Chapter 12

Ambassador activities

refer to communications that are intended to protect the team, persuade others to support the team, or obtain important resources for the team

Team States

refer to specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together.

Scout Activities

refer to things team members do to obtain information about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace

Potency

refers to the degree to which members believe that the team can be effective across a variety of situations and tasks.

hierarchical sensitivity

reflects the degree to which the leader effectively weighs the recommendations of the members

Mental Models

team members' knowledge and beliefs about how the work gets done by the team

transportable teamwork competencies

team training that involves helping people develop general teamwork competencies that they can transport from one team context to another

Transition Process

teamwork activities that focus on preparation for future work

Action processes

teamwork processes, such as helping and coordination, that aid in the accomplishment of teamwork as the work is actually taking place

Cohesion

tends to foster high levels of motivation and commitment to the team, and as a consequence, cohesiveness tends to promote higher levels of team performance.

Communication

the act of talking with someone and discussing something together

Taskwork process

the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks

Information richness

the amount of information that a communication medium can carry and the extent to which the medium enables the sender and receiver to reach a common understanding

Transactive memory

the combined memory of a group that is more efficient than the memory of the individual members

Motivational loss

the loss in team productivity that occurs when team members don't work as hard as they could

Network structure

the pattern of communication that occurs regularly among each member of the team

Social Loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Groupthink

is thought to be associated with feelings of overconfidence about the team's capabilities.

Team Process training

occurs in the context of a team experience that facilitates the team being able to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit

Process Loss

, or getting less from the team than you would expect based on the capabilities of its individual members.

Coordination loss

Although this extra effort focused on integrating work is a necessary aspect of the team experience, it's called coordination loss because it consumes time and energy that could otherwise be devoted to task activity.

What factors influence the communication process in teams?

Communication is a process through which much of the work in a team is accomplished. Effectiveness in communication can be influenced by the communication competence of the sender and receiver, noise, information richness, and network structure.

Brainstorming

Generally speaking, brainstorming involves a face-to-face meeting of team members in which each offers as many ideas as possible about some focal problem or issue.

Process gain

Getting more from the team than you would expect according to the capabilities of its individual members is called

Boundary Spanning

Interactions among team members and individuals and groups who are not part of the team

What steps can organizations take to improve team processes?

Organizations can use training interventions to improve team processes. Such interventions may include training in transportable teamwork competencies, cross-training, team process training, and team building.

Nominal group technique

Similar to a traditional brainstorming session, this process starts off by bringing the team together and outlining the purpose of the meeting. The next step takes place on an individual level, however, as members have a set period of time to write down their own ideas on a piece of paper.

What are taskwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category?

Taskwork processes are the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks. Taskwork processes include creative behavior, decision making, and boundary spanning.

What are team states, and what are some examples of the states that fall into this process category?

Team states refer to specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together. Team states include cohesion, potency, mental models, and transactive memory.

How do team processes affect team performance and team commitment?

Teamwork processes have a moderate positive relationship with team performance and a strong positive relationship with team commitment.

What are teamwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category?

Teamwork processes refer to the interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team's work but do not directly involve task accomplishment itself. Teamwork processes include transition processes, action processes, and interpersonal processes.

Interpersonal processes

Teamwork processes, such as motivating and confidence building, that focus on the management of relationships among team members

Relationship conflict

conflict based on interpersonal relationships

Task conflict

conflict over content and goals of the work

Teamwork processes

interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team's work but do not directly involve task accomplishment itself

Team Process

is a term that refers to the different types of communication, activities, and interactions that occur within teams that contribute to their ultimate end goals.

Team Building

high interaction among team members to increase trust and openness

Personal clarification

training in which members simply receive information regarding the roles of the other team members

Action learning

training in which teams get an actual problem, work on solving it and commit to an action plan, and are accountable for carrying it out

Cross-training

training team members to do all or most of the jobs performed by the other team members

Positional rotation

training that gives members actual experience carrying out the responsibilities of their teammates

Positional modeling

training that involves observations of how other team members perform their roles

Production blocking

which occurs when members have to wait on one another before they can do their part of the team task

Staff validity

which refers to the degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader.

Decision informity

which reflects whether members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities.