455, CH 14, Teamwork

Motivating Teamwork

****Sometimes people work less hard and are less productive when they are members of a group. Such social loafing occurs when individuals believe that their contributions are not important, others will do the work for them, their lack of effort will go undetected, or they will be the lone sucker if they work hard but others don't. Perhaps you have seen social loafing in some of your student teams.58 Conversely, sometimes individuals work harder when they are members of a group than when they are working alone. This social facilitation effect occurs because individuals usually are more motivated when others are present, they are concerned with what others think of them, and they want to maintain a positive self-image. A social facilitation effect is maintained—and a social loafing effect can be avoided—when group members know each other, they can observe and communicate with one another, clear performance goals exist, the task is meaningful to the people working on it, they believe that their efforts matter and others will not take advantage of them, and the culture supports teamwork. Thus, under ideal circumstances, everyone works hard, contributes in concrete ways to the team's work, and is accountable to teammates. Accountability to one another, rather than just to the boss, is an essential aspect of good teamwork. Accountability inspires mutual commitment and trust.60 Trust in your teammates—and their trust in you—may be the ultimate key to effectiveness. Accountability to one another, rather than just to the boss, is an essential aspect of good teamwork. Team effort also comes from designing the team's task to be motivating. Techniques for creating motivating tasks appear in the guidelines for job enrichment discussed in Chapter 13. Tasks are motivating when they use a variety of member skills and provide high task variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and performance feedback. Ultimately, teamwork is motivated by tying rewards to team performance.61 Further, combining individual and shared rewards can reduce social loafing and increase team performance.62 If team performance can be measured validly, team-based rewards can be given accordingly. It is not easy to move from a system of rewards based on individual performance to one based on team performance and cooperation. It also may not be appropriate unless people are truly interdependent and must collaborate to attain true team goals.63 Team-based rewards, provided by about 30 percent of companies, often are combined with regular salaries and rewards based on individual performance.64 At Whole Foods Market, members (employees) work in teams and receive bonuses based on labor costs and sales of their section of their store.65 If team performance is difficult to measure validly, then desired behaviors, activities, and processes that indicate good teamwork can be rewarded. Individuals in teams can be given differential rewards based on teamwork indicated by each person's active participation, cooperation, leadership, and other contributions to the team. If team members are to be rewarded differentially, such decisions are better not left only to the boss.66 They should be made by the team itself, through peer ratings or multirater evaluation systems. Why? Team members are in a better position to observe, know, and make valid reward allocations.

LO 5 - Describe how to build an effective team.

Create a team with a high-performance focus by establishing a common purpose, translating the purpose into measurable team goals, designing the team's task so it is intrinsically motivating, designing a team-based performance measurement system, and providing team rewards. Work to develop a common understanding of how the team will perform its task. Make it clear that everyone has to work hard and contribute in concrete ways. Establish mutual accountability and build trust among members. Examine the team's strategies periodically and be willing to adapt. Make sure members contribute fully by selecting them appropriately, training them, and ensuring that all important roles are carried out. Take steps to establish team cohesiveness and high-performance norms.

LO 1 - Discuss how teams can contribute to an organization's effectiveness.

Teams are building blocks for organization structure and forces for productivity, quality, cost savings, speed, change, and innovation. They potentially provide many benefits for both the organization and individual members.

LO 6 - List methods for managing a team's relationships with other teams.

Don't manage inside the team only. Manage the team's relations with outsiders, too. Perform important roles such as gatekeeping, informing, parading, and probing. Identify the types of lateral role relationships you have with outsiders. This can help coordinate efforts throughout the work system.

Lateral Role Relationships

To repeat—teams do not function in a vacuum; they are interdependent with other teams. These interdependencies require coordination and leadership.97 To understand the process and make it more productive, it helps to know the different types of lateral role relationships . Different teams, like different individuals, have roles to perform.

accommodation

accommodation A style of dealing with conflict involving cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one's own interests.

Groups become increasingly attractive to their members as success increases. The group's ______ then trends to increase: a. deviance b. conformity c. cohesiveness d. diversity

c. cohesiveness

Group members tend to experience conflict and disagreement during the ______ stage of group development: a. norming b. adjourning c. forming d. storming e. performing

d. storming

self-designing teams

self-designing teams Teams with the responsibilities of autonomous work groups, plus control over hiring, firing, and deciding what tasks members perform.

Conflict resolution from mediation can help the parties involved improve their (check all that apply): a. job descriptions b. problem-solving skills c. working relationships d. workflow management e. communication skills

b. problem-solving skills c. working relationships e. communication skills (mediation helps people improve interpersonal skills)

Which of the following conflict management approaches have recently been found to negatively affect performance in the electronic and virtual team environments (Check all that apply) a. accommodation b. compromise c. collaboration d. avoidance

b. compromise d. avoidance

Which of the following statements about conflict in the workplace is true: a. conflict is usually about ideas rather than personalities. b. conflict is always negative and should be avoided in organizations. c. conflict within groups tends to create high cohesiveness. d. some conflict is constructive for the organization

d. some conflict is constructive for the organization

Retaining What You Learned

In Chapter 14, you learned that teams can help organizations be more effective, productive, and innovative. Compared to the past, teams now have more authority and may be self-managed. Teams come in several shapes and sizes, including work teams, project and development teams, parallel teams, management teams, transnational teams, and virtual teams. Groups that keep developing may go through stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing. A group generally becomes a team when team members commit to a purpose, pursue goals, and hold themselves accountable to one another. Moving from a traditional structure to a team-based approach tends to be challenging for many companies. Ways to build high-performance teams include establishing a common purpose, setting measurable goals, and making sure everyone works hard and contributes in meaningful ways. Team members perform important roles such as gatekeeping, informing, parading, and probing. Inevitably, conflict arises on teams. Five basic interpersonal approaches to managing conflict are avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competition, and collaboration. Techniques for managing conflict between other parties include acting as a mediator

What characteristics of performance goals will help improve team performance (check all that apply): a. performance should be defined by collective end products b. goals should encourage members to compete with each other c. difficult goals should be linked to specific incentives. d. goals should be team-based.

a. performance should be defined by collective end products c. difficult goals should be linked to specific incentives. d. goals should be team-based.

Conflict is productive when it results in which of the following (check all that apply): a. a manager steps in with a decision b. work relationships are strengthened c. a new solution is implemented d. team members share a sense of loss

b. work relationships are strengthened c. a new solution is implemented

Fast-forming, fast-acting, temporary groups are unable to spend time jockeying for status or naturally developing processes. As such, it is important for members to be allowed to speak freely and honestly without worrying that others will criticize them. This is known as: a. autonomous work groups b. empowerment c. the norming stage d. psychological safety

d. psychological safety

Culture aside, any team or individual has several options regarding how to deal with conflicts

Culture aside, any team or individual has several options regarding how to deal with conflicts.106 These personal styles of dealing with conflict, shown in Exhibit 14.5, differ based on how much people strive to satisfy their own concerns (the assertiveness dimension) and how much they focus on satisfying the other party's concerns (the cooperation dimension). For example, a common reaction to conflict is avoidance. Here, people do nothing to satisfy themselves or others. They ignore the problem by doing nothing at all, or address it by merely smoothing over or deemphasizing the disagreement. This, of course, fails to solve the problem or clear the air. In a large retail company, employees in the marketing department were tired of dealing with the limits placed on them by the security team of the company's information technology (IT) department. Marketing wanted more communication with consumers, while IT security was obsessed with protecting the company's data from unauthorized access. Avoiding direct conflict, but feeling good about taking action, the marketing group set up a website without telling anyone in IT security.107 Accommodation means cooperating on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one's own interests. Compromise involves moderate attention to both parties' concerns, being neither highly cooperative nor highly assertive. This style results in satisficing Page 420 but not optimizing solutions. Competing is when people focus strictly on their own wishes and are unwilling to recognize the other person's concerns. Finally, collaboration emphasizes both cooperation and assertiveness. The goal is to maximize satisfaction for both parties. At the retail company in the previous example, a consulting firm called Solutionary discovered the website secretly created by the marketing group during a routine test of the company's computer network. The consultants hacked into the company's network and altered some information including some store prices. Knowing this would be simple for an outsider to do, the consultants used this to bring together the IT security people and the marketing people to find a solution that would meet marketing goals without compromising the company's data.108 Imagine you and a friend want to go to a movie together, and you have different movies in mind. If he insists that you go to his movie, he is showing the competing style. If you agree, even though you prefer another movie, you are accommodating. If one of you mentions a third movie that neither of you is excited about but both of you are willing to live with, you are compromising. If you realize you don't know all the options, do some research, and find another movie that you're both enthusiastic about, you are collaborating. Different approaches are necessary at different times.109 For example, competing can be necessary for cutting costs or dealing with other scarce resources. Compromise may be useful when people are under time pressure, when they need to achieve a temporary solution, or when collaboration fails. People should accommodate when they learn they are wrong or to minimize loss when they are outmatched. Even avoiding may be appropriate if the issue is trivial or resolving the conflict should be someone else's responsibility. But when the conflict concerns important issues, when both sets of concerns are valid and important, when a creative solution is needed, and when commitment to the solution is vital to implementation, collaboration is the ideal approach. Collaboration is an open-minded discussion aimed at making the conflict constructive rather than destructive,110 and includes airing feelings and opinions, addressing all concerns, and not letting personal attacks interfere with problem solving. An important technique is to invoke superordinate goals—higher-level organizational goals toward which everyone should be striving and that ultimately need to take precedence over personal or unit preferences.111 Collaboration offers the best chance of reaching mutually satisfactory solutions based on the ideas and interests of all parties and of maintaining and strengthening work relationships.

