

• They are supported by a set of incentives and sanctions

Other Types of Teams

• Problem Solving Teams

• Self Managed Work Teams

• Cross Functional Teams

• Virtual Teams

Problem Solving Teams

• In problem –solving teams , members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work processes and methods can be improved.

• They rarely have the authority to unilaterally implement any of the suggested actions.

Problem Solving Groups

?

Self Managed Work Teams

• Are groups of employees ( typically 10-15) who perform highly related or interdependent jobs and take on many of the responsibilities of their former supervisors.

• These tasks involve planning and scheduling work, assigning tasks to members, making operating decisions, taking action on problems, and working with suppliers and customers.

Self Managed Work Teams

• Fully self managed work teams even select their own members and have the members evaluate each others performance.

• As such supervisory positions take on decreased importance and may even be eliminated.

Tasks Performed by Self Managing

Teams

• Set own work schedules • Deal directly with external customers • Conduct own member training • Setting own production quotas/performance targets. • Deal with suppliers/vendors • Purchase equipment/services • Develop Budgets • Do their own performance reviews on members • Hire coworkers • Fire coworkers

Cross Functional Work Teams

• Employees from the same hierarchical level , but from different work areas , who come together to accomplish a task.

• E.g Boeing created a team made up of employees from production, planning, quality, tooling, design engineering and information systems.

Cross Functional Teams

• Cross functional teams are an effective means for allowing people from diverse areas within an organization ( or even between organizations) to exchange information, develop new ideas and solve problems and coordinate complex projects.

Virtual Teams

• Teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.

• They allow people to collaborate online-using communication links such as wide area networks, video conferencing, or email-whether they’re only a room away or continents apart.

Virtual Teams cont.

• Virtual teams are so pervasive , and technology has advanced so far.

• For virtual teams to be effective, management should ensure that

a) Trust is established among team members

b) Team progress is monitored closely

c) The efforts and products of the virtual team are publicized throughout the organization.

Virtual Teams cont.

• Virtual teams give companies access to the most qualified individuals to do a particular job irrespective of their geographical location.

• Virtual teams allow organizations to respond faster to competition.

• Virtual teams give individuals flexibility of working from home.

Virtual Teams cont.

• Virtual teams can be distinguished on four dimensions:

a) Spatial Dispersion-the extent to which team members work in different geographical locations.

b) Cultural Dispersion-The extent to which a team consists of employees from different countries or cultures.

Virtual Teams cont.

c) Temporal Dispersion-The extent to which members work at different times.

d) Organization Dispersion- The degree to which members work across organizational boundaries.

Team Effectiveness Model

• Team Effectiveness Depends on :

1. Context

2. Composition

3. Work Design

4. Process

Context

Adequate Resources

Leadership and Structure

Climate of Trust

Performance Evaluation and Reward

Systems

Composition

Abilities of Members

Personality

Allocating Roles

Diversity

Size of Teams

Member Flexibility

Member Preferences

Work Design

Autonomy

Skill Variety

Task Variety

Task Significance

Process

Common Purpose

Specific Goals

Team Efficacy

Conflict Levels

Social Loafing

Team Effectiveness

Context

a) Adequate Resources

• Teams are part of a larger organization system. As such , every work team relies on resources outside the group to sustain it.

• A scarcity of resources directly reduces the ability of a team to perform its job effectively.

• Teams must receive the necessary support from management and the larger organization if they are to succeed in achieving their goals.

Context cont.

b) Leadership and Structure

• Teams can’t function if they can’t agree on who is to do what and ensure that all members contribute equally in sharing the work load.

• Leadership is especially important in multi team systems- where different teams need to coordinate their efforts to produce a desired outcome.

• Leaders need to empower teams by delegating responsibility to them.

Context cont.

c) Climate of Trust

• Members of effective teams trust each other.

• Interpersonal trust among team members facilitates cooperation, reduces the need to monitor each others behaviour, and bond members around the belief that others on the team won’t take advantage of them.

Context cont.

• Team members , for instance are more likely to take risks and expose vulnerabilities when they believe they can trust others on their teams.

Context cont.

d) Performance Evaluation and Reward Systems-How do you get team members to be both individually and jointly accountable?

