team development and leadership4

8/8/2019 team development and leadership4

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TYPES OF TEAMS

Teams can do variety of things. They can make products, provide services,

negotiate deals, coordinate projects, offer advice, and make decisions.

Teams can be classified according to their objective in an organization. The fourmost common teams are:

1. Problem Solving Teams

2. Self Managed Teams

3. Cross Functional Teams

4. Virtual Teams

Problem Solving Team

PROBLEM


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Self Managed Team

Cross Functional Team


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Virtual Team

Technology


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PROBLEM SOLVING TEAMS

Problem-solving teams or task forces are formed when a problem arises that

cannot be solved within the standard organizational structure. These teams aregenerally cross-functional; that is, the membership comes from different areas of

the organization, and is charged with finding a solution to the problem.

They are typically composed of 5 to 12 employees of the same or different

department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality,

efficiency and the work environment. The team is put together to deal with a current

problem and then dissolved. The life span of such teams may vary from a few days to

many months, occasionally a year or longer.

One of the most widely practiced applications of problem solving teams was

quality circles. These are work teams of 8 to 10 employees and supervisors who have a

shared area of responsibility and meet regularly to discuss their quality problems,

investigate causes of the problems, recommend solutions, and take corrective action. The

concepts of problem solving teams are increasingly being used by organizations who

realize that teams can significantly outperform individuals in many situations. For

example, AT&T has effectively used problem solving teams to address customer needs,

resulting in quicker response time and increased customer satisfaction.

Quality circles can also be defined as A small group of employees who meet on

a regular basis, usually on company time, to recommend improvements and solve

quality related problems, frequently as a part of the total quality management efforts.

These are an example for a permanent problem solving teams. Quality circle members are

usually trained in group processes (for example, structured techniques for diagnosing

problems and brainstorming). The concept of quality circles is widely followed in

Toyota.


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Organizations are relying more and more on problem solving teams to help solve

organizational problems. The structure is shown below

Why a problem solving team is formed?

Purpose is to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a problem.

Goal is to determine a root cause of a defect or problem.

Popular for its simplicity.

When problems involve human factors or interactions.

When a problem solving team is formed?

In day-to-day business life

To avoid statistical analysis or hypothesis testing Lack of data information available

PROBLEM


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In problem solving teams, members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work

process and methods can be improved. Rarely, however, are these teams given the

authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions.

Team members not only must overcome difficulties arising from diverse working

styles and biases but also must avoid thinking traps that narrow the ideas they entertain.

Synergy occurs when the teams combined output is greater than the sum of the

individual inputs. Synergy creates an excess of resources.

Components of problem solving teams

1. Team members readily contribute from their experience and listen to the

contributions of others.

2. Disagreements arising from different points of view are considered helpful; they

are seen as the crucible out of which unambiguous and honest solutions can flow.

3. Team members challenge suggestions they believe are unsupported by facts or

logic but avoid arguing just to have their way or to be noticed for their own

individual input.

4. Poor solutions are not supported just for the sake of harmony or agreement.

5. Differences of opinion are discussed and resolved. Coin tossing, averaging, straw-

drawing, majority vote and similar cop-outs are avoided when making a decision.

6. Every team member strives to make the problem solving process efficient and is

careful to facilitate rather than hinder discussion; each member strives to

encourage and applaud individual efforts to contribute as well as the contributions

themselves.

7. Team members encourage and support co-workers who are reluctant to offer ideas

or to offer differing views from those already expressed.

8. Team members understand the value of time and work to eliminate extraneous

and/or repetitious discussion.


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9. Team decisions are not arbitrarily overruled by the leader simply because he/she

doesnt agree with them; each member is committed to respecting each others

views and to honouring the sources of these views as being legitimate and sincere.

10. The team understands that the leader will make the best decision he or she can if a

satisfactory team solution is not forthcoming; they each agree to support and

promote the decision that results from the problem solving process whether it is

made collectively by the team or individually by the leader of the team.

