Intro to Business

Team Conflict

- when one person or group's needs do not match those of another, and attempts may be made to block the opposing side's intentions or goals. Cognitive conflict focuses on problem-related differences of opinion. Reconciling these differences strongly improves team performance

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

11 million workers at 12,000 companies participate in ESOPs Gives employees financial ownership, leading to potential profits This motivates employees to work smarter and harder.

How to empower Employees?

By sharing information and decision-making authority Gives workers a sense of ownership Keeping them informed about the company's financial performance Giving them broad authority to make workplace decisions that implement a firm's vision and competitive strategies

Team size

Can range widely, but most have fewer than 12 members. Ideal size is often six or seven members

Cultural Context

Communication in low-context cultures tends to rely on explicit written and verbal messages. Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the U.S

Importance of Effective Communication

Communication is the meaningful exchange of information through messages. Managers spend 80 percent of their time in direct communication with others. Company recruiters rate effective communication as the most important skill they're looking for in hiring new college graduates.

Employee ownership has become a way to link rewards to company performance. This is done in two ways

Employee stock ownership plans benefit employees by giving them ownership in the company. Stock options are another way to provide workers with ownership by providing them the right to buy a specific amount of company stock at a given price. Stock options have turned hundreds of employees at firms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Home Depot, Microsoft, and Google into millionaires.

Empowerment

Empowerment is an important component of effective management. Empowerment taps the brainpower of all workers to find improved ways of doing their jobs, better serving customers, and achieving organizational goals. Empowerment gives workers a feeling of ownership Sharing information and decision-making authority are the keys to empowering employees. Empowerment frees managers from hands-on control of employees and motivates workers by adding challenges to their jobs.

5 diff teams slide 7

In addition to work teams, teams may exist as problem-solving teams who gather information to solve a specific problem. Self-managed teams are work teams that have the authority to decide how their members complete their daily tasks. Cross-functional teams have members from different functions, such as production, marketing, and finance. A virtual team is a group of geographically or organizationally dispersed co-workers who uses a combination of telecommunications and information technologies to accomplish an organizational task.

Stock Options

Right to buy a specified amount of company stock at a given price within a given time period. Being offered more frequently to employees at all levels. 1/3 of all options go to the top five executives at a firm.

Work teams

are groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose. Two-thirds of U.S. firms currently use work teams, permanent employee groups Two-thirds of U.S. firms currently use work teams, permanent employee groups

Team level

average level of ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team

Empowerment

giving employees authority and responsibility to make decisions about their work

Team

is a group of employees who are committed to a common purpose, approach, and set of performance goals. Members are mutually responsible and accountable for accomplishing objectives. Ability to work on teams often emphasized during the hiring process. Teams are widely used in organizations. Companies who use teams look to hire people who can work well with others.

Team cohesiveness

is the extent to which team members feel attracted to the team and motivated to remain part of it. Increases when members interact frequently, share common attitudes and goals, and enjoy being together. Cohesive teams quickly achieve high levels of performance and consistently perform better. Increases when Team norms are the informal standards of conduct shared by team members that guide their behavior. Can be positive or negative

Affective Conflict

refers to the emotional reactions that can occur when disagreements become personal rather than professional. Team leaders should facilitate good communication so that teammates respect each other and work cooperatively.

In addition to team size

teams also can be categorized according to the similarities and differences among team members called level and diversity. The size of a team ranges, but the ideal size, according to research, is six or seven. Team level describes the average level of ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team.

Team diversity

variances or differences in ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team. diversity is an important consideration for teams that must complete a wide range of different tasks or particularly complex tasks. Having varying levels of experience is an important form of diversity.

Maximize team productivity

when they form into highly cohesive units. Cohesiveness, when members feel attracted to the team, and motivated to remain part of it, motivates the team to achieve goals. Team norms, a standard of conduct shared by members, helps guide behavior. It is important to note that norms can be positive or negative and that cohesiveness helps build positive norms. In highly productive teams, norms contribute to constructive work and the accomplishment of team goals. Cohesiveness increases when members interact frequently and share similar attitudes, goals, and enjoy being together.