• Individual performance evaluations and incentives may interfere with the development of high performance teams.

• So in addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual contributions, management should consider group-based appraisals, profit sharing, gain sharing, small group incentives etc.

Team Composition

a) Abilities of Members-

• Team performance depends on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its individual members.

• To perform effectively a team requires three different types of skills:

a) Technical Expertise

b) Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills

c) Interpersonal Skills

Team Composition Cont.

b) Personality of Members- Personality has a big influence on individual employee behaviour as well as team behaviour.

• The Big Five Traits –are especially important for team performance.

• These traits are: a) Extroversion b) Agreeableness c) Openness to Experience

d) Conscientiousness e) Emotional Stability


• Teams that rate higher on mean levels of conscientiousness and openness to experience tend to perform better.

• Minimum level of team agreeableness also matters.

• Teams did worse when they had one or more highly disagreeable members.


• Conscientious people are valuable in teams because they are good at backing up other team members and they are also good at sensing when that support is truly needed.

• Open team members communicate better with one another and throw out more ideas , which leads to teams composed of open people to be more creative and innovative.

Team Composition cont.

c) Allocation of Roles- Teams have different needs and people should be selected for a team to ensure that all the various roles are filled.

KEY TEAM ROLES

TEAM

Linker

Creator

Promoter

Assesor

Organizer

Producer

Controller

Maintainer

Adviser

Encourages

the search for

more

information

Coordinates

and Integrates

Initiates

Creative Ideas

Champions ideas

after they are

initiated

Offers Insightful

Analysis

Provides

Structure Provides

Direction

Examines Details

and Enforces Rules

Fights External

Battles

Belbin’s Team Roles

• Studies of why people work together in teams have led Belbin to suggest a number of distinctive roles that individuals tend to adopt in a team.

BELBIN’S TEAM ROLES

TEAM

Plant Resource

Investigator

Coordinator

Shaper

Monitor

Evaluator

Team

Worker

Implementer

Completer

Specialist

Single minded, self

starting, dedicated,

provides knowledge

and skills in rare

supply

Creative, Imaginative,

Unorthodox , solves

difficult problems

Extrovert, enthusiastic,

communicative , explores

new ideas

Mature, Confident, Clarifies

Goals, Promotes Decision

making, delegates well

Challenging, dynamic,

Thrives on Pressure, Has

Drive to Overcome

Obstacles

Sober, strategic and

Discerning, sees all options

and judges accurately Cooperative, Mild,

Perceptive,

Diplomatic, Listens ,

builds, Averts Friction,

Calms the Waters

Disciplined, Reliable,

Conservative and Efficient. Turns

ideas into practical solutions.

Conscientious, anxious,

searches out errors and

omissions, delivers on

time

Plant

Roles and Descriptions

• Creative , imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems.

Allowable Weaknesses

• Ignores details. Too preoccupied to communicate effectively

Resource Investigator


• Extrovert, enthusiastic, develops contacts.


• Over optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has passed.

Coordinator


• Mature, Confident, A good chairperson. Clarifies goals, promotes decision making, delegates well.


• Can be seen as manipulative. Delegates personal work.

Shaper


• Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles.


• Can provoke others. Hurts people’s feelings

Monitor- Evaluator


• Sober, strategic, and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately.


• Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Overtly critical.

Teamworker


• Cooperative, mild, perceptive, and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction, calms the waters.


• Indecisive in crunch situations. Can be easily influenced.

Implementer


• Disciplined, Reliable, Conservative, and efficient. Turns ideas into practical solutions.


• Somewhat inflexible, . Slow to respond to new possibilities.

Completer


• Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors and omissions. Delivers on time.


• Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate. Can be a nit picker.

Specialist

Roles and descriptions

• Single minded, Self starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply


• Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities. Overlooks the big picture.


d) Size of Teams

- Generally ideal teams have 5 to 9 members.

- Large teams have problems of coordinating with one another.


e) Member Preferences-

• Not every employee is a team player.

• Researchers say that given the option many employees will opt out of team participation. WHY?

• When people who would prefer to work alone are required to team up there is a direct threat to the teams morale and to individual member satisfaction.

