Ch 10: Processes and Teams

Team metrics

- task metrics - process metrics - individual development metrics

Stages for reaching consensus

1. Introduction 2. Clarifying questions 3. Discussion 4. establish basic direction 5. Synthesize and modify proposal 6. call for consensus 7. record

How to avoid social loafing?

1. Keep teams small (four to six members). 2. Set meaningful team goals. 3. Set clear roles for team members. 4. Eliminate redundancy. 5. Select members with high motivation and affinity for teamwork. 6. Provide feedback and coaching to members who social loaf.

Strategies to build successful virtual teams

1. Select team members based not only on their knowledge, skills, and abilities but also on their openness and propensity to trust; 2. Select team members who have been on virtual teams before; 3. Select team members who are self-starters; 4. Provide training in team collaboration; 5. Making sure new team members understand the culture, policies, team roles, and characteristics of their virtual team members.

Symptoms of groupthink

1. group rationalization 2. direct pressure 3. suppression 4. illusion of unanimity

What are the components of output?

1. performance as rated by those outside of the team 2. how well team member individual needs are met 3. the willingness of team members to stay on the team

How are high performing teams enabled

1. team member competencies 2. skills, processes, tools, and techniques, 3. interpersonal skills 4. a shared value system 5. shared vision, purpose, 6. supporting organizational values

Virtual Team Leadership Set Goals and Monitor Progress

Ask for team member input on the overall goal of the team Create benchmarks to mark progress toward the goal Use a chart to show progress and post in cloud storage area

virtual team leadership encourage participation

Call on everyone during virtual team meetings Assign subgroup tasks and use breakout rooms Exaggerate nonverbal behaviors to credit contributions (e.g., nodding, thumbs-up)

Virtual Team Leadership Establish Trust

Communicate before the meeting Establish team norms Celebrate meeting benchmarks Rotate meeting times if team members are in different time zones

What are the scales of the normative decision making model?

Dictating to delegating with consultative and facilitating in the middle

Virtual Team Leadership Meeting Management

Have an agenda for the meeting Use cloud storage (e.g., Google Drive) so that team members can review documents prior to meeting Take frequent breaks End the meeting on time Assign tasks to team members to be completed prior to the next meeting Post minutes of the meeting to cloud storage area

What model measures team effectiveness?

Input, process, output

Virtual Team Leadership Team Rewards

Report the team's progress to upper management Give awards for outstanding team member contributions Recognize team member contributions during team meetings Inform team member's boss of their participation in the virtual team

Team Performance Curve

Upward then downwarnd through forming and storming. Upward greatly through norming and plateuing in performing Forming: Working Group Storming: Pseudo Team Norming: Potential Team Peforming: Real Team High Performing Team (intense team)

Do stepladder groups produce better decisions?

Yes compared to conventional group decision making

Are men more likely to social loaf?

Yes, along with people from individualistic cultures

stepladder technique

a decision-making method in which group members are added to a group discussion one at a time (like a stepladder). The existing group members listen to each new member's thoughts, ideas, and recommendations; then the group shares the ideas and suggestions that it had already considered, discusses the new and old ideas, and makes a decision

team charter

a document developed by a team that clarifies team direction and establishes ground rules

work group

a group that interacts primarily to share information. They are not responsible for a collective work effort or their individual contributions can be added up to create something (Service group at an auto dealership)

additive task

a performance goal that can be met by adding up individual contributions

Work teams

a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

nominal group technique (NGT)

a structured approach to group decision making that focuses on generating alternatives and choosing one

Self-Managed Work Teams (SMWTs)

a team where there is typically no designated leader

social identity

a way to explain how people view their own place in society through membership in various groups

collective effort

a work project that reflects the contributions of everyone on the team

Way to voice opinion in consensus

agreement stand aside block agree with reservation

Behavioral indicators of cohesion

attending meetings more often, being on time, sitting closer to one another, making eye contact, being less likely to quit, and engaging in longer group hugs

team viability

collective sense of belonging similar to team cohesion

work team

depends on one another and must interact to create something no one person on the team could create

consensus

discussing ideas and deferring a final decision until everyone can say they have been heard and will support the final decision

leadership climate

effective behaviors, attitudes, and environmental conditions created by a leader that enhance team performance and increase empowerment

Five-stage model of team development

forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

virtual teams

functioning teams that rely on technology-mediated communication while crossing several different boundaries

collectivism

group orientation

What are the components of process?

how the team interacts, trust, cross-training, and coordination

What are the components of input?

individual characteristics of team members and the resources they have at their disposal

team norms

informal and interpersonal rules that team members are expected to follow

Should all work be done by teams

no

What are 3 broad categories for team effectivness?

performance, behaviors, and attitudes

power distance

respect for authority

psychological safety

shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. Being able to show and employ one's self without feat of negative consequences of self-image, status, or career

team mental models (TMM)

shared understandings within teams team members' shared, organized understanding and mental representation of knowledge about key elements of the team's relevant environment

normative decision making model

shows that team decisions fall on a continuum ranging from leaders making the decision themselves to delegating the decision to the team

team affect

team atmosphere

groupthink

team decision making challenge that arises due to a high degree of cohesiveness and group norms that result in conformity

cohesion

the "team spirit" experienced in high-performing teams the resultant of all the forces acting on the members to remain part of the group a state in which a group tends to stick together and unite in the pursuit of team goals

determinism

the belief that people should not try to change the paths their lives are destined to take

forming

the first stage of team development, in which team members meet each other, form initial impressions, and begin to establish team norms

performing

the fourth and final stage of team development, in which performance improves because the team has matured into an effective, fully functioning team

synergy

the idea that the team can produce something beyond the sum of the individual member contributions

social loafing

the reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively compared with when they work individually or coactively

storming

the second stage of development, characterized by conflict and disagreement, in which team members disagree over what the team should do and how it should do it

What did google find when studying for the perfect team?

the teams had good communication and empathy (social sensitivity)

norming

the third stage of team development, in which team members begin to settle into their roles, group cohesion grows, and positive team norms develop

punctuated equilibrium

transition between an early phase of inactivity followed by a second phase of significant acceleration toward task completion

implicit norms

unspoken, unwritten standards of behavior for a group of people

adjourning

when the team finalizes its work and disbands