Advantages:

1. Improve human resource utilization

2. Improve methods and technologies

3. Reduce scrap and rework

4. Improve efficiencies

5. Improve working conditions and image

6. Improve customer satisfaction

7. Increase sales and profitability

8. Increase productivity - job security

9. Increase the number of ideas

10. Build on each others ideas

11. Implement more ideas for improvements and solutions

12. More knowledge and information

13. An increased number of ideas

14. Increased commitment

15. Increased motivation


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Disadvantages:

1. Excessive risk taking because of excessive optimism and the sharing of a feeling

of invulnerability. Team members fail to respond to clear warnings of

danger.2. Members of the team believe unquestionably in their inherent morality, inclining

members to ignore the ethical and moral consequences of their decisions.

3. Members of the team apply direct pressure on members who express contrary

views, reinforcing the notion that loyal members are cohesive.

4. Members of the team avoid deviating from what appears to be the groups

consensus, causing each member to minimize the importance of his or her doubts.

5. Members of the team sometimes become self-appointed mindguards, protecting

the group from unpopular or adverse information. Mindguards apply pressure on

othersboth from within and outside of the group who disagree and effectively

block their participation.

Case Study:

Teamwork Helps Toyota Boost Quality

BlueScope Steel has helped Toyota Australia overcome production challenges for a vital

steel component in Australias leading export car, the Toyota Camry.

BlueScope Steel and Toyota Australia formed a combined working group late last year to

investigate intermittent quality concerns on the inner door panels of the Camry. The

results of that program include improved quality in the end product and a great

strengthened working relationship between the two companies.

This is an excellent example of what can be achieved when a supplier and a customer

make the effort to understand each others processes at the must detailed level and to

joint solutions to specific problems, said Toyota Australia Press Shop Staff Engineer,

Matt Mafrici.


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BlueScope Steel Technical Services Product Technologist, Tony Fetch said the

intermittent production difficulties began when the current shape Camry entered

production at Toyotas Altona plant, and had been the subject of extensive investigations.

This was the first time we had provided the steel for these particular panels, so it was

natural enough for Toyota to look first at the quality of our steel when the problems

emerged, Tony said. However, testing showed that our quality was well upto standard-

Toyotas people said it passed with flying colors-and Toyotas production standards are

extremely high, so deeper investigation was called for.

As a result, BlueScope Steel assigned a specialist team of product technologies and

quality representatives to become integrate members of the team at the Toyota press shop

at Altona.

This detailed study, covering every stage from the steel manufacturing process through to

the finshed part, achieved flow-on benefits for both Toyota and BlueScope Steel.

Matt Mafrici said the BlueScope Steel involvement had proved beneficial to both parties.

Together we have developed a better understanding of the variables that could be

causing the intermittent problems, he said.

Among other things, BlueScope Steel had adopted Toyotas concepts of standardised

work and Kaizen (Continuous improvement) at both the Westernport works and the

Sunshine shear line facility, Mr Mafrici said.


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SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS

Self-managed work teams are generally composed of 10 to 15 people who take on

the responsibilities of their former supervisors. Typically, these responsibilities include

collective control over the pace of work, determination of work assignments,

organization of breaks, and collective choice of inspection procedures. Fully self-

managed work teams even select their own members and have the members evaluate

each other's performance. As a result, supervisory positions take on decreased impor-

tance andmay even be eliminated.

Xerox, General Motors, Coors Brewing, PepsiCo, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell,

M&M/Mars, and Aetna Life are just a few familiar names that have implemented self-

managed work teams. Estimates suggest that about 30 percent of US . Employers now use

this form of team; and among large firms, the number is probably closer to50 percent.

Recent businessperiodicals have been chock-full of articles describing successful

applications of self-managed teams. For instance, executives at Power-Cable Corp., a

manufacturer of high-quality power tools, say self-managed teams are largely

responsible for significant improvements in product quality and generating millions of

dollars in cost savings. Self-managed teams are given credit for much of the success

Industrial Light & Magic has had in dominating the business of visual digitalization. And

W.L. Gore & Associates, the people who make Gore-Tex, attributes its continued growth,innovation, and high profitability to organizing its more than 6,200 employees around

self-managed teams.

Diagram of Self Managed Teams


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Advantages of Self Managed Teams.

1. Encourages self-reinforcement (e.g., getting team members to praise each other

for good work and results).