Team Processes

a) Member Commitment to a Common Plan or Purpose- Effective teams have a common plan or purpose that provides direction, momentum and commitment.

Team Processes cont.

b) Specific Goals-

Goals should be SMART

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Reliable

Time Bound

Team Processes Cont.

c) Team Efficacy- Effective Teams have confidence in themselves. This is called team efficacy.


d) Conflict Levels-Conflict is not necesssarily bad.

• Teams void of conflict are apathetic and stagnant.

• Task conflict reduces the likelihood of

group think.

• Not all conflict is good. Relationship conflicts are dysfunctional.


e) Social Loafing- Individuals who hide inside a group and coast on the groups effort because their individual contributions can’t be identified.

Factors Affecting Group Cohesiveness

1. Size- Smaller groups are more cohesive than larger ones, partly because their members interact more frequently.

2. Duration- The longer members are together , the more opportunity they have to find out about one another.

3. Threats- An external threat can often ( although not always) serve to harden against the enemy.

Factors Affecting Group Cohesiveness

4. Isolation- Leads a group of people to feel distinct and hence special

5. Rewards- Group rewards can encourage co-operation to achieve the group goal

6. Restricted Entry- Difficulty of membership increases identification with the group.

7. Similarities- Where individuals share common goals and attitudes , they enjoy being in another’s company.

Group Think

• The tendency of highly cohesive groups to assume that their decisions can’t be wrong: that all members must support the group’s decision and ignore information contrary to it.

• Group think is thought to result from highly cohesive groups that have very strong , dynamic leaders.

• These leaders propose a particular solution to a problem and argue strongly for it.

Group think cont.

• Group members do not disagree because they are afraid of being rejected and partly because they do not want to lower group morale.

• Skeptical members may go along with the group or even convince themselves that their own doubts are trivial and not worth expressing.

Symptoms of Groupthink

1. Illusion of invulnerability

2. Collective Rationalizations

3. Illusion of Morality

4. Shared Stereotypes

5. Direct Pressure

6. Self Censorship

7. Illusion of unanimity

8.Mind guards

1. Illusion of Invulnerability

• Members display excessive optimism that past successes will continue and will shield them, and hence they tend to take extreme risks.

• Prevention Steps-Leader encourages open expression of doubt by members.

2. Collective Rationalization

• Members collectively rationalize away data that disconfirm the assumptions and beliefs upon which they base their decisions.

• Prevention Steps- Leader accepts criticism of his/her opinions

3. Illusion of Morality

• Members believe that they, as moral individuals , are unlikely to make bad decisions.

• Prevention Steps- Higher status members offer opinions last.

4. Shared Stereotypes

• Members dismiss disconfirming evidence by discrediting its source ( e.g stereotyping other groups and its leaders as evil or weak)

• Prevention Steps- Get recommendations from a duplicate group

5. Direct Pressure

• Imposition of verbal , non-verbal or other sanctions on individuals who explore deviant positions (e.g those who express doubts or question the validity of group beliefs). Perhaps use of assertive language to force compliance.

• Prevention Steps- Periodically divide into Subgroups

6. Self Censorship

• Members keep silent about misgivings about the apparent group consensus and try to minimize their doubts.

• Prevention Steps- Members get reactions of trusted outsiders

7. Illusion of Unanimity

• Members conclude that the group has reached a consensus because its most vocal members are in agreement.

• Prevention Steps- Invite trusted outsiders to join the discussion periodically

8. Mind Guards

• Members who take it upon themselves to screen out adverse , disconfirming information supplied by ‘outsiders’ which might endanger the group’s complacency.

• Prevention Steps- a) Assign someone to the role of the devils advocate.

b) Develop scenarios of rival’s possible actions

Combating Groupthink

• The leader should encourage each group member to air objections and doubts about proposed decisions.

• The leader should initially remain impartial in discussions , stating preferences and expectations only after group members have expressed their own views.

Combating Group-Think

• The group should divide into sub committees to discuss issues independently and then come together to hammer out differences.

• Outside experts should be invited to participate occasionally in group discussions and should be encouraged to challenge the views of the group members.

• At each meeting at least one person should be assigned to play the devils advocate and challenge groups ideas.


