Chapter 8 Flashcards
Teams
Groups of two or more people who interact with and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organisational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organisation
4 point that is like the definition of teams? And are worth repeating
- Meant to fulfil some purpose
- Held together by interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals
- Influence one another
- Members perceive themselves to be a team
What are the three characteristics of teams?
Team permanence – How long the type of team usually exists.
Skill diversity – The degree of different skills and knowledge within a team.
Authority dispersion – The degree to which decision-making is distributed (high dispersion) or centralised (low dispersion).
What are informal groups?
Informal groups are groups of people with little or no interdependence and no organisationally mandated purpose.
Why do we need informal groups?
- Humans have a natural drive to bond.
- Social identity theory – People define themselves by group affiliations.
- Groups help achieve personal objectives.
- The presence of others can reduce stress.
- Informal groups support trust, influence, and information sharing.
What are the benefits of working in teams?
- Better decision-making.
- More innovative product development.
- Higher motivation.
- Fast information sharing and coordination.
- Improved customer service.
- Higher productivity due to bonding and accountability.
What are the downsides of teams?
Process losses – Resources spent on team development instead of tasks.
Brook’s Law – Adding more people to a late project makes it even later.
Social loafing – People exert less effort in teams than when working alone.
ringleman effect- Groepsprestaties zijn beter dan individuele prestaties, maar de individuele inspanning per persoon neemt af zodra de groepsgrootte toeneemt. Verlies in productiviteit stijgt naarmate de groep groter wordt.
What increases social loafing?
- Hidden or hard-to-measure individual performance.
- Boring work or low task significance.
- Low conscientiousness, agreeableness, and collectivist values.
- Low motivation or low social identity with the team.
How to prevent social loafing?
✅ Form smaller teams.
✅ Specialise tasks.
✅ Measure individual performance.
✅ Increase job enrichment.
✅ Select motivated employees.
When is a team effective?
A team is effective when it benefits the organisation and its members while surviving long enough to complete its mandate.
How do teams fall apart? Literally and cognitively
Literally: Members leave.
Cognitively: Members disengage emotionally.
What is the Five C’s Model?
Cooperating
Coordinating
Communicating
Comforting
Conflict handling
These are the most frequently mentioned teamwork behaviors
Departmental teams
Teams that consist of employees who have similar or complementary skills and are located in the same unit of a functional structure; usually minimal task interdependence because each person works with clients or with employees in other departments.
What are the typical charateristics of departmental teams on Team permanence, skill diversity and authority dispersion
Team permanence: High—departments continue indefinitely.
Skill diversity: Low to medium—departments are often organized
around common skills (e.g., accounting staff located in the
accounting department).
Authority dispersion: Low—departmental power is usually
concentrated in the departmental manager
Self-directed teams
Teams whose members are organized around work processes that complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks (i.e., they usually control inputs, flow, and outputs with little or no supervision).
What are the typical characteristics of self-directed teams. (team permanence, skill diversity, authority dispersion)
Team permanence: High—teams are usually assigned indefinitely
to a specific cluster of production or service activities.
Skill diversity: Medium to high—members typically perform different tasks requiring diverse skill sets, but cross-training can somewhat reduce skill diversity.
Authority dispersion: High—team members share power, usually with limited hierarchical authority.
Task force (project) teams
Cross-functional teams whose members are usually drawn from several disciplines to solve a specific problem, realize an opportunity, or design a product or service.
What are the typical characteristics of task-force teams. (team permanence, skill diversity and authority dispersion)
Team permanence: Low—teams typically disband on completion
of a specific project or decision.
Skill diversity: Medium to high—members are typically drawn
from several functional specializations associated with the
complexity of the task or decision.
Authority dispersion: Medium—teams often have someone with
formal authority (project leader), but members also have moderate
power due to their expertise and functional representation.
Team permanence
How long that type of team usually exists.
Long permanence with: accounting, marketing e.g.
Authority dispersion
Refers to the degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team (high dispersion) or is vested in one or a few members of the team (low dispersion)
social networks
social structures of individuals or social units that are connected to one another through one or more forms of interdependence
process losses
resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task
There are three motivating forces at work
- A drive to bond - motivates them to fulfill their team’s goals
- Members have a high accountability to fellow teammembers. Strong accountability when the teams performance is limited by the worst performer.
