Chapter 4 OB

7/21/2019 Chapter 4 OB

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Chapter 4: Workingwith others, Teamwork,

Groups and Group

Dynamic

Prepared by

Michael K. McCuddy

Valparaiso University

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


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Organizational Behavior: Chapter 10 2

Chapter 4 Study Questions

What is the nature of Group

What is a the nature of teams and

teamwork?

What is team building?

How does team building improve

performance?

How do teams contribute to the high-

performance workplace?


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How do teams contribute to organizations?

What are the current trends in the use of

teams?

How do teams work?

How do teams make decisions?

What are the challenges of leading high-

performance teams?Organizational Behavior: Chapter 10 3


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What is the nature of team and

teamwork?A team is a small group of people with

complementary skills, who work actively

together to achieve a common purpose forwhich they hold themselves collectively

accountable.

Teams are one of the major forces behindrevolutionary changes in contemporary

organizations.


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What are teams?

Groups of two or more

people who interact and

influence each other are

mutually accountable for

achieving common

objectives and perceive

themselves as a socialentity within an

organisation

Courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy


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6

Groups versus teams All teams are groups

Some groups are just

people assembled

together

Teams have task

interdependence

whereas some groupsdo not (eg group of

employees enjoying

lunch together)

Courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy


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Management - Chapter 16

7

Study Question 1: How do teams contribute

to organizations?

Formal groups

Teams that are officially recognized and

supported by the organization for specific

purposes.

Specifically created to perform essential tasks.

Managers and leaders serve linking pin

roles.


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How do teams contribute

to organizations?

Informal groups

Not recognized on organization charts.

Not officially created for an organizational purpose. Emerge as part of the informal structure and from natural or

spontaneous relationships among people.

Include interest, friendship, and support groups.

Can have positive performance impact. Can help satisfy social needs.


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Why informal groups exist

Relatedness needs

fulfil need for social interaction

social identity

Goal accomplishment

Emotional support


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to organizations?

Usefulness of teams:

More resources for problem solving.

Improved creativity and innovation.Improved quality of decision making.

Greater commitments to tasks.

Higher motivation through collective action.

Better control and work discipline.

More individual need satisfaction.


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teams?

Committees, project teams, and task forces

Committees.

People outside their daily job assignments work together in asmall team for a specific purpose.

Task agenda is narrow, focused, and ongoing.

Projects teams or task forces.

People from various parts of an organization work togetheron common problems, but on a temporary basis.

Official tasks are very specific and time defined.

Disbands after task is completed.


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teams?

Guidelines for managing projects and task

forces:

Select appropriate team members.

Clearly define the purpose of the team.

Carefully select a team leader.

Periodically review progress.


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Types of Team

Cross-functional teams

Members come from different functional units

of an organization.

Team works on a specific problem or task with

the needs of the whole organization in mind.

Teams are created to knock down walls

separating departments.


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Types of Team

Employee involvement teams

Groups of workers who meet on a regular

basis outside of their formal assignments.

Have the goal of applying their expertise and

attention to continuous improvement.

Quality circles represent a common form of

employee involvement teams.


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Types of Team

Virtual teams

Teams of people who work together and solve

problems through largely computer-mediated

rather than face-to-face interactions.

Sometimes called

Computer-mediated groups

Electronic group networks


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Potential advantages

of virtual teams:

Savings in time andtravel expenses.

Minimization or

elimination of

interpersonaldifficulties.

Ease of expansion.

Potential problems of

virtual teams:

Difficulty inestablishing good

working relationships.

Depersonalization of

working relationships.


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Guidelines for managing virtual teams:

Virtual teams should begin with socialmessaging.

Team members should be assigned clear roles.

Team members must have positive attitudes

that support team goals.


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Types of Team

Problem-solving teams.

Employee involvements teams include a wide

variety of teams whose members meetregularly to collectively examine importantworkplace issues.

Quality circle.

A special type of employee involvement team. Team meets periodically to address problems

relating to quality, productivity, or cost.


