Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Chapter 10Understanding Work Teams
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Teams have become very popular?The Team AdvantageTeams typically outperform individuals.Teams use employee talents better.Teams are more flexible and responsive to
changes in the environment.Teams facilitate employee involvement.Teams are an effective way to democratize
an organization and increase motivation.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Team Versus Group: What is the Difference?Work Group
A group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility.
Work Team A group whose individual
efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Comparing Work Groups and Work Teams
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Types of TeamsProblem-Solving Teams
Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment.
Self-Managed Work Teams Groups of 10 to 15 people who
take on the responsibilities of their former supervisors.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Types of Teams (cont’d)Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
Task forcesCommittees
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Types of Teams (cont’d)Virtual Teams
Teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.
Characteristics of VT The absence of para-verbal
and nonverbal cues A limited social context The ability to overcome time
and space constraints
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
A Team-Effectiveness Model
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Creating Effective Teams
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Key Roles
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Effects of Group Processes+
MINUS
=
Goal: Maximize Process Gains While Minimizing Process Losses!
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Creating Effective Teams: DiversityGroup Demography
The degree to which members of a group share a common demographic attribute, such as age, sex, race, educational level, or length of service in the organization, and the impact of this attribute on turnover.
Cohorts Individuals who, as part of a
group, hold a common attribute.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Turning Individuals Into Team Players
The Challenges Overcoming individual resistance to team membership. Countering the influence of individualistic cultures. Introducing teams in an organization that has historically valued individual achievement.
Shaping Team Players Selecting employees who can fulfill their team roles. Training employees to become team players. Reworking the reward system to encourage cooperative efforts while continuing to recognize individual contributions.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Teams in Quality Management
Team Effectiveness and Quality Management Requires That Teams: Are small enough to be efficient and effective. Are properly trained in required skills. Allocated enough time to work on problems. Are given authority to resolve problems and take corrective action. Have a designated “champion” to call on when needed.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Teams Aren’t Always the AnswerThree tests to see if a team fits the
situation: Is the work complex and is there a need for
different perspectives? Does the work create a common purpose or
set of goals for the group that is larger than the aggregate of the goals for individuals?
Are members of the group involved in interdependent tasks?
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
What kinds of things have you experienced in a team setting that could be considered as process loss? Choose two and write them down.
Possibilities include: Too much socializing, coordinating work flow, lag time in responses to emails, personality conflicts, attendance and timeliness problems, etc.
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
If you were asked to choose people from your class right now to make up a team for a class project, list five individuals you would choose.
Now that you have your list, consider what the composition of your team would look like. How much
diversity would there be? Given what we learned in this chapter, what would the pros and cons of your
composition be?
Adeyl Khan, Faculty, BBA, NSU
Is conflict in a team good or bad? Discuss.
Conflict can be both good and bad. Task conflict is beneficial for a team because it helps protect against groupthink. Relationship conflict is bad for a team’s
morale.
What, specifically, can you do to create task conflict in a group? Think about the reality of trying to “stir the pot”… and write down a phrase you could say (e.g., you would
feel comfortable saying to your peers) to create task conflict.