Organizational Behavior: Chapter 11

Cooperation

Individuals are said to be cooperating when their efforts are systematically integrated to achieve a collective objective. The greater the integration, the greater the degree of cooperation.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Team Building

Reaction -How did the participants feel about the activity? Learning -Did the experience increase knowledge or improve skills? Behavior -Did participants' on-the-job behavior improve as a result of the activity? Results -Did participants subsequently achieve better measurable results?

Characteristics of Effective Teamwork

Real teamwork requires a concerted collective effort. It requires lots of tolerance, practice, and trial-and-error learning.

Trust

Reciprocal faith in others' intentions and behavior The more employees trust management, the more engaged and productive they will be—and vice versa. Trust involves "a cognitive 'leap' beyond the expectations that reason and experience alone would warrant" Trust needs to be earned; it cannot be demanded. Trust is anchored to credibility — "developing the integrity, intent, capabilities, and results that make you believable , both to yourself and to others."

Team Leadership

Team leadership aimed at building group cohesiveness and limiting conflict tended to enhance team performance A coaching style of leadership was effective for charismatic leaders when dealing with team members having low self-efficacy. A directive style worked better for leaders who lacked charisma and had team members with high self-efficacy. Treating members as separate individuals and applying differentiated leadership may result in some loss of group effectiveness

Lessons from Group Cohesiveness Research

There is a small but statistically significant cohesiveness→performance effect. The cohesiveness→performance effect was stronger for smaller and real groups (as opposed to contrived groups in laboratory studies). The cohesiveness→performance effect becomes stronger as one moves from nonmilitary real groups to military groups to sports teams. Commitment to the task at hand (meaning the individual sees the performance standards as legitimate) has the most powerful impact on the cohesiveness→performance linkage. The performance→cohesiveness linkage is stronger than the cohesiveness→performance linkage. Thus, success tends to bind group or team members together rather than closely knit groups being more successful. Contrary to the popular view, cohesiveness is not "a 'lubricant' that minimizes friction due to the human 'grit' in the system." All this evidence led the researchers to this practical conclusion: "Efforts to enhance group performance by fostering interpersonal attraction or 'pumping up' group pride are not likely to be effective."

Cohesiveness

a process whereby "a sense of 'we-ness' emerges to transcend individual differences and motives Cohesive group members stick together for one or both of the following reasons: -they enjoy each others' company -they need each other to accomplish a common goal. Accordingly, two types of group cohesiveness, identified by sociologists, are socio-emotional cohesiveness and instrumental cohesiveness Self-selected work teams (in which people pick their own teammates) and off-the-job social events can stimulate socio-emotional cohesiveness. The fostering of socio-emotional cohesiveness needs to be balanced with instrumental cohesiveness. The latter can be encouraged by making sure everyone in the group recognizes and appreciates each member's vital contribution to the group goal. While balancing the two types of cohesiveness, managers need to remember that groupthink theory and research cautions against too much cohesiveness.

Team viability

defined as team members' satisfaction and continued willingness to contribute.

credibility

developing the integrity, intent, capabilities, and results that make you believable, both to yourself and to others

Basic Distinctions between Virtual Teams and Self-Managed Teams

two types of teams are distinct but not totally unique. Overlaps exist. For instance, computer-networked virtual teams may or may not have volunteer members and may or may not be self-managed. Another point of overlap involves the fifth variable in Table 11-6: relationship to organization structure. Teams are called parallel structures when they exist outside normal channels of authority and communication. Self-managed teams, on the other hand, are integrated into the basic organizational structure. Virtual teams vary in this regard, although they tend to be parallel because they are made up of functional specialists (engineers, accountants, marketers, etc.) who team up on temporary projects.

Four General Types of Work Teams and Their Outputs

(1) advice, (2) production, (3) project, and (4) action. Each of these labels identifies a basic purpose. For instance, advice teams generally make recommendations for managerial decisions. Less commonly do they actually make final decisions. In contrast, production and action teams carry out management's decisions. Technical specialization is low when the team draws upon members' general experience and problem-solving ability. It is high when team members are required to apply technical skills acquired through higher education or extensive training. The degree of coordination with other work units is determined by the team's relative independence (low coordination) or interdependence (high coordination). Work cycles are the amount of time teams need to discharge their missions.

Cross Functionalism

A common feature of self-managed teams, particularly among those above the shop-floor or clerical level, is cross-functionalism. In other words, specialists from different areas are put on the same team.