- Each team member creates a moving performance standard for the others
Teams are potentially very ….. but not always as …. as individuals working alone
- productive
- effective
Process losses tend to increase with:
the teams diversity and size
When are teams more necessary than working alone?
When the work is so complex that it requires knowledge and skills from several people
What are the 4 main elements of the ‘Team effectiveness Model’
- Team design
- Team effectiveness
- Team processes
- Organizational and Team Environment
Team design
- Task characteristics
- Team size
- Team composition. (personal attributes that the members bring to the team)
Team processes
the cognitive and emotional dynamics of the team that continually change with its development
- Team development
- Team norms
- Team roles
- Team cohesion
- Team trust
- Team mental models
ORGANIZATIONAL AND TEAM ENVIRONMENT
represents all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence its effectiveness.
- Rewards
- Communication
- Organizational structure
- Organizational leadership
- Physical space
Team Effectiveness (model)
- Accomplish tasks
- Satisfy member needs
- Maintain team survival
Even when it operates in a team-friendly environment, what happens with the team’s effectiveness if the task characteristics, team size and team compostition are poorly designed?
The team’s effectiveness will fall short of its potential
task interdependence
the extent to which team
members must share materials,
information, or expertise in
order to perform their jobs
When are teams still able to perform well on less-structured and less predictable tasks?
when members are experienced in well-defined broader roles
What factors determine team design?
- task characteristics
- Team size
- Team composition
Levels of task interdependence. (from lowest to highest)
- Pooled interdependence. (Members work independently but share resources)
- Sequential interdependence (One person’s output is another’s input)
- Reciprocal interdependence (Work is exchanged back and forth)
The higher the level of task interdependence, the …. the need to organize peope into teams
greater.
1 rule in this case: ONLY when the employees have the same task goals, such as serving the same clients or collectively assembling the same product
Team size
Large enough for diverse skills, small enough for efficiency.
Teams should be large enough to provide the necessary abilities and viewpoints required for the assigned work, yet small enough to maintain efficient coordination and
meaningful involvement of each member. The ideal team size varies with the type of team, the tasks it is expected to perform, and the available forms of coordination
what is the problem with a team of 100 persons?
A group this large is actually not a team
Cooperating
- Share resources
- Accommodate
others
Coordinating
- Align work with
others - Keep team on
track
Communicating
- Share information
freely, e ciently,
respectfully - Listen actively
Comforting
- Show empathy
- Provide emotional
comfort - Build confidence
in others
Conflict Handling
- Diagnose conflict sources
- Use best conflict handling style
Advantages of team diversity?
✅ More perspectives.
✅ Broader skillset.
✅ Better representation of stakeholders.
Disadvantages of team diversity?
Takes longer to develop
Slower bonding.
Fault lines – Divisions based on personal attributes.
What are the stages of team development?
Forming – Learning about each other. (Discover expectations
* Evaluate value of membership
* Defer to existing authority
* Test boundaries of behavior)
Storming – Conflict and competition.
( * Interpersonal conflict
* Compete for team roles
* Influence goals and means
* Establish norms)
Norming – Roles, cohesion, mental models.
(* Establish roles
* Agree on team objectives
* Form team mental models
* Develop cohesion)
Performing – Coordination, commitment.
(* Task oriented, committed
* E cient coordination
* High cooperation and trust
* Conflicts resolved quickly)
Adjourning – Disbanding, focus shifts to relationships.
norms
the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members
Do norms apply to behavior or private thoughts and feelings?
Only to behavior.
During what stage do norms develop?
The storming stage according to the model, because conflict often occurs when member try to reach agreement on what behavior is expected or forbidden.
But it is more accurate to say that norms begin as soon as the teams form and change over the teams lifespan
Teams develop norms for three reasons:
- Most norms develop when members associate these behaviors with the team’s performance or the well-being of its members. Other norms are brought into the team due to experiences that some members have had in previous teams.
- team norms develop because they improve predictability and conflict-avoidance in coworker relations.
- teams develop norms to routinize behavior with minimal cognitive effort, which improves social order and coordination among team members. This explains why norms often develop regarding seemingly minor issues, such as where people sit in meetings.
What is the best ways to establish desired norms in new teams?
To select team members whose values and past behavior are compatible with those norms
role
a set of behaviors that people are expected to repeatedly perform because they hold formal or informal positions in a team and organization
Team Roles
Organizer – Structures what the team is doing, tracks progress and achievements.