2. Encourages self observation/ evaluation(e.g., Teaching Team members how well

they are doing

3. Encourages self expectation (e.g., encourages team members to expect high

performance from them self and the team).

4. Encourages self-goal-setting (e.g., having the team sets its own performance

goals).

5. Encourages Rehearsal (e.g., getting team members to think about practice new

tasks).

6. Encourages self-criticism (e.g., encouraging team members to be critical of their

own poor performance).

Disadvantages of Self Managed Teams.

1. Individuals on these teams do tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction.

2. Employees seem to have higher absenteeism and turnover.

Difference between Self Managed teams and Traditional Work Teams

Self Managed Teams Traditional Work Teams

Customer Driven

Multiskilled Workforce

Few job Descriptions

Information shared widely

Few levels of management

Whole business focus

Shared goals

Seemingly chaotic

Purpose achievement emphasis

High worker commitment

Continuous improvement

Self control

Values/ principle based

Management driven

Workforce of isolated specialists

Many job descriptions

Information limited

Many levels of management

Function/department focus

Segregated goals

Seemingly organized

Problem solving emphasis

High management commitment

Incremental improvements

Management control

Policy/ procedures based


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Ways to Empower Self-Managed Teams.

External Leader Behavior.

1) Make team members responsible and accountable for the work they do.

2) Ask for and use team suggestions when making decisions.

3) Encourage team members to take control of their work.

4) Create an environment in which team members set their own team goals.

5) Stay out of the way when team members attempt to solve work-related problems.

6) Generate high team expectations.

7) Display trust and confidence in the team's abilities.

Production/Service Responsibilities

1) The team sets its own production/service goals and standards.

2) The team assigns jobs and tasks to its members.

3) Team members develop their own quality standards and measurement techniques.

4) Team members take on production/service learning and development opportunities.

5) Team members handle their own problems with internal and external customers.6) The team works with a whole product or service, not just a part.

Human Resource Management System

1) The team gets paid, at least in part, as a team.

2) Team members are cross-trained on jobs within their team.

3) Team members are cross-trained on jobs in other teams.

4) Team members are responsible for hiring, training, punishment, and firing.

5) Team members use peer evaluations to formally evaluate each other.

Social Structure

1) The team gets support from other teams and departments when needed.

2) The team has access to and uses important and strategic information.

3) The team has access to and uses the resources of other teams.


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4) The team has access to and uses resources inside and outside the organization.

5) The team frequently communicates with otherteams.

6) The team makes its own rules and policies.

Case Study on GE Medical System

GE Medical System began forming groups at its South Carolina factory in late 1986.

Team work meant a shift in responsibility from traditional management to employee

directed work teams. There was disbelief on the part of the employees. They did not

believe that the management would give them any power.

The employee directed teams was a success and the employees understood that the

management had a genuine interest in making the teams a success. The change in the

management structure from traditional to employee-directed demanded a change in the

culture of the factory.

There are today 26 employee-directed work teams in the factory. The teams are

involved in a wide variety of activities, ranging from routine production to problem

solving and special projects. Most employees say they see teamwork as a positive

development that has increased their output and the pride they have in their work. They

also feel that shift from traditional management to employee directed work teams has had

a positive effect on the culture of the factory because the plant manager often closely

work in teams.

The employee directed teams has changed the managers role from traditional to

coaching. Under the traditional role, the manager provided the solution to the problem athand. But under employee directed teams, he takes the problem to the team and act as a

coach in helping the team to arrive at a solution.


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functional team. Similarly, committees composed of members from across departmental

lines are another example of cross-functional teams.

Five steps to improve coordination in cross-functional team

1. Choosing the membership carefully

2. Clearly establishing the purpose of the team

3. Ensuring that everyone understands how the group will function

4. Conducting intensive team building up front so that everyone learns how to

interact effectively

5. Achieving noticeable results so that morale remains high and the members can see

the impact of their efforts.

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAM DIAGRAMS


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Advantages and disadvantages of cross-functional teams

ADVANTAGES

1. Helps an organisation to gain customer focus.

2. Helps an organisation to improve work efficiency.

3. Helps an organisation to achieve successful restructuring and reengineering of

work processes.