Team effectiveness is defined by three criteria:

1. Team productivity. The output of the team meets or exceeds the standards of quantity and quality expected by the customers, inside and outside the organization, who receive the team's goods or services. 2. Member satisfaction. Team members realize satisfaction of their personal needs. 3. Member commitment. Team members remain committed to working together again; that is, the group doesn't burn out and disintegrate after a grueling project. Looking back, the members are glad they were involved. In other words, effective teams remain viable and have good prospects for repeated success in the future.

Types of Teams

1. Work Teams 2. Management Teams 3. Parallel Teams 4. Project Teams 5. Action Teams Your organization may have hundreds of groups and teams, and the variety of different types is vast.14 Following are a few of the most common.15 Work teams make or do things such as manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service. They typically are well defined, a clear part Page 405 of the formal organization structure, and composed of a full-time, stable membership. Work teams are what most people think of when they think of teams in organizations.16 Project and development teams work on long-term projects, sometimes over a period of years. They have specific assignments, such as research or new product development, and members usually must contribute expert knowledge and judgment. These teams work toward a one-time product, disbanding once their work is completed. Then new teams are formed for new projects. Parallel teams operate separately from the regular work structure of the firm on a temporary basis. Members often come from different units or jobs and are asked to do work that is not being done by the standard structure. Their charge is to recommend solutions to specific problems. They usually do not have authority to act, however. Examples include task forces and quality or safety teams formed to study a particular problem. For example, in response to the United States Department of Education and Justice's recent decision to "rescind guidance regarding transgender students," members of Congress relaunched a bi-partisan task force to help preserve the rights of transgender students.17 Management teams coordinate and provide direction to the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits.18 The management team is based on authority stemming from hierarchical rank and is responsible for the overall performance of the business unit. At the top of the organization resides the executive management team that establishes strategic direction and manages the firm's overall performance. Transnational teams are composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries.19 Such teams differ from other work teams by being multicultural and by often being geographically dispersed, being psychologically distant, and working on highly complex projects having considerable impact on company objectives. Transnational teams tend to be virtual teams, communicating electronically more than face to face, although other types of teams may operate virtually as well. Virtual teams face difficult challenges: building trust, cohesion, and team identity, and overcoming the isolation of virtual team members.20 Exhibit 14.1 suggests ways that managers can improve the effectiveness of virtual teams. As discussed in "Multiple Generations at Work," universities are experimenting with ways to train students to work effectively in global virtual teams.

Being a Mediator

Managers spend a lot of time trying to resolve conflict between other people. You already may have served as a mediator, a third party intervening to help settle a conflict between other people. Third-party intervention, done well, can improve working relationships and help the parties improve their own conflict management, communication, and problem-solving skills. Some insight comes from a study of human resource (HR) managers and the conflicts with which they deal.113 HR managers encounter every type of conflict imaginable: interpersonal difficulties from minor irritations to jealousy to fights; operations issues, including union issues, work assignments, overtime, and sick leave; discipline over infractions ranging from drug use and theft to sleeping on the job; sexual harassment and racial bias; pay and promotion issues; and feuds or strategic conflicts among divisions or individuals at the highest organizational levels. HR managers encounter every type of conflict imaginable. In the study, the HR managers successfully settled most of the disputes. These managers typically follow a four-stage strategy, summarized in Exhibit 14.6. They investigate by interviewing the disputants and others and gathering more information. While talking with the disputants, they seek both parties' perspectives, remaining as neutral as possible. The discussion should stay issue oriented, not personal. They review the findings to determine how best to resolve the dispute, often in conjunction with the disputants' bosses. They do not assign blame prematurely; at this point they explore solutions. Page 421 They take action by applying solutions and explaining their decisions and the reasoning, and advise or train the disputants to avoid future incidents. And they follow up by making sure everyone understands the solution, documenting the conflict and the resolution, and monitoring the results by checking back with the disputants and their bosses. Throughout, the objectives of the HR people are to be fully informed so that they understand the conflict; to be active and assertive in trying to resolve it; to be as objective, neutral, and impartial as humanly possible; and to be flexible by modifying their approaches according to the situation. Here are some other recommendations for managing conflict well.114 Don't allow dysfunctional conflict to build, or hope or assume that it will go away. Address it before it escalates. Try to resolve it, and if the first efforts don't work, try others. And remember our earlier discussion of procedural justice (Chapter 13). Even if disputants are not happy with your decisions, it helps to strive for fairness, making a good-faith effort, and giving them a voice in the proceedings. Caring about others' goals as well as your own will help ensure a collaborative process. Remember, too, that you may be able to ask HR specialists to help with difficult conflicts. Exhibit 14.6 A Four-Stage Model of Dispute Resolution SOURCE: Adapted from Blum, M. and Wall Jr., J. A., "HRM: Managing Conflicts in the Firm," Business Horizons, May-June 1997, pp. 84-87.

LO 4 - Explain why groups sometimes fail.

Teams do not always work well. Some companies underestimate the difficulties of moving to a team-based approach. Teams require training, empowerment, and a well-managed transition to make them work. Groups often fail to become effective teams unless managers and team members commit to the idea, understand what makes teams work, and implement appropriate practices.

Onward: Management in Action- COHESIVENESS AND CONFLICT AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET

What unifies employees at Whole Foods Market is the sense of mission and shared values. Team members develop a sense of purpose, and the team monitors performance, making sure everyone contributes. In addition, unlike many retailers, Whole Foods schedules most of its employees for full-time work; this helps them learn about their jobs, build stronger relationships, and develop a greater commitment to the organization. A challenge to cohesiveness, however, is one of the very values the company espouses: diversity. Whole Foods stresses its commitment to hiring employees from many different backgrounds. Compared with other supermarkets, its dress code offers wide latitude for personal style. To counteract misunderstandings that can occur when people come from different backgrounds and express themselves differently, the company expects team members to communicate frequently and respectfully and to show appreciation for what others contribute. CEO John Mackey sees a role for competition as well as collaboration. The company encourages teams to compete with one another to be best at what they do. For example, the produce teams might strive to have the biggest sales increase in their region or among all the company's stores. The glory of being the best Whole Foods produce team is a compelling motivator, with or without a bonus. As team members collaborate in trying to outdo other teams, they build the sense of identity Mackey sees in what he considers the company's strongest teams. "The best part of my job is developing my team members and helping them on the path of success. . . . Nothing makes me happier than seeing them start to move up the ranks and get more and more excited about Whole Foods and our products," says Leah McFadden, a team leader in the cheese department in Los Altos, California. Beyond this kind of desirable competition among teams, conflicts do occur within teams. In one incident that recently made national news, two team members at a store in Albuquerque were suspended (with pay) after they became upset during a team meeting. At the meeting, discussion turned to the men's use of Spanish at work. The two men interpreted statements by the team leader to mean they were forbidden from speaking Spanish while on the job, and they became angry. Management saw their anger as "rude and disrespectful both in an office and in the store in front of customers," so the two were suspended. Through official statements, Whole Foods said it uses English as its "default" language, especially for safety matters, but does not forbid the speaking of other languages. It added that its leadership team would soon review the company's language policy.118 How does Whole Foods promote team cohesiveness? What else can it do? How should Whole Foods manage the conflict in its Albuquerque store? What should it do to minimize similar conflicts in the future? In 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods. How is it doing, and how has the culture changed or remained the same?

team maintenance role

team maintenance role Individual who develops and maintains team harmony.

Building Cohesiveness and High-Performance Norms Page 417

So, managers should build teams that are cohesive and have high-performance norms. The following actions can help create such teams:85 1. Recruit members with similar attitudes, values, and backgrounds. Similar individuals are more likely to get along with one another. Don't do this, though, if the team's task requires heterogeneous skills and inputs. For example, a homogeneous committee or board might make poor decisions because it will lack different information and viewpoints and may succumb to groupthink. Educational diversity and national diversity provide more benefits than limitations to groups' information use and application.86 2. Maintain high entrance and socialization standards. Teams and organizations that are difficult to get into have more prestige. Individuals who survive a difficult interview, selection, or training process will be proud of their accomplishment and feel more attachment to the team. 3. Keep the team small (but large enough to get the job done). The larger the group, the less important members may feel. Small teams make individuals feel like large contributors. Amazon uses a two-pizza rule when deciding how many people should be on a team. If two pizzas can feed the team (usually between 5 and 8 members), then the team is not too big.87 4. Help the team succeed, and publicize its successes. You can empower teams as well as individuals.88 Be a path-goal leader who facilitates success; the experience of winning brings teams closer together. Then, if you inform superiors of your team's successes, members will believe they are part of an important, prestigious unit. Teams that get into a good performance track continue to perform well as time goes on; groups that don't often enter a downward spiral in which problems compound over time.89 5. Be a participative leader. Participation in decisions gets team members more involved with one another and striving toward goal accomplishment. Too much autocratic decision making from above can alienate the group from management. 6. Present a challenge from outside the team. Competition with other groups makes team members band together to defeat the enemy (witness what happens to school spirit before a big game against an arch-rival). Some of the greatest teams in business and in science have been focused on winning a competition.90 ****But don't you become the outside threat. If team members dislike you as a boss, they will become more cohesive—but their performance norms will be against you, not with you. 7. Tie rewards to team performance. To a large degree, teams are motivated just as individuals are—they do the activities that are rewarded. Make sure that high-performing teams get the rewards they deserve and that poorly performing groups get fewer rewards. Bear in mind that not just monetary rewards but also recognition for good work are powerful motivators. Recognize and celebrate team accomplishments. The team will become more cohesive and perform better to reap more rewards. Performance goals will be high, the organization will benefit from higher team motivation and productivity, and the individual needs of team members will be better satisfied. Ideally, being a member of a high-performing team, recognized as such throughout the organization, becomes a badge of honor.91 Page 417 But don't forget: strong cohesiveness encouraging too much agreeableness can be dysfunctional. For problem solving and decision making, the team should establish norms promoting an open, constructive atmosphere including honest disagreement over issues without personal conflict and animosity.92

teaming

teaming A strategy of teamwork on the fly, creating many temporary, changing teams.

