MGMT 371 Groups and Teams

1. MGMT 371Groups and Teams • Group & Team defined, compared • Formal group functions, benefits • Group development • Member roles, norms • Teams and trust • Self-managed, virtual teams • Effectiveness and obstacles

2. Group vs. Team • Group Two or more freely interacting people with shared norms and goals and a common identity. • TeamSmall group with complimentary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for common purpose, goals, and approach McGraw-Hill

3. Types of Groups • Formal: Formed by the organization • Informal: Formed by members

4. Organizational Functions Complete interdependent tasks Ideas, solutions Coordinate Complex decisions Socialize newcomers Individual Functions Affiliation Self-esteem Identity Share/test ideas, perceptions Empowerment Problem-solving vehicle Formal Group Functions

5. Group Development Process • Tuckman’s 5-Stage Model (Figure 9-1) • Forming: Ice-breaking • Storming: Testing • Norming: Bonding • Performing: Completing goals • Adjourning: Parting

6. Member Roles • Roles = Expected behaviors for position • Task roles • Task-related group behaviors • Maintenance roles • Relationship-building and maintaining behaviors (See Table 9-2)

7. NORMS • Shared attitudes, opinions, feelings, actions, behaviors • Development: • Explicit statements • Critical events and carryover • Primacy or first pattern that emerges • Purpose: • Group/team maintenance and survival • Define/enforce behavioral expectations • Define group’s core values and identity

8. A group becomes a team when… • Evolution of a team • Shared leadership • Individual and collective accountability • Purpose or mission • Routine problem solving • Effectiveness defined by collective outcomes

9. Types of Work Teams • Advice teams (help broaden information base for managerial decisions) • Production teams (perform day-to-day operations) • Project teams (apply specialized knowledge for creative problem solving) • Action teams (collection of highly-coordinated specialists who exhibit peak performance on demand)

10. Teams and Trust • Cooperation vs. Competition • TRUST • Reciprocal faith in others’ intentions and behavior • Dimensions • Overall trust = expecting fairness, truth, empathy • Emotional trust = expecting confidence • Reliableness = commitments kept

11. Building Trust • Knowledge sharing • Transparency • Support/active participation • Respect • Fairness • Predictability • Competence

12. Self-Managed Teams • Self-Managed Teams • Members given administrative oversight for their work • Cross-functionalism =team made up of technical specialists from different areas • Empowerment • Competence skills • Process skills • Helping behaviors

13. Empowering Self-Managed Teams External Leader Behavior • Make team members responsible and accountable for the work they do • Ask for and use team suggestions when making decisions • Encourage team members to take control of their work • Create an environment in which team members set their own team goals • Stay out of the way when team members attempt to solve work-related problems • Generate high team expectations • Display trust and confidence in the team’s abilities

14. Empowering Self-Managed Teams Via Human Resource Systems • The team gets paid, at least in part, as a team • Team members are cross-trained on jobs within their team • Team members are cross-trained on jobs in other teams • Team members are responsible for hiring, training, punishment, and firing • Team members use peer evaluations to formally evaluate each other

15. Empowering Self-Managed Teams Social Structure/Culture • The team gets support from other teams and departments when needed • The team has access to and uses important and strategic information • The team has access to and uses the resources of other teams • The team has access to and uses resources inside and outside the organization • The team frequently communicates with other teams • The team makes its own rules and policies

16. Virtual Teams: How to Manage • Start with a face-to-face • Establish regular times for interaction • Set firm rules for communication • Use visual forms of communication where possible • Offer support, feedback consistently • Team members evaluate each other • Reach agreement on technology and/or provide a virtual meeting room

17. Virtual Teams: How to Manage • Team members evaluate each other • Provide a virtual meeting room via intranet, web site, or bulletin board • Be available to employees, but don’t wait for them to seek you out • Encourage informal, off-line conversations between team members

18. Characteristics of an Effective Team • Clear purpose • Informality • Participation • Listening • Civilized disagreement • Consensus decisions • Open communication • Clear roles and work assignments • Clear values, norms, identity • Shared leadership • External relations • Self-assessment

19. Factors that Influence Group Effectiveness Task and Maintenance Roles Structure Process Diversity Creativity

20. Why Do Teams Fail? Mistakes Made by Management • Weak strategies and poor business practices. • Hostile environment for teams • Teams adopted as a quick-fix with no long-term commitment. • Unchanged bad habits • Vague or conflicting team assignments • Inadequate team skills training • Poor staffing of teams • Lack of trust--CULTURE

21. Why Do Teams Fail? Potential Problems Within Teams • Unrealistic expectations • Conflict over differences in work styles • Emphasis on results only, not on processes • Lack of persistence, overcoming obstacles • Resistance to change • Poor interpersonal/team skills • Poor member fit • Lack of trust • Power struggles

22. Why Do Teams Fail? Potential Problems Within Teams • Groupthink: • Cohesiveness leading to unwillingness to view all alternatives • Social loafing: • Lack of effort from member over-relying on other members

23. Teams at the Top Upper Echelons Diversity at the Top Multicultural Top Teams