BEM 211 (Day 10): Team Processes & Decision-Making Part I

Key Take Aways

- Effective teams must go through a process to develop successfully (i.e., forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) - Groupthink, confirmation bias and wasting talent are common mistakes your team can fall victim to unless you develop process safeguards - Devil's advocate, 5 Whys, Inquiry vs. Advocacy - Creativity is enhanced through brainwriting, more than brainstorming

Enhancing Creativity/Creative decision making in teams

- Teams must be confident in their decision making but not so confident that they collectively feel invulnerable. - This calls for (1) team norms that encourage critical thinking as well as (2) team membership with sufficient diversity. (3) Checks and balances need to be in place to prevent one or two people from dominating the discussion. (4) The team should also be large enough to possess the collective knowledge to resolve the problem yet small enough that the team doesn't consume too much time or restrict individual input. 4 team structures that encourage creativity in a team setting: 1) brainstorming 2) brainwriting 3) electronic brainstorming 4) nominal group technique. - These four structures mainly emphasize idea creation (the central focus of creativity)

Team Roles

-Forming and reinforcing team roles: another important part of team development processes Role: a set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization (formal and informal) formal--> formal job responsibilities informal--> suit personality and values as well as wishes of other team members

Common Team Mistakes

1) Oversizing: Creating teams larger than 5-7 creates coordination difficulties, social loafing - Solution: "Optimum undermanning" = staffing a team with just short of ideal number can promote high commitment and effort 2) Overteaming: Creating teams for work that's more appropriate for individuals - Solution: Only use teams when the task requires interdependent contributions from multiple members 3) Group polarization (i.e., groupthink): Converging on one extreme approach instead of valuing multiple perspectives - Solution: Set norms of openness, challenging one another's views. Assign a "devil's advocate" at every meeting and rotate that person so that nobody gets labeled as the naysayer. 4) Wasting talent: Failing to involve all members - Solution: Divide up roles and responsibilities so that everyone can contribute.

Constraints on Team Decision making

1) Time constraints - teams take longer to make decisions than individuals - process losses (time organizing, coordinating, maintaining relationships) - production blocking: only one person can speak @ a time--> makes difficult to concentrate on own ideas+ ideas are fleeting + if you concentrate on fleeting idea you're paying less attention/missing potentially good ideas 2) Evaluation Apprehension: reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe others silently evaluating them - based on desire to create favorable-self presentation and need to protect self esteem - most common when meetings attended by people with dif levels of status/expertise or formal 360 performance evals conducted throughout year 3) Pressure to Conform: - high cohesion can create this - does keep group organized around common goals but may cause suppression of dissenting opinions --> when people do state dissent, others may try to persuade them their perception is wrong 4) Overconfidence (inflated/high team efficacy) - set more challenging goals and more motivated to achieve them--> both increase team performance - also make worse decisions and develop false sense of invulnerability - less vigilant when making decisions, party due to more positive than negative emotions during these events - engage in less constructive debate and are less likely to seek out or accept info located outside of team, also undermines quality of team decision - overconfidence = more common in high cohesion teams, = stronger when team has external threats/competition--> us vs. them, = inflated by mutually reinforcing beliefs of the team

Processes to Avoid Groupthink and Confirmation Bias

1) Use diagnostic, rather than confirming/leading questions: Example: "Can you give me three reasons why we shouldn't interview the entire department? vs. "We should interview the entire department, don't you think?" 2) Encourage counterfactual thinking ("What if?...") 3) Assign a Devil's advocate role & rotate 4) Use Toyota's "Five Whys" 5) Use Inquiry vs. Advocacy

Team Cohesion

6 important factors influencing team cohesion: 1) member similarity *note: depends on form of diversity--> found that Teams consisting of people from different job groups seem to gel together just as well as teams of people from the same job 2) team size - smaller generally better except when they lack enough members to perform required tasks 3) member interaction - regular interaction = good, high task interdependence 4) difficult entry - team is elite, hard to enter 5) team success - people more likely to attatch social identity to successful teams 6) external competition or challenges. note: *these factors reflect the individual's social identity with the group and beliefs about how team membership will fulfill personal needs.* PROS: of high cohesion 1) tend to perform better than those with low cohesion.-->team's existence depends on a minimal level of cohesion bc it motivates team members to remain members and to help the team achieve its mutually agreed-on objectives. 2) spend more time together, share info more frequently, and are more satisfied with each other. 3) provide each other with better social support in stressful situations and work to minimize dysfunctional conflict or resolve it quickly Relationship between team cohesion and team performance depends on two conditions. 1) Team cohesion has less effect on team performance when the team has low task interdependence. 2) Effect of cohesion depends on: whether the team's norms are compatible with or opposed to the organizational objectives - norms aligned + high cohesion = good, norms counterproductive + high cohesion = bad *NOTE: a team's performance will likely affect its cohesion, whereas a team's cohesion has less of an effect on its performance*

