Project Organization Groups and Teams

1. Chapter 4 Project OrganizationGroups and Teams

2. Groups, Teams and Organizational Effectiveness • Group • Two or more people who interact with each other to accomplish certain goals or meet certain needs. • Team • A group whose members work intensely with each other to achieve a specific, common goal or objective. All teams are groups but not all groups are teams. • Teams often are difficult to form. • It takes time for members to learn how to work together.

3. Groups’ and Teams’ Contributions to Organizational Effectiveness Figure 14.1

4. Groups and Teams as Performance Enhancers • Performance Enhancement • Making use of the synergy from employees in a group producing more or better output than employees working separately. • Bounce ideas off one another. • Correct each other’s errors. • Bring more new ideas to bear on problems • Accomplish projects beyond the scope of individuals • Managers should build autonomous empowered groups composed of members of complementary skills and knowledge.

5. Groups and Teams andResponsiveness to Customers • Responsiveness to Customers • Difficult to achieve given the many constraints. • Safety issues, regulations, costs. • Cross-functional teams can provide the wide variety of skills needed to meet customer demands. • Teams consist of members of different departments.

6. Teams and Innovation • Innovation • The creative development of new products, new technologies, new services, or new organizational structures • Individuals rarely possess the wide variety of skills needed for successful innovation. • Team members can uncover each other’s flaws and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses • Managers should empower the team and make it accountable for the innovation process.

7. Groups and Teams as Motivators • Members of groups, and particularly teams, are often better motivated and satisfied than individuals. • Team members are more motivated and satisfied than if they were working alone. • Team members can see the effect of their contribution to achieving team and organizational goals. • Teams provide needed social interaction and help employees cope with work-related stressors.

8. The Types of Groups and Teams in Organizations Figure 14.2 Source:

9. The Types of Groups and Teams • Formal Group • A group that managers establish to achieve organization goals. • Informal Group • A group that managers or nonmanagerial employees form to help achieve their own goals or to meet their own needs.

10. The Types of Groups and Teams

11. The Types of Groups and Teams (cont’d)

12. Group Dynamics • Group Dynamics • The characteristics and processes that affect how a group or team functions. • Group size affects how a group performs. • Normally, small groups (2 to 9 members) interact better and tend to be more motivated. • Larger groups can be used when more resources are needed and division of labor is possible. • Group tasks impact how a group interacts. • Task interdependence shows how the work of one member impacts another; as interdependence rises, members must work more closely together.

13. Group Dynamics: Interdependence • Task Interdependence Types • Pooled • Members make separate, independent contributions to group such that group performance is the sum of each member’s contributions. • Sequential • Members perform tasks in a sequential order making it difficult to determine individual performance since one member depends on another. • Reciprocal • Work performed by one group member is mutually dependent on work done by other members.

14. Types of Task Interdependence Figure 14.3

15. Group Leadership • Effective leadership is a key ingredient in high performing groups, teams, and organizations. • Formal groups created by an organization have a leader appointed by the organization. • Groups that evolve independently in an organization have an informal leader recognized by the group.

16. Stages of Group Development • Forming • Group members get to know each other and reach common goals. • Storming • Group members disagree on direction and leadership. Managers need to be sure the conflict stays focused. • Norming • Close ties and consensus begin to develop between group members.

17. Stages of Group Development • Performing • The group begins to do its real work. • Adjourning • Only for task forces that are temporary. • Note that these steps take time!

18. The Stages of Group Development Figure 14.4

19. Group Dynamics • Group Norms • Shared guidelines or rules that most group members follow. • Groups may set their working hours, behavior rules, and output quotas.

20. Group Cohesiveness • Group Cohesiveness • The degree to which members are attracted or loyal to the group. • Increases in group cohesiveness causes: • Participation in the group to increase which helps get members actively involved, but too much involvement can waste the group’s time. • Conformity to group norms to increase, although with too much conformity, group performance can suffer. • Group goal accomplishment to increase in importance which can result in the group becoming more focused on itself than the organization.

21. Sources and Consequences of Group Cohesiveness Figure 14.6

22. Factors Leading to Group Cohesiveness