A group with high cohesiveness and high-performance norms will most likely have which level of task performance: a. high b. moderate c. zero d. low

a. high

Frank's team is beginning to develop camaraderie with one another. They are at about the halfway point in the project life cycle, and the team has refocused on its goals. Frank's team is therefore in the ____ stage: a. norming b. forming c. storming d. performing

a. norming

John is asked by his team to request some additional benefits from management for the extra time being spent on a project. Which of the following traits wold help John in assuming this leadership role (check all that apply): a. persuading b. dictating c. relating d. scouting

a. persuading c. relating d. scouting

Improved work relations and new solutions are results of which kind of conflict: a. productive b. avoiding c. rewarding d. uncooperative

a. productive

Which of the following teams have control over whom to hire, whom to fire, and what tasks the team will perform: a. self-designing teams b. autonomous work groups c. traditional work teams d. mentor groups

a. self-designing teams

Autonomous work groups in which workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs in a unit and make decisions previously made by supervisors are called: a. self-managed teams b. traditional work groups c. parallel teams d. transnational teams

a. self-managed teams

Which of the following help transform groups into true teams (check all that apply): a. the passage of time b. basic group processes c. team development activities d. restricting support and training

a. the passage of time b. basic group processes c. team development activities

work teams

work teams Teams that make or do things like manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service.

The concept of teaming refers to the creation of: a. teams formed by consultants b. long-term teams c. changing teams d. a single, dominant team

c. changing teams

Transnational teams are work teams composed of ____ members who activities span _____: a. domestic; multiple countries b. international; a single country c. national; a single country d. multinational; multiple countries

d. multinational; multiple countries

Shared beliefs concerning behavior that most group members follow is the definition of group: a. standard b. policies c. identity d. norms

d. norms

gatekeeper

gatekeeper A team member who keeps abreast of current developments and provides the team with relevant information.

virtual teams

virtual teams Teams that are physically dispersed and communicate electronically more than face-to-face.

Bottom Line

Cohesive groups are better than non-cohesive groups at attaining the goals they want to attain; as a manager, you need to ensure that your team's goals represent good business results. What happens if a team leader builds a cohesive team but fails to set the right goals?

The Importance of Cohesiveness

Cohesiveness is important for two primary reasons. First, it contributes to member satisfaction. In a cohesive team, members communicate and get along well with one another. They feel good about being a part of the team. Even if their jobs are unfulfilling or the organization is oppressive, people gain some satisfaction from enjoying their co-workers. Second, cohesiveness has a major impact on performance. A study of manufacturing teams showed that performance improvements in both quality and productivity occurred in the most cohesive unit, whereas conflict within another team prevented any quality or productivity improvements.80 Sports fans read about this all the time. When teams are winning, players talk about the team being close, getting along well, and knowing one another's games. In contrast, players attribute losing to problems between teammates or general lack of teamwork. Cohesiveness clearly can have a positive effect on performance.81 But this interpretation is simplistic; exceptions to this intuitive relationship do occur. Tightly knit work groups also can be disruptive to the organization, such as when they sabotage the assembly line, get their boss fired, or enforce low performance norms. When does high cohesiveness lead to good performance, and when does it result in poor performance? The ultimate outcome depends on the task and on whether the group has high or low performance norms.

Contributions of Teams 2

Companies are increasingly using teams to achieve competitive advantage.5 Used properly, teams can be powerfully effective as a building block for organization structure. Organizations such as Semco, W. L. Gore, and Kollmorgen are structured entirely around teams. 3M's breakthrough products emerge through the use of teams that are small entrepreneurial businesses within the larger corporation. Teams can increase productivity, improve quality, and reduce costs. At Massachusetts-based manufacturer FLEXcon, teams of employees applying the lean principles described in Chapter 9 significantly increased productivity and decreased energy consumption.6 At Nucor's steel plant in Decatur, Alabama, the general manager credits teamwork for high productivity and improved safety.7 Teams also can enhance speed and be powerful forces for innovation, change, and creativity.8 Amazon, 3M, Boeing, and many other companies use teams to create new products faster. Cisco relies on teams to keep the firm competitive in the ever-changing field of technology. CEO John Chambers states: "We compete against market transitions, not competitors. Product transitions used to take five to seven years; now they take one to two."9 To ensure competitiveness of its teams, Cisco is redesigning its talent management practices to optimize team performance, develop team leaders, plan for succession management, and transfer talent between teams.10 Teams also provide many benefits for their members.11 The team is a very useful learning mechanism. Members learn about the company and themselves, and they acquire new skills and performance strategies. The team can satisfy important personal needs, such as affiliation and esteem. Other needs are met as team members receive tangible organizational rewards that they could not have achieved working alone. Moreover, teams help individuals develop their networks.12 Teams can enhance speed in decision making and be powerful forces for innovation, change, and creativity. Team members can provide one another with feedback; identify opportunities for growth and development; and train, coach, and mentor.13 A marketing representative can learn about financial modeling from a colleague on a new product development team, and the financial expert can learn about consumer marketing. Experience working together in a team, and developing strong problem-solving capabilities, is a vital supplement to specific job skills or functional expertise. And-a big advantage-you can transfer these skills to new positions.

LO 2 - Describe different types of teams.

Compared with traditional work groups that were closely supervised, today's teams have more authority and often are self-managed. Teams now are used in many more ways, for many more purposes, than in the past. Types of teams include work teams, project and development teams, parallel teams, management teams, transnational teams, and virtual teams. Work teams range from traditional groups with low autonomy to self-designing teams with high autonomy.

Teaming Challenges

Fast-forming, fast-acting, temporary groups do not have the luxury of time to allow all necessary team processes to develop slowly and naturally. Practices that are particularly helpful in this context40 include (1) emphasizing the team's purpose, including why it exists, what's at stake, and what its shared values are; (2) building psychological safety, making clear that people need to and can freely speak up, be honest, disagree, offer ideas, raise issues, share their knowledge, ask questions, or show fallibility without fear that others will think less of them or criticize them; (3) embracing failure, understanding that mistakes are inevitable, errors should be acknowledged, and learning as we go is a way to create new knowledge while we execute; and (4) putting conflict to work by explaining how we arrive at our views, expressing interest in one another's thinking and analyses, and attempting fully to understand and capitalize on others' diverse perspectives. The leader, and team members who want to help the team perform well, should ask for, expect, and model these behaviors.

Match each stage of group development for virtual teams (on the left) with its description (on the right): Left: Forming Stage, Norming Stage, Storming Stage, & Preforming Stage Right: a. members have unbridled optimism b. member optimism turns into reality shock c. members refocus and recommit d. members show the discipline needed to meet a deadline

Forming Stage= a. members have unbridled optimism Norming Stage= c. members refocus and recommit Storming Stage= b. member optimism turns into reality shock Preforming Stage= d. members show the discipline needed to meet a deadline

Social Enterprise Co-working Reaches a New level

Freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers who prefer not to work at home often turn to nontraditional work locations to get their work done. Growing in popularity since the mid-2000s, co-working offers space on a temporary basis (daily, weekly, monthly) in which to work and connect with other people. Such interactions facilitate the exchange of business ideas, advice, and new project opportunities. "Having a place that's relaxed and comfortable is very good for creative type work," says David James, cofounder of Cowork Café. "There's a certain feeling that you get in a place like this you can't get in an office-type building." One new co-working trend is to use space that is typically empty during the workday, such as high-end restaurants that are open to the public only at dinnertime. A start-up called Spacious offers such space in several New York City restaurants. Another option is to use surplus retail space; a handful of Staples stores in the Boston area offer workspaces for rent in a partnership with a co-working company called Workbar. Co-working providers that share restaurant or retail space must limit user benefits to avoid disrupting the intended use of the location. Others that offer their own space now offer lockers and storage space, dedicated workspaces (usually for a premium), and a growing list of amenities such as gyms, cafés and bars, and skills classes and workshops. As office equipment shrinks in size from desktops to tablets and smartphones, and as the product of work becomes digital more than physical, the market for co-working space is growing rapidly, especially with so many freelancers and entrepreneurs making their way in the "gig economy." But even some larger companies like Cisco and KPMG are housing their employee teams in co-working spaces, to take advantage of an atmosphere that can foster communication, innovation, and collaborative working relationships.69 Questions Do you think co-working can help entrepreneurs or remote workers feel like part of a team? Could this be important? Why or why not? What do you think the owners of co-working spaces can do to promote collaboration and information sharing among their clients?

