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.