Chapter 5

1. Chapter 5 Working in Teams

2. Chapter Outline • Teams versus Groups: What’s the Difference? • Why Have Teams Become So Popular? • Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer • Understanding How Teams Work • Roles With Teams • Creating Effective Teams • Developing Trust • Teams and Workforce Diversity

3. Team Work • What’s the difference between a group and a team? • Are teams always the right answer? • How can we ensure that teams work effectively? Questions for Consideration

4. Teams versus Groups • Work Group • A group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each other perform within his or her area of responsibility • Work Team • A group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of those individual inputs

5. Exhibit 5-1 Teams and Work Groups

6. Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer • Questions to determine whether a team fits the situation: • Can the work be done better by more than one person? • Does work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals? • Are members of the group interdependent?

7. Point:Teams: The Way to Go • The value of teams is now well known. The following are benefits that can result from the introduction of work teams. • Increased employee motivation. • Higher levels of productivity. • Increased employee satisfaction. • Common commitment to goals. • Improved communication. • Expanded job skills. • Organizational flexibility.

8. CounterPoint:Teams Are Not Always the Answer • A critical look at four of the assumptions which seem to underlay this team ideology. • Mature teams are task oriented and have successfully minimized the negative influences of other group forces. • Individual, group, and organizational goals can all be integrated into common team goals. • Participative or shared leadership is always effective. • The team environment drives out the subversive forces of politics, power, and conflict that divert groups from efficiently doing their work.

9. Exhibit 5-2Stages of Group Development Stage I Forming Prestage 1 Stage II Storming Stage III Norming Stage IV Performing Stage V Adjourning

10. Stages of Group Development • Forming • The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty • Storming • The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict • Norming • The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness • Performing • The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully functional • Adjourning • The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance

11. (High) Performance Phase 2 First Meeting Completion Transition Phase 1 (Low) A (A+B)/2 B Time Exhibit 5-3The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

12. Roles • A role is a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. • Role Identity: Certain attitudes and behaviours consistent with a role • Role Perception: An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation • Role Expectations: How others believe a person should act in a given situation • Psychological Contract: Unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from the employee, and vice versa. • Role Conflict: A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations

13. Roles in Groups • Task-oriented roles • Roles performed by group members to ensure that the tasks of the group are accomplished • Maintenance roles • Roles performed by group members to maintain good relations within the group • Individual roles • Roles performed by group members that are not productive for keeping the group on task

14. Exhibit 5-4 Task-oriented Roles

15. Exhibit 5-4 Maintenance-oriented Roles

16. Conducting a Group Meeting • Follow these 12 steps to more efficient and effective meetings: • Prepare a meeting agenda. • Distribute the agenda in advance. • Consult with participants before the meeting. • Get participants to go over the agenda. • Establish specific time parameters. • Maintain focused discussion. • Encourage and support participation of all members. • Maintain a balanced style. • Encourage the clash of ideas. • Discourage the clash of personalities. • Be an effective listener. • Bring proper closure.

17. Exhibit 5-6Dimensions of Trust

18. Dimensions of Trust • Integrity • Honesty and truthfulness • Competence • Technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills • Consistency • Reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations • Loyalty • Willingness to protect and save face for a person • Openness • Willingness to share ideas and information freely

19. Building Trust • Demonstrate that you’re working for others’ interests as well as your own. • Be a team player. • Practice openness. • Be fair. • Speak your feelings. • Show consistency in the basic values that guide your decision making. • Maintain confidence. • Demonstrate competence.

20. Multiple perspectives Greater openness to new ideas Multiple interpretations Increased creativity Increased flexibility Increased problem-solving skills Ambiguity Complexity Confusion Miscommunication Difficulty in reaching a single agreement Difficulty in agreeing on specific actions Advantages Disadvantages Exhibit 5-7Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity

21. Summary and Implications • The introduction of teams into the workplace has greatly influenced employee jobs • High-performing teams have common characteristics: • they contain people with special skills • they commit to a common purpose, establish specific goals • they have the leadership and structure to provide focus and direction • they hold themselves accountable at both the individual and team levels • there is high mutual trust among members • It is difficult to create team players. To do so, managers should: • select individuals with interpersonal skills • provide training to develop teamwork skills • reward individuals for cooperative efforts