Critical Periods

Groups pass through critical periods, or times when they are particularly open to formative experiences.38 The first such critical period is in the forming stage, at the first meeting, when the group establishes rules and roles that set longer-lasting precedents. A second critical period is the midway point between the initial meeting and a deadline (such as completing a project or making a presentation). At this point, the group has enough experience to understand its work; it comes to realize that time is becoming a scarce resource and it must get on with it; and there is enough time left to change its approach if necessary. In the initial meeting, the group should establish desired norms, roles, and other determinants of effectiveness that are discussed throughout this chapter. At the second critical period (the midpoint), groups should renew or open lines of communication with outside constituencies. The group can use fresh information from its external environment to revise its approach to performing its task and ensure that it meets customer needs. Without these activities, groups may get off on the wrong foot from the beginning, and members may never revise their behavior in a needed direction

The Task

If the task is to make a decision or solve a problem, cohesiveness can lead to poor performance. Groupthink (discussed in Chapter 3) occurs when a tightly knit group is so cooperative that agreeing with one another's opinions and refraining from criticizing others' ideas become norms. For a cohesive group to make good decisions, it should establish a norm of constructive disagreement. This type of debating is important for groups up to the level of boards of directors.82 In top management teams it improves the companies' financial performance.83 But the effect of cohesiveness on performance can be positive, particularly if the task is to produce some tangible production output. In day-to-day work groups for which decision making is not the primary task, cohesiveness can enhance performance. However, that depends on the group's performance norms.84

Match the strategy (left) with its corresponding role (right): Left: Informing, Parading, Probing Right: a. team members interact with outsiders before taking action b. making decisions with the team and reporting to outsiders c. simultaneous internal team building and external visibility

Informing= b. making decisions with the team and reporting to outsiders Parading= c. simultaneous internal team building and external visibility Probing= a. team members interact with outsiders before taking action

Two employees became argumentative when an important project they were working on was not completed by the deadline. Their manager resolved the incident utilizing a four-stage strategy. Match the components (on the left) with the scenarios (on the right). Right: Investigate, Decide, Take Action, Follow-Up Left: a. the manager explains the decision, and employees return to the project b. the manager chooses to coordinate a proposed solution with the disputants' bosses c. the manager held a meeting with the employees to gather information d. the manager and the employees held another meeting to assess the results of the resolution

Investigate= c. the manager held a meeting with the employees to gather information Decide= b. the manager chooses to coordinate a proposed solution with the disputants' bosses Take Action= a. the manager explains the decision, and employees return to the project Follow-Up= d. the manager and the employees held another meeting to assess the results of the resolution

Norms 2

Norms are shared beliefs about how people should think and behave. For example, some people like to keep information and knowledge to themselves, but teams should try to establish a norm of knowledge sharing because it can improve team performance.70 Teams perform better when they think and talk about their tasks and about how they interact with and depend on one another.71 From the organization's standpoint, norms can be positive or negative. In some teams, everyone works hard; in other groups, employees are anti-management and do as little work as possible. Some groups develop norms of taking risks, others of being conservative.72 Page 414 A norm could dictate that employees speak either favorably or critically of the company. Team members may show concern about poor safety practices, drug and alcohol abuse, and employee theft, or they may not care about these issues (or may even condone such practices). Health consciousness is the norm among executives at some companies, but smoking is a norm at tobacco companies. Some groups have norms of distrust and of being closed toward one another; but as you might guess, norms of trust and open discussion about conflict are better for group performance.73 A professor described his consulting experiences at two companies that exhibited different norms in their management teams.74 At Federal Express Corporation, a young manager interrupted the professor's talk by proclaiming that a recent decision by top management ran counter to the professor's point about corporate planning. He was challenging top management to defend its decision. A hot debate ensued, and after an hour everyone went to lunch without a trace of hard feelings. But at another corporation, the professor opened a meeting by asking a group of top managers to describe the company's culture. There was silence. He asked again. More silence. Then someone passed him an unsigned note that read, "Dummy, can't you see that we can't speak our minds? Ask for the input anonymously, in writing." As you can see, norms are important and can vary greatly from one group to another.

Cohesiveness

One of the most important properties of a team is cohesiveness.79 Expanding the Chapter 13 description, cohesiveness refers to how attractive the team is to its members, how motivated members are to remain in the team, and the degree to which team members influence one another. In general, it refers to how tightly knit the team is. Page 415

The digital world

Researchers are using game theory to better understand teamwork. Game theory examines human behavior, and specifically decision making, in business and in social and behavioral sciences. Game theory is a blanket term for a number of different applications, but management teams are most interested in the research focused on economics and human behavior. Game theory analyzes, among other things, independent decisions made by groups that interact with and depend on one another. Companies are learning from game theory how to encourage cooperation rather than competition, increase communication, and develop more effective teamwork. Companies also see value in using game theory to teach teamwork to employees. Gametheory.net is a website that explains game theory in an accessible way, including an entire section on the science of business strategy.

Roles 2

Roles roles Different sets of expectations for how different individuals should behave. are different sets of expectations for how different individuals should behave. Whereas norms apply generally to all team members, different roles exist for different members within the norm structure. Two important sets of roles must be performed.75 Task specialist roles are filled by individuals who have particular job-related skills and abilities. These employees keep the team moving toward accomplishment of the objectives. Team maintenance roles develop and maintain harmony within the team. They boost morale, give support, provide humor, soothe hurt feelings, and generally exhibit a concern with members' well-being. Note the similarity between these roles and the important task performance and group maintenance leadership behaviors you learned about in Chapter 12. Some of these roles will be more important than others at different times and under different circumstances. But these behaviors need not be carried out only by one or two leaders; any member of the team can assume them at any time. Both types of roles can be performed by different people at different times to create and maintain an effectively functioning work team. Beyond what you read about in Chapter 12, what roles should team leaders perform? Superior leaders are better at relating, scouting, persuading, and empowering than are average team leaders.76 Relating includes exhibiting more social and political awareness, caring for team members, and building trust. Scouting means seeking information from managers, peers, and specialists, and investigating problems systematically. Persuading means not only influencing the team members but also obtaining external support for teams. Empowering includes delegating authority, being flexible regarding team decisions, and coaching. Leaders also should roll up their sleeves and do real work to accomplish team goals, not just supervise.77 Finally, recall from Chapter 12 the importance of shared leadership, in which group members rotate or share leadership roles.

Managing Outward

Several vital roles (see Exhibit 14.4) link teams to their external environments—that is, to other individuals and groups both inside and outside the organization. One type of role that spans team boundaries is the gatekeeper, a team member who stays abreast of current information in scientific and other fields and informs the group of important developments. Information useful to the group also includes information about resources, trends, and political support throughout the corporation or the industry. General team strategies include informing, parading, and probing.96 The informing strategy entails making decisions with the team and then telling outsiders of the team's intentions. Parading means that the team's strategy is to emphasize internal team building and achieve external visibility simultaneously. Probing involves a focus on external relations. This strategy requires team members to interact frequently with outsiders; diagnose the needs of customers, clients, and higher-ups; and experiment with solutions before taking action. The appropriate balance between an internal and external strategic focus and between internal and external roles depends on the team's strategy and how much members need information, support, and resources from outside. When teams are very dependent on outsiders, probing is the best strategy. Parading teams perform at an intermediate level, and informing teams are likely to fail. They are too isolated from the outside groups on which they depend. Informing or parading strategies are more effective for teams that are less dependent on outside groups—for example, established teams working on routine tasks in stable environments. But for most important work teams—task forces, new product teams, and strategic decision-making teams tackling unstructured problems in rapidly changing external environments— interfacing effectively with the outside is vital. Exhibit 14.4 Teams Link to the External Environment in Different Ways SOURCE: Adapted from Ancona, D. G., "Outward Bound: Strategies for Team Survival in an Organization," Academy of Management Journal 33 (1990), pp. 334-65

Performance Norms

Some groups are better than others at ensuring that their members behave the way the group prefers. Cohesive groups are more effective than non-cohesive groups at norm enforcement. But the next question is, Do they have norms of high or low performance? As Exhibit 14.3 shows, the highest performance occurs when a cohesive team has high-performance norms. But if a highly cohesive group has low-performance norms, that group Page 416 will have the worst performance. In the group's eyes, however, it will have succeeded in achieving its goal of poor performance. Non-cohesive groups with high-performance norms can be effective from the company's standpoint. However, they won't be as productive as they would be if they were more cohesive. Non-cohesive groups with low-performance norms perform poorly, but they will not ruin things for management as effectively as can cohesive groups with low-performance norms. Exhibit 14.3 Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and Group Performance

Sometimes teams work, and sometimes they don't.