Cooperation versus Competition

A widely held assumption among managers is that "competition brings out the best in people." From an economic standpoint, business survival depends on staying ahead of the competition. But from an interpersonal standpoint, critics contend competition has been overemphasized, primarily at the expense of cooperation women likelier to agree initially that collaboration is important. I found men much more difficult to get to the door of collaboration. Men maybe have a tougher time looking beyond themselves and those like them. They have got to believe that there is value in the "Other," who will by definition have different interests and ways to see the world.

How to Build Trust

Communication. Keep team members and employees informed by explaining policies and decisions and providing accurate feedback. Be candid about one's own problems and limitations. Tell the truth. Support. Be available and approachable. Provide help, advice, coaching, and support for team members' ideas. Respect. Delegation, in the form of real decision-making authority, is the most important expression of managerial respect. Actively listening to the ideas of others is a close second. Fairness. Be quick to give credit and recognition to those who deserve it. Make sure all performance appraisals and evaluations are objective and impartial. Predictability. Be consistent and predictable in your daily affairs. Keep both expressed and implied promises. Competence. Enhance your credibility by demonstrating good business sense, technical ability, and professionalism.

Research Support for Cooperation

Cooperation is superior to competition in promoting achievement and productivity. Cooperation is superior to individualistic efforts in promoting achievement and productivity. Cooperation without intergroup competition promotes higher achievement and productivity than cooperation with intergroup competition Cooperation can be encouraged by reward systems that reinforce teamwork, along with individual achievement. Interestingly, cooperation can be encouraged by quite literally tearing down walls, or not building them in the first place. the small team, open-office configuration (desks scattered about in a small area with no partitions) to be significantly correlated with superior performance. In addition, they found that the open-office configuration was particularly favored by the youngest employees, who believe open offices provide them greater access to colleagues and the opportunity to learn from their more seasoned senior compatriots. [Helpful] teammates, both black and white, attract greater respect and liking than do teammates who have not helped. This is particularly true when the helping occurs voluntarily."These findings suggest that managers can enhance equal employment opportunity and diversity programs by encouraging voluntary helping behavior in interracial work teams. Accordingly, it is reasonable to conclude that voluntary helping behavior could build cooperation in mixed-gender teams and groups as well. [Helpful] teammates, both black and white, attract greater respect and liking than do teammates who have not helped. This is particularly true when the helping occurs voluntarily."These findings suggest that managers can enhance equal employment opportunity and diversity programs by encouraging voluntary helping behavior in interracial work teams. Accordingly, it is reasonable to conclude that voluntary helping behavior could build cooperation in mixed-gender teams and groups as well.

Team Building

Experiential learning aimed at better internal functioning of groups. is a catch-all term for a whole host of techniques aimed at improving the internal functioning of work groups. Whether conducted by company trainers or outside consultants, team-building activities and workshops strive for greater cooperation, better communication, and less dysfunctional conflict.

Self-managed teams

Groups of employees granted administrative oversight for their work. Accountability is maintained indirectly by outside managers and leaders Team advisers rely on four indirect influence tactics: Relating. Understanding the organization's power structure, building trust, showing concern for individual team members. Scouting. Seeking outside information, diagnosing teamwork problems, facilitating group problem solving. Persuading. Gathering outside support and resources, influencing team to be more effective and pursue organizational goals. Empowering. Delegating decision-making authority, facilitating team decision-making process, coaching. the most commonly delegated tasks are work scheduling and dealing directly with outside customers. The least common team chores are hiring and firing. Most of today's self-managed teams remain bunched at the shop-floor level in factory settings. Self-managed teams had: A positive effect on productivity. A positive effect on specific attitudes relating to self-management No significant effect on general attitudes No significant effect on absenteeism or turnover

Action Teams

High specialization is combined with high coordination best exemplified by a baseball team. High specialization is combined with high coordination. Nine highly trained athletes play specialized defensive positions. But good defensive play is not enough because hits are needed to score runs. Moreover, coordination between the manager, base runners, base coaches, and the bull pen needs to be precise. So it is with airline cockpit crews, firefighters, hospital surgery teams, mountain-climbing expeditions, rock music groups, labor-contract negotiating teams, and police SWAT teams, among others. A unique challenge for action teams is to exhibit peak performance on demand.

Attributes of High-Performance Teams

Participative leadership. Creating an interdependency by empowering, freeing up, and serving others. Shared responsibility. Establishing an environment in which all team members feel as responsible as the manager for the performance of the work unit. Aligned on purpose. Having a sense of common purpose about why the team exists and the function it serves. High communication. Creating a climate of trust and open, honest communication. Future focused. Seeing change as an opportunity for growth. Focused on task. Keeping meetings focused on results. Creative talents. Applying individual talents and creativity. Rapid response. Identifying and acting on opportunities. These eight attributes effectively combine many of today's most progressive ideas on management, among them being participation, empowerment, service ethic, individual responsibility and development, self-management, trust, active listening, and envisioning. But patience and diligence are required. According to a manager familiar with work teams, "high-performance teams may take three to five years to build.

