Teamwork

Chapter 14

Bateman and Snell

Learning Objectives

After studying Chapter 14, you will know: how teams contribute to your organization’s

effectiveness what makes the new team environment different

from the old how groups become teams why groups sometimes fail how to build an effective team how to manage your team’s relationships with other

teams how to manage conflict

The Contributions Of Teams

Force forcost reduction

Force forspeed

Building blockfor organization

structure

Effects onorganizations

Force forproductivity

Force forinnovation

Force forchange

Force forquality

Benefits Of Groups

•Accomplish tasks that could not be done by individuals alone

•Bring multiple skills and talents to bear on complex tasks

•Provide a vehicle for decision making that permits multiple views

•Provide a means for controlling individual behavior

•Facilitate changes in policies or procedures

•Increase organizational stability

For the organization For the individual•Aid in learning about the organization and its environment

•Aid in learning about oneself

•Provide help in gaining new skills

•Obtain valued rewards that are not accessible through individual initiative

•Directly satisfy important personal needs, especially social needs

The New Team Environment

Definitions working group - collection of people who work in the

same area or have been drawn together to undertake a task

do not necessarily come together as a unit and achieve significant performance improvements

team - 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

real teams are more fully integrated into the organizational structure

authority of teams is increasing

The New Team Environment (cont.)Types of teams

work teams - make or do things like manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service

are well defined and a clear part of the organization’s structure composed of a full-time, stable membership

project and development teams - work on long-term projects

disband when the work is completed parallel teams - operate separately from the regular

work structure on a temporary basis do work that is not normally done by the standard structure recommend solutions to specific problems do not have the authority to act

The New Team Environment (cont.)

Types of teams (cont.)management teams - coordinate and

provide direction to subunits integrate work among subunitsauthority based on hierarchical rank responsible for the overall performance of the

organization

The New Team Environment

•Managers determine and plan the work•Jobs are narrowly defined•Cross-training is viewed as inefficient•Most information is “management property”•Training for nonmanagers focuses on technical skills•Risk taking is discouraged•People work alone•Rewards based on individual performance•Managers determine “best methods”

Traditional environment Team environment•Managers and teams jointly determine and plan the work•Jobs require broad skills and knowledge•Cross-training is the norm•Information is freely shared•Continuous learning requires training for all •Encourage and support measured risk taking•People work together•Rewards based on contributions to the team and individual performance•Everyone works to improve methods and processes

The New Team Environment (cont.)Self-managed teams autonomous work groups in which workers are trained

to do all or most of the jobs in a unit have no immediate supervisor make decisions previously made by first-line

supervisors compared to traditionally managed teams, self

managed teams appear to: be more productive have lower costs provide better customer service have better safety records be more satisfying for members

The New Team Environment (cont.)

Self-managed teams (cont.) traditional work groups - have no managerial

responsibilities supervised by first-line manager

quality circles - voluntary groups of people drawn from various production teams who make suggestions about quality

have no authority to make decisions or execute semiautonomous work groups - make decisions

about managing and carrying out major production activities

still get outside support for quality control and maintenance

The New Team Environment (cont.)

Self-managed teams (cont.) autonomous work groups (self-managing

teams) - control decisions about and execution of a complete range of tasks

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

self-designing teams - control the design of the team

responsibilities comparable to those of autonomous work groups

How Groups Become Teams

Group activities forming - members lay the ground rules for what

types of behavior are acceptable storming - hostilities and conflict arise

people jockey for positions of power and status norming - members agree on shared goals

norms and closer relationships develop performing - group channels its energies into

performing its task declining - deterioration of a group adjourning - termination of a temporary group

How Groups Become Teams (cont.)Transnational teams work groups composed of multinational members

whose activities span multiple countries often are geographically dispersed and psychologically

distant work on highly complex projects of considerable

importance teams require several skills

advocacy skills - build team’s legitimacy catalytic skills - work with a variety constituents, build

commitment, reward members for contributions integrative skills - emphasize excellence, coordinate problem

solving, and measure progress and results

How Groups Become Teams (cont.)The passage of time groups are open to formative experiences at critical

periods forming period - rules, norms, and roles are established that

set long-lasting precedents midway period - occurs between initial meeting and a deadline

realization that time is becoming a scarce resource group must “get on with it” sufficient time to change the approach if necessary