Sometimes teams work, and sometimes they don't. The goal of this chapter is to help make sure that your teams (and you) succeed. Empowerment at Whole Foods Market illustrates one way a company can apply teamwork with extraordinary results. Teams transform the ways organizations do business.2 Almost all companies now use teams to produce goods and services, to manage projects, and to make decisions and run the company.3 For you, this has two vital implications. First, you will be working in and sometimes managing teams. Second, the ability to work in and lead teams is valuable to your employer and important to your career. Fortunately, coursework focusing on team training can enhance students' teamwork knowledge and skills.4

Why Groups Sometimes Fail Page 411

Team building does not necessarily progress smoothly and culminate in a well-oiled team and superb performance.42 Some groups never do work out. Such groups can be frustrating for managers and members, who conclude that teams are a waste of time and that the difficulties are not worth the trouble. It is not easy to build high-performance teams. Teams is often just a word management uses to describe merely putting people into groups. "Teams" sometimes are launched with little or no training or support systems. Both managers and group members need new skills to make a group work, including negotiating goals that everyone can get behind, delivering on promises made, speaking up in groups to share ideas and build cooperation, recognizing and getting along with people's different work styles, and finding constructive ways to deal with conflict.43 Giving up some authority and control is very difficult for managers from traditional systems, but they have to realize they will gain control in the long run by creating stronger, better-performing units. Teams should be properly empowered,44 as discussed in Chapter 13. The benefits of teams are reduced when they are not allowed to make important decisions—in other words, when management doesn't trust them with important responsibilities. If teams must acquire permission for every innovative idea, they will revert to making safe, traditional decisions.45 Empowerment enhances team performance even among virtual teams. Empowerment for virtual teams includes thorough training in using the technologies and strong technical support from management. Some virtual teams have periodic face-to-face interactions, which help performance; empowerment is particularly helpful for virtual teams that don't often meet face to face.46 Empowerment enhances team performance even among virtual teams. In a fast-moving business environment, the difference between success and failure often lies with whether people can rapidly form and contribute to one team after another as new opportunities and challenges arise. Teamwork fails when individuals have not considered what they bring to a team and how to bring out the best in others. To be successful, team members must apply clear thinking and appropriate practices.47

Member Contributions

Team members should be selected and trained so that they become effective contributors to the team. The teams themselves often hire their new members. MillerCoors Brewing Company and Eastman Chemical teams select members based on the results of tests designed to predict how well they will contribute to team success in an empowered environment. At website design firm Geonetric, team members are responsible for budgets and revenues, and present companywide project updates each month.67 Generally, the skills required by teams include technical or functional expertise, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and interpersonal skills. Some managers and teams mistakenly overemphasize some skills, particularly technical or functional ones, and Page 413 underemphasize the others. In one study, groups in which members shared sad feelings performed better at analytical tasks and difficult decisions, and groups did better at creative tasks if they shared positive emotions.68 Learning to share emotions appropriately can contribute to team success. For the best team performance, all three types of skills should be represented, and developed, among team members. The "Social Enterprise" box discusses an innovative way in which individuals contribute to one another's success.

Managing Lateral Relationships

Teams do not function in a vacuum; they are interdependent with other teams. For example, boundary-spanning teams are responsible for interfacing with other teams to eliminate production bottlenecks, implement new processes, and work with suppliers on quality issues.93 Boundary-spanning activities94 are those that entail dealing with people outside the group.

Bottom Line

Teams, with guidance from internal and external customers, should identify the nature of the results they want to achieve. What characteristics should a team's goal have?

Performance Focus

The key element of effective teamwork is commitment to a common purpose.50 The best teams are those that have been given an important performance challenge by management and then reach a common understanding and appreciation of their collective purpose. Without, a group will be just a bunch of individuals. The best teams also work hard at developing a common understanding of how they will work together to achieve their purpose.51 They discuss and agree on such details as how they will allocate tasks and how they will make decisions. The team should examine its performance strategies and be open to changing them when appropriate. Teams usually standardize at least some processes, but they should be willing to try creative new ideas if the situation calls for them.52 With a clear, strong, motivating purpose and effective performance strategies, people pull together into a powerful force that has a chance to achieve extraordinary things. ***** The team's general purpose should be translated into specific, measurable performance goals. You learned in Chapter 13 about how goals motivate individual performance. Performance can be defined by collective end products instead of an accumulation of individual products. Team-based performance goals help define and distinguish the team's product, encourage communication within the team, energize and motivate team members, provide feedback on progress, signal team victories (and defeats), and ensure that people focus clearly on team results. It is not simple in practice, but teams with both difficult goals and incentives to attain them tend to achieve the highest performance levels. The best team-based measurement systems inform top management of the team's level of performance, and help the team understand its own processes and gauge its own progress. Ideally, the team plays the lead role in designing its own measurement system. This responsibility is a great indicator of whether the team is truly empowered Teams, like individuals, need feedback on their performance. Feedback from customers is especially crucial. Some customers for the team's products are inside the organization. Teams should be responsible for satisfying customers and should be given or should seek performance feedback. Better yet, wherever possible, teams should interact directly with external customers who make the ultimate buying decisions about their goods and services. External customers typically provide the most honest, and most crucial and useful, performance feedback of all.57

Progress Report - Management in Action: SELF-MANAGED TEAMS AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET

To spur innovation and strengthen commitment, Whole Foods Market empowers its nearly 60,000 employees to participate in planning and decision making with their teams. Within a store, teams are organized by department such as meat, produce, and dairy. They make decisions about product selection, pricing, promotion and merchandising (the way products are displayed to entice buyers), as well as efforts to improve efficiency. They also contribute to decisions about hiring and compensation. The company is widely known for team member involvement in hiring decisions, but employees support rather than control the entire hiring process. A human resource employee at each store or other facility screens job applications and selects candidates with the necessary skills and concern for customer service. Candidates who pass the initial screening may be interviewed by one or more store leaders. (Applicants to lead teams generally interview with a group.) Each employee hired begins an orientation period, during which he or she has probationary status. After the new employee has worked for one to three months, the team meets to decide whether to keep the person on the team, based on whether he or she meets the job requirements, follows company policies and procedures, provides excellent customer service, and works well with the team. Two-thirds must vote in favor of keeping the employee; otherwise, the person can try to join another team or will have to leave the company. Whole Foods recognizes that for empowerment to succeed, employees need information and other resources to support them in carrying out their responsibilities. Managers share information about the company's financial performance, and everyone can see a list of the gross pay of every team member, including top executives. The company also provides key information for decisions about benefits, starting with the total amount the company will allocate to that expense. Every three years, employees vote on which benefits they want to receive as part of their compensation package. The company provides a list of possible benefits, identifying the cost of each one. Then the employees set priorities within the spending limit. Rewards, too, are linked to teamwork. Most incentive pay, such as bonuses, is tied to team performance, and teams exist throughout the hierarchy. As CEO John Mackey said, "We have a shared fate. We either succeed together or we fail together."32 What advantages does teamwork offer to Whole Foods Market? Why do you think human resource professionals conduct the initial screening process for new hires? What might be the consequences of having the store teams carry out the entire process of hiring and rewarding team members?

Self-Managed Teams

Traditional work groups have no managerial responsibilities;25 the frontline manager plans, organizes, staffs, directs, and controls them, and other groups provide support activities, including quality control and maintenance. But one important trend has been to give teams more autonomy so that workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs in the unit, and they make decisions previously made by their bosses.26 People sometimes resist these self-managed teams, in part because they don't want so much responsibility and the change is difficult.27 Moreover, poorly managed conflict is a particular problem in self-managed teams.28 But compared with traditionally managed teams, self-managed teams tend to be more productive, have lower costs, provide better customer service, provide higher quality, have better safety records, and are more satisfying for members. Autonomous work groups control decisions about and execution of a complete range of tasks—acquiring raw materials and performing operations, quality control, maintenance, and shipping. They are fully responsible for an entire product or an entire part of a production Page 407 process. Self-designing teams do all of that and go one step further—they also have control over the design of the team. They decide themselves whom to hire, whom to fire, and what tasks the team will perform. When teams reach the point of being truly self-managed, results have included lower costs and greater levels of team productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.29 Autonomous teams are known to improve the organization's financial and overall performance.30 For example, at Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control facility in Troy, Alabama, all members of the workforce are assigned to self-directed work teams, and many also participate in performance management teams, which set goals and monitor progress. The teams have achieved 100 percent on-time delivery, 99 percent of first-pass production meeting quality standards, and a 43 percent cut in energy consumption per unit produced.31 In trying to take such practices to operations outside the United States, managers need to recognize that cultural differences may affect how employees react to being given decision-making authority. As you learn more about the self-managed teams at Whole Foods Market, described in "Management in Action: Progress Report," consider whether they would continue to be equally effective if the company expanded into other countries with different cultures, and what you might do to help make sure they work well.

