OB - Chapter 8

how are teams effective

1. most teams exist to serve some organizational purpose, so effectiveness is partly measured by the achievement of those objectives 2. team's effectiveness relies on the satisfaction and well-being of its members. People join groups to fulfill their personal needs, so effectiveness is partly measured by this need fulfillment 3. team effectiveness includes the team's ability to survive long enough to fulfill its purpose

pooled interdependence

1. occurs when an employee or work unit shares a common resource, such as machinery, administrative support, or a budget, with other employees or work units. This would occur in a team setting where each member works alone but shares raw materials or machinery to perform her or his otherwise independent tasks 2. sequential interdependence, in which the output of one person becomes the direct input for another person or unit. Sequential interdependence occurs where team members are organized in an assembly line. 3. Reciprocal interdependence, in which work output is exchanged back and forth among individuals, produces the highest degree of interdependence. People who design a new product or service would typically have reciprocal interdependence because their design decisions affect others involved in the design process

Overconfidence (Inflated Team Efficacy)

Earlier in the chapter we described team efficacy and stated that in most situations it is better for a team to have higher rather than low levels. Unfortunately, teams sometimes become overconfident and develop a false sense of invulnerability.117 In other words, the team's efficacy far exceeds reality regarding its competencies and the favourableness of the situation. Overconfident teams are less vigilant when making decisions, partly because they have more positive than negative emotions and moods during these events.

Dynamics of team trust

Employees typically join a team with a moderate or high level—not a low level—of trust in their new coworkers.72 The main explanation for the initially high trust (called swift trust) in organizational settings is that people usually believe fellow team members are reasonably competent (knowledge-based trust) and they tend to develop some degree of social identity with the team (identification-based trust). Even when working with strangers, most of us display some level of trust, if only because it supports our self-concept of being a good person.

team roles

1. A role is a set of behaviours that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization.39 In a team setting, some roles help the team achieve its goals; other roles maintain relationships within the team. Some team roles are formally assigned to specific people 2. Team members are assigned specific roles within their formal job responsibilities. Yet, team members also assume informal roles that suit their personality and values as well as the wishes of other team members.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT

1. Forming, the first stage of team development, is a period of testing and orientation in which members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership. People tend to be polite, will defer to authority, and try to find out what is expected of them and how they will fit into the team. *The storming stage is marked by interpersonal conflict as members become more proactive and compete for various team roles. Members try to establish norms of appropriate behaviour and performance standards 2. norming stage, the team develops its first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model. 3. performing stage, team members have learned to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts. In high-performance teams, members are highly cooperative, have a high level of trust in each other, are committed to group objectives, and identify with the team. 4. the adjourning stage occurs when the team is about to disband. Team members shift their attention away from task orientation to a relationship focus. -- punctuated equilibrium model, states that teams working under strict deadlines experience three important phases: the initial meeting, a midpoint transition, and the period close to the endpoint.82 Each of these phases is connected by a period of inertia in which major changes to the team's task and direction are unlikely to occur. For example, a student team working on a project with a deadline would experience the first phase in their initial meetings. Here, they might agree on how to allocate workload and discuss overall goals for the project

internal team processes

1. Internal team processes have historically been categorized as either teamwork or taskwork. Teamwork behaviour has been described as activities that are devoted to enhancing the quality of the interactions, interdependencies, cooperation, and coordination of teams 2. taskwork behaviour has been described as team members' efforts that are devoted to understanding the task requirements, discovering the "rules" by which the tasks are to be performed, establishing the patterns of interaction with equipment, exchanging task-related information, developing team solutions to problems, and so forth. Thus, taskwork represents the technical performance of the team's task, whereas teamwork behaviours are used to direct, align, and monitor taskwork

task characteristics

1. One reason for the shift to teamwork is that making decisions and satisfying customers have become much more complex. Complex work requires skills and knowledge beyond the competencies of one person 2. Task complexity demands teamwork, but teams also work better when the work is well-structured rather than ambiguous. Assembling automobiles consists of well-structured tasks, whereas a team performing a new medical procedure would have novel and less-structured work activities. 3. The main benefit of well-structured tasks is that it is easier to coordinate the work among several people. Yet compared to individuals working alone, teams are more likely to stumble when faced with ambiguous work activities. Performing a new medical procedure would lack the task structure of assembling cars dozens of times each day, for example

Preventing and Changing Dysfunctional Team Norms

1. Team norms often become deeply anchored, so the best way to avoid norms that undermine organizational success or employee well-being is to establish desirable norms when the team is first formed. One way to do this is to clearly state desirable norms when the team is created. Another approach is to select people with appropriate values. If organizational leaders want their teams to have strong safety norms, they should hire people who already value safety and who clearly identify the importance of safety when the team is formed. 2. The suggestions so far refer to new teams, but how can organizational leaders maintain desirable norms in older teams? One solution comes from a recent study, namely that leaders often have the capacity to alter existing norms.46 By speaking up or actively coaching the team, they can often subdue dysfunctional norms while developing useful norms. A second suggestion is to introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunction norms.

