Rutgers Virtual Team Dynamics Midterm
team composition
criteria for team success an effective team contains a diversity of knowledge and skills team leaders rarely have info, time and ability to select optimal team members
task related support
includes both info sharing and behavioral assistance
social support
includes social recognition and encouragement depends on team maturity level forming stage performing stage
problems with competition
individual competition: disrupts the teams focus on its common goals creates confusion about goals distrust that reduces team communication team competition: creates problems regardless of the teams success
media richness
it depends on the amount of information that can be transferred through the media
collectivist culture
loyalty to the group, belongingness, we-language, relationship-oriented group activities making conformity expected and discourage open conflict risk avoidance wont resist team membership
when is competition appropriate
may be positive within an organization when jobs are independent
nature of team success
measuring the success of teamwork can be difficult definition of team success 1. task 2. social relations 3. individual
decision making
members are more focused on the logic more likely to research what they want to communicate unique info share is more important to predict team performance
team building for virtual teams
more to deal with problems in person intital meetings instant communication channels development of communication norms better training appropriate leadership
team impacts
must have time to adjust using technology more success in idea generation and problem solving tasks virtual brainstorming= social loafing trust is more important and difficult to create conflicts are difficult to detect
groupthink
occurs when group members' desire to maintain good relations becomes more important than reaching a good decision groups leads to a bad decision thats not corrected and the cycle begins again
individualist culture
privacy, individual cognition, task-oriented group activities and i-language general resistance to work in teams performing worse when instructed to "do your best" more creative risk taker
action plan
problem solving approach is developed for implementing the proposed changes in how the team operates
virtuality
refers to the degree of electronic communication dependence among team members
developing social relations
requires cohesion and communication emotional ties understanding and trust
does your team need team building
signs of an ineffective team: decrease in team performance increase of complaints from team members evidence of unproductive conflicts among members confusion about assignments, roles and relationships decisions misunderstood or not enacted lack of involvement from team members lack of initiative, creativity, or effective problem solving ineffective meetings with low participation high dependency on the leader
social recognition
social support acceptance and encouraging a sense of belonging to the group
criteria for communication methods
speed reach interactivity media richness ability to document message matching technology to the team and task
storming
stages for group development conflict disagreement about roles and procedures
adjourning
stages for group development dissolution completion of task and end of group
forming
stages for group development orientation members getting to know one another
norming
stages for group development structure establishment of rules and social relationships
performing
stages for group development work focus on completing the task
high power cultures
status oriented; challenging authority is uncomfortable; more willing to accept the leader's decisions problem: lack of independence; participation isnt easy; communication from management leaders is more important
competitive rewards
strong motivators, especially for encouraging speed
social relations
task focused and not enough time establishing social relations occasional in person meetings are needed
info sharing
task related support giving ideas and advice and explaining how to perform a task
behavioral assistance
task related support helping another team member with work tasks and providing supportive backup behaviors
goal setting
team building program objectives are developed to further define the team's tasks and establish action plans to include team member assignments
problem solving
team building program problem identification and analysis used to generate alternatives and develop solutions action plan is developed outside consultants often needed
interpersonal process skills
team building program simulated activities or exercises to perform to practice these skills and analyze the results feedback from these outside observers is viewed a key in the learning experience
cohesion building
team building program strengthens the team morale, increases trust and cooperation, and develops team identity notice more similarities among fellow team members and more differences from outside groups
role clarification
team building program team members need to be clear on both their own roles and the roles others perform negotiation approach team underusing certain behaviors and relying on a limited range of behaviors; info may be used to help improve team interactions
evaluations and rewards
team members may believe that rewards are based on individual performances rather than team effort belief in outcome interdependence helps motivate members to work together balance of individual and team based rewards is necessary for commitment and incentives
group support systems
technologies for tasks collaboration to support virtual meetings
shared databases
technologies for tasks coordinate for technical aspects of projects
videoconference
technologies for tasks discuss issues and listen to presentations
email or texting
technologies for tasks keep team members informed and share info
social media
technologies for tasks to develop social relations
project management software
technologies for tasks to monitor performances and manage projects as teams
premature closure
the most common group decision making problem trying to avoid disagreement by voting to make a quick decision
problems with cooperation
too much cooperation can disrupt a team's performance and decision making abilities 1. conformity 2. unhealthy agreement
different time same place
type of meeting computer database
same time same place
type of meeting face to face meeting
different time different place
type of meeting intranet bullentin board websites
same time different place
type of meeting video conferencing
action learning
type of training develop teams that can analyze and solve important, real life problems in their organizations encourages experimentation, allows mistakes and offers support and promotes feedback
when are group decisions superior to individual decisions
when teams successfully pool resources to solve problems or make decisions
Psychological Safety
Establishing a safe communication environment encourages team members to express their opinions and feelings in difficult situations.