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Types of Team

Self-managing work teams

Teams of workers whose jobs have been

redesigned to create a high degree of task

interdependence and who have been given

authority to make many decisions about how

to do the required work.

Also known as autonomous work groups.


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Typical self-management responsibilities:

Planning and scheduling work.

Training members in various tasks.Sharing tasks.

Meeting performance goals.

Ensuring high quality.

Solving day-to-day operating problems.

In some cases, hiring and firing teammembers.


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Advantages of self-managing teams.

Productivity and quality improvements.

Production flexibility and faster response totechnological change.

Reduced absenteeism and turnover.

Improved work attitudes and quality of worklife.


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Disadvantages of self-managing teams.

Structural changes in job classifications and

management levels eliminate the need for first-line

supervisors.

Managers must learn to deal with teams rather than

individuals. Supervisors who are displaced by self-managing

teams may feel threatened.


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In self-managing work teams, members

Are held collectively accountable for performance

results.

Have discretion in distributing tasks within the team.

Have discretion in scheduling work within the team.

Are able to perform more than one job on the team.

Evaluate one anothers performance contributions.

Are responsible for the total quality of team products.


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teamwork?

Teamwork occurs when group members

actively work together in such a way that

all their respective skills are well utilized

to achieve a common purpose.


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teamwork?

Characteristics of high performance teams.

They have strong core values.

They turn a general sense of purpose into

specific performance objectives.

They have the right mix of skills.

They possess creativity.


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teamwork?

Characteristics of teams with homogeneous

membership.

Members are similar with respect to such variables as

age, gender, race, experience, ethnicity, and culture.

Members can quickly build social relations and

engage in the interactions needed for teamwork. Homogeneity may limit the team in terms of ideas,

viewpoints, and creativity.


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teamwork?

Characteristics of teams with heterogeneous

membership.

Members are diverse in demography, experiences, lifestyles, and cultures, among other variables.

Diversity can help improve team problem solving and

increase creativity.

Diversity among team members may create

performance difficulties early in the teams life or

stage of development.


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2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty 29

Homogeneous vs heterogeneous teams

Higher satisfaction

Less conflict

Faster team development

More efficient coordination

Performs better on simpletasks

More conflict

Slower team development takes longer to agree onnorms and goals

Better knowledge andresources for complex tasks

Tend to be more creative

Higher potential for supportoutside the team

Homogeneous teams Heterogeneous teams


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Work groups and teams must master challenges

as they pass through the various stages of group

development. Team building is a sequence of planned activities

designed to gather and analyze data on the

functioning of a group and to initiate changesdesigned to improve teamwork and increase

group effectiveness.


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Approaches to team building.

Formal retreat approach.

Team building occurs during an offsite retreat. Continuous improvement approach.

The manager, team leader, or members takeresponsibility for ongoing team building.

Outdoor experience approach. Members engage in physically challenging

situations that require teamwork.


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performance?

New members are concerned about

issues of:

Participation.

Goals.

Control.

Relationships.


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performance?

Task and maintenance leadership.

Sustained high performance requires meeting both

task needs and maintenance needs.

High-performance teams require distributed

leadership.

Distributive leadership is the sharing among team

members of the responsibilities for task and

maintenance contributions.


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performance?

Groups members should avoid the following

disruptive behaviors:

Being overly aggressive toward other members. Withdrawing and refusing to cooperate with others.

Horsing around when there is work to be done.

Using the group as a forum for self-confession.

Talking too much about irrelevant matters.

Trying to compete for attention and recognition.


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performance?

Roles and role dynamics.

A role is a set of expectations associated witha job or position on a team.

Role ambiguityoccurs when a person isuncertain about his/her role.

Role overload occurs when too much isexpected and the person feels overwhelmedwith work.

Role underloadoccurs when too little isexpected and the person feels underutilized.


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performance?

Roles and role dynamics (cont.).

Role conflictoccurs when a person is

unable to meet conflicting expectations. Forms of role conflict.

Intrasender role conflict.

Intersender role conflict.

Person-role conflict.

Interrole conflict.


