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Foundations of Team Dynamics. Teamwork In the Securities Industry.
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Teamwork In the Securities Industry Paul Tramontano (2nd from left) and other professionals in the securities industry have formed teams to better serve clients. Tramontano heads a 12-person team (called the Topeka Wealth Management Group) at Citigroup’s Smith Barney.
What are Teams? • Groups of two or more people • Exist to fulfill a purpose • Interdependent -- interact and influence each other • Mutually accountable for achieving common goals • Perceive themselves as a social entity
Groups versus Teams • All teams are groups • Some groups are just people assembled together • Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not (e.g., group of employees enjoying lunch together)
Why Rely on Teams • Compared with individuals working alone, teams tend to: • Make better decisions • Make better products and services due to more knowledge and expertise • Increase employee engagement
Why Informal Groups Exist • Innate drive to bond • Social identity • We define ourselves by group memberships • Goal accomplishment • Emotional support
Team Effectiveness Defined • Fulfills objectives assigned to the team • Fulfills satisfaction and well-being of team members • Maintains team’s survival
Organizational and Team Environment Team Design Team Effectiveness • Reward systems • Communication systems • Physical space • Organizational environment • Organizational structure • Organizational leadership • Task characteristics • Team size • Team composition • Achieve organizational goals • Satisfy member needs • Maintain team survival Team Processes • Team development • Team norms • Team roles • Team cohesiveness Team Effectiveness Model
Team’s Task and Size • Task characteristics • Better when tasks are clear, easy to implement • Share common inputs, processes, or outcomes • Task interdependence • Team size • Smaller teams are better • But large enough to accomplish task
Resource A B C A B C A B C Levels of Task Interdependence Reciprocal High Sequential Pooled Low
Shell Looks for Team Players Shell holds the 5-day Gourami Business Challenge in Europe, North America, and Asia to observe how well the university students work in teams. One of the greatest challenges is for students from different cultures and educational specializations to work together. Gourami session in Asia -- Courtesy of Shell International Ltd Gourami session in U.S.A. -- Courtesy of Shell U.S.
Team Composition • Motivation • To perform task • To work cooperatively the team • Competencies • Skills and knowledge to perform the task • Ability to work effectively with each other • Homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending on task requirements Gourami session in Asia -- Courtesy of Shell International Ltd Gourami session in U.S.A. -- Courtesy of Shell U.S.
Less conflict Faster teamdevelopment Performs better on cooperative tasks Better coordination High satisfaction of team members More conflict Longer team development Performs better on complex problems More creative Better representation outside the team Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Teams Homogeneous Teams Heterogeneous Teams
Performing Norming Storming Existing teams might regress back to an earlier stage of development Adjourning Stages of Team Development Forming
Team Norms • Informal rules and expectations team establishes to regulate member behaviors • Norms develop through: • Initial team experiences • Critical events in team’s history • Experience/values members bring to the team
Changing Team Norms • Introduce norms when forming teams • Select members with preferred norms • Discuss counter-productive norms • Reward behaviors representing desired norms • Disband teams with dysfunctional norms
Day 12: Peer pressure begins Day 28: Employee has doubled performance Day 20: Employee begins working alone Day 1: Employee begins job with team 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 Conformity to Team Norms 100 75 Units Pressed per Hour 50 25 0 Production Days
Team Roles • Role -- set of behaviors people are expected to perform in certain positions • Formally assigned or informally acquired based on personality preferences • Belbin’s Team Role Model • Nine team roles -- all needed for optimal team performance • People choose preferred role based on their personality • Some roles more important at particular stages
Team Cohesiveness at Lighthouse Photo: Robert Hirtie. Courtesy of Atlantic Business Magazine & Lighthouse Publishing The staff at Lighthouse Publishing is a highly cohesive group that successfully keeps its much larger competitors off-guard. This cohesiveness has particularly come through when faced with new and unexpected challenges, such as new products or machine breakdowns.
Team Cohesiveness Defined Photo: Robert Hirtie. Courtesy of Atlantic Business Magazine & Lighthouse Publishing • The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members • Calculative -- members believe the team will fulfill goals and needs • Emotional -- team is part of person’s social identity
Influences on Team Cohesiveness Member Similarity IncreasingTeam Cohesiveness External Challenges Team Size Team Success Member Interaction Somewhat Difficult Entry
Team Cohesiveness Outcomes • Want to remain members • Willing to share information • Strong interpersonal bonds • Resolve conflict effectively • Better interpersonal relationships
Cohesiveness and Performance Moderately high task performance High taskperformance Team Norms Support Company Goals Moderately low task performance Low task performance Team Norms Oppose Company Goals Low Team Cohesiveness High Team Cohesiveness
The Trouble With Teams • Individuals better/faster on some tasks • Process losses - cost of developing and maintaining teams • Companies don’t support best work environment for team dynamics • Social loafing
How to Minimize Social Loafing • Make individual performance more visible • Form smaller teams • Specialize tasks • Measure individual performance • Increase employee motivation • Increase job enrichment • Select motivated employees
