Chapter 6 – Groups and Teams

1. Chapter 6 – Groups and Teams

2. Introduction to Groups and Teams • Some people also use the word "team" when they mean "employees." A "sales team" is a common example of this loose or perhaps euphemistic usage, though inter dependencies exist in organizations, and a sales team can be let down by poor performance on other parts of the organization upon which sales depend, like delivery, after-sales service, etc. However "sales staff" is a more precise description of the typical arrangement. • Groups develop into teams in four stages. The four stages are: dependency and inclusion, counter dependency and fighting, trust and structure, and work. In the first stage, group development is characterized by members' dependency on the designated leader. In the second stage, the group seeks to free itself from its dependence on the leader and groups have conflicts about goals and procedures. In the third stage, the group manages to work through the conflicts. And in the last stage, groups focus on team productivity.

3. Differences between Working Groups and Teams: • Working Group Characteristics:Strong, clearly focused leader • Individual accountability • The group's purpose is the same as the broader organizational mission • Individual work-products • Runs efficient meetings • Measures its effectiveness indirectly by its influence on others • Discusses, decides, and delegates • Team Characteristics:Shared leadership roles • Individual and mutual accountability • Specific team purpose that the team itself delivers • Collective work-products • Encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings • Measures performance directly by assessing collective work-products • Discusses, decides and does real work together

4. Different Types of Teams • Heavyweight Teams - when individuals from cross functional areas are pulled out of their functional roles to solely work on and report to a specified project • Lightweight Teams - when individuals work on a project, yet still report to their functional areas

5. Powering Up Teams • Many teams offer differ in their ability to perform with some exceeding managements expectations and other muddling along struggling to achieve deadline and goals.  • Research has suggested that the complex theory of empowerment is closely associated with team effectiveness.  In order for a team be empowered they must have four experiences. • A sense of potency, which derives from confidence, a can-do attitude, and expertise.  • A sense of meaningfulness, which is associated with team members intrinsic commitment and purpose.  • A sense of autonomy, by being provided with the freedom, discretion and control of their projects and tasks.  • A sense of impact, which is brought about by the team members being able to observe the results of their labor.  • With each of these four experiences varying in importance among each team member, it is essential to note that a lack in just one experience can produce exponentially detrimental effects on overall team effectiveness. • What can organizations do to produce empowered Teams?Given the efficiency advantages of empowered work teams compared to their less empowered counterparts, it is important for organizations to provide the resources and support needed to cultivate an empowered team environment.  To obtain success by utilizing empowered work teams, an organization needs to address the following aspects of their culture:

6. Powering Up Teams • Leadership: Leaders of empowered teams must play the role of coaches and facilitators, supporting teams define tasks, structure activities, and monitoring progress.  The following guidelines provide a structure for leaders to alter their leadership styles to promote empowered teams: Generating high team expectations • Creating an environment in which team members set their own team goals • Encouraging team members to take control of their work • Staying out of the way when team members attempt to solve work-related problems • Displaying trust and confidence in the team's abilities • Holding teams responsible and accountable for the work its members produce • Production/Service Responsibilities:  By providing quality management tools teams can effectively track and make adjustments to their production process to improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.  Below are a few ways that have been proven to increase team effectiveness by increasing accountability and autonomy:Set their own production standards • Develop and monitor their own quality standards • Take on productivity/service learning and development opportunities • Handle tier own problems with internal and external customers • Work with a whole product or service, not just a few elements

7. Powering Up Teams • Human Resources Management Policies:  To further develop the team aspect in organizations, the human resources department can promote the interconnectivity of team members by creating on-boarding and development policies linked to the following:Team-based reward systems • Cross-training of team members on jobs within their team • Cross-training of team members on jobs in other teams • Responsibility for hiring, training, punishment, and firing • Peer Evaluations • Social Structure: Since organizations are political in nature, the importance of developing understanding, networking, support, coalitions, and building consensus forms the fourth and final building block to developing empowered teams.  Organizations can spur these social improvements by engaging in the following activities: • Support from other teams and departments • Sharing important strategic information • Access to the resources of other teams • Frequent communication with other teams • Team development of rules and policies • Although empowered teams are not right for every situation, by following the utilizing the provided direction of developing the four experiences of highly empowered teams, an organization can maximize effectiveness of their teams