Characteristics of Groups: Interpersonal Interaction
People who communicate and interact with one another
Characteristics of Groups: Interdependent
People who have some type of relationship, see connections among themselves, or believe they share a common fate
teamwork as a mixed motive situation
cooperation is limited by competition, when goals arent shared competitive relationship goal: outperform others rivalry = teams prevented from goals find themselves in mixed motive situations social dilemmas result: poor team performance
factors that contribute to groupthink
1. structural decision making flaws 2. group cohesiveness 3. external pressure
criteria for team success
1. team composition 2. characteristics of the task 3. group process 4. organization context
Benefits/Problems of Cooperation
(+) - Motivated by team goals - Higher performance: The high performers spend time helping others, and they learn from this experience. - Encourages supportive communication - Focused on Task objectives: ambiguous, complex, or changing - Foundation for social relations; Builds trust - Good for Conflict management (-) *Conformity* (i.e. everyone MUST agree/accommodate to norms and values) - Self-Rewarding: It rewards contributions and discourages behavior that is not accepted by the team. This means that the team demands conformity from its members. - Resistant to changes/outside influence: Team thinks they are better than others, so they're resistant to changing the way it operates) *Unhealthy Agreement* - e.g. Groupthink = Poor decisions caused by everyone agreeing w/o taking into consideration other creative options -Avoid conflict by agreeing -Symptoms: *Team members feel angry about the decisions the team is making. *Team members agree in private that the team is making bad decisions. *The team is breaking up into subgroups that blame others for the team's problems. *People fail to speak up in meetings or to communicate their real opinions.
Anonymity (+/- outcomes)
(+) Anonymous Group Support Systems - Members are more willing to participate and generate more problem solving Ideas - Electronic brainstorming generates more creative ideas than face-to-face brainstorming. (+/-) Saying what's on your mind on virtual setting - People are more willing to say things they would not say in face-to-face interactions --> Participation -Flaming = uninhibited negative remarks (ex. criticism in comments section, personal attacks) (-) Deindividuation - Less Self-Awareness and Self-Evaluation Apprehension caused by feeling anonymous - More likely to engage in social loafing in groups (-) Creates less pressure to agree in virtual teams (so members won't feel pressured to agree with the rest of the team, and they will not be criticized for it, but this can lead to lots of conflict) -Virtual teams have higher levels of conflict and less likely to reach a consensus -Due to lack of social pressure, it decreases people's willingness to agree and seek compromises during disagreements
Status Differences (+/- outcomes)
(+) Status differences are reduced in a virtual setting -Equalized participation in virtual groups -Interaction is more democratic -Social cues are reduced -People communicate on the basis of their knowledge or opinions rather than on their social status. (+/-) Still possibility of a hierarchy on virtual setting - Virtual teams may limit the effects of status because status cues are not as easily seen as they are in face-to-face communications. - But, team members are aware of the status of the other communicators regardless of the technology used. (-) Status differences have a mixed effect on performance - If status differences is on ability to work/competence, then higher status individuals will be more influential - If status differences is on cultural stereotypes, then status can disrupt team decision making.
Miscommunication (+/- outcomes)
(-) Misunderstandings and Reduced Communication -Faulty assumptions can be made about the characteristics of the communicator -Communication through some media can distort some patterns of communication Ex. Japanese v USA team members (-) Virtual teams have difficulty establishing and maintaining mutual knowledge -Lack of contextual cues during communications -It is more difficult to know whether fellow members of virtual teams have adequately understood a communication -Difficult to communicate emotions (-) Videoconferencing -Don't see eye-to-eye, though you can see the face -It does not have the interactive quality of a face-to-face communication because of limited nonverbal cues
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Resolution Approach
*Assertiveness vs Cooperativeness* Assertiveness: Degree of how much your needs matter Cooperativeness: Degree of how much others need matter
Changes in Organizational Characteristics
- Rate of change in business is exponential - Comm tech helps organizes companies to create new ways to integrate their operations - Teams provide a new way to integrate and coordinate various parts of an organization - Companies change to meet contemporary demands - Teams replaces managers and carry out traditional management functions
factors that affect the successful pooling of info for decision making
1. team composition 2. good communication 3. the need to make a decision
When/Why is *competition* needed?