• What Strategies can be used to Manage Social Loafers?

When to Use Teams

• When the Work can be done better by More than One Person.

• Where the Work Creates a Common Purpose or set of Goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals.

• Where the members of the team are interdependent.

Group Influences on Individual’s

Performance

• Social Influence- the presence of another person or group of people changes our attitudes and behaviour. Refers to the process where attitudes and behaviour are influenced in some way, by the real or implied presence of others.

• The presence of others can either improve or reduce an individual’s performance.

• The presence of others can either lead to : a) Social Facilitation b)Social Loafing

Social Facilitation

• Refers to the strengthening of the dominant (prevalent or likely) response due to the presence of others.

• The presence of others facilitates us in two ways:

i) When in the presence of others individuals experience arousal, feeling more tense and excited.

Social Facilitation cont.

ii) When aroused people perform their most dominant response , that is their most likely behaviour in that setting.

iii) The presence of groups creates synergy. Synergy is referred to as the positive or negative result of the interaction of two or more components, producing an outcome that is different from the sum of the individual components.

Social Facilitation cont.

• Groups lead to the creation of positive synergy.

• Positive synergy is the belief that the final output produced by a group of individuals working together rather than separately , will equal more than the sum of the individual’s members abilities and efforts.

Social Loafing

• The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working as part of a group on an additive task than when working alone.

• Social loafing is an example of negative energy.

Causes of Social Loafing

• Tasks perceived as unimportant, simple and boring

• Members think that their output is not identifiable. (Dispersion of Responsibility)

• Nature of each persons contribution was similar to the other. (Problems of Coordination)

• Lack of clearly identified task

• Self reliance

Causes of Social Loafing cont.

• Negative Effect of Group Reward ( Everyone will get the same, why should I work harder)

• Equity of Effort (Others are not contributing, Why should I?)

Managing Social Loafers

• Make the work more involving- Keep the work interesting thereby increasing commitment to successful task performance and hence encourage performance at a high level.

• Upgrade Task- Increase the perceived importance of the task in the group members eyes.

Managing Social Loafers cont.

• Identify Workers- Point out each individual members contribution. It prevents their getting away with a free ride.

• Reward Contributions to the Group-Reward members for helping others to achieve the common goal and not just for their individual contributions.

Managing social Loafers

• Threaten Punishment- Fear of punishment prevents loafing and gets members to ‘pull their weight in the group’.

• Strengthen Group Cohesion- Make the group size small , make membership attractive and stable , have common goals and facilitate member interaction.

Difference between Social Loafers

and Free Riders • A free rider is a member who obtains benefits

from team membership without bearing a proportional share of the cost of generating that benefit.

• Free riders exploit the groups product and dooms a teams effectiveness.

• The difference is that social loafers reduce effort but free riders contribute nothing to the group and own results of the group.

Group’s Influences on Individual’s

Behavior • Elton Mayo noted the existence of group

norms and their enforcement through sanctions in the Hawthorne experiments.

• The men on the experiment restricted their output to conform to a group agreed norm or standard.

• Norms are behavioural expectations and they define the nature of the group.

Group Norms

• They express values of the members of the group and provide guidelines to help the group achieve its goals.

• A group may develop them consciously or unconsciously.

• Norms guide behaviour of a group.

• Not all group norms are of equal importance.

Types of Group Norms

1) Pivotal Norms- Guide behaviour which is central to the group.

2) Peripheral Norms- Guide Behaviour that is essential but not important.

-Group members who violate pivotal norms can impede group objectives or endanger its survival.

-Therefore the consequences are severe for those individuals

Why Norms Develop

• Feldman (1984) argued that their purpose:

1) Facilitate group task achievement or group survival:

-groups develop norms which increase their chances of being successful and protect themselves from outsiders.

1) Increase the Predictability of Group Members Behaviours:

-Predictability means that internally, members can anticipate and prepare for the actions of colleagues , thereby smoothing social interaction. Externally it allows them to relate appropriately to outsiders.

Why Norms Develop cont.

3) Reduce Embarrasing Interpersonal Problems for Group Members-

-Knowing what to do and say in a group (and what not to) increases an individual’s member’s comfort.

