Chapter 11 - Team Characteristics and Processes Flashcards
team
two or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented purpose
work teams
relatively permanent
produce goods or services
production team, sales team, maintenance team
management teams
relatively permanent teams that participate in managerial-level tasks that affect the entire organization
typically department heads
top management teams
parallel teams
teams composed of members from various jobs within the organization that meet to provide recommendations about important issues
quality circle, advisory council
project teams
teams formed to take on one-time tasks, most of which tend to be complex and require input from members from different functional areas
product design team, research group, planning team
action teams
teams of limited duration that perform complex tasks in contexts that tend to be highly visible and challenging
surgical team, musical group
multiple team membership
a work arrangement in which employees are assigned to multiple teams simultaneously
virtual teams
geographically dispersed and interdependent activity occurs through email, web conferencing and instant messaging
team development model 1
- forming
members orient themselves by trying to understand their boundaries in the team
team development model 1
- storming
members retain committed to ideas they bring with them to the team
team development model #1
2 norming
members realize that they need to work together to accomplish team goals and they being to cooperate
team development model #1
3 performing
members are comfortable working within their roles and the team makes progress toward goals
5 adjourning
disengage and separate from the team
punctuated equilibrium
a sequence of team development during which not much gets done until the halfway point of a project, after which teams make necessary changes to complete the project on time
team inderdepence
the way in which the members of a team are linked to one another
in respect to interactions that take place as the team accomplishes it work, goals, rewards
types of team interdependence
task interdependence
the degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for information, materials and resources needed to accomplish work for the team
types of team interdependence
pooled interdependence
lowest degree of required coordination
everyone does their work independently and then you put it all together
types of team interdepence
sequential interdependence
different tasks are done in a prescribed order
group is structured such that the members specialize in these tasks
interaction occurs only between members who perform tasks that are next to each other in the sequence
reciprocal interdependence
new type of task interdependence
similar to sequential, members are specialized to perform specific tasks
instead of a strict sequence, members interact with a subset of other members to complete the team’s work
comprehensive interdependence
highest level of interaction and coordination among members as they try to accomplish work
great deal of discretion involved in accomplishing the team’s work
diverse backgrounds
goal interdependence
the degree to which team members have a shared vision of the team’s goal and align their individual goals with that vision
created formalized mission statement
invest time and effort to align goals
outcome interdependence
the degree to which team members share equally in the feedback and rewards that result from the team achieving its goals
high outcome interdependence: team members depend on the performance of other team members for the rewards they receive
team composition
the mix of the various characteristics that describe the individuals who work in the team
member roles
pattern of behaviour a person is generally expected to display in a given context
team task roles
behaviour that directly facilitate the accomplishment of team tasks
coordinator
devil’s advocate
energizer
team-building roles
behaviours that influence the quality of the team’s social climate
encourager
harmonizer
compromiser
helps to manage conflict
individualistic roles
behaviours that benefit the individual at the expense of the team
aggressor
blocker
recognition seeker
causes negative feelings
member ability
physical abilities
cognitive ability
having highest level of ability relevant to task (disjunctive tasks)
when the team’s performance depends on the abilities of the “weak link” are called conjunctive tasks
additive tasks: contributions resulting from the abilities of every member add up to determine team performance
member personality
affects roles, norms and how the team functions
agreeableness people are more cooperative and trusting
low conscientiousness: uncomfortable and time-consuming interpersonal conflicts
extraverted people are beneficial to the social climate of the group, too many can harm the team
team diversity
the agree to which team members are different from one another
values, beliefs, knowledge, expertise, social status, power, sense of time urgency
value in diversity problem solving approach
a theory that supports team diversity because it provides a larger pool of knowledge and perspectives
fosters learning
similarity attraction approach
a theory explaining that team diversity can be counterproductive because people tend to avoid interacting with others who are unlike them
cultural background, race and attitudes
surface-level diversity
diversity of observable attributes such as race, gender, ethnicity and age
surface differences are replaced with knowledge regarding underlying characteristics
fault lines
informal subgroups develop based on similarity in surface level attributes such as gender or characteristics
problem: knowledge and information possessed by one subgroup may not be communicated to other subgroups in a manner that might help the entire team perform more effectively
deep-level diversity
diversity of attributes that are inferred through observation or experience, such as one’s values or personality
time appears to increase the negative effects of deep-level diversity on team functioning and effectiveness
differences that relate to underlying values and goals become increasingly apparent
these effects can be managed if teams are instructed to take the time to reflect on their progress toward goals and their strategies
team size
having a greater number of members is beneficial for management and project teams but not for teams engaged in production tasks
management and project teams work on complex tasks so it is better to have additional resources
production teams do routine tasks so they don’t need additional resources
team process
the different types of activities and interactions that occur within a team as the team works toward its goals
process gain
achievement of team outcomes greater than those one would expect on the basis of the capabilities of the individual members
results in useful resources and capabilities that did not exist before the team created them
process loss
achievement of team outcomes less than those one would expect on the basis of the capabilities of the individual members
factor 1: members have to work to not only accomplish their own tasks but also coordinate their activities with the activities of their teammates