*Competition:* Individual view others as a limitation, especially when goals are not shared -Team members work against one another when their individual goals become more important than the team goal -The goal is to do better than others *Why:* 3 Reasons *Culture -Individualist-Collectivist Dimension *Personality (Types) -Individual Perception of situations defines differences in personalities -Affect how people interpret the situations they are in and how they define success. -Difficult to change personality traits *Organizational Rewards -Performance evaluations are based on individual performance, and evaluation is relative to the performance of the other employees -"Best" employee gets rewarded; compete against each other for rewards (that cannot be shared) *When:* -Competition may be positive within an organization when jobs are independent rather than interdependent. (Internal) ex. competition among sales staff and rewards best performer. sales staff do not depend on each other to do the work. -Competition between organizations can help improve productivity (External) -Competitors provide motivating goals and feedback about performance
When/Why is *cooperation* needed?
*Cooperation:* Essence of teamwork where team members work towards a common goal *Why:* - Working together to reach common goals - To increase productivity - To improve job satisfaction - To create an open and supportive communication climate *When:* - When team members believe their contributions to the team are valuable and important, they are more likely to contribute
Increasing Team Motivation
*Depends On:* - Task performed - How performance will be evaluated and rewarded - Team Efficacy: Team's belief in its ability to succeed - Team's sense of commitment and cohesion (belonging)
Sources of Conflict
*Healthy* -Focus on task issues -Legitimate differences of opinion about the task -Differences in values and perspectives -Different expectations about the impact of decisions *Unhealthy* -Competition over power, rewards, and resources -Conflict between individual and group goals -Poorly run team meetings -Personal grudges from the past -Faulty communications
Individualist-Collectivist Dimension
*Individualists* = more competitive than collectivists - Ex. US is an individualist culture → promotes competition (i.e., capitalism, personal success, Freedom) *Collectivists* = combo of capitalism and cooperation - Ex. Japan encourages cooperation and is highly rewarded - Commitment and loyalty = key success in Japanese organizations - Important for them to act cooperatively with their team members but also to act competitively with those outside of their group
Internal vs External Competition
*Motivation* - How everyone feels if their work is valued and important to self and team POV *Feedback* -Helpful in understanding if either competition is working *Independent versus Interdependent*
Communication Process
*Sender* --> Message --> *Receiver*
Models of Team Learning Process
*Team Mental Model:*A common understanding by team members about the team's tasks and the operation of the team. -Knowledge about how to operate as a team to complete a task -Related to the type of task, not the specific members of the team -Focus on the shared or common memory ("on same page", know member's roles, common explanation of how team operates) *Transactive Memory System:* Includes both the knowledge that particular team members possess and awareness of who knows what -Awareness of the knowledge possessed by the members of the team. -Develops over time through interactions within a team and is specific to the team. -Task knowledge that individual team members possess
Why do we need teams?
*Teams are important when:* ~Goal is to improve product/service ~Rapid change is necessary ~Job is complex ~Customer service and quality are important *Shift to Teams due to:* - Changes in Job characteristics - Changes in Organizational characteristics
Receiver
*Varies in ways that affect the influence of the communication* Ex. Personality characteristics of receivers - intelligence, language skills, and self-esteem affect communication - Intelligence and language skills of audience determines wording of the communication - Credible communicators are easily able to influence those with low self esteem *Complex communication in teams are good, but can leave other people out of the conversation* - To avoid misinterpretation, miscommunication, and team barriers - Language should be simple and clear in mixed audiences *Differ in relationship to the message* - Ex. easy to comm someone who already agrees with message; - If someone is against the message, communicators need to be careful how to frame the message - Low levels of disagreement - produce discomfort, change opinions - High levels of disagreement - not credible, discounts the message - People are more open to arguments that are within range of acceptability - Highly credible people can get away with supporting unpopular opinions
Constructive Controversy (Cooperation) (Trust, & Communication)
- Cooperation, trust, and safety are preconditions for allowing constructive controversy to occur - Cooperation encourages Constructive Controversy - Constructive controversy allows for open feedback, the raising of questions, and increased communication.
