Ch 10: Processes and Teams
Team metrics
- task metrics - process metrics - individual development metrics
Stages for reaching consensus
1. Introduction 2. Clarifying questions 3. Discussion 4. establish basic direction 5. Synthesize and modify proposal 6. call for consensus 7. record
How to avoid social loafing?
1. Keep teams small (four to six members). 2. Set meaningful team goals. 3. Set clear roles for team members. 4. Eliminate redundancy. 5. Select members with high motivation and affinity for teamwork. 6. Provide feedback and coaching to members who social loaf.
Strategies to build successful virtual teams
1. Select team members based not only on their knowledge, skills, and abilities but also on their openness and propensity to trust; 2. Select team members who have been on virtual teams before; 3. Select team members who are self-starters; 4. Provide training in team collaboration; 5. Making sure new team members understand the culture, policies, team roles, and characteristics of their virtual team members.
Symptoms of groupthink
1. group rationalization 2. direct pressure 3. suppression 4. illusion of unanimity
What are the components of output?
1. performance as rated by those outside of the team 2. how well team member individual needs are met 3. the willingness of team members to stay on the team
How are high performing teams enabled
1. team member competencies 2. skills, processes, tools, and techniques, 3. interpersonal skills 4. a shared value system 5. shared vision, purpose, 6. supporting organizational values
Virtual Team Leadership Set Goals and Monitor Progress
Ask for team member input on the overall goal of the team Create benchmarks to mark progress toward the goal Use a chart to show progress and post in cloud storage area
virtual team leadership encourage participation
Call on everyone during virtual team meetings Assign subgroup tasks and use breakout rooms Exaggerate nonverbal behaviors to credit contributions (e.g., nodding, thumbs-up)
Virtual Team Leadership Establish Trust
Communicate before the meeting Establish team norms Celebrate meeting benchmarks Rotate meeting times if team members are in different time zones
What are the scales of the normative decision making model?
Dictating to delegating with consultative and facilitating in the middle
Virtual Team Leadership Meeting Management
Have an agenda for the meeting Use cloud storage (e.g., Google Drive) so that team members can review documents prior to meeting Take frequent breaks End the meeting on time Assign tasks to team members to be completed prior to the next meeting Post minutes of the meeting to cloud storage area
What model measures team effectiveness?
Input, process, output
Virtual Team Leadership Team Rewards
Report the team's progress to upper management Give awards for outstanding team member contributions Recognize team member contributions during team meetings Inform team member's boss of their participation in the virtual team
Team Performance Curve
Upward then downwarnd through forming and storming. Upward greatly through norming and plateuing in performing Forming: Working Group Storming: Pseudo Team Norming: Potential Team Peforming: Real Team High Performing Team (intense team)
Do stepladder groups produce better decisions?
Yes compared to conventional group decision making
Are men more likely to social loaf?
Yes, along with people from individualistic cultures
stepladder technique
a decision-making method in which group members are added to a group discussion one at a time (like a stepladder). The existing group members listen to each new member's thoughts, ideas, and recommendations; then the group shares the ideas and suggestions that it had already considered, discusses the new and old ideas, and makes a decision
team charter
a document developed by a team that clarifies team direction and establishes ground rules
work group
a group that interacts primarily to share information. They are not responsible for a collective work effort or their individual contributions can be added up to create something (Service group at an auto dealership)
additive task
a performance goal that can be met by adding up individual contributions
Work teams
a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable
nominal group technique (NGT)
a structured approach to group decision making that focuses on generating alternatives and choosing one
Self-Managed Work Teams (SMWTs)
a team where there is typically no designated leader
social identity
a way to explain how people view their own place in society through membership in various groups
collective effort
a work project that reflects the contributions of everyone on the team
Way to voice opinion in consensus
agreement stand aside block agree with reservation
Behavioral indicators of cohesion
attending meetings more often, being on time, sitting closer to one another, making eye contact, being less likely to quit, and engaging in longer group hugs
team viability
collective sense of belonging similar to team cohesion
work team
depends on one another and must interact to create something no one person on the team could create
consensus
discussing ideas and deferring a final decision until everyone can say they have been heard and will support the final decision
leadership climate
effective behaviors, attitudes, and environmental conditions created by a leader that enhance team performance and increase empowerment
Five-stage model of team development
forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
virtual teams
functioning teams that rely on technology-mediated communication while crossing several different boundaries
collectivism
group orientation
What are the components of process?
how the team interacts, trust, cross-training, and coordination
What are the components of input?
individual characteristics of team members and the resources they have at their disposal
team norms
informal and interpersonal rules that team members are expected to follow
Should all work be done by teams
no
What are 3 broad categories for team effectivness?
performance, behaviors, and attitudes
power distance
respect for authority
psychological safety
shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. Being able to show and employ one's self without feat of negative consequences of self-image, status, or career
team mental models (TMM)
shared understandings within teams team members' shared, organized understanding and mental representation of knowledge about key elements of the team's relevant environment
normative decision making model
shows that team decisions fall on a continuum ranging from leaders making the decision themselves to delegating the decision to the team
team affect
team atmosphere
groupthink
team decision making challenge that arises due to a high degree of cohesiveness and group norms that result in conformity
cohesion
the "team spirit" experienced in high-performing teams the resultant of all the forces acting on the members to remain part of the group a state in which a group tends to stick together and unite in the pursuit of team goals
determinism
the belief that people should not try to change the paths their lives are destined to take
forming
the first stage of team development, in which team members meet each other, form initial impressions, and begin to establish team norms
performing
the fourth and final stage of team development, in which performance improves because the team has matured into an effective, fully functioning team
synergy
the idea that the team can produce something beyond the sum of the individual member contributions
social loafing
the reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively compared with when they work individually or coactively
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
What did google find when studying for the perfect team?
the teams had good communication and empathy (social sensitivity)
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
punctuated equilibrium
transition between an early phase of inactivity followed by a second phase of significant acceleration toward task completion
implicit norms
unspoken, unwritten standards of behavior for a group of people
adjourning
when the team finalizes its work and disbands