Brainstorming

Brainstorming: team event where participants try to think up as many ideas as possible. Has 4 rules to maximize the number and quality of ideas presented: (1) Speak freely—describe even the craziest ideas; (2) don't criticize others or their ideas; (3) provide as many ideas as possible—the quality of ideas increases with the quantity of ideas; and (4) build on the ideas that others have presented. - supposed to encourage divergent thinking while minimizing evaluation apprehension and other team dynamics problems HOWEVER, not always true unless experienced facilitator and participants who work together in a supportive culture. (still production block and evaluation apprehension)

Brainwriting

Brainwriting is a variation of brainstorming that minimizes the problem of production blocking by removing conversation during idea generation. - Many forms but common feature that individuals write down their ideas rather than verbally describe them. Version 1: participants write their ideas on cards and place them in the center of the table. At any time, participants can pick up one or more cards in the center to spark their thinking or further build (piggyback) on those ideas. Version 2: each person writes one idea on a card, then passes the card to the person on their right. The receiving person writes a new idea on a second card, both cards are sent to the next person, and the process is repeated. - limited research on brainwriting suggests that it produces more and better-quality ideas than brainstorming due to the lack of production blocking.

Electronic Brainstorming

Electronic brainstorming: similar to brainwriting but uses computer technology rather than handwritten cards to document and share ideas. - After receiving the question or issue, participants enter their ideas using special computer software. The ideas are distributed anonymously to other participants, who are encouraged to piggyback on those ideas. Team members eventually vote electronically on the ideas presented. - Face-to-face discussion usually follows. - Electronic brainstorming can be quite effective at generating creative ideas with minimal production blocking, evaluation apprehension, or conformity problems. - It can be superior to brainwriting because generated anonymously and viewed by other participants more easily. - Despite these numerous advantages, electronic brainstorming is rarely used because it is often considered too structured and technology-bound.

Nominal Group Technique

Nominal group technique: another variation of brainwriting that adds a verbal element to the process - participants are a group in name only during two of the three steps. - After the problem is described, team members silently and independently write down as many solutions as they can. - In the second stage, participants describe their solutions to the other team members, usually in a round-robin format. - As with brainstorming, there is no criticism or debate, although members are encouraged to ask for clarification of the ideas presented. In the third stage, participants silently and independently rank-order or vote on each proposed solution. - method tends to generate a higher number of ideas and better-quality ideas than do traditional interacting and possibly brainstorming groups. - However, production blocking and evaluation apprehension still occur to some extent. Training improves this structured approach to team decision making.

Team Norms

Norms: the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members. - Norms apply only to behavior, not to private thoughts or feelings. - norms exist only for behaviors that are important to the team. - directly reinforced through praise from high-status members, more access to valued resources, or other rewards available to the team. - often conform to prevailing norms without direct reinforcement or punishment bc identify with the group and want to align their behavior with the team's expectations. - The more closely the person's social identity is connected to the group, the more the individual conforms to norms How norms develop: 1) Norms develop when teams form because people need to anticipate or predict how others will act. 2) Norms also form as team members discover behaviors that help them function more effectively 3) experiences and values that members bring to the team Preventing and Changing Dysfunctional Team Norms: With new teams: 1) Establish Desirable norms when team is first formed 2) Select people with appropriate values. With existing teams: 1) leaders sometimes have the capacity to alter existing norms (speaking up, actively coaching to change norm) 2) Introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunctional norms. 3) if dysfunctional norms are deeply ingrained and the previous solutions don't work, then disband team

Self-directed vs. Virtual Teams

Self-directed teams (SDTs) are cross-functional groups that are organized around work processes, that complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and that have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks - potentially increase both productivity and job satisfaction. - Success of SDTs depends on 1) SDTs should be responsible for an entire work process, such as making an entire product or providing a service 2) have sufficient autonomy to organize and coordinate their work. 3) work site and technology support coordination and communication among team members and increase job enrichment. (Too often, management calls a group of employees a "team," yet the work layout, assembly-line structure, and other technologies isolate the employees from each other. Virtual teams: teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. - differ from traditional teams in two ways: (1) Their members are not usually co-located (do not work in the same physical area), and (2) due to their lack of co-location, members of virtual teams depend primarily on information technologies rather than face-to-face interaction to communicate and coordinate their work effort. - Teams have degrees of virtuality. Team virtuality increases with the geographic dispersion of team members, percentage of members who work apart, and percentage of time that members work apart Reasons virtual teams have become common (esp. in global businesses): 1) information technologies have made it easier than ever before to communicate and coordinate with people at a distance. 2) the shift from production-based to knowledge-based work Success Factors for Virtual Teams: - Face all the challenges of traditional teams, as well as the issues arising from time and distance. These challenges increase with the team's virtuality, particularly when the team exists for only a short time 1) virtual team members need to apply the effective team behaviors described earlier in this chapter. - They also require good communication technology skills, strong self-leadership skills to motivate and guide their behavior without peers or bosses nearby, and higher emotional intelligence so that they can decipher the feelings of other team members virtually 2) virtual teams should have a toolkit of communication channels (email, virtual whiteboards, videoconferencing, etc.) as well as the freedom to choose the channels that work best for them --> research suggests that communication channels gain and lose importance over time, depending on the task and level of trust. 3) need lots of structure. (clear operational objectives, documented work processes, and agreed-on roles and responsibilities) 4) should meet face-to-face fairly early in the team development process.

