project management and teamwork section 1 information technology applications in business...

Project Management and TeamworkSection 1

Information Technology

Applications in Business

Presents………

Project Management

And

Teamwork


Learning Expectations by the end of this section, you will be

able to: Explain the concept of a project team as it applies to businessExplain why businesses form teams to complete specific projectsCompare effective and ineffective teams and explain how they differ

Describe an individual’s role in a project –based teamDescribe how businesses resolve conflict to enhance productivityHow to manage resources in an electronic environment


Key Terms You Must Know

Team

Project Team

Functional Team

Cross-functional Team

Task force

Autonomous Group

Participative Planning

Synergy

Decentralization

Virtual Teams

Telecommuting

Norms

Constructive Conflict

Destructive Conflict

Collaboration

GANTT Chart

Milestone Chart


Section OverviewIn this section, you will learn about the importance of teams in business. More companies are using teams because of the strengths and advantages they provide. You will learn that excellent teams pass through a variety of stages in order to become high-performance groups. In addition, team members need to know how to cope with and manage conflict situations.


Team Definitions TeamA group of people working together for a common

purpose.

Project TeamA group formed within a company to serve a

common goal. These structures dramatically increase productivity, creativity and customer service.


Functional Team Organization Chart

CEO

ProductionHuman

ResourcesFinanceMarketing

A functional team is a traditional organizational structure. This team focuses on one major specific area of a business. For example, a production team concerns themselves only with production concerns.


Cross-Functional Team Organization Chart

CEO

Product A Product CProduct B

A cross-functional team comprises members from a variety of functional areas. For example a product team for toothpaste consists of engineers, salespeople, accountants, and package designers.

Functional and cross-functional teams are permanent.


Many teams are temporary in nature. For this a task force is a team established for a set purpose period or until the team achieves its purpose. This team has a very specific, narrow focus.

Examples:

-police forces establish task forces for crimes that have common elements, ie serial killers.

-When the crime has been solved, the task force is disbanded.

Teams have different hierarchical structures. Some have an appointed leader to keep the team focused and on task. Others are autonomous or self-managed. These groups have no established or appointed leader, they manage their own productivity, schedule, hiring and training.


Why Do Businesses Use Teams?

Having many people’s opinion, expertise and experience provides more information and insight into decisions. This process is also called participative planning this allows all people impacted by a decision to have input.

Speed to market is another reason. Before this process, it could take months to make a decision. The decision was passed up and down the organizational structure for approval, revision, editing, rerevision, approval etc.. Often a company’s competitor beat them to market. With teams, because the experts are all in place, decisions occur quickly and the product launch happens within weeks.

Since teams are now the main decision makers, there little need for tall hierarchical structures in the corporation. Companies that used to have 12 – 15 levels of hierarchy are working with 4 – 5 levels when teams make up the structure. This has decentralized decision-making.

Decentralized decision-making occurs when major decisions occur at all levels of the company, not just at the upper levels.

Lastly, using teams allows more information to be gathered – two heads are better than one.


Why Teams?

AdvantagesIn the absence of an expert, teams make better decisions

Teams more readily accept and internalize the team’s decision – people who have had input into the decision are more likely to adopt changes

SYNERGY – the whole is greater than the sum of the parts – together the people on a team can do better than if each worked individually

DisadvantagesTime – the group may take much longer than individuals making decisions

More costly in the short run, however if the decision is a better one, the overall costs may be less.

May be hard to accomplish a task if no one takes responsibility – there may be good discussion, but no decision on implementation.


Teams in Electronic Environments

Innovations in technology have created opportunities for businesses to create virtual teams. They function like traditional teams but members may not work in the same building, town or country. They use such technology as: conference calling, e-mail, Internet, electronic meetings, video conferencing and can use it from anywhere on the globe.

Another form of virtual team allows members to work from home. This is referred to as telecommuting. There advantages from many points of view:

Employer: the company can save money on expensive office space and attract workers with non-work responsibilities such as small children or elderly parents.

Employee: it allows time to be saved by not wasting time commuting to and from work through stressful traffic. It also allows more flexibility and family time.

Society: it causes less stress on the transportation systems and cuts down on pollution.

A virtual office allows workers to communicate with team members from remote locations, ie., business trips. Most hotels have desks and data lines so travellers can work from their rooms. Many office buildings have cubicles with telephones and data hook-ups for visiting employees.


DO THIS Go to a Web site that helps businesses and virtual teams to

set up online meetings called Webex. Its address is www.webex.com . Work through the free tours provided. Using Microsoft Word, write a one-page report summarizing how the service works and why a company would use it.

Next

Visit the Web site www.youcanworkanywhere.com . Provide a list of 10 items you will need to set up your office. What are 4 work/life balance issues faced by people who telecommute?


Being an Effective Team Member

Types of Effective Team Members

Many roles exist in a group. Excellent groups share these roles amongst group members based on talent and experience.

Leader – responsible for keeping the group’s members focused on the goal. He/she sets the timeline, agenda and runs the meetings. In some companies, upper management assumes this role where in autonomous groups, the role emerges from the group members.

Observer – responsible for keeping the group on task when discussion wanders from the objective. He/she also makes sure that not just one person dominates but that all have an equal opportunity to contribute.

Liason - critical member in the group. He/she is responsible for gathering information from outsiders and report back to the group. He/she must also explain and present information to outsiders – ie., upper management, another department, a supplier or a customer.

Recorder - responsible for taking notes during meetings. He/she is also responsible for recording who in the group is responsible for which task.

