Class 19

Team Conflict

- Arises from disagreement over team goals - Reduced by using cognitive conflict to address work problems in a manner where it minimizes occurrences of affective conflict

Advantages of Teams

- increase customer satisfaction - improve product and service quality - increase speed and efficiency in product development - increase job satisfaction - share the benefits of group decision making

Greater team size:

-Poses the risk of minority domination -Increase incidences of social loafing

Disadvantages to Team Norms

Negative norms strongly influenced team members to engage in these negative behaviors

De-forming

a reversal of the forming stage, in which team members position themselves to control pieces of the team, avoid each other, and isolate themselves from team leaders

De-norming

a reversal of the norming stage, in which team performance begins to decline as the size, scope, goal, or members of the team change

De-storming

a reversal of the storming phase, in which the team's comfort level decreases, team cohesion weakens, and angry emotions and conflict may flare

Work Teams

a small number of people with complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for pursuing a common purpose, achieving performance goals, and improving interdependent work processes. Helps firms respond to specific problems and challenges

Cross-functional team

a team composed of employees from different functional areas of the organization -Often used in conjunction with matrix and product organizational structures

Virtual team

a team composed of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers who use telecommunication and information technologies to accomplish an organizational task -Highly flexible and often temporary

Project team

a team created to complete specific, one-time projects or tasks within a limited time

Self-managing team

a team that manages and controls all of the major tasks of producing a product or service

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

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

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

Work Team Characteristics

to make teams an effective part of organizations, managers need to understand the characteristics of work teams -Team Norms -Team Cohesiveness -Team Size -Team Conflict

Classification of teams based on autonomy

traditional work groups, employee involvement teams, semi-autonomous work groups, self-managing teams, and self-designing teams

Cross-training

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

Special Kinds of Teams

Cross-functional teams Virtual teams Project teams

Disadvantages of group decision making

-groupthink -minority domination -lack of feeling accountable for team decisions and actions

Disadvantages of Teams

-not a guarantee of positive outcomes -initial high turnover -social loafing

When to use teams

-there is a clear, engaging reason or purpose -the job can't be done unless people work together -rewards can be provided for teamwork and team performance -ample resources are available

When not to use teams

-there isn't a clear, engaging reason or purpose -the job can be done by people working independently -rewards are provided for individual effort and performance -the necessary resources are not available

Tips for Managing Virtual Teams

1. Establish clear expectations for communication, availability during offices hours, and frequency of check-ins. 2. Establish clear goals and milestones to help remote workers stay on track and accountable to the team. 3. Help team members set clear boundaries between work and family spaces. 4. Assign employees who have many outside obligations to teams whose members mostly have few nonwork obligations. 5. Ensure that team members have access to technology tools such as teleconferencing, file-sharing services, online meeting services, and collaboration portals. 6. Facilitate face-to-face communication with video conferencing or by requiring members of remote teams to work on-site several days each month. 7. Ensure the task is meaningful to the team and the company. 8. Solicit volunteers as much as possible

Traditional work group

a group composed of two or more people who work together to achieve a shared goal

Affective (A-type) Conflict

Emotional reactions that occur due to personal disagreements

Team Size

For most teams, the right size is between 6-9 members -Should be small enough for members to get to know each other -Provides each member with the opportunity to contribute

Semiautonomous work group

a group that has the authority to make decisions and solve problems related to the major tasks of producing a product or service

Team Development Reversals

Without effective management, team performance may begin to decline as it passes through these stages -De-norming -De-storming -De-forming

Performing

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

Team Cohesiveness

the extent to which team members are attracted to a team and motivated to remain in it Promoted by -Ensuring that all team members are present at team activities and meetings -Creating additional opportunities for task interdependence -Engaging in non work activities -Helping employees feel they are apart of the organization

Forming

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

Team norms

informally agreed-on standards that regulate team behavior -Let team members know expectations -Developed by observing nearby team members -Powerful influences that regulate the everyday actions and allow teams to function effectively

Groupthink

members feel the pressure not to disagree with each other

Employee involvement team

team that provides advice or makes suggestions to management concerning specific issues

Cognitive (C-type) Conflict

focuses on problem-related differences of opinion

Stages of team development

forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

Minority domination

one or two people dominate team discussions