Groups and Teams

1. Chapter 11 Groups and Teams Michael A. Hitt C. Chet Miller Adrienne Colella

2. Knowledge Objectives • Describe the nature of groups and teams and distinguish among different types of teams. • Explain the criteria used to evaluate team effectiveness. • Discuss how various aspects of team composition influence team effectiveness.

3. Knowledge Objectives • Understand how structural components of teams can influence performance. • Explain how various team processes influence team performance. • Describe how teams develop over time. • Know what organizations can do to encourage and support effective teamwork. • Understand the roles of a team leader.

4. Groups and Teams • Group • Two or more interdependent individuals who influence one another through social interaction • Team • Two or more people, with work roles that require them to be interdependent, who operate within a larger social system (the organization), performing tasks relevant to the organization’s mission, with consequences that affect others inside and outside the organization, and who have membership that is identifiable to those on the team and those not on the team

5. Types of Groups and Teams • Formal groups • Groups to which members are formally assigned • Informal groups • Groups formed spontaneously by people who share interests, values, or identities • Identity groups • Groups based on the social identities of members • Virtual teams • Teams in which members work together but are separated by time, distance, or organizational structure

6. Exhibit 11-1 Virtual Team Technologies Virtual Team Technologies Audio teleconferencing Video communication systems, which may connect people either room to room or via desktop computers Real-time electronic communication (e.g., chat groups) Different-time electronic communication (e.g., e-mail, bulletin boards) Keypad voting systems Group project management software Wireless communication devices (e.g. Blackberries) Adapted from Exhibit 11-1: Virtual Team Technologies

7. Effectiveness of Virtual Teams • Virtual teams less effective on some dimensions • Fewer opportunities exist for informal discussions, hence trust is slower to develop among virtual team members • Communication channels that are less rich than face-to-face interactions • More difficult for virtual teams to develop behavioral norms • Easier for some members to be free riders • Increasing effectiveness of virtual teams • More face-to-face meetings • If members have a great deal of empowerment • When implemented properly, virtual teams can increase productivity and save companies millions of dollars

8. Types of Groups and Teams • Functional teams • Distinguished by the type of work they do and the purpose they serve • Production teams • Service teams • Management teams • Project teams • Advisory teams • Self-managing teams • Have considerable autonomy and control over the work they do, and are responsible for completing a whole piece of work or an entire project

9. Dimensions of Team Effectiveness • Knowledge criteria • Team members share knowledge and understanding of the team’s task, tools and equipment, and processes, as well as members’ characteristics • Ability of the team as a whole to learn over time • Affective criteria • Whether or not team members have a fulfilling and satisfying team experience • Outcome criteria • Quantity and quality of the team’s output

10. Factors Affecting Team Effectiveness • Teams create synergy (performance benefits) for several reasons • Greater goal commitment • Greater variety of skills and abilities used for task achievement • Greater sharing of knowledge • Teamwork can also lead to poorer performance • Process loss • Managing, coordinating, and developing effective communication within the team • Time and energy members spend maintaining the team

11. Factors Affecting Team Effectiveness • Team composition • Demographic diversity • Personality • Size • Team structure • Team member roles • Task roles • Norms • Task structure • Unitary tasks • Maximization tasks • Socioemotional roles • Optimization tasks

12. Task Environment Team Size and Performance High Team Performance Low 2 5 8 11 13. . . . . . . . Number of Team Members Adapted from Exhibit 11-2: The Relationship Between Team Size and Team Performance

13. Exhibit 11-3 Roles in Teams Team Roles Task Roles Initiator/Contributor Suggests new ideas, solutions, or ways to approach the problem Information Seeker Focuses on getting facts Information Giver Provides data for decision making Elaborator Gives additional information, such as rephrasing, examples Opinion Giver Provides opinions, values, and feelings Coordinator Shows the relevance of various specific ideas to the overall problem to be solved Orienter Refocuses discussion when the team gets off topic Evaluator/Critic Appraises the quality of the team’s work Adapted from Exhibit 11-3: Roles in Teams