Managers Brief: Management in Action- HOW TEAMS WORK AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET

Whole Foods Market has a purpose beyond profits, and even a purpose beyond selling gorgeous vegetables and great cheeses. The chain of more than 400 health-food stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom seeks to do no less than "contribute to the well-being of people and the planet." This mission shapes the selection of merchandise grown organically and sustainably, including fresh produce, meats and fish, and whole grains, all attractively displayed. It also shapes the way the company treats its 80,000-plus employees. Managing employees is based on key values: personal responsibility, diversity, and commitment to the organization's purpose. To sustain this combination of values, the company operates as a set of teams, with every employee being a team member. A team may have between 6 and 100 members, with the large teams divided into subteams. The leader of each team in a store is a member of the store's leadership team, and the head of each store leadership team is a member of a regional team. At the top of the Whole Foods hierarchy is an executive team. Each employee is responsible for participating in decisions related to his or her team's work. Team members have a vote in which employees are part of the team and what benefits will be included in their compensation packages. Team spirit and empowerment at Whole Foods has laid a strong foundation for business success. CEO John Mackey says living out the store's values creates a climate that frees employees to innovate without fear, and the creative, fear-free environment feels great to shoppers. Whole Foods is one of a handful of companies that has attained a spot on Fortune's list of Best Companies to Work For in every year the list has been compiled (as of this writing). Whole Foods reports employee turnover of just 15 percent per year (the industry average is almost 39 percent). Mark Ehrnstein, global vice president of Team Member Services, attributes the low turnover to the company's ability to foster a strong, team-oriented culture. And after year upon year of strong growth, Whole Foods became the world's largest supermarket chain specializing in natural and organic foods, with far more room to grow when Amazon bought it in 2017.1 Whole Foods Market expresses a strong commitment to its employees, empowers them to make decisions, and expects a high level of commitment to serving customers. As you read this chapter, consider additional ingredients that can help ensure truly effective teamwork.

Which of the following illustrate ways that companies can enhance speed and innovation using a team-based approach (check all that apply): a. Convene employees from marketing and R&D to study product features that may help to reduce waste, cut costs, and send a clearer marketing message b. Convene employees form various areas to study trends, identify core competencies, and determine ways to deal with challenges of the organization. c. Convene employees form various support areas to establish the strategic goals and plans for the company and the timetable for their implementation. d. Convene employees form various product divisions to study packaging using a particular material to work more efficiently with suppliers.

a. Convene employees from marketing and R&D to study product features that may help to reduce waste, cut costs, and send a clearer marketing message b. Convene employees form various areas to study trends, identify core competencies, and determine ways to deal with challenges of the organization. d. Convene employees form various product divisions to study packaging using a particular material to work more efficiently with suppliers.

Which of the following best explain what a team maintenance specialist does (check all that apply): a. Maintains harmony within the team b. exhibits concern for members' well-being c. maintains educational standards d. facilitates team skills and abilities

a. Maintains harmony within the team b. exhibits concern for members' well-being

Having the team's general purpose translate into specific, measurable performance goals will encourage high team performance. a. True b. False

a. True

_____ is the interaction between groups or members of separate groups that creates linkages between groups: a. boundary-spanning b. interpersonal facilitation c. interoganizational-spanning d. joint problem solving

a. boundary-spanning

Which of the following are skills needed by managers and groups members to make a team work (check all that apply): a. building cooperation b. delivering on promises made c. increasing the level of supervision d. finding constructive ways to deal with conflict e. negotiating goals that everyone supports

a. building cooperation b. delivering on promises made d. finding constructive ways to deal with conflict e. negotiating goals that everyone supports

Which of the following are challenges faced by virtual teams (check all that apply): a. creating team identity b. overcoming isolation c. building cohesion d. building trust e. overcoming bureaucracy

a. creating team identity b. overcoming isolation c. building cohesion d. building trust

The tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they work with groups than when they work alone is known as social: a. loafing b. inadequacy c. individualism d. dependency

a. loafing

Which of the following are ways team members can improve productivity in an organization (check all that apply) a. team members can train, coach, and mentor one another b. team members can provide one another with feedback c. team members can provide support to one another by ignoring unacceptable behavior and actions of its members d. team members can identify opportunities for growth and development

a. team members can train, coach, and mentor one another b. team members can provide one another with feedback d. team members can identify opportunities for growth and development

autonomous work groups

autonomous work groups Groups that control decisions about and execution of a complete range of tasks.

avoidance

avoidance A reaction to conflict that involves ignoring the problem by doing nothing at all or deemphasizing the disagreement.

Form the viewpoint of management, which of the following is the least desirable type of group because of performance issues: a. a cohesive group with high-performance norms b. a cohesive group with low-performance norms c. a noncohesive group with high-performance norms d. a noncohesive group with low-performance norms

b. a cohesive group with low-performance norms

Which type of work group controls decisions about and execution of such tasks as acquiring raw materials and performing operations, quality control, maintenance, and shipping: a. semi-autonomous b. autonomous c. traditional d. virtual

b. autonomous

The primary role of a management team is to: a. work on long-term projects with subunits b. coordinate and provide direction to subunits c. manufacture, sell, or provide service d. operate separately from the workforce

b. coordinate and provide direction to subunits

Which of the following statements describes the way lateral relationships impact organizations (check all that apply): a. Interdependencies throughout an organization provided opportunities for groupthink among groups and teams b. managing relationships means interaction between groups or group members and other people in other groups. c. activities crucial to the team are those that entail dealing with people outside of the group. d. performance improves when coordination is limited to team members and management with minimal interface with the outside:

b. managing relationships means interaction between groups or group members and other people in other groups. c. activities crucial to the team are those that entail dealing with people outside of the group.

A third party who intervenes to help resolve conflict between other people is called a: a. collaborator b. mediator c. team member d. mentor

b. mediator

The main difference between a self-managed team and work group is managerial ____: a. satisfaction b. oversight c. trust d. resistance

b. oversight

After much conflict over goals, Samantha's team reached a consensus and established group norms. The team is actively working together toward accomplishing its goals. Samantha's team is therefore in the _____ state: a. adjourning b. performing c. norming d. forming

b. performing

Shared sets of expectations for how different individuals should behave are referred to as: a. rules b. roles c. goals d. policies

b. roles

Which of the following describe the two sets of roles performed by teams (check all that apply): a. task specialist roles are filled by individuals who boost morale and provide humor. b. team maintenance roles are filled by individuals who develop and maintain harmony within the team. c. team maintenance roles are filled by individuals who keep the focused on achieving its objectives d. task specialist roles are filled by individuals who have particular job-related skills and abilities.

b. team maintenance roles are filled by individuals who develop and maintain harmony within the team. d. task specialist roles are filled by individuals who have particular job-related skills and abilities.

Which of the following behaviors should take place during the first critical period of group development (check all): a. the group should change its approach b. the group should establish desired norms c. the group should open lines of communication with the outside d. the group should establish roles

b. the group should establish desired norms d. the group should establish roles

Abdul works with a product development team where managers can assess both individual and group performance. To motivate Abdul and his team to perform at their best, the organization should do which of the following: a. only use group-based pay b. use both individual-based and group-based pay c. use individual-based pay d. pay everyone equally for all the goals accomplished

b. use both individual-based and group-based pay

Which of the following correctly describe work teams (check all that apply): a. composed only of administrators b. well defined c. part of the formal organizational structure d. composed of full-time members.

b. well defined c. part of the formal organizational structure d. composed of full-time members.

boundary-spanning

boundary-spanning Interacting with people in other groups, thus creating linkages between groups.

The degree to which members are attached to or loyal to their group is ____: a. familiarity b. proximity c. cohesiveness d. team maintenance

c. cohesiveness

Which of the following are important for team success (check all that apply): a. emphasizing problem-solving skills over interpersonal skills b. emphasizing technical expertise over decision-making skills c. developing problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as interpersonal skills in team members d. sharing emotions appropriately.

c. developing problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as interpersonal skills in team members d. sharing emotions appropriately.

Which of the following statements about true teams is correct: a. teams and groups are the same thing b. teams become groups when they achieve significant performance improvements. c. groups can become true teams d. working groups cannot become teams

c. groups can become true teams

Which of the following best explains what a cohesive group should do to ensure it makes good decisions: a. it should have a manager involved in all decisions-making processes b. it should strive for low cohesiveness c. it should establish a norm of constructive disagreement d. it should support one another's opinions no matter what

c. it should establish a norm of constructive disagreement

Superordinate goals are higher-level _____ goals toward which everyone should be striving and that ultimately need to take precedence over personal or unit preferences. a. individual b. lateral relationships c. organizational d. group e. team f. departmental

c. organizational

Which of the following is NOT indicative of effective teams: a. output exceeds standards of quality b. teams output is acceptable to internal and external customers. c. output decreases in quantity d. output exceeds standards of quantity

c. output decreases in quantity

Ideally, when designing the measurement system for teams, the team will: a. understand why those measures were selected b. play a supporting role in selecting the measures c. play a lead role in selecting the measures d. accept the performance measures chosen for them

c. play a lead role in selecting the measures

Which type of work team works on long-term projects with specific assignments and has members who contribute expert knowledge and judgment: a. ad hoc committee b. semi-autonomous work teams c. project and development team d. parallel team

c. project and development team

Some individuals are more motivated when others are present. This is known as ____: a. social loafing b. the storming effect of team development c. the social facilitation effect d. parallel group work

c. the social facilitation effect

Which of the following statement about cohesiveness is true: a. it is high only if the jobs themselves are fulfilling b. it requires organizational support c. it occurs even if just one team member tries hard d. it can sometimes have negative effects on performance

d. norms can be positive or negative.

Which of the following statements about group norms is true: a. all groups develop norms b. norms are important in society but not particularly important within organizations. c. the majority of groups within the same organization develop similar norms. d. norms can be positive or negative.

d. norms can be positive or negative.

