MNO1001 Management & Organization

Teamwork[Chapter 14]

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Key Points

• Discuss how teams can contribute to an organization’s effectiveness

• Distinguish the new team environment from that of traditional work groups

• Summarize how groups become teams

• Explain why groups sometimes fail

• Describe how to build an effective team

• Identify ways to manage conflict

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In-Class Question

Based on your experiences of working in teams, how can you make sure that everyone on the team

carries their own weight?

• Set goal/expectation

• Allocate workload based on strength – more interested to work on it

• Reward/Acknowledge

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In-Class Question

Experts say that teams are a means, not an end.

What do you think they mean? What do you think happens in a company that creates teams just for

the sake of having teams because it is a fad or just because it sounds good? How can this pitfall be

avoided?

Means: an action or system by which a result is achieved; a method.

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The Contributions of Teams

• Build blocks for organizational structure

• Increase productivity, improve quality and reduce costs

• Enhance speed and be powerful forces for innovation, creativity, and change

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The Contributions of Teams(why teams are popular)

• Provide benefits for their members

• Provide a very useful learning mechanism -> learn about the company and themselves, and they acquire new skills and performance strategies.

Satisfy important personal needs – esteem and affiliation

Receive tangible rewards based on teamwork

Provide feedback; identify opportunities for growth and development; train, coach, and mentor

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The New Team Environment

• Team A small number of people with complementary skills

who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

• Examples: Student teams for class projects Cross-functional teams Flight crews

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Comparing Work Groups and Work Teams

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The New Team Environment

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Table 14.1

Types of Teams

• Work teams Teams that make or do

things like manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service

Well-defined; full-time, stable membership

• Project and development teams Teams that work on

long-term projects Disband once the

work is completed

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Types of Teams

• Parallel teams Teams that operate

separately from the regular work structure, and exist temporarily

To recommend solutions to specific problems

• Management teams Teams that coordinate

and provide direction to the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits

Based on authority stemming from hierarchical ranks

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Types of Teams

• Transnational teams Work groups

composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries

• Virtual teams Teams that are

physically dispersed and communicate electronically more than face-to-face

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Face difficult challenges: building trust, cohesion, team identity, and overcoming the isolation

Practices of Effective VirtualTeam Leaders

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Self-Managed Teams

• Traditional work groups

Groups that have no managerial responsibilities

• Self-managed teams

Autonomous (freedom make their own decision) work groups in which workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs in a unit, have no immediate supervisor, and make decisions previously made by frontline supervisors

People often resist self-managed work teams

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Self-Managed Teams

• Autonomous work groups Control decisions about and execution of a complete

range of tasks – acquiring raw materials and performing operations, QC, maintenance and shipping

Fully responsible for an entire product or an entire part of a production process

• Self-designing teams Teams with the responsibilities of autonomous work

groups, plus control over hiring, firing, and deciding what tasks members perform

Examples: Developer’s teams in Google / Whole Foods Markets in US

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In-Class Question

Overall, the conclusion from ample research shows that truly self-managed teams are known to work better in Western culture than in Eastern culture.

Why do you think so?

Power distance is more narrow- will step up for leadership roles

Lower uncertainty avoidance

Taking risks and responsibility14-16

Group Processes – Five-Stage Model

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Group Processes – Five-Stage Model

• Forming: group members attempt to lay the ground rules for what types of behavior are acceptable

• Storming: hostilities and conflict arise, and people jockey for positions of power and status

• Norming: group members agree on their shared goals, and norms and closer relationships develop

• Performing: the group channels its energies into performing its tasks

• Adjourning: In temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance

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In-Class Question

What are assumptions that underlie this Five-Stage Model?

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Building Effective Teams

Team effectiveness is defined by three criteria:

• Productive output of the team meets or exceeds standards of quantity and quality

• Team members realize satisfaction of their personal needs

• Team members remain committed to working together again

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Building Effective Teams

Performance focus

• Commitment to a common purpose

• A common understanding of how they will work together to achieve their purpose

• General purpose being translated into specific, measurable performance goals

• Feedback on team performance

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Motivating Teamwork

Social loafing• Working less hard and being less productive when in a

group

• Occurs when individuals believe that their contributions are not

important others will do the work for them their lack of effort will go undetected they will be lone suckers if they work hard but others don’t

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Motivating Teamwork

Social facilitation effect people who are concerned about their image “driving force”• Working harder when in a group than when working

alone

• Occurs because individuals usually are more motivated when others are

present they are concerned with what others think of them they want to maintain a positive self-image

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Motivating Teamwork

Rewards to team performance

• Combining individual and shared rewards can reduce social loafing and increase team performance

• If team performance can be measured validly, team-based rewards can be given accordingly

• If team performance is difficult to measure validly, desirable behaviors, activities, and processes that indicate good teamwork can be reward

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Team Properties

Team Properties

Norms

CohesivenessRoles

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Cohesiveness

• The degree to which a group is attractive to its members, members are motivated to remain in the group, and members influence one another

• Importance Contribute to member satisfaction Have a major impact on performance Less conflict and more productive

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Cohesiveness

• If the task is to make a decision or solve a problem, cohesiveness can lead to poor performance

• Groupthink A tightly knit group is so cooperative that agreeing

with one another’s opinions and refraining from criticizing others’ ideas become norms

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Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and Group Performance

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Building Cohesiveness and High-Performance Norms

1. Recruit members with similar attitudes, values, and backgrounds different opinions and ideas

2. Maintain high entrance and socialization standards

3. Keep the team small

4. Help the team succeed, and publicize its successes

5. Be a participative leader

6. Present a challenge from outside the team.

7. Tie rewards to team performance

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Managing Conflict

• To make conflict within teams productive by making those who involved believe they have benefited:

A new solution is implemented, the problem is solved, and it is unlikely to emerge again

Work relationships have been strengthened and people believe they can work together productively in the future

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Managing Conflict

14-31Satisfy the other party’s concerns

Satis

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Ow

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Managing Conflict

• Avoidance A reaction to conflict that involves ignoring the

problem by doing nothing at all, or deemphasizing the disagreement

• Accommodation A style of dealing with conflict involving

cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one’s own interests

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Managing Conflict

• Compromise A style of dealing with conflict involving moderate

attention to both parties’ concerns

• Competing A style of dealing with conflict involving strong

focus on one’s own goals and little or no concern for the other person’s goals

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Managing Conflict

• Collaboration A style of dealing with conflict emphasizing both

cooperation and assertiveness to maximize both parties’ satisfaction

Superordinate goals: high-level goals taking priority over specific individual or group goals

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Being a Mediator

• Mediator• A third party who

intervenes to help others manage their conflict.

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Summary

• Team’s contributions to an organization’s effectiveness

• Types of teams in the new team environment

• Building effective teams

• Cohesiveness – groupthink + achieve the best performance when their performance norm is high

• Ways to manage conflict

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