Chapter 10 Managing Teams

1. Management Principles Chapter 10Managing Teams Craig W. Fontaine, Ph.D.

2. Why Have Teams Become So Popular • Teams 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 and organization and increase motivation.

3. Teams Versus Groups: What’s the Difference Work Group (Department) Two or more people who interact with each other to accomplish certain goals or meet certain needs. Work Team A group whose members work intensely with each other to achieve a specific, common goal or objective.

4. Are Groups and Teams the Same? • Two characteristics distinguish teams from groups • Intensity with which team members work together • Presence of a specific, overriding team goal or objective

5. Synergy…the secret factor • Synergy defined: • Synergy is the working together of two things to produce a result greater than the sum of their individual effects (chemistry, physics, biology) • In the context of organizational teamwork, synergy is the ability of a group to outperform even its best individual member.

6. Synergy at Work • Factors that contribute to synergy • Ability of group members to bounce ideas off one another • To correct one another’s mistakes • To bring a diverse knowledge base to bear on a problem • To accomplish work that is too vast for any one individual to achieve

7. Teams as Performance Enhancers • To take advantage of the potential for synergy, managers need to make sure groups are composed of members who have complementary skills and knowledge relevant to the group’s work

8. Contributions to Organizational Effectiveness See how in the following example…..

9. Responsiveness to Customers • Responsiveness to Customers • Difficult to achieve given the many constraints. • Teams can provide the wide variety of skills needed to meet customer demands. • Teams can consist of members of different departments.

10. Teams and Innovation • Innovation • The creative development of new products, new technologies, new services, or new organizational structures • Individuals rarely possess the wide variety of skills needed for successful innovation. • Team members can uncover each other’s flaws and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses • Managers should empower the team and make it accountable for the innovation process.

11. Groups and Teams as Motivators • Members of groups, and particularly teams, are often better motivated and satisfied than individuals. • Team members are more motivated and satisfied than if they were working alone. • Team members can see the effect of their contribution to achieving team and organizational goals. • Teams provide needed social interaction and help employees cope with work-related stressors.

12. Summary of Comparision

13. Types of Teams Problem-Solving Teams Groups of 5 or more employees from the same department who regularly to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment. Functional Work Teams A work team composed of a manager and the employees in his or her unit formed to solve specific problems as they arise within particular functional unit

14. 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 forces • Committees

15. Types of Teams • Self-managed Work Teams • The newest type of team • “A team that operates without a manager and is responsible for a complete work process or segment that delivers a product or service to an external or internal customer” • “A team of employees who supervise their own activities and monitor the quality of the goods and services they provide” • There are clear implications for the role of manager No Manager Needed!

16. Self-Managed Work Teams Keys to effective self managed teams: • Give the team enough responsibility and autonomy to be self-managing. • The team’s task should be complex enough to include many different steps. • Select members carefully for their diversity, skills, and enthusiasm. • Managers should guide and coach, not supervise. • Determine training needs and be sure it is provided.

17. 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. • Team Characteristics • The absence of nonverbal cues • A limited social context • The ability to overcome time and space constraints

18. Team-Effectiveness Model

19. Creating Effective Teams

20. Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

21. Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

22. Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

23. Key Roles of Teams

24. Type of Tasks as a factor • Team tasks impact how a group interacts. • Task interdependence shows how the work of one member impacts another; as interdependence rises, members must work more closely together. • The more interdependence, the more value of using a team.

25. Team Size • Advantage of small teams • Interact more with each other and easier to coordinate their efforts • More motivated, satisfied, and committed • Easier to share information • Better able to see the importance of their personal contributions • Advantages of large team • More resources at their disposal to achieve team goals • Enables managers to obtain division of labor advantages

26. Team Size • Disadvantages of large groups • Problem of communication and coordination • Lower level of motivation • Members might not think their efforts are really needed

27. Beware: Teams Aren’t Always the Answer • Three tests to see if a team fits the situation: • Is there enough time? • Is the work complex and is there a need for different perspectives? • Are members of the team involved in interdependent tasks?

29. The Disadvantages of Teams • Initially high turnover • Social loafing • Groupthink • Minority domination

30. Social Loafing • Social loafing is the phenomenon of people exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone • Karau, Steven J.; Williams, Kipling D. (1993). "Social loafing: A meta-analytic review and theoretical integration". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65 (4): 681–706. • Gilovich, Thomas; Keltner, Dacher; Nisbett, Richard E. (2006). Social psychology. W.W. Norton. p. 60

31. Work Team Characteristics • Team norms • Team cohesiveness • Stages of team development

32. Team Norms Informally agreed-on standards that regulate team behavior. • Regulate the everyday actions that allow teams to function effectively • Teams with negative norms influence team member to engage in negative behaviors

33. Team Cohesiveness The extent to which team members are attracted to a team and motivated to remain in it. • Make sure that all team members are present at team activities. • Create additional opportunities for teammates to work together. • Engage in nonwork activities. • Make employees feel they are part of a special organization.

34. Stage 1: Forming The team experiences uncertainty about its purpose, structure, and leadership. Stage 2: Storming Intragroup conflict predominates within the group Stage 3: Norming Close relationships develop and group members begin to demonstrate cohesiveness. Stage 4: Performing The team develops a structure that is fully functional and accepted by team members. Stage 5: Adjourning The team prepares for its disbandment. The Stages Of Team Development

35. Team Training • Interpersonal skills • Decision making skills • Problem solving skills • Conflict resolution skills • Technical training