CHAPTER 6

1. CHAPTER 6 DEVELOPING TEAMWORK SKILLS

2. TECHNICAL MEANING OF TEAM • A special type of group. • Members have complementary skills. • Members are committed to • common purpose • set of performance goals, and • approach to the task. • As a result of these characteristics, the members work together smoothly.

3. FEATURES OF FACE-TO-FACE (TRADITIONAL) TEAMS • Take some of the responsibility for their own work. • Members work together on an ongoing basis. • Team often given total responsibility for an entire product or service. • Mutual trust contributes to team effectiveness.

4. USEFUL TEAM SKILLS • Speaking effectively • Fostering open communication • Listening to others • Delivering presentations • Preparing written communication • Acting with integrity • Demonstrating adaptability

5. Useful Team Skills, continued • Engaging in personal development • Striving for results • Displaying a commitment to work • Innovating solutions to problems • Using sound judgment • Analyzing issues • Knowing the business

6. Useful Team Skills, concluded • Using technical/functional expertise • Using financial/quantitative data • Recognizing “big picture” impact • Promoting corporate citizenship • Focusing on customer needs • Commitment to quality • Managing profitability Not expected to have all these skills at once!

7. FEATURES OF A VIRTUAL TEAM • Collaborative work done electronically • Groupware often used to conduct electronic meetings • Webcams are useful for interaction • Team members are often geographically dispersed • Office-bound workers may resent those who work at home • Need to trust workers you rarely see

8. ADVANTAGES OF GROUP WORK AND TEAMWORK • Synergy—group’s total output exceeds the sum of individual contributions. • Work accomplishment and high productivity—without groups, organization could not get its work accomplished. • Acceptance and commitment—contributors to decision feel some ownership about its implementation.

9. Advantages of Group Work, concluded • Avoidance of major errors—evaluation of other’s thinking helps avoid major errors. • Increased job satisfaction—more needs are satisfied than working alone, such as needs for affiliation, security, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment. • Worker satisfaction is also enhanced because many people find working in groups to be a natural way of life.

10. DISADVANTAGES OF GROUP WORK AND TEAMWORK • Time wasting—too much talk, and too little action. • Pressure toward conformity—members face pressures to conform, sometimes to mediocre performance standards. • Shirking of individual responsibility (social loafing)—under-motivated person can often squeeze by without contributing his or her fair share to group effort.

11. Disadvantages of Group Work, concluded • Fostering of conflict—members may bicker about doing unwanted tasks; groups may develop dislike of other groups. • Groupthink—judgment suffers for the sake of solidarity; an extreme form of consensus; group loses its power of critical analysis. • To overcome these problems, act like a team and perform tasks that require collective effort.

12. SYMPTOMS OF CONFORMITY TO THE TEAM (SAQ 6-3) • I rarely question the decision reached by the team. • Whatever the group wants is fine with me. • I consider myself to be one of the gang. • I rarely express disagreement during a group discussion.

13. Symptoms of Conformity to Team, continued • I routinely have lunch with other members of the team. • My preference is to piggyback on the ideas of others rather than to contribute ideas of my own. • When I notice that other members of the team make the same speech error, I will copy them rather than sound different. • I am particularly careful not to criticize an idea submitted by a team leader.

14. Symptoms of Conformity to Team, concluded • The number of hours I work per week corresponds closely to the number of hours worked by my teammates. • I would rather keep my mouth closed than point out weaknesses in a teammate’s ideas. • When the team laughs at a comment, I laugh also even if I don’t think the comment was funny. • Most of my social life centers around activities with my teammates.

15. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE WORK GROUP (Figure 6-1) • Clear-cut goals linked to organizational goals • Group members are empowered • Challenging, exciting, and rewarding work for group members • Mutual dependency for goal attainment • Diversity including education, experience, and cultural background

16. Effective Work Group, continued • Members trained in technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal skills • Part of pay related to team or group incentives • About 6 members rather than 10 or more • Members have good intelligence and personality factors, such as conscientiousness • Honest and open communication among group members and with other groups

17. Effective Work Group, concluded • Philosophy of working as a team (6 brains, not just 12 hands) • Members familiar with their jobs, coworkers, and the work environment • Emotional intelligence in terms of building relationships inside and outside the group • Stronger performers assist weaker performers in accomplishing their tasks, particularly the “weakest link”

18. TEAM MEMBER ROLES • Role is a tendency to behave, contribute, and relate to others in a particular way. • Carry out positive roles to be perceived as contributor. • Person who neglects to carry out these roles will be perceived as poor contributor. • Nine key member roles are presented in following slides:

19. NINE TEAM MEMBER ROLES • Creative problem solver (creative, imaginative, unorthodox) • Resource investigator (extravert who explores opportunities) • Coordinator (mature, confident, natural team leader) • Shaper (challenging and dynamic) • Monitor-evaluator (big thinker who sees options)

20. Team member roles, concluded • Team worker (cooperative, sensitive, and diplomatic) • Implementer (disciplined and efficient) • Completer-finisher (anxious to get job done) • Specialist (dedicated, has rare knowledge and skill) All roles can have downside, and members will sometimes engage in self-oriented roles.

21. SELF-ORIENTED TEAM ROLES • Focuses on own needs rather than those of group • Overly aggressive to pursue own goals • Hunger for recognition or power • Dominates meeting, blocking others from contributing • Creates a distraction, such as taking personal phone calls

22. GUIDELINES FOR INTERPERSONAL ASPECTS OF TEAM PLAY • Trust team members (cornerstone attitude of outstanding team player). • Display a higher level of cooperation and collaboration (the meaning of teamwork). • Recognize the interests and achievements of others (let others know that you care). • Give and receive helpful criticism (be diplomatic, sometimes by asking questions; be open to feedback).

23. Interpersonal Aspects of Team Play, concluded • Share the glory (even if the most deserving, share praise and other rewards). • Take care not to rain on another person’s parade (belittling the achievements of others brings about tension and anger; suppress your feelings of petty jealousy).

24. ACHIEVING A COOPERATIVE TEAM SPIRIT • Make the first move, such as asking somebody for input. • Target the most individualistic, least cooperative member of the group. • Minimize confrontation. • Explain any reason for disagreements. • Look for a workable way to integrate both ideas when disagreement surfaces.

25. GIVING AND RECEIVING HELPFUL CRITICISM ON THE TEAM • Offer constructive criticism, but be diplomatic. • Keep ratio of criticism to praise small. • Criticize the person’s work, not the person. • Ask a question rather than making a declarative statement. • Be open to feedback yourself.

26. GUIDELINES FOR THE TASK ASPECTS OF TEAM PLAY • Provide technical expertise (or knowledge of the task). • Assume responsibility for problems. • See the big picture (“What are we trying to accomplish?”). • Believe in consensus (general acceptance of a decision by the group). • Focus on deadlines (people vary on importance of deadlines).

27. Task Aspects of Team Play, concluded • Help team members do their job better (show how to make needed improvements). • Be a good organizational citizen (help out beyond the requirements of your job description). • A key research finding covered in this chapter is that teamwork processes are associated with team member performance and satisfaction.