Propensity to trust

Propensity might be thought of as the general willingness to trust others. Propensity will influence how much trust one has for a trustee prior to data on that particular party being available. People with different developmental experiences, personality types, and cultural backgrounds vary in their propensity to trust.... An example of an extreme case of this is what is commonly called blind trust. Some individuals can be observed to repeatedly trust in situations that most people would agree do not warrant trust. Conversely, others are unwilling to trust in most situations, regardless of circumstances that would support doing so.

Why Work Teams Fail

The main threats to team effectiveness are unrealistic expectations leading to frustration. Frustration, in turn, encourages people to abandon teams. Both managers and team members can be victimized by unrealistic expectations. On the left side is a list of common management mistakes. These mistakes generally involve doing a poor job of creating a supportive environment for teams and teamwork. Problems for Team Members The lower-right portion lists common problems for team members. Contrary to critics' Theory X contention about employees lacking the motivation and creativity for real teamwork, it is common for teams to take on too much too quickly and to drive themselves too hard for fast results. Important group dynamics and team skills get lost in the rush for results. Consequently, team members' expectations need to be given a reality check by management and team members themselves. Also, teams need to be counseled against quitting when they run into an unanticipated obstacle. Failure is part of the learning process with teams, as it is elsewhere in life. Comprehensive training in interpersonal skills can prevent many common teamwork problems.

Steps Managers Can Take to Enhance the Two Types of Group Cohesiveness

The trick is to keep task groups small, make sure performance standards and goals are clear and accepted, achieve some early successes, and follow the tips in Table 11-5.

Instrumental cohesiveness

a sense of togetherness that develops when group members are mutually dependent on one another because they believe they could not achieve the group's goal by acting separately A feeling of "we-ness" is instrumental in achieving the common goal.

Socio-emotional cohesiveness

a sense of togetherness that develops when individuals derive emotional satisfaction from group participation.

Team

a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold them teams are task groups that have matured to the performing stage (but not slipped into decay) The essence of a team is common commitment Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance When Katzenbach and Smith refer to "a small number of people" in their definition, they mean between 2 and 25 team members. They found effective teams to typically have fewer than 10 members.

Advice Teams

created to broaden the information base for managerial decisions have a low degree of technical specialization Coordination also is low because advice teams work pretty much on their own. Ad hoc committees (e.g., the annual picnic committee) have shorter life cycles than standing committees (e.g., the grievance committee).

Virtual team

physically dispersed task group that conducts its business primarily through modern information technology Virtual groups formed over the Internet follow a group development process similar to that for face-to-face groups Successful use of groupware (software that facilitates interaction among virtual group members) requires training and hands-on experience Internet chat rooms create more work and yield poorer decisions than face-to-face meetings and telephone conferences Inspirational leadership has a positive impact on creativity in electronic brainstorming groups Conflict management is particularly difficult for asynchronous virtual teams that have no opportunity for face-to-face interaction Having at least one member of a team working remotely "prompts the group to be more disciplined in its coordination and communication—yielding a better and more productive experience for all members.... But turn that isolate into a pair—by adding a coworker at the same location—and the team suffers. Meaningful face-to-face contact, especially during early phases of the group development process, is absolutely essential Periodic face-to-face interaction not only fosters social bonding among virtual team members, it also facilitates conflict resolution.

Project Teams

require creative problem solving, often involving the application of specialized knowledge time is critical projects focus on a specific outcome (e.g., developing a new vaccine, producing a movie, or building a skyscraper) the team may disband upon completion of the project. The trend in product development today is toward cross-functional teams that bring together specialists from production, marketing, and finance from around the world. Project teams also can bring realism into academic settings.

Production Teams

responsible for performing day-to-day operations Minimal training for routine tasks accounts for the low degree of technical specialization. But coordination typically is high because work flows from one team to another.

Effective Work Teams

work teams require a team-friendly organization if they are to be effective. Work teams need a support system. They have a much greater chance of success if they are nurtured and facilitated by the organization. The team's purpose needs to be in concert with the organization's strategy. Similarly, team participation and autonomy require an organizational culture that values those processes. Team members also need appropriate technological tools, reasonable schedules, and training. Teamwork needs to be rewarded by the organizational reward system.18 Such is not the case when pay and bonuses are tied solely to individual output.