coordination loss
extra focus on integrating work and consumes time that would be devoted to task activity
production blocking
members have to wait on one another before they can do their part of the team task
motivational loss
loss in team productivity that occurs when team members don’t work as hard as they could
social loafing
members exerting less effort when working on team tasks than they would if they worked alone on the same tasks
taskwork processes
the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks
taskwork occurs any time team members interact with the tools or technologies that are used to complete their work
creative behaviour
driven in part by the creativity of individual employees
also affected by characteristics such as conformity and attention to detail
brainstorming
express all ideas that come to mind (no matter how strange)
go for the quantity of ideas rather than quality
don’t criticize or evaluate the ideas of others
build on the ideas of others
negatives of brainstorming
social loafing, people criticize other
ideas, production blocking because people have to wait to express their ideas
positives of brainstorming
builds morales, sharing of knowledge, useful for issues that arise in the future
nominal group technique
team gets together and outlines the purpose of the meeting
members have set time period to write down their ideas on a piece of paper
then members have a discussion intended to clarify and build on the ideas
then members individually rank order ideas on a card that they submit to a facilitator
facilitator picks winning idea
decision making
decisions result from the interaction among team members
members share information regarding a problem or task, and they reach a consensus
juries
in some contexts, decision making involve multiple members gathering and considering information that is relevant to their area and then making recs to the team leader who makes the final decision
factors that account for teams ability to make effective decisions
decision informity
reflects whether members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities (basically playing your part)
factors that account for teams ability to make effective decisions
staff validity
the degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader (good ability, insight and judgment)
factors that account for teams ability to make effective decisions
hierarchical sensitivity
the degree to which the leader effectively weights the recommendations of the members (actually respecting good ideas)
experienced teams
more experienced teams tend to make better decisions because they develop an understanding of which members provide the best recommendations
boundary spanning
involves three types of activities with individuals and groups other than those who are considered part of the team
boundary spanning
ambassador activities
communications that are intended to protect the team, persuade others to support the team or obtain important resources for the team
typically communication with people who are higher up in the organization
boundary spanning
task coordinator activities
involve communications that are intended to coordinate task-related issues with people or groups in other functional areas
eg: marketing meeting with manufacturing
boundary spanning
scout activities
refers to things team members do to obtain information about technology, competitors or the broader marketplace
teamwork processes
- the interpersonal activities that promote the accomplishment of team tasks but do not involve task accomplishment itself
-behaviours that create the setting or context in which taskwork can be carried out
transition processes
teamwork activities that focus on preparation for future work
1mission analysis - analysis of the teams task
2strategy formulation - the development of courses of action
3goal specification - involves the development and prioritization of goals related to the team’s mission and strategy
4coordination: synchronizing team members’ activities in a way that makes them mesh effectively and seamlessly
interpersonal processes
teamwork processes, such as motivating and confidence building, that focus on the management of relationships among team members
motivating and confidence building
affect management: involves activities that foster a sense of emotional balance and unity
conflict management: involves activities that the team uses to manage conflicts that arise in the course of its work
relationship conflict: refers to disagreements among team members in terms of interpersonal relationships or incompatibilities
task conflicts
team states
specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together
ostracism can be painful and lead to disengagement and other negative consequences to the individual and to the team
cohesion
a team state that occurs when members of the team develop strong emotional bonds to other members of the team and to the team itself
is cohesive a good team? no, highly cohesive teams try to maintain harmony by striving toward conesus without ever seeking alternative viewpoints
groupthink
behaviours that support conformity and team harmony at the expense of other team priorities
potency
a team state reflecting the degree of confidence among team members that the team can be effective across situations and tasks
develops through personal confidence, trust in other member’s and feedback about past performance
mental models
the degree to which team members have a shared understanding of important aspects of the team and its task
transactive memory
the degree to which team members’ specialized knowledge is integrated into an effective system of memory for the team
takes into account the idea that not everyone on a team has to possess the same knowledge
meta knowledge: knowledge of who knows what
team performance
includes metrics such as quantity and quality of goods or services produced, customer satisfaction, the effectiveness/accuracy of decisions
team commitment/team viability
refers to the likelihood that the team can work together effectively into the future
when does task performance tend to be higher?
task performance tends to be higher in teams in which members depend on one another and have to coordinate their activities rather than when members work more or less independently
relationship is stronger when task is more complex
do team processes affect performance and commmitmentt?
hard to answer because there are several different types of team processes
effectiveness with respect to a wide variety of interactions is needed to help teams achieve process gain
the importance of team processes to team performance may be more strongly positive in teams in which there are higher levels of interdependence
Training intervention types
training in transportable teamwork competencies, cross training, team process training, team building
cross training
training team members in the duties and responsibilities of their teammates
team process training
the use of team experiences that facilitates the team’s ability to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit
team building
fun activities that facilitate team problem solving, trust, relationship building, clarification of role responsibilities