8. When and How Teams Leaders Matter • Teams can by assisted to perform better by leadership interventions which focus on reducing process losses or expanding process gains.  Ensuring that leadership interventions are warranted to improving process limits losses due to ineffective interactions which consume members time and direct their attention away from productive behaviors.  Times when leadership makes the largest impact in team performance is when things go wrong.  Under such circumstances, effort, strategy, and member talents all immediately become highly salient for team performance, thus the quality of leadership becomes pivotal for how the team performs. • Three decisions that team leaders can make which can make the difference between success and failure are: what kind of team to create, how to structure the team, and how and when to actively coach the team as it proceeds with its work. • When determining what kind of team to create, it is important to first determine whether a team is necessary for the specific task.  Creative writing and financial analysis for example, are tasks often assigned to teams which should not be as such work is inherently more suitable for an individual rather than for a team.  Once the leader has decided that the task requires a team the next step is to determine which type of team would be most effective.  In order for a team leader to appropriately create a team, they need to determine the level of synchronicity and accountability needed.  Whether the team needs to interact in real time or if members can act asynchronously, as well as being individually or mutually accountable will provide direction towards what kind of team to create.

9. When and How Teams Leaders Matter • Setting up a team correctly increases the chances for team effectiveness.  The conditions for improving a teams chances to be effective are: • Having individuals on the team that are actually responsible for the work • Provide a compelling direction for the work • Structure the team to facilitate rather than impede collective work • Provide a support structure for the team • Knowing when to coach a team, help them minimize process losses, and maximize capturing process gains is crucial to optimizing team effectiveness.  There are three specific kinds of support that leaders can provide are as follows: • Effort – Minimize coordination and motivation problems as well as build commitment to the group and its task • Performance - Avoid relying on habitual routines that may be inappropriate for the task as well as develop innovative ways of proceeding with the work which are well-tuned to the tasks requirements. • Knowledge and Skill - Avoid inappropriate weighting of individuals ideas and contributions as well as share their expertise to build the team's skill set. • Just as important as what kind of support a leader provides is what time the support is provided.  Leadership support needs to be at a time when the team is ready to receive and take advantage of such support.  Likewise the team leader needs to be ready to provide support when the team most needs it.

10. Holocaust Survivor Exercise • Choose / rank people in terms of who will get to live or die in situations with limited survival resources:Participants role play characters (a bit like a Murder Mystery) • Can lead to high emotions; people get intensely engaged, particularly when choosing who will survive, and none of the decisions are easy. • No right answers - any so-called "correct" answers are based on debatable values (e.g., ageism, sexism, racism) • Highlights individual's dispositions, group processes and decision making • Possible scenarios: • Plane crash survivors • Nuclear war shelter • Oxygen dwindling (space, moon, mars) • Lifeboat / Sinking ship (sea) • Variations Appoint a time keeper in each group and encourage them to be the person who monitors the progress of the group towards achieving consensus within the time frame.

11. Holocaust Survivor Exercise • To emphasis individual versus group decision making, split the session into three parts: • Individuals make their own selections first, on paper (5-10 minutes) • Groups (or sub-groups) then discuss and create a group decision • Compare individual and group performances, e.g.,: • For equipment scenarios, group decisions are usually more accurate than individual answers, helping to illustrate the importance of collaborative group decision-making. • For people scenarios, score individuals according to how close the group's decision was to their own selections of who is to live and die (an indicator of each person's influence over the group).

12. Holocaust Survivor Exercise • Possible Debrief Questions • How were decisions made? • Who influenced the decisions and how? • How could better decisions have been made? • Did people listen to each other? if not why not? • What roles did group members adopt? • How was conflict managed? • What kinds of behavior helped or hindered the group? • How did people feel about the decisions? • How satisfied was each person with the decision (ask each participant to rate his / her satisfaction out of 10, then obtain a group average and compare / discuss with other groups' satisfaction levels) • What have you learnt about the functioning of this group? • How would you do the activity differently if you were asked to do it again? • What situations at work/home/school do you think are like this exercise?

13. References • Kirkman, Bradley L.; Rosen, Benson Organizational Dynamics, Vol 28(3), 2000, 48-66. doi: 10.1016/S0090-2616(00)88449-1 • J.RichardHackman, Ruth Wageman, WHEN AND HOW TEAM LEADERS MATTER, Research in Organizational Behavior, Volume 26, 2004, Pages 37-74, ISSN 0191-3085, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(04)26002-6. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191308504260026) • Francesco Guala, Luigi Mittone, MatteoPloner, Group membership, team preferences, and expectations, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Volume 86, February 2013, Pages 183-190, ISSN 0167-2681, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2012.12.003. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268112002624) • http://www.wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SurvivalScenarios.html