influences on team cohesion

1. member singularity - Social scientists have long known that people are attracted to others who are similar to them.48 This similarity-attraction effect occurs because we assume that people who look like us and have similar backgrounds are more trustworthy and are more likely to accept us. We also expect to have fewer negative experiences, such as conflicts and violations of our expectations and beliefs. Thus, teams have higher cohesion or become cohesive more quickly when members are similar to each other 2. team size - smaller teams have more cohesion 3. member interaction - Teams tend to have more cohesion when team members interact with each other fairly regularly. 4. somewhat difficult entry - Teams tend to have more cohesion when entry to the team is restricted. The more elite the team, the more prestige it confers on its members, and the more they tend to value their membership in the unit 5. team success - Team cohesion increases with the team's level of success because people are attracted to groups that fulfill their needs and goals.51 Furthermore, individuals are more likely to attach their social identity to successful teams than to those with a string of failures 6. external competition and challenges - Team cohesion tends to increase when members face external competition or a valued objective that is challenging. This might include a threat from an external competitor or friendly competition from other teams. Employees value their membership on the team because of its ability to overcome the threat or competition and as a form of social support

Transactive Memory

A transactive memory system describes how task-relevant knowledge is distributed within a team and the collective awareness of who knows what. To illustrate, consider the example of a group of business students working on a sustainability case competition. A case competition requires a visually arresting slide deck, engaging speakers, and a well-rounded, thorough presentation. Having one person with sound sustainability knowledge is a must, but what about the rest of the team? One person could bring in knowledge of finance and quantitative ability, another could bring his/her marketing background to use the sustainability-centric recommendation as a branding tool, while another might possess knowledge of strategy and use that to tell the entire story in a meaningful way

teams

First, all teams exist to fulfill some purpose, such as repairing electric power lines, assembling a product, designing a new social welfare program, or making an important decision. Second, team members are held together by their interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals. All teams require some form of communication so that members can coordinate and share common objectives. Third, team members influence each other, although some members may be more influential than others regarding the team's goals and activities. Finally, a team exists when its members perceive themselves to be a team

team efficacy

Have you ever been in a team where everyone believed the team was highly likely to succeed? If so, you were in a team with high team efficacy, which is the shared perception among team members about the team's overall level of capability.

challenges of teams

In spite of their many benefits, teams are not always as effective as individuals working alone.16 The main problem is that teams have additional costs called process losses—resources (including time and energy) expended towards team development and maintenance rather than the task.17 Team members need time and effort to resolve their disagreements, develop mutual understanding of their goals, determine the best strategy for accomplishing those goals, negotiate their specific roles, and agree on informal rules of conduct. Process losses are amplified when more people are added or replace others on the team.18 The new team members consume time and effort figuring out how to work well with other team members. Performance also suffers among current team members because they divert attention to accommodating and integrating the newcomer. Process losses increase even after new members are integrated because the larger team requires more coordination, more time for conflict resolution, and so forth brooke's law - adding more people to a team late to a software project slows it down

team norms

Norms are the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behaviour of their members. Norms apply only to behaviour, not to private thoughts or feelings. Furthermore, norms exist only for behaviours that are important to the team.42 Norms are enforced in various ways. Coworkers grimace if we are late for a meeting, or they make sarcastic comments if we don't have our part of the project completed on time. Norms are also directly reinforced through praise from high-status members, more access to valued resources, or other rewards available to the team

how team norms develop

Norms develop when teams form because people need to anticipate or predict how others will act. Even subtle events during the team's formation, such as how team members initially greet each other and where they sit in the first meetings, can initiate norms that are later difficult to change. Norms also form as team members discover behaviours that help them function more effectively (such as the need to respond quickly to e-mail)

social loafing

Process losses are amplified when more people are added or replace others on the team. The new team members consume time and effort figuring out how to work well with other team members. Performance also suffers among current team members because they divert attention to accommodating and integrating the newcomer. Process losses increase even after new members are integrated because the larger team requires more coordination, more time for conflict resolution, and so forth

self directed teams

Self-directed teams (SDTs) are cross-functional groups organized around work processes, that complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and that have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks.95 This definition captures two distinct features of SDTs. -- 1. these teams complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks. This type of work arrangement clusters the team members together while minimizing interdependence and interaction with employees outside the team. The result is a close-knit group of employees who depend on each other to accomplish their individual tasks. 2. Is that they have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks. In particular, these teams plan, organize, and control work activities with little or no direct involvement of a higher-status supervisor.

