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Teams: Processes and Communication. 12. Learning Goals. What are taskwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category? What are teamwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category?
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Learning Goals • What are taskwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category? • What are teamwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category? • What factors influence the communication process in teams? • What are team states, and what are some examples of the states that fall into this process category? • How do team processes affect team performance and team commitment? • What steps can organizations take to improve team processes?
Team Processes • Team process • The different types of activities and interactions • That occur within teams • And contribute to their end goals • Team characteristics (e.g., member diversity, team size) affect team processes • Team processes, in turn, have a strong impact on team effectiveness
Team Value • Process gain– getting more from the team than you would expect from the capabilities of its individual members • Process loss– getting less from the team than you would expect from the capabilities of its individual members
Process Loss • Coordination loss • Production blocking • Motivational loss • Social loafing
Taskwork Processes Taskwork processes– activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks • Creative behavior – activities focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions • Brainstorming • Nominal group technique
Table 12-1 IDEO’s Secrets for Brainstorming
Taskwork Processes, cont’d Decision Making • Decision informity – whether members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities • Staff validity– degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader • Hierarchical sensitivity– degree to which the leader effectively weighs the members’ recommendations
Taskwork Processes, cont’d Boundary Spanning – activities with individuals and groups outside the team • Ambassador activities • Protect the team • Persuade others to support the team • Obtain important resources for the team • Task coordinator activities • Coordinate task-related issues with people or groups in other functional areas • Scout activities • Obtain information about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace
Teamwork Processes Teamwork processes – interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team’s work but don’t directly involve task accomplishment • Behaviors creating the context in which taskwork can be carried out • Transition processes • Action processes • Interpersonal processes
Teamwork Processes, cont’d Transition processes–teamwork activities focusing on preparation for future work • Mission analysis – analysis of the team’s task, challenges that face the team, and resources available for completing the team’s work • Strategy formulation – development of courses of action and contingency plans, and adapting those plans in light of changes that occur • Goal specification - development and prioritization of goals related to the team’s mission and strategy
Teamwork Processes, cont’d Action processes • Monitoring progress toward goals • Systems monitoring – keeping track of things the team needs to accomplish its work • Helping behavior – members going out of their way to help or back up other team members • Coordination - synchronizing team members’ activities to mess them effectively and seamlessly
Teamwork Processes, cont’d Interpersonal processes • Motivating and confidence building • Affect management – activities that foster a sense of emotional balance and unity • Conflict management – activities the team uses to manage conflicts that arise • Relationship conflict • Task conflict
Figure 12-3 Communication Communication – the process by which information and meaning get transferred from a sender to a receiver
Communication, cont’d Factors that influence the communication process • Communication issues • Participants may lack communication competence, receiver may not be skilled in listening • Noise • Information richness • Face-to-face channels provide the greatest information richness • Network structure
Communication, cont’d Network structure • The pattern of communication that occurs regularly among each member of the team • All channel – highly decentralized • Circle • Y • Wheel – highly centralized • Members tend to prefer decentralized network structures
Figure 12-4 Communication Network Structures
Team States Team states– specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together • Cohesion • Potency • Mental models • Transactive memory
Team States, cont’d Cohesion – members of teams develop strong emotional bonds to other members and to the team itself • Groupthink • Happens in highly cohesive teams • Members try to maintain harmony by striving toward consensus on issues • Neglect to offer, seek, or seriously consider alternative viewpoints and perspectives • Avoid too much cohesion by assessing the team’s cohesion and appointing a devil’s advocate
Team States, cont’d Potency– degree to which members believe the team can be effective across a variety of situations and tasks • High potency • Members are confident their team can perform • As a consequence, focus more of their energy on achieving team goals • Influences on development of high potency • Team members’ confidence in their own capabilities • Trust in other members’ capabilities • Feedback about past performance
Team States, cont’d Mental models • Level of common understanding among team members regarding important aspects of the team and its task Transactive memory • How specialized knowledge is distributed among members to result in an effective system of memory for the team
Importance of Team Processes • Teamwork processes have a moderate positive relationship with team performance • Teamwork processes have a strong positive relationship with team commitment • Teams that engage in effective teamwork processes tend to continue to exist together into the future • People tend to be satisfied in teams in which there are effective interpersonal interactions
Application: Training Teams Knowledge, skills, and abilities, together, are referred to as transportable teamwork competences • Trainees can transport what they learn about teamwork from one team context and apply it in another
Table 12-2 Examples of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Teamwork
Training Teams, cont’d Cross-training involves training members in the duties and responsibilities of their teammates • Personal clarification – members receive information regarding the roles of other team members • Positional modeling– team members observe how other members perform their roles • Positional rotation– members get actual experience carrying out the responsibilities of their teammates
Training Teams, cont’d Team process training • Occurs in the context of a team experience • Facilitates the team’s ability to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit • Action learning • Team is given a real problem that is relevant to the organization • Held accountable for analyzing the problem, developing an action plan, and carrying out the plan • Other training involves experience in a team context when task demands highlight the importance of effective teamwork processes
Training Teams, cont’d • Team building– training intended to facilitate the development of team processes related to: • Goal setting • Interpersonal relations • Problem solving • Role clarification • Examples • Ropes course, laser tag, paintball, scavenger hunts • Most effective for smaller teams and when the exercise emphasizes the importance of clarifying role responsibilities