Doer – Accepts tasks, completes work reliably, meets deadlines.
Challenger – Pushes the team to explore all aspects, debates, critiques, and questions assumptions.
Innovator – Generates new and creative ideas, strategies, and approaches.
Team Builder – Establishes norms, supports decisions, maintains a positive atmosphere, calms and motivates team members.
Connector – Bridges and connects the team with external stakeholders, ensures good relationships outside the team.
team cohesion
the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members
Influences on Team Cohesion
- Member similarity: Teams with similar members become cohesive faster due to trust, acceptance, and fewer conflicts.
- Team size: Smaller teams have higher cohesion due to easier agreement and stronger member influence.
- Member interaction: Frequent interaction (in-person or remote) strengthens cohesion, especially in interdependent tasks.
- Somewhat difficult entry: Restricted entry increases team prestige and member commitment, but extreme initiations can weaken cohesion.
- Team success: Cohesion grows when teams achieve goals, as members are more likely to identify with successful teams.
- External competition and challenges: Facing competition or challenges strengthens cohesion, but overwhelming threats can weaken it.
Team Cohesion & Performance
Teams with higher cohesion perform better, as members collaborate more, share information, and provide support.
Conflict resolution is faster and more effective in highly cohesive teams.
Condition 1: Cohesion has less impact when task interdependence is low, as members don’t rely on each other as much.
Condition 2: Cohesion improves or worsens performance depending on team norms: If norms align with company goals → Better performance.
If norms encourage negative behaviors (e.g., absenteeism) → Lower performance
Feedback Loop: High cohesion boosts performance, and successful teams become more cohesive—though cohesion influences performance more in real-world teams than in short-lived experimental ones.
What is team trust?
Calculus-based trust – Based on logic and consequences.
Knowledge-based trust – Based on predictability and experience
Identification-based trust - Emotional bond; strongest form of trust. (Highest level)
Calculus-based trust
- Based on deterrence
- Fragile and limited potential because dependent on punishment
Knowledge based trust
- Fairly robust
- Based on predictability and competence
Identification based trust
- Based on common mental models and values
- Increases with person’s social identity with team
shared mental models
meaning that they develop similar images and expectations about the team’s objectives, shared values, behavior norms, and work style, as well as a general picture of how each member participates in
the work process.
Complementary mental models
cognitive images held by specific (rather than all) team members but that are compatible with the mental models held by other team mem
bers. Each team member has a unique mental picture of how the team operates because they have a unique background and are located in different parts of the work process than other team members.
What structures improve creativity?
Brainstorming – No criticism, free ideas.
- Issues: Production blocking, social loafing, fixation effect.
Brainwriting – Writing ideas first to avoid production blocking.
Electronic brainstorming – Digital, anonymous idea sharing.
Nominal group technique – Silent idea generation, discussion, independent evaluation.
self-directed teams (SDTs)
cross-functional work groups
that are organized around work
processes, complete an entire
piece of work requiring several
interdependent tasks, and have
substantial autonomy over the
execution of those tasks
remote teams
teams whose members
operate across space, time,
and organizational boundaries
and are linked through
information technologies to
achieve organizational tasks
production blocking
a time constraint in team
decision making due to the
procedural requirement that
only one person may speak at
a time
evaluation apprehension
occurs when individuals are
reluctant to mention ideas that
seem silly because they believe
(often correctly) that others in
the decision-making group are
silently evaluating them
team efficacy
the collective belief among
team members in the team’s
capability to successfully
complete a task
What is groupthink?
A psychological phenomenon where teams prioritise harmony over good decision-making.
psychological safety
a shared belief that it is safe
to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career
brainstorming
a freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where team members
aren’t allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely, generate as many ideas as possible, and build on the ideas of others
brainwriting
a variation of brainstorming
whereby participants write
(rather than speak about) and
share their ideas
electronic brainstorming
a form of brainstorming that
relies on networked digital devices for submitting and sharing creative ideas
nominal group technique
variation of brainwriting consisting of three stages in which participants (1) silently and independently document their ideas, (2) collectively describe these ideas to the other team members without critique, and then (3) silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented
In what way are roles similar to norms?
In the sense that they both establish and reinforce expected patterns of behavior.
Difference: roles apply to one or a few specific team members. Whereas most norms apply to all team members
