Chapter 9 Work Team & Groups

Nelson & QuickStrategies for

Successful Teams

Groups & Teams

Group - two or more people with common interests or objectives

Team - a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common mission, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

Characteristics of a Well-Functioning, Effective Group

Relaxed, comfortable, informal atmosphere

Task well understood & accepted

Consensus decision making

People express feelings & ideas

Conflict & disagreement center around ideas or methods

Clear assignments made & accepted

Members listen well & participate

Group aware of its operation & function

Group Behavior

Norms of behavior - the standards that a work group uses to evaluate the behavior of its members

Group cohesion - the “interpersonal glue” that makes members of a group stick together

Social loafing - the failure of a group member to contribute personal time, effort, thoughts, or other resources to the group

Loss of individuality - a social process in which individual group members lose self-awareness & its accompanying sense of accountability, inhibition, and responsibility for individual behavior

Group Formation

Formal groups - official or assigned groups gathered to perform various tasks– need ethnic, gender,

cultural, and interpersonal diversity

– need professional and geographical diversity

Informal groups - unofficial or emergent groups that evolve in the work setting to gratify a variety of member needs not met by formal groups

Stages of Group Formation

• Mutual acceptance– Focus is on the interpersonal relations

among the members

• Decision making– Focus is on decision making activities

related to tasks

• Motivation & commitment– Focus on self- and group-motivation,

execution, achievement

• Control & sanctions– Focus on effective, efficient unit

Mature Group Characteristics

Purpose and Mission• May be assigned or may emerge from the

group• Group often questions, reexamines, &

modifies mission & purpose• Mission converted into specific agenda, clear

goals, & a set of critical success factors

Mature Group Characteristics

Behavioral Norms - well-understood standards of behavior within a group

Formal & written

Ground rulesfor

meetings

Informal but understood

Intra-group socializing

Dress codes

Mature Group CharacteristicsGroup cohesion - interpersonal attraction binding group members together• Enables groups to exercise effective control over the members• Groups with high cohesiveness

– demonstrate lower tension & anxiety– demonstrate less variation in productivity– demonstrate better member satisfaction, commitment & communication

Cohesiveness & Work-Related Tension

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mean tension

Group Cohesiveness from low to high

7 16 52 65 57 19 12Number of groups

“Does your work ever make

you jumpy or nervous?”

From S. E. Seashore, Group Cohesiveness in the Industrial Work Force, 1954. Research conducted by Stanley E. Seashore at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Reprinted by permission.

Mature Group Characteristics

Status structure - the set of authority & task relations among a group’s members• Hierarchical or egalitarian• Often leadership is shared

Diversity styles

Contributor

Collaborator

Communicator

Challenger

Data/Info

Mission

Facilitator

Devil’s advocate

• Good when performing complicated, complex, inter-related and/or more voluminous work than one person can handle

• Good when knowledge, talent, skills, & abilities are dispersed across organizational members

• Empowerment & collaboration; not power & competition

Why Teams?

Quality Circles & Teams

Quality circles (QC) - a small group of employees who work voluntarily on company time, typically one hour per week, to address work-related problems

QC’s deal with substantive issues– Do not require final decision authority– QC’s need periodic reenergizing

Quality team - a team that is part of an organization’s structure & is empowered to act on its decisions regarding product & quality service

Social Benefits of Teams

Psychological intimacy - emotional &

psychological closeness to other team

or group members

Integrated intimacy - closeness achieved

through tasks & activities

Team Task Functions

Task functions - those activities directly related to the effective completion of the team’s work

Initiate activities

Diagnose problems

Coordinate activities

Elaborate concepts

Summarize ideas

Evaluate effectiveness

Give information

Test ideas

Seek information

Team Maintenance Functions

Maintenance functions - those activities essential to the effective, satisfying interpersonal relationships within a team or group

Support othersHarmonize conflict

Test group decisions

Test consensus

Express member feelings

Reduce tension

Follow others’ lead

Set standards

Gatekeeper communication

Empowerment

An attribute of a person or of an

organization’s culture

Preparation & careful planning focuses

empowered employees

Encourages participation

Foundations for Empowerment

Organizational foundations

Team-oriented work design

Participative, supportive organizational culture

Individual Prerequisites for Empowerment

• The capability to become psychologically involved in participative activities

• The motivation to act autonomously• The capacity to see the relevance of

participation for one’s own well being

Empowerment Skills

• Competence skills - mastery and experience in one’s chosen discipline & profession

• Process skills - including negotiating skills• Development of cooperative and helping

behaviors• Communication skills - skills in self

expression & skills in reflective listening

Self-Managed Teams

Self managed teams - teams that make decisions that were once reserved for managers

How does an organization avoid the risks of self managed teams?– morale reduction– increased conflict– groupthink

Upper Echelons: Teams at the Top

T op m anagem en t'sbackg round cha racte ris tics

p red ic t o rgan iza tiona lcha racte ris tics

O rgan iza tion re flec tstop m anagem en t's

va lues, com pe tence ,e th ics & un ique cha racte ris tics

M anagem en t team 'sleade rsh ip , com posiiton , &

dynam ics in fluences theo rgan iza tion 's pe rfo rm ance

U pper Echelons -A top-level executive team

in an organization

Multicultural Teams

Multicultural groups represent three or more ethnic backgrounds. Diversity may increase uncertainty, complexity, & inherent confusion in

group processes. Culturally diverse groups may generate more & better ideas & limit groupthink.

Executive Tenure & Organizational Performance

Org

an

izat

iona

l pe

rfo

rman

cere

lativ

e to

the

ind

ustr

y a

vera

ge

High

Low1 7 14

CEO tenure (years)Source: D. Hambrick, The Seasons of an Executive’s Tenure, keynote address, the Sixth Annual Texas Conference on Organizations, Lago Vista, Texas, April, 1991.

Triangle for Managing in the New Team Environment

ManagerManager

IndividualsIndividualsTeamTeam

L. Hirschhorn, Managing in the New Team Environment, (pages 13/14). Copyright© 1991 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Addison Wesley Longman.