4. To foster a spirit of cooperation and collaboration within the organisation.5. It brings together the skills and ideas of employees working in different

departments of the organisation.

6. Enhances the ability of the organisation to solve problems and lead to better

decision making.


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7. Helps to enhance organisational productivity and encourage collaboration and

participation among people belonging to different departments in the organisation.

8. Empowers people within the organisation.

9. Greater scope for information

Cross-functional team require a wide range of information to reach their

decisions. They need to draw on information from all parts of an organizations

information base. This includes information from all functional departments. System

integration becomes important because it makes all information accessible through a

single interface. Therefore

Its quick & easy to work.

It triggers valuable discussions.

It helps visualize the team's strengths and weaknesses.

It encourages teamwork (how can we help each other succeed).

It helps people get to know each other better.

It takes into account the fact that people can (and often like to) broaden their

skills.

10. Greater depth of information

Cross-functional teams require information from all levels of management. The

teams may have their origins in the perceived need to make primarily strategic decisions,

tactical decisions, or operational decisions, but they will require all three types of

information. Almost all self-directed teams will need information traditionally used in

strategic, tactical, and operational decisions.

11. Greater range of users

Cross-functional teams consist of people from many parts of an organization.

Information must take a form that all users understand. Not only engineers use technicaldata and not only accountants use financial data and not only human resources personnel

use HR data. Technical, financial, marketing, and all other types of information must

come in a form that all members of a cross-functional team can understand.


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DISADVANTAGES

1. Time consuming

It is often time consuming as members learn to work with diversity and

complexity. It takes time to build trust and teamwork, especially among people from

different backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives.

2. Usually attack problems from multiple perspectives

Because members have different functional backgrounds, education & experience,

cross functional teams usually attack problems from multiple perspectives & generate

ideas & alternative solutions, all of which are especially important when trying to

innovate or do creative problem solving.

Cross Functional Teams at Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson relies on specific cross-functional teams to manage each line of

its motorcycles. These teams include Harley employees from design manufacturing, and

purchasing, as well as representatives from key outside suppliers. And IBM still makes

use of temporary cross-functional teams.

Cross Functional Teams at Kodak

Kodak management was successful in forming cross functional teams which was

just another effort to improve the overall efficiency of the organisation. It helped the

people from various departments across the organisation to pool out their ideas to

improve the various work processes and operational flows in the organisational structure.

The Cross Functional Teams established at Kodak was successful:

1. In building a shared vision and developing shared values and principles.

2. In creating a focus on customers.

3. In restructuring and re-engineering work practices.


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4. In identifying the best ways of operating.

5. In reducing operational costs.

6. In assessing business risks and opportunities.

7. In dealing with issues in accounting and administration.

8. In solving problems in Information Systems and Logistics.

To conclude with the introduction of cross functional teams, Kodak has been

able to empower its people and the whole organisation. Thus the team oriented

approach has helped Kodak to enhance organisational productivity and encourage

collaboration and participation among people belonging to different departments in

the organisation.

CONCLUSION

Cross-functional teams are an effective means for allowing people from diverse

areas within an organisation (or even between organisations) to exchange information,

develop new ideas and solve problems, and coordinate complex projects. Of course,

cross-functional teams are no picnic to manage. Their early stages of development are

often very time-consuming as members learn to work with diversity and complexity. It

takes time to build trust and teamwork, especially among people from different

backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives.


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VIRTUAL TEAM

Definition

A Virtual Teamalso known as a Geographically Dispersed Team (GDT) is

a group of individuals who work across time, space, and organizational boundaries

with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. Defined as a team that

relies on interactive technology to work together when separated by physical distance.

They have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, have

interdependent performance goals, and share an approach to work for which they hold

themselves mutually accountable. Geographically dispersed teams allow organizations to

hire and retain the best people regardless of location. A virtual team does not always

mean tele workers. Tele workers are defined as individuals who work from home. Many

virtual teams in todays organizations consist of employees both working at home and

small groups in the office but in different geographic locations.

