How can we create high performance teams? How can team processes be improved? How can team communications be improved? How can team decisions be improved?

How can we create high performance

teams?

How can team processes be improved?

How can team communications be

improved?

How can team decisions be improved?

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Characteristics of High Performance Teams Set a clear and challenging direction.

Believe in the goals and motivated to work hard to

accomplish them.

Turn a general sense of purpose into specific objectives.

Set standards for measuring results and obtain

feedback.

Members have the right mix of technical, problem-

solving and interpersonal skills.


Team Building

Collaborative way to gather and analyze

data about the team’s work. The goal is

improved teamwork and increased team

effectiveness.



TeamworkParticipation by

all members


Formal retreat approach Team building occurs during an offsite “retreat.”

Outdoor experience approach Members engage in a variety of physically

challenging situations that require teamwork.

Continuous improvement approach The manager, team leader, or group members

take responsibility for ongoing team building.


New members may worry about:

Participation

Goals

Control

Relationships

Processes



Distributed leadership Sharing of responsibility for meeting group task and

maintenance needs.

Task activities Various things members and leaders do that directly

contribute to the performance of important group tasks.

Maintenance activities Support the social and interpersonal relationships

among team members.



Disruptive behaviors:

Bullying and being overly aggressive toward

other members.

Withdrawing and refusing to cooperate with

others.

Using the group as a forum for self-confession.

Talking too much about irrelevant matters.

Trying to compete for attention and recognition.


Role

Set of expectations associated with a job or position on a team.

.

Role ambiguity Occurs when a person is uncertain about his or her role and what is expected.


Role overload

Occurs when too much is expected of the

individual.

Role underload

Occurs when too little is expected of the

individual.


Role conflict

Occurs when a person is

unable to respond to role

expectations that conflict

with one another.

Forms of role conflict

Intrasender,

Intersender, Person-role,

Inter-role.

Role negotiation

Process for discussing and agreeing upon

what team members expect of one

another.

Team members meet to discuss, clarify,

and agree on their individual role

expectations each holds for the other.



Norms

Represent ideas or beliefs about how

members are expected to behave.

Considered rules or standards of conduct

that are supposed to guide members.

Help members to guide their own behavior

and predict what others will do.


Key norms that can have positive or

negative implications. Performance norms.

Ethics norms.

Organizational and personal pride norms.

High-achievement norms.

Support and helpfulness norms.

Improvement and change norms.

Owner


Leaders can Influence

Norms

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Add a box on "Hold regular meetings to discuss team performance and plan how to improve it"


Cohesiveness

The degree to which members are

attracted to a group and motivated to

remain a part of it.

There is a strong relationship between

cohesiveness, conformity to group norms,

and performance.



Inter-team dynamics

The relationships between groups

cooperating and competing with one

another.


Ways to achieve positive inter-team dynamics

Refocusing members on a common enemy or goal.

Negotiating directly.

Engaging members, of different teams, in activities

learning how to work cooperatively together.

Refocusing reward systems to emphasize

contributions to overall organizational performance

and on how much teams help one another.



To assure high performance, team

interaction patterns and communication

networks must be aligned with

interaction patterns and team tasks.

Centralized

Decentralized

Restrictive


Decentralized communication

network

Members communicate directly, as

needed, and share information with one

another.


Centralized communication network

Team leader acts as a central control point.

Team leader collects and distributes

information among members.

Members work independently. Results are

passed to the team leader and pooled to

create finished product.


Restricted communication network

Subgroups disagree with one another’s

positions.

Poor communication is characteristic of

this type of situation.



Proxemics involves use of space as people

interact. Architects and consultants that specialize in office

design help executives create spaces conducive to

intense communication and teamwork needed in

today’s work environment.

Design of office space, and the size and availability

of meeting rooms can positively impact the

effectiveness of team communication.

Virtual communication networks Technology provide numerous

resources for real time

communication.

Empowers team members to be in

constant electronic contact with one

another or a central database.

Online team building activities are

critically important to high quality

results.


What innovations in electronic

communication do you predict in

your working lifetime?


Teams make decisions by choosing from alternative actions. Decision by lack of response

One idea after another is suggested without any discussion-taking place.

Decision by authority rule

The chairperson, manager, or leader makes a decision for the team.

Decision by minority rule

Two or three people are able to dominate or “railroad” the group into making a decision to which they agree.


Decision by majority rule

Formal voting usually takes place, or members may be polled, publicly or confidentially, to find the majority viewpoint.

Decision by consensus

Discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most members and the other members agree to support it.

Decision by unanimity

All group members agree totally on the course of action to be taken.


Assets and Liabilities of Consensus and Unanimity Advantages:

More information, knowledge and expertise is applied to solve problem.

Discussion leads to broader understanding of final decision.

Increases acceptance and strengthens commitment of members to

follow through and support decision.

Disadvantages:

Imperfect decisions may result from social pressures to conform to

group, or undue influence of team leader.

Team decisions take more time than individual decisions.


Groupthink

The tendency of members in highly

cohesive groups to lose their critical

evaluative capabilities.



Brainstorming Used in teams to actively generate as

many ideas and alternatives as possible.

All criticism is ruled out

All ideas are welcomed

Emphasis on creativity and imagination

Quantity is wanted

Building on others’ ideas or “piggy-

backing” is encouraged


Think about how team cohesiveness and

groupthink might be related.

Can cohesiveness ever reduce groupthink?

For example, when there is a cohesive team, and

members are familiar with each other, they may

be less likely to censor their opinions and more

likely to disagree.

Agree or disagree?


Nominal group technique

Members are asked to respond individually

and in writing to a “nominal” question.


Delphi technique

Involves generating decision-making

alternatives through a series of survey

questionnaires.


Documents

How can we create high performance teams? How can team processes be improved? How can team communications be improved? How can team decisions be improved?