Changes in Job Characteristics
- Encourages the need for teamwork - Non-routine --> uncertainty, complexity, interdependence, variety, change - Need the various expertise of diverse workers to get a goal done
Characteristics of a Group
- Goal Orientation - Interdependent - Interpersonal Interaction (Communication) - Perception of Membership (Sense of Belonging) - Structured Relations - Mutual Influence - Individual Motivation
Characteristics of Teams
- Narrower range of size than groups (3-12 people) - Complementary skills - Interact directly - Performance and Mutual Accountability - Integration, coordination, and cooperation
Social Loafing
- People reduce of individual contributions knowing that there's other people in the group to do the work - Two Types: free riders and the sucker effect -Sucker Effect: People slack off in teams because they do not want others to take advantage of them - Free Riders: People who perform little in a group because they do not believe their individual efforts are important, and they know they will receive their share of the group's reward regardless of their efforts Factors: - No need for group to perform in coordinated ways - Individual performance can be hidden in the team's collective effort - Members are unaware of others efforts
criteria for evaluating decision making approaches
1. quality 2. speed 3. acceptance or support
The Impact of Group Cohesion
- Reduces stress - Positive impact on group performance - Members accept group goals, decisions and norms - Social interaction & Conflict resolution - Building cohesion (isolated, smaller, & group incentives) - Also (-) Factor of Groupthink - Creates an environment that limits internal dissension and criticism ex. an hostile environment that prevent open communication
Team and Self-Efficacy
- Self: an individual's belief in his or her innate ability to achieve goals (I can do it!) - Team: perception that the team is capable of performing well at a given task - Increasing a sense of team efficacy helps increase motivation. - Successful performance increases team efficacy and vice versa
Groups vs. Teams
- Team is a special type of structured group - Distinction between two are fuzzy - Groups are more inclusive than Teams - Teams have common goals that require coordinated interactions and accomplish certain tasks. - Team members are held accountable - Team members have applied functions (Assigned Roles) (ex. sport teams/work activity related to tasks) - Teams are part of larger organization
Preventing Social Loafing
- Team needs challenging tasks - Rewarded for team success - Identifiable individual performance indicators - Commitment to the team
Historical Background of Team Research
- Working in small groups was common before the Industrial Revolution - Scientific management simplified jobs and created hierarchical work systems. - The Hawthorne studies of the 1930s demonstrated the importance of understanding the aspects of work related to social relations - Following World War II, researchers began to experiment with work teams. - Sociotechnical Systems during the 1960s presented a way to analyze work and identify the need for teams. - However, it was the rise of Japanese manufacturing teams during the 1980s that led to the increased use of teamwork in the United States. - Paralleling this growth in the use of teams, the social sciences developed the field of group dynamics, which focuses on understanding how groups operate. - Today, group dynamics is a scientific field that provides information useful in improving the operations of teams.
Social Representation
- shared values, ideas and beliefs people have about the world developed through member interactions - Interactions helps develop the worldview ex. human rights watch associates/wall street stockbrokers
What is Conflict?
- the process by which people or groups perceive that others have taken some action that has a negative effect on their interest. -Viewed negatively, but normal & healthy sign -Conflict changes as team develops -Conflicts may not be fully resolved
Social Identification
- the recognition that a group exists separately from others - 'us' (Positive) vs 'them' (Negative) -Both a cognitive process (classifying the world into categories) and an emotional process (viewing one's group is better than other groups)
Team Communication
-Communication Climates (Supportive <-----------------------> Defensive) -Psychological Safety -Information Processing -Trust
Facilitator's Role
-Facilitators are needed to manage the group process in order to equalize participation -Facilitators = some structure/regulation/plan
Integrated Solution
-Often useful for a team to either use an outside facilitator for a difficult conflict or receive training in facilitating conflicts -Structure of negotiating conflict 1. Separate the people from the problem. 2. Focus on the shared interests of all parties. 3. Develop many options to solve the problem 4. Evaluate options using objective criteria 5. Try again.