As organizations aggressively pursue ways in which cut costs, decrease product

cycle times, increase customer responsiveness, and integrate more fully with suppliers,

many are creating and using virtual teams to achieve those objectives. Virtual teams can

meet without concern for space, time or physical presence. Team members use

communications links to perform their work, individual team tasks and roles.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPORATE WORLD

Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Compaq, And Procter & Gamble

have partially or fully eliminated traditional offices for providing customer services.

Virtual teams work together to service customer requests, complaints, and suggestions.GE is the first company who started implementing this. General Electric, as one

example, is installing real-time collaboration tools to over 300,000 employees around the

world as well as web applications that will connect thousands of suppliers and customers.


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Motorola has developed virtual organizations with several battery manufacturers. Thus,

it can focus its business on the delivery of un tethered communication while ensuring it

has the battery power to make such devices work.

The efficient and successful use of technology is one of an important factors

contributing to the success of virtual teams. Possible technologies to use with virtual

teams include desktop video-conferencing systems, collaborative software systems, and

internet/intranet systems. Each technology needs to be evaluated in terms of its

effectiveness and cost benefits regarding the generation of ideas and plans, solving

routine and complex problems, and negotiating interpersonal or other forms of conflict.

BASIC STRUCTURE OF VIRTUAL TEAM

ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL TEAMS

In a virtual team people are dispersed geographically or organizationally. Their primary

interaction is through some combination of electronic communication systems. They may

Technology


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never meet in traditional sense. Further team membership is often fluid, evolving

according to changing task requirements. It is having different advantages also:

It saves time, travel expenses, and provides access to experts.

Teams can be organized whether or not members are in proximity to one another.

Firms can use outside consultants without incurring expenses for travel, lodging,

and downtime.

Virtual team allow firms to expand their potential labor markets, enabling them to

hire and retain the best people regardless of their physical location, or, in the case of

workers with disabilities, whether or not they are able to commute to work.

Employees can more easily accommodate both personal and professional lives.

Dynamic team membership allows people to move from one project to another.

Employees can be assigned to multiple, concurrent teams.

Team communications and work reports are available online to facilitate swift

responses to the demands of a global market.

For example, veriphone uses so- called relay race to develop software products faster

than its competitors. Software engineers at the firms Dallas headquarters work a full day

on a project, then put their work product online on the companys intranet. Veriphone

engineers in Honolulu take up the project, and then post their counterparts in Bombay. As

the Bombay software engineers leave work, they transmit their work product

electronically back to headquarters in Dallas, where the originators are arriving for the

next days work. Electronic communications media make the relay race possible. Clients

benefit from the firms speedy response to their needs.

DISADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL TEAMS

The majordisadvantages of virtual teams are the lack of physical interaction-

with its associated verbal and nonverbal cues-and the synergies that often accompany

face-to-face communication. These deficiencies raise issues of trust. Trust is critical

in a virtual team because traditional social control based on authority gives way to


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self-direction and self-control. Members of virtual teams need to be sure that all

others will fulfill their obligations and behave in a consistent, predictable manner.

If the technology is not suitable the purpose of collaboration will not work.

The virtual team members must be carefully selected. If the members dont

have necessary skills, experience, work ethic and interpersonal skills it will affect the

effective team functioning.

CHALLENGES OF VIRTUAL TEAM

The major challenges are

Leaders have to coach, build trust, evaluate performance, and provide feedback. Since the virtual teams are geographically dispersed and use technology

links, leaders are challenged in performing their motivational team-building

supportive roles. Virtual team members performing work at any time, any place is

difficult to lead and manage in the traditional sense. Those charged with leading

virtual teams must be technologically linked themselves to members and must be

willing to permit a great deal of autonomy and interdependence to members.

The dispersion of virtual team members creates a challenge for leaders in

terms of creating a sense of team. Something intangible is lost when team

members do not have the opportunity to work and meet face-to-face.

The main challenge is the communication challenge. While many people can

converse in several languages, they might be uncomfortable with their use of

grammar and spelling.

Cultural differences: behavioral norms are often vastly different between

companies, professions, functions, or geographic. People of different cultures or

backgrounds share basic concepts but often view them from different angles and

perspectives.

Lack of technical skills.

Software and/or hardware incompatibility between team members.

Lack oftechnical support from other team members or organization.