In addition to the roles outlined previously, each group member must be an active contributor. All group members must exhibit the following characteristics:

Listen to others

Work hard

Complete assigned tasks

Arrive at meetings prepared

Ensure that all members are included in the decisions

Confront those who are not contributing

Allow others to lead when they have more expertise

Talk to members who are not contributing


Being an Effective Team Member

Types of Ineffective Team Members

Ineffective group members can drastically diminish the positive effects of groups. These would include the following:

Bully – the member who does not listen to others and believes that there is only one answer – his or hers. This person does not allow others to speak and continually interrupts.

Non-communicator – arrives at the meeting but does not contribute to the discussion. This person seldom volunteers for extra work. They lack enthusiasm and motivation.

The Negative- constantly belittles everyone’s ideas. This person believes that nothing is going to work well and displays a poor attitude towards the group.

Hand-holder – needs constant supervision and support. This person constantly demands positive affirmation for his/her work. The hand-holder lacks initiative.

Over-enthusiast- comes up with many ideas and believes that the group can solve all problems. This person spends all of the time exploring concepts, but seldom works on the implementation. Great ideas but focusing and actually solving the problem is difficult.


Personal Reflection

Respond to the following using Microsoft Word and submit it.

Think of a time when you worked in a group. Was the group effective? Why or why not? How could the group have improved its decision-making process? What type of team member were you?

What strengths do you have as a team member? What weaknesses? Make a chart that lists your strengths and weaknesses.


Stages in Group Development

All groups go through a series of stages in their development – some faster than others based on maturity and experience of the group’s members. Not all groups reach the performing stage – the point at which synergy exists.

Forming Stage – the first step. Group members first get to know each other – personal testing occurs. People who knew each other previously in the group tend to gravitate toward one another.

Storming Stage – this is a critical stage for groups. This is where disagreement occurs – here, many ideas may evolve and discussion takes place. Conflict, if directed wisely, can be very productive. Conflict must not be taken as a personal attack.

Norming Stage – group norms are established. Norms are unwritten rules regarding the behaviour that the group will accept. Positive norms include working hard, arriving on time, remaining focused and achieving group goals. Negative norms include working below quotas, allowing group discussion to wander and not taking responsibility for tasks not accomplished.

Performing Stage – the time when the group is most effective. It is making creative and innovative decisions, is able to cope with change and is obtaining synergy.

Adjourning Stage – the group disbands because task is achieved or things were so bad that a new group must be formed.


Managing Conflict in a Team

Constructive ConflictGood for people and organizations

Disagreements lead to creativity and improved decision making

Destructive ConflictCounter-productive for for people and organizations

Nothing gets accomplished because no one cares enough to make a decision

People want things their way and arguments become loud, disruptive and no one listens to each other.


Group Conflict Management Style

Force

Avoid

Compromise

Collaboration

Accommodate

Achieving one’s

own goals

Achieving the other person’s goals


Group Conflict Management Style

Avoiding Stage

A group member is not interested in achieving his or her goals and does not care about the goals of the other group members. Here the member hopes the problem will go away. This conflict management style will lead to greater problems in the future, and in many cases, the problem will escalate.

However, this approach may be appropriate in the short run. If group members are emotional and cannot listen to each other, postponing the conflict for a time will lead to a better resolution.

Forcing Stage

A group member is concerned about getting his or her own way at the expense of the others in the group. This person forces their opinion on others and does not listen to alternative points of view. This leads to one member overpowering the group.

However, this approach may be appropriate in an emergency when there is no time for a discussion. An example would be a head physician on an emergency response team.

Accommodating Stage

The group member is more concerned with others’ goals than his or her own. This member consistently agrees with other people but does not contribute any of their own ideas or goals. At times, group members take advantage of this person, and the accommodating group member may not have confidence in his/her own ideas.

However, this conflict style may be appropriate for a group member who is storing favours for the next decision, or who does not genuinely care about the outcome of the current decision.

Compromising Stage

Each group member must forfeit some of what each wants in order to achieve agreement. The positive element of compromise is that each person gets some of what he or she wants.

However, group members must give up something as well. Many believe that compromise is the best conflict management style; however, it is not.

Collaborating Stage

Each member in the group achieves what they want. This occurs when group members listen to each other , are creative in problem solving and each has input into the decision process.

Collaboration makes groups much more effective than individuals working separately. This is the reason for project teams. At this point, the group has developed synergy.

Effective team members are able to work through conflict situations and collaboratively create a realistic plan of implementation. They perceive conflict as a method of gathering ideas, and they deal with disagreement in a mature manner.


Review Questions1. What is a team?2. What is a project team?3. Explain the difference between a functional team and a cross-functional team.4. What is a task force?5. Why would companies use autonomous groups?6. Give four reasons for businesses to use teams. Explain each reason.7. What are the advantages of teams?8. What are the disadvantages of teams?9. How are virtual teams different from traditional teams?10. What are the advantages of telecommuting?11. What is a virtual office?12. State and explain four roles in an effective team.13. State four characteristics all members on an effective team should demonstrate.14. State and explain five ineffective team members. How would you deal with each of these

people?15. Explain the five stages in group development.16. How can conflict be good for an organization? What is this called?17. How can conflict be bad for an organization? What is this called?18. Create a chart that states the conflict management styles down one column, a definition for the

style down another column, and when to use each style in the third column.

project management and teamwork section 1 information technology applications in business...

Documents

team members

production team

product team

crossfunctional teams

ineffective teams

importance of teams

excellent teams

businesses form teams