14. Exhibit 11-3 Roles in Teams Team Roles Task Roles Energizer Motivates the team when energy falters Procedural Technician Takes care of operational details, such as technology Recorder Takes notes and keeps records Socioemotional Roles Encourager Provides others with praise, agreement, warmth Harmonizer Settles conflicts among other members Compromiser Changes his or her position to maintain team harmony Gatekeeper Controls communication process so that everyone gets a chance to participate Standard Setter Discusses the quality of the team process Adapted from Exhibit 11-3: Roles in Teams

15. Exhibit 11-3 Roles in Teams Team Roles Socioemotional Roles Observer Comments on the positive or negative aspects of the team process and calls for changes Follower Accepts others’ ideas and acts as a listener Individual Roles Aggressor Attacks others Blocker Unnecessarily opposes the team Dominator Manipulatively asserts authority Evader Focuses on expressing own feelings and thoughts that are unrelated to the team goals Help Seeker Unnecessarily expresses insecurities Recognition Seeker Calls unnecessary attention to himself or herself Adapted from Exhibit 11-3: Roles in Teams

16. Factors Affecting Team Effectiveness • Team processes • Cohesion • Interpersonal cohesion • Task cohesion • Conflict • Personal conflicts • Substantive conflicts • Procedural conflicts • Social facilitation • Social loafing • Communication

17. Avoiding Social Loafing Make Individual Contributions Visible • Evaluation system in which everyone’s individual contributions are noted • Smaller rather than larger teams • Monitor who oversees everyone’s contributions Foster Task Cohesiveness • Team-level rewards to increase pressure • Teamwork training to develop a sense of cohesiveness • Select “team players” for teamwork • high on agreeableness • High on conscientiousness

18. Adjourning Performing Norming Storming Forming Team Development: Stages Model • Adjourning (Dissolution) • Task completion and termination of roles • Performing (Work) • High task and goal orientation • Norming (Structure) • Cohesiveness and roles develop • Storming (Conflict) • Disagreement and tension among members • Forming (Orientation) • Members become familiar with each other Adapted from Exhibit 11-4: Models of Team Development

19. Task deadline approaches or half-way mark in teams’ tenure Team Development: Punctuated Equilibrium Model • First Stage: • Norming Activities • Focus on Socioemotional Roles • Second Stage: • Performing Activities • Focus on Task Roles Adapted from Exhibit 11-4: Models of Team Development

20. Managing for Effective Teams Managing for Effective Teams Top Management Support Explicit vision and strategic plan Serves as the basis for determining desirable team outcomes Results-oriented measurement of Expect all leaders in organization to do same outcomes Actively include associates at all All decisions that affect associates also affect levels in decision-making process team performance Make explicit decision about Tie the decision to business objectives using teams Actively manage and review Problems in teams such as needed resources support systems for teams will be revealed in review Adapted from Exhibit 11-3: Roles in Teams

21. Managing for Effective Teams Managing for Effective Teams Support Systems Technology Teams must have access to technology for performing their tasks, including tools and computer software. Information systems Teams often need more (or less) information than they possess. It is crucial to provide a “user friendly” information system. Selection of team members Tailor the staffing process to the type of team. Conduct teamwork analysis to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for both task work and team work. Consider political issues and who is to do the assessment of potential team members.

22. Managing for Effective Teams Managing for Effective Teams Support Systems Training Team-building training generally focuses on four different types of skills: (1) goal-setting skills; (2) interpersonal skills; (3) problem- solving skills; and (4) role-clarification skills. Rewards If people are to work together effectively as a team, they must be rewarded as a team, in addition to individual rewards. Team reward systems may include profit-sharing plans. Leadership Successful team leaders perform three roles: (1) team liaison; (2) direction setting; and (3) team operational coordinator.