Accelerating Team Development through Team Building

Some team-building interventions are task-focused. They clarify the team's performance goals, increase the team's motivation to accomplish these goals, and establish a mechanism for systematic feedback on the team's goal performance. A second type of team building tries to improve the team's problem-solving skills. A third category clarifies and reconstructs each member's perceptions of her or his role as well as the role expectations that member has of other team members. Role definition team building also helps the team to develop shared mental models—common internal representations of the external world, such as how to interact with clients, maintain machinery, and engage in meetings. Research studies indicate that team processes and performance depend on how well team members share common or complementary mental models about how they should work together.89 A fourth—and likely the most common—type of team building is aimed at helping team members learn more about each other, build trust in each other, and develop ways to manage conflict within the team. Popular interventions such as wilderness team activities, paintball wars, and obstacle-course challenges are typically offered to build trust.

EXTERNAL TEAM PROCESSES

Team boundary spanning refers to team actions that establish or enhance linkages and manage interactions with parties in the external environment.77 In their classic study of product development teams, Ancona and Caldwell (1992) classified external activities into different types and showed how these types impact overall team performance. They described the first type as ambassador activities because these activities encompassed such behaviours as protecting the team from outside pressure, persuading others to support the team, and lobbying for resources. The ambassador function tends to focus on the team's ability to mould and shape the beliefs of external constituents. Scholars often refer to ambassador activities as vertical boundary spanning because these activities frequently involve communicating with those higher in the organization's hierarchy, such as corporate or division managers. 2. The second type of boundary activity was labelled task coordination. This type represents interactions aimed at coordinating technical or design issues, with examples including discussing design problems with others, obtaining feedback on the product design, and coordinating and negotiating with outsiders. In contrast to ambassador activities, task coordination activities show higher levels of communication laterally through the organization. Thus, they are often referred to as horizontal boundary spanning. As predictors of performance, ambassador and task coordinator activity were both positively related. A third type of boundary spanning, called scouting activity, is described as a general scanning for ideas and information about the competition, the market, or the technology

pressure to conform

Team cohesion leads employees to conform to the team's norms. This control keeps the group organized around common goals, but it may also cause team members to suppress their dissenting opinions, particularly when a strong team norm is related to the issue. When someone does state a point of view that violates the majority opinion, other members might punish the violator or try to persuade him or her that the opinion is incorrect.

team cohesion

Team cohesion refers to the degree of attraction people feel towards the team and their motivation to remain members. It is a characteristic of the team, including the extent to which its members are attracted to the team, are committed to the team's goals or tasks, and feel a collective sense of team pride.47 Thus, team cohesion is an emotional experience, not just a calculation of whether to stay or leave the team.

evaluation apprehension

Team members are often reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that other team members are silently evaluating them.116 This evaluation apprehension is based on the individual's desire to create a favourable self-presentation and need to protect self-esteem. It is most common when meetings are attended by people with different levels of status or expertise or when members formally evaluate each other's performance throughout the year (as in 360-degree feedback)

organizational and team environment

The organizational and team environment represents all conditions beyond the team's boundaries that influence its effectiveness. The environment is typically viewed as a resource pool that either supports or inhibits the team's ability to function and achieve its objectives.25 Team members tend to work together more effectively when they receive some team-based rewards, when the organization's leadership is supportive of team-oriented work structures (rather than "star" individuals), when the organization's structure assigns teams distinctive clusters of work activity, when information systems support team coordination, and when the physical layout of the team's workspace encourages frequent communication

virtual teams

Virtual teams differ from traditional teams in two ways: (1) They are not usually co-located (do not work in the same physical area), and (2) due to their lack of co-location, members of virtual teams depend primarily on information technologies rather than face-to-face interaction to communicate and coordinate their work effort. Teams have degrees of virtuality. Team virtuality increases with the geographic dispersion of team members, percentage of members who work apart, and percentage of time that members work apart. For example, a team has low virtuality when all of its members live in the same city and only one or two members work from home each day. High virtuality exists when team members are spread around the world and only a couple of members have ever met in person.