Two Types of Reward
1. *Competitive rewards* are effective in motivating individual performance 2. *Cooperative rewards* promote trust, cohesiveness, and mutual support, which in turn promote team performance.
Four Communication Skills
1. Ask Questions 2. Listen Actively 3. Give Constructive Feedback 4. Manage Feelings
6 Rules of Constructive Controversy
1. Establish openness norms. Encourage all team members to express their opinions and feelings. Do not dismiss ideas because they appear at first too impractical or undeveloped. 2. Assign opposing views. Assign a person or subgroup the role of critically evaluating the group's current preferences. 3. Follow the golden rule of Discuss issues with others the way controversy. you want issues discussed with you. If you want others to listen to you, you should listen to them. 4. Get outside information. Search for information from a diverse set of outside sources to help the group make a decision. 5. Show personal regard. Criticize ideas, if you want, but do not attack a person's motivation or personality. 6. Combine ideas. Avoid either/or thinking, and try to combine ideas to create alternative solutions.
Media (Technology) Characteristics
1. Speed: How fast you receive the message 2. Interactivity: How often are two or more people are working together or influencing one another? 3. Richness: relates to the speed of feedback, the number and type of sensory channels, and the degree to which the source seems personal 4. Reach: How many employees receiving the communication 5. Social Presence: the degree to which using the technology resembles the experience of communicating with another person 6. Document Message: Capability of communication technologies to document a message may inhibit managers from using them
Mediated Communication's Impacts
1. Status Differences 2. Anonymity 3. Miscommunication - Some of the changes are due to a lack of communication norms
selecting the right technology
1. characteristic of task 2. team members: social relations and characteristics 3. group process 4. whats the best pattern? team needs self confidence about using the system support for those that need to learn it
dimensions of international culture
1. individualism v collectivism 2. power and status 3. uncertainty and risk avoidance
Challenges in Virtual Team Processes
2 Main Challenges Facing Virtual Teams: -Dealing with communications problems -Creating effective interpersonal relationships Others include: -Hacking in company's system -Lose/lack of accessibility to wifi -Social Loafing -Conflict can be particularly difficult when discussed online
Emotional Intelligence
4 Parts: 1. Self-Awareness: ability to ID and understand one's emotion 2. Empathy: ability to perceive, experience, and recognize others' emotions 3. Emotional Regulation: ability to regulate one's emotions and control the expression of emotions 4. Relationship Management: ability to respond to other's emotions with respect and concern for the relationship - EI can be improved by *Modeling appropriate behavior *Experiential activities *Develop behavioral norms *Team-based learning approaches
Communication Climate
Communication climates influence the level and style of communication within a team. *Supportive* climates: -Encourage people to focus on the message; -Allow diverse ideas and expressions of both agreement and disagreement. -Because of their emotional comfort, team members are better able to focus on the task. *Defensive* climates: -Negative communication climates -Closed, alienating, blaming, discouraging, and punishing.
Task Conflict
Has 2 Parts 1. *Task conflict* occurs when people are performing nonroutine tasks - Conflicts about what is the best approach - Usually has a positive effect on team performance -Tasks are new, complex, unclear, unfamiliar... 2. *Process conflict* occurs when people who are performing routine tasks have differences over how the team is managing the tasks and coordinating the role assignments of the members - Critiques the job's process is a poorly defined job, or has poor procedures. -Often create disagreements among team members about their roles, which can devolve into relationship issues. -B/c of this, process conflicts often have negative effects on team member satisfaction and team performance.
Characteristics of Groups: Mutual Influence
Impact people have on one another because of their connections
Personality Types
Individual Concerns of: *Competitors* - Outperforming others - They define success not in terms of their individual goals or the group's goals but rather relative to others' performances *Cooperators* - Group's Success - They are concerned with both their own outcomes and those of others. *Individualists* - Personal Success, and may or may not care about Group's Success - They do not evaluate their performance relative to others
Information Processing
Interpersonal processes influence the willingness of team members to share information in team discussions.