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Varied writing skills because of differences in cultural background, language,

and education.

Uncertainty among team members about when to use the various

communication channels.

Natural disasters (members cannot access communication channels because of

power outages, disrupted phone lines, etc.)

Information overload.

VIRTUAL TEAMS: BENEFITS AND BARRIERS

Nothing is perfect. Whether virtual teaming will work or not depends on the individuals

in the team.

Benefits Barriers

Flexibility in balancing personal and

professional life.

Work may occur outside normal

business hours.

Cost savings on central office space Limited opportunity for daily

interactions.

Work goes where the employee goes. Less focus and more distractions.

Quick information gathering

technology using technology.

Greater focus investment in (training,

equipment, support)

Just in time feedback. Increased difficulty for

leaders/managers to motivate

employees.

Shared accountability with team

members.

More difficult to establish team spirit.

Increased knowledge base (access to

information and experiences to others).

Technological challenges.

Potential decrease in travel costs. Cultural barriers may be difficult to

overcome.

High autonomy and self direction. Social isolation.

Dynamic membership (team members

can shift in response to changing

project needs).

Individuals may feel less connection to

the overall organization and its vision.

Communication is often in writing

making documentation and retrieval

easy

Few non-verbal cues will result in

miscommunication and

misinterpretation.


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MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS

Managing virtual teams are similar like managing teamwork. New technology

requires us to rethink these dynamics because we don't have the option to use familiarapproaches. It gives us an opening to change the way we manage the people and work

process in general. The critical part of the question, "How can we manage teams

operating at a distance?" is really "How do we effectively support the collaborative

work of teams? Managing virtual teams is not about taking our old management

techniques and transposing them for delivery using new media. Rather, it's about

expanding our available tools to create new dynamics aligned with the best thinking

about supporting collaborative work.

A NEW MANAGEMENT MIND SET

There are some critical aspects of a virtual team manager's mindset that must shift in

order to be effective in contemporary organizations.

From To

Face-to-face is the best environment for

interaction and anything else is a

compromise.

Different kinds of environments can

support high quality interaction. What

matters is how you use them.Collaboration is what happens when teams

interact at a fixed time and space.

Collaboration happens in an ongoing,

boundary less way.

Being people-oriented is incompatible with

using technology.

Using technology in a people-oriented way

is possible and desirable.

When the communication process breaks

down, blame the technology.

When the communication process breaks

down, evaluate our management and

interaction strategies, not just the technical

tool.


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While Managers are leading a virtual team it will be important to:

Establish clear channels of communication with the team. (Such as when to

use voicemail, email, phone calls and face to face meetings).

Maintain focus on the team mission, goals, and objectives. Remind and realign

people often; be willing and able to define goals and objectives and manage

priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Help members connect with one another.

Establish a process for storing and retrieving critical team knowledge.

Work continuously to improve relationships among team members.

Prepare team members for virtual work challenges both technologically and

personally.

Help team members stay connected with the large organization. Communicate

the company vision, share new projects, and build links with other key

stakeholders.

Be aware of differences in perspectives and work practices.

CONCLUSION

Managing a virtual team meeting is not unlike managing a face-to-face team

meeting: fruitful experiences don't happen by chance. There has been a lot of excitement

about the potential of online networks to provide new environments for teams,

communities of practice, and learning. But virtual meeting experiences can be frustrating

and disappointing when interaction with others in the group results in information

overload, topic drift, or conversations that are just not all that valuable.

When a face-to-face meeting doesn't "work" managers tend to look at meeting

design and their role as facilitator for insights about why things didn't go the way he had

hoped. When using groupware and other technologies, managers tend to blame the

technology. Instead, managers need to extend their level of consciousness about group

dynamics to include understanding of what happens when people interact using new

media.


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Today, virtual teams are possible because technology allows them to exist. To the

extent that computer based technology makes possible communication over long

distances, the fact that the team members are far away from each other becomes less

important. The use of various alternative work arrangements is increasing. As the needs

of an increasingly diverse workforce grow, alternative arrangements can have a positive

appeal to both employers and employees. The managers have to take greater care while

working in the virtual teams.


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team development and leadership4

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