Why groups sometimes fail not easy to build high-performance teams giving up control to teams is difficult for some

managers not knowing and doing what makes teams successful

Building Effective TeamsCriteria for team effectivenessproductive output - standards of quantity and

qualitysatisfaction of member needscommitment to work together - remain viable

with good prospects for future successes

Building Effective Teams (cont.)Motivating teamwork social loafing - 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

social facilitation - working harder when in a group than when working alone

occurs when individuals: are concerned with what others think of them and when they

want to maintain a positive self-image know each other and can observe each other have clear performance goals and culture supportive of teamwork

Building Effective Teams (cont.)Motivating teamwork (cont.) generated by designing the team’s task to be motivating

the task is meaningful team members accountable to one another, not just the boss

best motivation is tying rewards to team performance assumes that performance can be measured validly differential rewards for member’s contributions should be made

by the team itself

Member contributions members should be selected and trained to be effective teams require technical, problem-solving and decision-

making, and interpersonal skills

Building Effective Teams (cont.)

Normsshared beliefs about how people should

think and behave from the organization’s standpoint, norms

can be positive or negativegenerally apply to all team members

Building Effective Teams (cont.)Roles different sets of expectations for how different

individuals should behave two important sets of roles must be performed

task specialist - have more job-related skills and abilities have more decision-making responsibilities provide instructions and advice

maintenance specialist - develop and maintain harmony

team leaders - build commitment and confidence manage relationships with outsiders deal with obstacles in the way of team performance create opportunities for team members

Building Effective Teams (cont.)

Roles (cont.) coach - management representative to whom the

team reports not a true member of the team helps the team understand its role in the organization acts as a resource to the team

Cohesiveness degree to which:

the team is attractive to its members members are motivated to remain in the team members influence one another

Building Effective Teams (cont.)Cohesiveness (cont.) Importance of cohesiveness

contributes to member satisfaction impacts performance depending upon the task and team

norms

The task in decision making tasks, cohesive team subject to groupthink

to make a good decision, team should establish a norm of constructive disagreement

if task involves producing tangible output, cohesiveness can enhance performance

Performance norms - cohesive groups are more effective at norm enforcement

Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, And Group Performance

Low High

Performance Norms

High

Low

Coh

esiv

enes

s Poor goal attainment andtask performance

Moderate goal attainmentand task performance

High goal attainment(group’s perspective)

and lowest task performance(management’s perspective)

High goal attainmentand task performance

Building Cohesiveness And High Performance Norms

Help team succeedand publicize its

successes

Be a participative

leader

Recruit memberswith similarattributes

TeamCohesiveness

andPerformance

High entranceand socialization

standards

Tie rewards toteam performance

Present a challenge from

outside the team

Keep the teamsmall

Managing Lateral Relationships

Intergroup conflict some conflict may be constructive for the organization many things cause great potential for destructive

conflict tensions and anxieties likely to arise in teams that are:

demographically diverse from different parts of the organization composed of contrasting personalities

teams must: accept differences and conflict learn to use differences to their advantage

Managing Lateral Relationships (cont.)

Managing conflictaim is to make conflict productivepeople benefit from conflict when:

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 in the future

don’t allow dysfunctional conflict to buildprocedural justice is important

Managing Lateral Relationships (cont.)

Conflict styles two dimensions used to distinguish among styles

assertiveness - how much people strive to satisfy their own concerns

cooperativeness - degree of focus on satisfying other party’s concerns

different styles are necessary at different times collaboration is the ideal approach when both sets of

concerns are valid, a creative solution is needed, and when commitment to the solution is vital for implementation

superordinate goals - higher-level organizational goals toward which all teams should be striving

Uncooperative Cooperative

Cooperativeness

Unassertive

Assertive

Ass

erti

ven

ess

Competing Collaborating

Compromising

Avoiding Accommodating

Conflict Management Strategies