team size

What is the ideal size for a team? By now you probably understand that the answer to this question depends on the type of team we are talking about. The tasks performed by leadership teams and project teams tend to be complex and knowledge intensive, so increases in team size might capitalize on additional expertise or resources. On the other hand, production teams engage in work that is more routine and standardized, so additional members might add unnecessary coordination requirements

informal groups

Why do informal groups exist? One reason is that human beings are social animals. Our drive to bond is hardwired through evolutionary development, creating a need to belong to informal groups.9 This is evident by the fact that people invest considerable time and effort forming and maintaining social relationships without any special circumstances or ulterior motives. A second reason why people join informal groups is provided by social identity theory, which states that individuals define themselves by their group affiliations 4. A third reason why informal groups exist is that they accomplish personal objectives that cannot be achieved by individuals working alone. For example, employees will sometimes congregate to oppose organizational changes because this collective effort has more power than individuals who try to bring about change alone. These informal groups, called coalitions, are discussed in Chapter 10. A fourth explanation for informal groups is that we are comforted by the mere presence of other people and are therefore motivated to be near them in stressful situations. When in danger, people congregate near each other even though doing so serves no protective purpose.

team diversity

advantages - The main advantage of diverse teams is that they make better decisions than do homogeneous teams in some situations. One reason is that people from different backgrounds tend to see a problem or opportunity from different angles. Team members have different mental models, so they are more likely to identify viable solutions to difficult problems. A second reason is that diverse team members have a broader pool of technical competencies. Along with potentially better decision making, diverse teams provide better representation of the team's constituents, such as other departments or clients from similarly diverse backgrounds. This representation not only brings different viewpoints to the decision; it also gives stakeholders a belief that they have a voice in that decision process. 2. disadvantages - Employees with diverse backgrounds take longer to become a high-performing team. This partly occurs because bonding is slower among people who are different from each other, especially when teams have deep-level diversity (i.e., different beliefs and values). Diverse teams are susceptible to "fault lines"—hypothetical dividing lines that may split a team into subgroups along gender, ethnic, professional, or other dimensions.38 These fault lines reduce team effectiveness by reducing the motivation to communicate and coordinate with team mates on the other side of the hypothetical divisions

team trust

calculus based trust - This foundation represents a logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because they face sanctions if their actions violate reasonable expectations.70 It offers the lowest potential trust and is easily broken by a violation of expectations. 2. knowledge based trust - This form of trust is based on the predictability of another team member's behaviour. This predictability refers only to "positive expectations" as the definition of trust states, because you would not trust someone who tends to engage in harmful or dysfunctional behaviour 3. Identification-based trust. - This foundation is based on mutual understanding and an emotional bond among team members. It occurs when team members think, feel, and act like each other. High-performance teams exhibit this level of trust because they share the same values and mental models

constraints on team decision making

here's a saying that committees keep minutes and waste hours. This reflects the fact that teams take longer than individuals to make decisions.114 Teams consume time organizing, coordinating, and maintaining relationships (i.e., process losses). Team members require time to build rapport, agree on rules and norms of behaviour in the decision process, and understand each other's ideas. Another time-related constraint in most team structures is that only one person can speak at a time.115 This problem, known as production blocking, undermines idea generation in a few ways. First, team members need to listen in on the conversation to find an opportune time to speak up, but this monitoring makes it difficult for them to concentrate on their own ideas. Second, ideas are fleeting, so the longer they wait to speak up, the more likely their flickering ideas will die out. Third, team members might remember their fleeting thoughts by concentrating on them, but this causes them to pay less attention to the conversation. By ignoring what others are saying, team members miss other potentially good ideas.

consequences of team cohesion

Teams with higher cohesion tend to perform better than those with low cohesion. In fact, the team's existence depends on a minimal level of cohesion because it motivates team members to remain members and to help the team achieve its mutually-agreed objectives. Members of high-cohesion teams spend more time together, share information more frequently, and are more satisfied with each other 1. team cohesion has less effect on team performance when the team has low task interdependence. High cohesion motivates employees to coordinate and cooperate with other team members. But people don't need to cooperate or coordinate as much when little of their work depends on other team members (low task interdependence), so the motivational effect of high cohesion is less relevant in teams with low interdependence. 2. the effect of cohesion on team performance depends on whether the team's norms are compatible with or opposed to the organizational objectives.58 As Exhibit 8.5 illustrates, teams with high cohesion perform better when their norms are aligned with the organization's objectives, whereas higher cohesion can potentially reduce team performance when norms are counterproductive

advantages of teams

teams make better decisions, develop better products and services, and create a more engaged workforce than do employees working alone.14 Similarly, team members can quickly share information and coordinate tasks, whereas these processes are slower and prone to more errors in traditional departments led by supervisors. Teams typically provide superior customer service because they provide more breadth of knowledge and expertise to customers than individual "stars" can offer. Second, people are more motivated in teams because they are accountable to fellow team members, who monitor performance more closely than a traditional supervisor. This is particularly true where the team's performance depends on the worst performer, such as on an assembly line, where how fast the product is assembled depends on the speed of the slowest employee. Third, under some circumstances, performance improves when employees work near others because coworkers become benchmarks of comparison.

task interdependence

the extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs

team composition

cooperating coordinating communicating comforting conflict resolving