Factors of Media Richness
Media richness theory advocates for richer technologies w/: - feedback - multiple cues - personal focus in order to better process equivocal information and facilitate understanding. - Media Richness describes a communication medium's ability to reproduce the information sent over it without loss or distortion. - High richness - Skype, Video conferences - Low richness - Letter, Memo
Characteristics of Groups: Goal Orientation
People joining together for some purpose and to achieve some group *shared* goal
Characteristics of Groups: Perception of Membership
Recognition that there is a collective to which one belongs
Characteristics of Groups: Structured Relations
Roles, rules, and norms that control people's interactions
Characteristics of Groups: Individual Motivation
Satisfaction of personal needs through membership in the group
Communication Norms
Takes Time, Experience to: -Overcome communication problems -Operate as in person teams -Develop social relations
Emotional Awareness Norms
Taking time to get to know each other to increase interpersonal understanding and ensuring equal participation so that all perspectives can be considered
Team Motivation
Team Motivation: The collective work of a group of people is more than its individuals could accomplish separately -Working together causes a decrease in motivation that may be due to social loafing
Mixed-Motives
Team members are both cooperative and competitive at the same time
Group Cohesion
The interpersonal bonds that hold a group together
(Building) Trust
Trust provides the foundation for open and honest communications in the team.
Psychological Perspective
Two Processes define a group: - Social Identification - Social Representation
Sender
_2 characteristics:_ *Credibility* - More credible the communicator → more audience will believe the message - Has knowledge of expertise and has no motive to deceive - Trustworthiness → not persuading the audience and will not personally benefit the communication *Attractiveness* - Not physical appearance: Tend to find people more attractive if they are similar to us in appearance, background, attitude, ideas, lifestyle, etc. - People we want to be like or high status people → we find attractive
benefits of competition
all team members are motivated by the team's goals team and individuals perform better high performers help low performers better social relations, higher self-esteem and better attitudes supports communication
signs you have a good team
clear and measurable goals roles and assignments accepted by team members climate of trust, psychological safety, and support open and participate environment effective problem solving and decision making support leadership constructive handling of conflict support organizational culture and structure ability to monitor performance and make needed changes
challenge of virtual teams
communication problems creating effective interpersonal relationships
transnational teams
composed of individuals from different cultures working on activities that span national borders type of team is formed in a global company or through alliances around companies in different geographic areas uses reps from 2 or more countries main challenge: to learn how to integrate this cultural diversity into a functioning unit 3 important concerns: 1. local responsiveness 2. global efficacy 3. organizational learning
group process
criteria for team success effective teams: organize themselves to perform tasks develop social relations and cohesion to support their operations assign leaders who can provide direction and facilitate team operations team leaders create conditions that allow the team to manage processes in a changing environment in order to be successful
organizational context
criteria for team success relates to the culture of the organization, the support it provides for teams, and its evaluation and reward systems need: adequate resources, including financial, staffing and training support reliable info from organization to make decisions, coordinate their efforts with other parts of the organization and plans for future changes requires feedback from the organization and rewards for good performance
characteristics of the task
criteria for team success task needs to motivate team members and requires coordinated activities different types of tasks based on 4 goals 1. generate 2. choose 3. negotiate 4. execute team needs regular and constructive timely feedback to learn how to improve its operation tasks should encourage interdependent work, require members to employ their skills, allow the team a high degree of autonomy
create norms for these issues for team meetings
decisions attendance assignments participation meeting times agendas and minutes promptness conversational courtesies enforcement
team training
development of the skills that the teams need to perform its task members must understand roles, coordinate with others and understand actions need to be trained together and have time to practice their new skills
lower power cultures
egalitarian; team members take initiative and dont automatically accept management directives can be difficult to manage more open communication styles can create conflicts egalitarian communication will reduce the team's ability to implement decisions them because of the lack of deference to the organization's concerns
cooperative rewards
encourage discussion, collaboration and info sharing
benefits of cooperation
encourages supportive communication more willing to talk to one another encourages more communication which leads to improves coordination on tasks, satisfaction with working together and overall team performance
structural decision making flaws
factor of groupthink create bad decisions because they impair the group decision making process ex. ignoring input from outside sources
external pressure
factor of groupthink leads to the group's conviction that they've made a good decision and that everyone agrees with it internal pressure to not voice your concerns and objections
stages for group development
forming storming norming performing adjourning