Task forces and quality teams are formed to study a particular problem and to recommend, but not enact, solutions. These are the types of ______ teams. a. virtual b. management c. project and development d. parallel

d. parallel

Which of the following statements about self-managed teams is true: a. most employees are eager to join self-managed teams because they want more responsibility b. employees adjust easily when joining self-managed teams c. employees are less productive and provide lower quality d. poorly managed conflict is an issue

d. poorly managed conflict is an issue

How Groups Become Real Teams

he words group and team often are used interchangeably.33 Modern managers sometimes use the word teams to the point that it has become a cliché; often they talk about teams while skeptics believe there is no real teamwork. Therefore making a distinction between groups and teams can be useful. A working group is a collection of people who work in the same area or have been drawn together to undertake a task, but do not necessarily come together as a unit and achieve significant performance improvements. A real team is formed of people (usually a small number) with complementary skills who trust one another and are committed to a common purpose, common performance goals, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.34 Groups become true teams via basic group processes, critical time periods, and the management practices described throughout this chapter.

Electronic and Virtual Conflict

hen teams are geographically dispersed, as with virtual teams, team members tend to experience more conflict and less trust.115 Conflict management affects the success of virtual teams.116 In a recent study, avoidance hurt performance. Accommodation—conceding to others to maintain harmony rather than assertively attempting to negotiate integrative solutions—had no effect on performance. Collaboration had a positive effect on performance. The researchers also uncovered two surprises: compromise hurt performance, and competition helped performance. Compromises hurt because they often are watered-down, middle-of-the-road, suboptimal solutions. Competitive behavior was useful because the virtual teams were temporary and under time pressure, so having some individuals behave dominantly and impose decisions to achieve efficiency was more useful than detrimental. When people have problems in business-to-business e-commerce-- for example, costly delays-- they tend to behave competitively and defensively rather than collaboratively.117 Technical problems and recurring problems test people's patience. Conflict will escalate unless people use more cooperative, collaborative styles. Try to prevent conflicts before they arise; for example, make sure your information system is running smoothly before linking with others. Monitor and reduce or eliminate problems as soon as possible. When problems do appear, express your willingness to cooperate, and then actually be cooperative. Even technical problems require the social skills of good management. In the end, of course, conflicts in the complex web of human relationships are unavoidable, whether virtually or face to face. As you read "Management in Action: Onward," think about what Whole Foods needs to keep diverse employees working together constructively.

parading

parading A team strategy that entails simultaneously emphasizing internal team building and achieving external visibility.

parallel teams

parallel teams Teams that operate separately from the regular work structure and are temporary.

Multiple Generations at Work- Are you Ready for Global Virtual Teamwork?

pproximately 1.3 billion people worldwide are engaged in virtual work. Cisco reports that over 70,000 employees work remotely, many from dispersed locations. Companies equip their employees for virtual teamwork with advanced videoconferencing software and instant messaging, as well as mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Managers need to master the necessary skills to collaborate effectively with team members in virtual settings. According to a recent survey, over half (51 percent) of Millennials believe that remote teams and enhanced communications technology will make meeting face-to-face obsolete in the future.21 Virtual teamwork skills fall into two broad areas: (1) using online sharing tools like Google Docs, Slack, Yammer, and Dropbox and communication technology like online chat text; and (2) cross-cultural skills such as adapting to language and value differences, overcoming stereotypes, and coordinating across different time zones.22 To prepare students to work effectively in global virtual teams, instructors from several universities in multiple countries engaged in a large-scale collaboration project. Over 6,000 business students were assigned to mostly seven-member, multinational teams. Working together virtually, the teams were tasked with developing a proposal for creating a new product for a client company and analyzing how the product would be brought to market. Instructors graded the projects, and feedback was collected from the students regarding how much they learned. The global virtual team assignments helped students:23 Improve their understanding of the challenges associated with global virtual teamwork; Change their attitudes toward different cultures (reduction in perceived differences); and Use more effective behaviors with regard to team leadership, coordination, and communication. Are you ready to be an effective member or leader of a global virtual team? The 29-person product development team at Omnica is responsible for rapidly and efficiently producing medical and high-tech products for their clients. ©Omnica

Roles

roles Different sets of expectations for how different individuals should behave.

self-managed teams

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, and make decisions previously made by frontline supervisors.

task specialist role

task specialist role An individual who has more advanced job-related skills and abilities than other group members possess.

transnational teams

transnational teams Teams composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries. Such teams differ from other work teams by being multicultural and by often being geographically dispersed, being psychologically distant, and working on highly complex projects having considerable impact on company objectives.

Best Practices of Virtual Team Leaders

1. Establish and maintain trust through the use of communication technology. 2. Ensure diversity in the team is understood, appreciated, and leveraged. 3. Manage virtual work cycles and meetings. 4. Monitor team progress through the use of technology. 5. Enhance external visibility of the team and its members. 6. Ensure individuals benefit from participating in virtual teams.

Different teams, like different individuals, have roles to perform. As teams carry out their roles, several distinct patterns of working relationships develop:

1. Workflow relationships emerge as materials are passed from one group to another. A group commonly receives work from one unit, processes it, and sends it to the next unit in the sequence. Your group, then, will come before some groups and after others in the process. 2. Service relationships exist when top management centralizes an activity to which a large number of other units must gain access. Common examples include technology services and administrative staff. Such units assist others to help them accomplish their goals. 3. Advisory relationships exist when teams with problems call on centralized sources of expert knowledge. For example, staff members in the human resources or legal department advise work teams when needed. 4. Audit relationships develop when people not directly in the chain of command evaluate the methods and performances of other teams. Financial auditors check the books, and technical auditors assess the methods and quality of the work. 5. Stabilization relationships involve auditing before the fact. In other words, teams sometimes must obtain clearance from others—for example, for large purchases—before they take action. 6. Liaison relationships involve intermediaries between teams. Managers often are called on to mediate conflict between two organizational units. Public relations people, sales managers, purchasing agents, and others who work across organizational boundaries serve in liaison roles as they maintain communications between the organization and the outside world. By assessing each working relationship with another unit (from whom do we receive work, and to whom do we send work? what permissions do we control, and to whom must we go for authorizations?), teams can better understand whom to contact and when, where, why, and how to do so. Coordination throughout the working system improves, problems are avoided or short-circuited before they get too serious, and performance improves.99

Match each lateral relationship (on the left) with its function (on the right). Left: Advisory, Audit, Stabilization, Liaison Right: a. to evaluate method and performance b. to maintain communication across boundaries c. to audit before the fact d. to draw on centralized sources of expert knowledge

Advisory= d. to draw on centralized sources of expert knowledge Audit= a. to evaluate method and performance Stabilization= c. to audit before the fact Liaison= b. to maintain communication across boundaries

Group Processes

Assume you are the leader of a newly formed group—actually just a bunch of people. What will you face as you attempt to develop your group into a high-performing team? If groups are to develop successfully, they will engage in various processes, including the stages detailed in Exhibit 14.2 To be perfectly clear: this is an idealized version, with real teamwork and performance outcomes. But many teams don't make it that far, or do so but only at mediocre levels, or don't do much during forming and disintegrate quickly. Moving from group of co-workers to Page 409 high-performing team requires certain strategies and tactics; the process must be managed strategically and well. Virtual groups, too, can go through these stages of group development.35 The forming stage is characterized by unbridled optimism: "I believe we have a great team and will work well together. We all understand the importance of the project and intend to take it seriously." Optimism turns into reality shock in the storming stage: "No one has taken a leadership role. We have not made the project the priority that it deserves." The norming stage comes at about the halfway point in the project life cycle, in which people refocus and recommit: "You must make firm commitments to a specific time schedule." The performing stage is the dash to the finish as teammates show the discipline needed to meet the deadline. This is the most famous of several lifecyle models of team development.36 Groups don't necessarily go through those processes in that particular sequence, but all the processes are important. From a leadership perspective, it is particularly useful to know the two most fundamental phases of team functioning: a transition phase of planning and establishing the group's mission, goals, and processes, and an action phase in which the team executes the work activities that contribute directly to it performance goals.37 Think about how often your study or project groups dive into their work without adequately tackling the transition phase and the problems that arise when they neglect that phase. Exhibit 14.2 Stages of Team Development SOURCE: Adapted from Tuckman, B. W., "Developmental Sequence in Small Groups," Psychological Bulletin 63 (1965), pp. 384-99.