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performance?


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performance?

Norms represent beliefs about how group

or team members are expected to behave.

Norms are rules or standards of conduct.

Managers and leaders should help their

groups adopt positive norms that supportorganizational goals.


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performance?

Key norms that can have positive ornegative implications.

Performance norms. Ethics norms.

Organizational and personal pride norms.

High-achievement norms.

Support and helpfulness norms.

Improvement and change norms.


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performance?

Cohesiveness is the degree to which members areattached to and motivated to remain a part of theteam

High team cohesiveness occurs when: Members are similar in age, attitudes, needs, and backgrounds.

Group size is small.

Members respect each others competencies.

Members agree on common goals. Members work on interdependent tasks.

Groups are physically isolated from others.

Groups experience performance success or crisis.


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to organizations?

Team and teamwork roles for managers:

Supervisorserving as the appointed head of a

formal work unit.Network facilitatorserving as a peer leader an

network hub for a special task force.

Participantserving as a helpful contributing

member of a project team.

External coachserving as the external convenor or

sponsor of a problem-solving team staffed by others.


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Figure 16.1Team and teamwork rolesfor managers.


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to organizations?

Common problems in teams:

Personality conflicts.

Individual differences in work styles.

Ambiguous agendas.

Ill-defined problems.

Poor readiness to work.

Lack of motivation.

Conflicts with other deadlines or priorities.

Lack of team organization or progress.

Meetings that lack purpose or structure.

Members coming to meetings unprepared.


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Management Fundamentals - Chapter 1645

Study Question 1: How do teams contribute

to organizations?

Seven sins of deadly meetings:

People arrive late, leave early, and dont take thingsseriously.

The meeting is too long.

People dont stay on topic.

The discussion lacks candor.

The right information isnt available, so decisions are

postponed.No one puts decisions into action.

The same mistakes are made meeting after meeting.


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How do teams work?

Effective teams

Achieve and maintain high levels of task

performance.

Achieve and maintain high levels of member

satisfaction.Retain viability for the future.


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How do teams work?

Communication networks

Decentralized

All members communicate directly with oneanother.

Centralized

Activities are coordinated and results pooled bycentral point of control.

Restricted

Polarized subgroups contest one another.

Subgroups may engage in antagonistic relations.


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Figure 16.7Interaction patterns andcommunication networks in teams.

Source:JohnR.

Schermerhorn,Jr.,Jam

esG.Hunt,and

RichardN.Osborn,

OrganizationalBe

havior,8thed.(New

York:Wiley,2003),p.347.Usedbype

rmission.


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Methods of team decision making:

Lack of response

Authority rule

Minority rule

Majority rule

Consensus

Unanimity


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Assets of team decision making:

Greater amounts of information, knowledge,

and expertise.

Expands number of action alternatives

considered.

Increases understanding and acceptance.

Increases commitment to follow through.


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Potential disadvantages of team decision

making:

Social pressure to conform.

Individual or minority group domination.

Time requirements.


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Methods for dealing with groupthink:

Have each group member be a critical evaluator.

Dont appear to favor one course of action. Create subteams to work on the same problems.

Have team members discuss issues with outsiders.

Have outside experts observe and provide feedback on

team activities. Assign a member to the devils advocate role.

Hold a second-chance meeting.


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Study Question 4: How do teams make

decisions?

Creativity in team decision making

guidelines for brainstorming:

All criticism is ruled out.

Freewheeling is welcomed.

Quantity is important.

Building on one anothers ideas is encouraged.


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performance teams?

Team building

A sequence of planned activities used to

gather and analyze data on the

functioning of a team and to implement

constructive changes to increase itsoperating effectiveness.


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performance teams?

Characteristics of high-performing teams:

A clear and elevating goal.

A task-driven, results-oriented structure.

Competent and committed members who work hard.

A collaborative climate.

High standards of excellence.

External support and recognition.

Strong and principled leadership.


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performance teams?

Effective team leaders act to:

Establish clear vision.

Create change.

Unleash talent.

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Chapter 4 OB