Accelerating Team Development through Team Building

Team building: consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. - attempts to speed up the team development process. - may be applied to new teams, but it is *more commonly introduced for existing teams that have regressed to earlier stages of team development due to membership turnover or loss of focus.* Types of team building interventions 1) Task focused: clarify the team's performance goals, increase the team's motivation to accomplish these goals, and establish a mechanism for systematic feedback on the team's goal performance 2) One that tries to improve the team's problem-solving skills. 3) Role-definition type: that clarifies and reconstructs each member's perceptions of her or his role as well as the role expectations that member has of other team members. - also helps the team develop shared mental models 4) Trust-building (MOST COMMON): helping team members learn more about each other, build trust in each other, and develop ways to manage conflict within the team. *the most effective team-building interventions seem to be those in which employees receive training on specific team skills, such as coordinating, conflict resolving, and communicating* Flaws with team-building interventions 1) Used as general solution to general team problems before health of team is soundly diagnosed (not using specific intervention to help specific problem) 2) often applied as one-shot tool used only when teams are just formed-->team building is an on going process 3) People forget team building occurs on the job, not just on an obstacle course or in the wilderness

Team Trust

Trust refers to positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk - Trust is ultimately perceptual; we trust others on the basis of our beliefs about their ability, integrity, and benevolence. - Trust is also an emotional event; we experience positive feelings toward those we trust. - Trust is built on three foundations: calculus, knowledge, and identification 1) (lowest) Calculus-based trust: represents a logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because they face sanctions if their actions violate reasonable expectations 2) Knowledge-based trust is based on the predictability of another team member's behavior. This predictability refers only to "positive expectations" as the definition of trust states, because you would not trust someone who tends to engage in harmful or dysfunctional behavior--> develops over time 3) (HIGHEST) Identification-based trust is based on mutual understanding and an emotional bond among team members. It occurs when team members think, feel, and act like each other. High-performance teams exhibit this level of trust because they share the same values and mental models - however, people also more reluctant to acknowledge a violation of this kind of trust bc hurts their self-concept Trust patterns/dynamics on a team : Employees typically join a team with a moderate or high level—not a low level—of trust in their new coworkers. - explanation for the initially high trust (called swift trust) in organizational settings is that people usually believe fellow team members are reasonably competent (knowledge-based trust) and they tend to develop some degree of social identity with the team (identification-based trust). ->tends to decrease over time which leads to employees become less forgiving and less cooperative toward others

Team Development

teams moving systematically from one stage to the next, but can also fall back to an earlier stage of development as new members join or other conditions disrupt the team's maturity Stages of Team Development 1) Forming: period of testing and orientation in which members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership. - People tend to be polite, will defer to authority, and try to find out what is expected of them and how they will fit into the team. 2) Storming: marked by interpersonal conflict as members become more proactive and compete for various team roles. - Members try to establish norms of appropriate behavior and performance standards. 3) Norming: team develops first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model. 4) Performing: By now, team members have learned to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts. - *In high-performance teams, members are highly cooperative, have a high level of trust in each other, are committed to group objectives, and identify with the team.* 5) Adjourning: when the team is about to disband. - Team members shift their attention away from task orientation to a relationship focus. Issues with this model of team development: 1) does not show that some teams remain in a particular stage longer than others 2) does not explain why teams sometimes regress back to earlier stages of development. 3) masks two sets of processes that are the essence of team development:* developing team identity* (view team as part of social identity) and *developing team mental models and coordinating routines* (developing habitual routines and forming shared or complimentary mental models).

What's a "red team"?

An uninvolved, 3rd party brought in to objectively evaluate and render their own verdict on the quality of the team's gathered evidence and proposed course of action - Often used by government officials and other senior leaders when making "BIG" decisions

Enhancing Team Creativity (class ppt)

Creativity = novel AND useful ideas - Use brainwriting more than brainstorming - Removes conversations during idea generation - Helps to avoid the problems of production blocking (i.e, only one person can speak at a time) and evaluation apprehension (i.e., feeling worried about how others view you and your ideas) - Result is more and better-quality ideas!

Team Processes

Team Processes: - third set of elements in the team effectiveness model, - includes 4 things: team development, norms, cohesion, and trust. - These elements continuously evolve.

pages

chap 7 , 136-147 Learning objectives Understand the stages of development that teams go through Understand the common mistakes teams make Know the processes teams can use to improve their decision-making quality and creativity