Concluding Case - EXCEL PRO DRILLING SYSTEMS

Based in Alabama, Excel Pro Drilling Systems sells drilling equipment around the world. Its factories in Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, India, and South Africa run three shifts to keep up with strong demand in developing nations. Excel Pro enjoys profitability, but environmental groups have expressed concern about its impact on climate change. As executives explored their response, they saw that achieving more sustainable resource use also could make the company more efficient and create a more favorable business environment for the long term. The executives decided to form a group called the Excel Pro Green Team, made up of representatives in each of its locations. Each facility's managers chose three employees, one each from engineering, production, and finance, with leadership skills, English-language ability, and interest in the topic of environmental sustainability. These 18 employees formed the Green Team. To save money as well as fuel, the Green Team operates as a virtual team. Its members meet by videoconferencing once a month. Between meetings, they share thoughts via e-mail and in a socialmedia-style page Excel Pro created for this purpose. Initially, all the Green Team members were enthusiastic. The Czech and Brazilian representatives even came to the first meeting with specific ideas. Other team members were inspired to prepare ideas for the next meeting, but several were concerned that the team needed a plan establishing goals and a time line before the team addressed specific actions. Most of the third meeting was devoted to debating whether to establish an action plan or refine the ideas already submitted. Frustrated, the South African representatives took one idea to their facility's management for approval and began to implement it without telling the rest of the team. By the fourth meeting, the representatives in India and the Czech Republic were openly complaining that meetings were always scheduled at times convenient for the headquarters employees. The Chinese team members agreed; in fact, one had quietly stopped attending meetings, although she did continue to participate in the exchange of e-mail Page 426 ideas. The debate about whether headquarters should always schedule meetings lasted for 45 minutes, after which no one was in any mood to discuss sustainability. Two of the Alabama team representatives took their frustration to their managers. The executive team investigated and decided the team needed to be unified behind a common goal. They directed the team to present three resource-saving ideas by the end of the year, and they offered a reward system to promote teamwork. The team members are each allocated 100 points a month. Whenever one team member appreciates another's actions, he or she gives that person points. All team members' point scores are viewable by the whole team at a shared website. At the end of the year, the points earned by each employee will be exchanged for cash rewards in the local currency. The executives hope the program will motivate greater cooperation. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS What went wrong in the formation of the Green Team? What should Excel Pro have done differently? What conditions contribute to this team's cohesiveness? What reduces cohesiveness? What do you think of the points plan? How should Excel Pro's management help the Green Team manage its conflict? Design elements: Lightbulb icon that indicates innovation: ©McGraw-Hill Education; Money icon that indicates cost: ©McGraw-Hill Education; Recycle icon that indicate sustainability: ©McGraw-Hill Education; Human head with headset that indicate service: ©McGraw-Hill Education; Letter Q icon that indicates quality: ©McGraw-Hill Education; Sand dial that indicates speed: ©McGraw-Hill Education

management teams

management teams Teams that coordinate and provide direction to the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits.

mediator

mediator A third party who intervenes to help others manage their conflict.

Norms

norms Shared beliefs about how people should think and behave.

superordinate goals

superordinate goals Higher-level goals taking priority over specific individual or group goals.

Conflict Styles

People inevitably disagree and have deeper conflicts, and must decide how to manage them. The aim should be to make the conflict productive—that is, to make those involved believe they have benefited rather than lost from the conflict.104 People believe they have benefited from a conflict when 1) a new solution is implemented, the problem is solved, and it is unlikely to emerge again 2) work relationships have been strengthened and people believe they can work together productively in the future. People handle conflict in different ways. You have your own style; others' styles may be similar or may differ. Styles depend in part on the home country's cultural norms. For example, as you learned in Chapter 6, people from some cultures are more concerned with collective than with individual interests, and they are more likely than managers in the United States to turn to higher authorities to make decisions rather than resolve conflicts themselves.105 Culture aside, any team or individual has several options regarding how to deal with conflicts.106 These personal styles of dealing with conflict, shown in Exhibit 14.5, differ based on how much people strive to satisfy their own concerns (the assertiveness dimension) and how much they focus on satisfying the other party's concerns (the cooperation dimension).

The Contributions of Teams

Teams can increase productivity, improve quality, and reduce costs.

collaboration

collaboration A style of dealing with conflict emphasizing both cooperation and assertiveness to maximize both parties' satisfaction.

competing

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.

compromise

compromise A style of dealing with conflict involving moderate attention to both parties' concerns.

informing

informing A team strategy that entails making decisions with the team and then informing outsiders of its intentions.

probing

probing A team strategy that requires team members to interact frequently with outsiders, diagnose their needs, and experiment with solutions.

project and development teams

project and development teams Teams that work on long-term projects but disband once the work is completed.

psychological safety

psychological safety When employees feel they can speak up honestly and freely without fear.

Building Effective Teams

All the processes just described form the building blocks of an effective work team. But what does it really mean for a team to be effective? 1. Team productivity. 2. Member satisfaction. 3. Member commitment.

LO 3 - Summarize how groups become teams.

Groups carry on a variety of important developmental processes, including forming, storming, norming, and performing (see Exhibit 14.2). A true team has members who complement one another; who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach; and who hold themselves accountable to one another.

LO 7 - Identify ways to manage conflict.

Managing lateral relationships well can prevent some conflict. But conflict arises because of the sheer number of contacts, ambiguities, goal differences, competition for scarce resources, and different perspectives and time horizons. Five basic interpersonal approaches to managing conflict can be used: avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competition, and collaboration. You should be willing and able to use them all, depending on the situation. Superordinate goals are higher-level organizational goals that can help generate a collaborative relationship if conflicting parties commit to them. As a manager, you undoubtedly will need to act as a mediator between conflicting parties; the chapter offers a number of useful strategies and tactics.

Managing Conflict

The complex maze of interdependencies provides many opportunities for conflict to arise. Some conflict is constructive for the organization. Typically, conflict can foster creativity when it is about ideas rather than personalities. On the other hand, team members can work to maintain harmony during meetings, but unresolved differences can spill over into nasty remarks outside the office.100 Many factors cause great potential for destructive conflict: the sheer number and variety of interpersonal contacts, ambiguities in jurisdiction and responsibility, differences in goals, competition for scarce resources, different perspectives held by members of different units, and varying time horizons in which some units attend to long-term considerations and others focus on short-term need. For many reasons, and very commonly, subgroups form along conflict fault lines.101 Both demographic and cross-functional heterogeneity initially lead to problems such as stress, lower cooperation, and lower cohesiveness.102 Transformational leadership (Chapter 13), effective diversity management (Chapter 11), and constructive conflict management (discussed next) can reduce the problems and help realize the often-untapped potential benefits of groups.

True or False: Avoiding conflict is appropriate when the issue may be trivial

True

True or False: Personal satisfaction is a criteria for team effectiveness:

True

Match each type of team (left) with its description of its role in the organization (right): Left: Work Teams, Project and Development Teams, Parallel Teams, Management Teams, Transnational Teams, Virtual Teams RIght A. work on long-term projects but disband once the work is completed b. coordinate and provide direction in the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits c. physically dispersed; communicate electronically more than face-to-face d. composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries e. operate separately from the regular work structure; exist temporarily f. make or do things, such as manufacturing, assembling, selling, or providing products and services

Work Teams= f. make or do things, such as manufacturing, assembling, selling, or providing products and services Project and Development Teams= A. work on long-term projects but disband once the work is completed Parallel Teams= e. operate separately from the regular work structure; exist temporarily Management Teams= b. coordinate and provide direction in the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits Transnational Teams= d. composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries Virtual Teams= c. physically dispersed; communicate electronically more than face-to-face

tensions and anxiety are representative of which kind of conflict. a. destructive b.strategic c. constructive d. productive

a. destructive

Which of the following are managerial actions that can help create a team with cohesiveness and high-performance norms: a. maintain high entrance and socialization standards. b. be a strong and assertive managerial presence c. help the team succeed, and publicize its successes d. present a competitive challenge from outside the team

a. maintain high entrance and socialization standards. c. help the team succeed, and publicize its successes d. present a competitive challenge from outside the team

Team-based measurement systems evaluate which of the following (check all) a. progress b. satisfaction c. budget d. feedback

a. progress d. feedback team-based measurement systems help teams understand their own progress through feedback.

What do the best teams do in order to reach a common understanding and appreciation of their purpose (check all that apply) a. they agree on how they will make decisions b. they discuss how tasks and roles will be allocated c. they develop norms for examining performance strategies d. they encourage members to compete on some tasks f. they take responsibility for disciplining lazy members

a. they agree on how they will make decisions b. they discuss how tasks and roles will be allocated c. they develop norms for examining performance strategies

Teams that make or do things such as manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service are ___ teams. a. work b. virtual c. management d. transnational

a. work

During the _______ stage of team development, members try to get to know one another and lay the ground rules for what types of behavior are acceptable: a. adjourning b. forming c. introductory d. storming e. norming

b. forming

What are the two primary reasons that team cohesiveness is important (check all that apply): a. it prevents norms from developing b. it has a major impact on performance c. it contributes to members satisfaction d. it increases conflict within the group

b. it has a major impact on performance c. it contributes to members satisfaction

Which of the following are characteristics of teams (check all that apply): a. members have low levels of cohesion b. members trust one another c. members hold themselves mutually accountable d. members have complementary skills e. members are committed to a common purpose

b. members trust one another c. members hold themselves mutually accountable d. members have complementary skills e. members are committed to a common purpose

Which of the following are benefits of self-managed work teams (check all that applied): a. they have fewer responsibilities b. they are more productive c. they manage conflict more effectively d. they have lower costs

b. they are more productive d. they have lower costs

which of the following are ways that groups and teams can contribute to an organization (check all that apply): a. they can lessen the need for managers. b. they can improve quality c. they can increase productivity d. they can reduce costs.

b. they can improve quality c. they can increase productivity d. they can reduce costs.

Which of the following best explains what a task specialist does. a. maintains harmony within the team b. exhibit concern for well-being c. maintains educational standards d. facilitates team skills and abilities

d. facilitates team skills and abilities

What is the name of the team member who stays abreast of current information in scientific and other fields and informs the group of important developments: a. liaison b. parader c. coach d. gatekeeper

d. gatekeeper

team

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; see also groups.