Chapter 7: Social Loafing, Cross-Functional and Virtual Teams

Question 1

Social Loafing

Answer 1

the tendency for individuals to reduce effort in a group task compared to working alone. It stems from motivation problems, not coordination

1. Free Rider Effect: People reduce effort to benefit from others’ contributions without contributing themselves.
2. Sucker Effect: People lower their effort because they believe others are free riding, aiming to restore equity.

Question 2

Counteracting Social Loafing

Answer 2

1. Make Individual Performance Visible: small groups and require presentations of accomplishments.
2. Ensure Work is Interesting
3. Increase Feelings of Indispensability: Assign unique responsibilities
4. Provide Performance Feedback
5. Reward Group Performance
6. Change norms

Question 3

To improve the effectiveness of brainstorming…

Answer 3

• Identifiable contribution
• No judgments during brainstorming session
• Equal status
• Using individual sessions to generate initial ideas

Question 4

Basic Qualities of Effective Work Teams

Answer 4

1. Psychological Safety (Shared belief that it is safe to take social risks (e.g., questioning ideas, suggesting innovations))
2. Team Reflexivity (Teams discuss processes and goals to adapt behavior and improve coordination)
3. Shared Mental Models (Team members share similar understandings of tasks and interactions)
4. Capacity to Improvise (Flexibility and adaptability enable teams to handle unexpected challenges effectively)
5. Collective Efficacy (Shared belief in the team’s ability to perform tasks successfully)
6. Team Resilience (The ability to bounce back from setbacks or adversity)

Question 5

Team effectiveness arises when

Answer 5

1. Outputs are acceptable to management and stakeholders.
2. Group members’ needs are satisfied, not frustrated.
3. The experience motivates members to continue working together.

Question 6

Teams thrive when

Answer 6

o Contributions are valued based on performance, not external factors.
o Members receive regular feedback and work in a supportive, cohesive environment.

Question 7

Cross-Functional Teams

Answer 7

teams composed of members from different functional specialties to enhance invention, design, or delivery of products or services

Complex, unique tasks (e.g., designing a car or app) require formal leadership and operate within the project’s lifespan.
Pharmaceutical development teams (toxicology, biology, and marketing)

Question 8

Advantages of Cross-functional teams

Answer 8

Enable early coordination among diverse functions, improving:
o Innovation
o Speed
o Quality

Question 9

Principles for Effective Cross-Functional Teams

Answer 9

1. Composition: include all relevant specialties, avoiding gaps
2. Superordinate Goals
3. Physical Proximity
4. Autonomy: Teams need independence from the larger organization
5. Reasonable Rules and Procedures:
6. Good Leadership

Question 10

Virtual Teams

Answer 10

teams that use technology to collaborate across geographic, temporal, and organizational boundaries
* Often cross-functional and rely on both asynchronous (e.g., email) and synchronous (e.g., video conferencing) communication tools.

Question 11

Advantages of Virtual Teams

Answer 11

1. Around-the-Clock Work:
   o Enable continuous workflows across global time zones.
   o Example: “Follow the sun” approach with tasks handed off between regions.
2. Reduced Travel Time and Cost
3. Larger Talent Pool

Question 12

Challenges of Virtual Teams

Answer 12

1. Less Trust:
2. More Miscommunication:
3. More Isolation:
4. Management Issues: Difficult to monitor performance and ensure fairness in dispersed teams.

Question 13

Self-managed Tasks

Answer 13

teams that regulate much of their behavior, performing challenging tasks with reduced supervision

• autonomous, semi-autonomous, or self-directed teams
• Success depends on task characteristics, team composition, and support mechanisms.

Question 14

Characteristics of Suitable Tasks for Self-managed Tasks

Answer 14

o Complex, challenging, and requiring high interdependence among members.
o Should resemble enriched jobs, with task significance, variety, and ownership (start-to-finish execution).

Question 15

Examples of Self-managed Tasks

Answer 15

o White-collar: Complex service or design jobs (e.g., software development teams).
o Blue-collar: Manufacturing teams (e.g., General Mills teams managing production processes and decisions).

Question 16

Self-managed Team Responsibilities

Answer 16

Allocate roles, meet production targets, maintain quality standards, solve problems, and train new recruits.

Question 17

Composition of Self-Managed Teams

Answer 17

1. Stability: High team tenure correlates with better performance.
2. Size: small (2 pizza’s should be enough to feed the team)
3. Expertise: Members should have strong social skills, conflict resolution abilities, and cognitive capabilities.
4. Diversity

Question 18

Training in Self-Managed Teams

Answer 18

Technical Training: Task-specific and cross-functional skills.

Social Skills: Assertiveness, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.

Language Skills: To improve communication in linguistically diverse teams.

Business Training: Basic finance, accounting, and production knowledge for understanding organizational impact.

Question 19

Rewards in Self-Managed Teams

Answer 19

o Focus on team-based rewards (e.g., gainsharing, profit sharing)
o Skill-based pay incentivizes acquiring multiple skills, supporting team performance.

Question 20

Benefits of Self-Managed Teams

Answer 20

o Productivity: Teams handle tasks more efficiently.
o Quality: Enhanced standards due to shared responsibility.
o Customer Satisfaction: Teams respond effectively to customer needs.
o Safety: Self-management fosters accountability and adherence to protocols.