4) Express the group’s core values and Define its distinctiveness:

-Norms allow members to gain a sense of the essence of the group.

How Group Norms Develop

1.Explicit statement by a supervisor or coworker

- The person may explicitly state certain expectations.

2.Critical events in the group’s history

- A shop floor employee makes a suggestion for an improvement to his supervisor who criticises and ridicules him. Group members make sure that in future none of them offers suggestions.

How Group Norms Develop cont.

3. Initial Pattern of Behaviour-

- The first pattern of behaviour that emerges in a group can establish group expectations.

4.Transfer of Behaviour from past situations-When individuals carry over behaviours from past situations , they can increase the predictability of group members behaviours in new settings.

Importance of Norms

• Ensure Group survival

• Help it to achieve its task

• Clarify or simplify how members are to behave

• Avoid embarrassing situations between members

• Clarify its central values or unique identity

Once established group norms are difficult to change.

Group Sanctions

• A punishment or a reward given by members to others in a group in the process of enforcing group norms.

• Punishment is a negative sanction.

• Reward is a positive sanction.

Conformity with Norms

• Conformity with norms tends to increase under certain conditions .

- An increase in norm conformity is associated with a decrease in the size of the group: and also with an increase in the group’s homogeneity , visibility and a stable experience.

- Members who perceive themselves as having a low status will conform more .

- Members who feel that they are not accepted by others also conform more.

Group Cohesion

• The number and strength of mutual positive attitudes towards other group members.

• The level of group cohesion determines a group’s impact.

Group Cohesion Contributors and

Consequences Contributors of Group Cohesion • Small Size • External Threat • Stable Membership • Past success of the group • Difficulty of Entry of the Group • Members sharing common Goals • Opportunity to Interact with Others • Attractiveness of Group to

Individuals • Fairness of Rewards Between

Members • Members Agreement About their

statutes

Consequences of Group Cohesion

• Group Success

• Member satisfaction

• Productivity high or low

• Greater conformity by members

• Members evaluations become distorted

• Increased interaction between members

• Increased group influence over members

• Cooperative behaviour between individuals

Group Socialization

• The process by which members learn the values symbols and expected behaviours of the group to which they belong.

• If new recruits are thoroughly socialised , they are less likely to transgress group norms and require sanctions to be administered.

• However , while such pressure to go along with majority of the members may be beneficial it also carries costs.

Group Socialization cont.

• If conformity is allowed to dominate , and individuals are given the opportunity present alternatives and different views there is the danger of the group making errors of judgement collectively.

Group Influences on Individuals’

Attitudes • Groups can cause individuals to conform even

when they know what they doing is not correct.

• Solomon Asch found that those subjects that yielded to group pressure did so for different reasons which are as follows:

Reasons for Yielding to Group

Pressure

• Distortion of Perception-

• Distortion of Judgement

• Distortion of Action

Deindividuation

• An increased state of anonymity that loosens normal constraints on individual’s behaviour, reducing their sense of responsibility, and leading to an increase in impulsive and antisocial acts.

Deindividuation cont.

• With deindividuation a person looses their self awareness and self monitoring.

• It involves the loss of personal identity and greater identification with the group.

• There are moments when we observe ourselves behaving irrationally as members of audiences or crowds.

• We are swept by emotion and we are unable to check it.

• The moods and emotions of those around us seem to have an exaggerated effect on our own moods and emotions.

Factors Leading to Deindividuation

• Anonymity-within a crowd or large group lessens inhibitions.

• When attention is drawn away from the individual in crowd and group situations , their anonymity is increased and they are more likely to abandon their normal restraints and to loose their sense of individual responsibility.

Factors Leading to Deindividuation

cont. • High Level of Arousal

• Focus on external Events

• Close Group Unity

All these factors lead to reduced group awareness which in turn leads to deindividuation.

Consequences of Deindividuation

• Weakened Restraints against impulsive behaviour

• Increased sensitivity to immediate cues or current emotional states.

• Inability to monitor and regulate own behaviour

• Lessened concern about evaluations by others.

• Lowered ability to engage in rational planning.

• THE END

understanding work teams.pdf - sbs elearning

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