Lecture 12: Teamwork in organisations

Question 1

Why teams work?

Answer 1

• A team is a unit of two or more people who regularly interact and coordinate their work to accomplish a specific shared goal
• Negatives of team work :
  o Giving up independence
  o Putting up with free riders
  o Teams are sometimes dysfunctional
• How to make teams effective based on three outcomes of satisfaction, productive output and capacity to adapt and learn
• Effective team leadership contributes to team success: rally people around a compelling purpose, share power and admit ignorance

Question 2

Types of teams

Answer 2

• Formal teams
• Self-directed teams

Question 3

types of teams: Formal teams

Answer 3

o Created by the organisation
o As a part of the formal organisational strucutre
o Vertical teams: manager and their employees
o Horizontal teams: generally same-level employees with different areas of expertise

Question 4

types of teams: Self-directed teams

Answer 4

o Problem solving team: 5 to 12 employees from same department to improve quality, effiency and work environment
o Self-directed team: 5 to 20 multi skilled workers who rotate jobs

Question 5

Team characteristics

Answer 5

1. Size
2. Diversity
3. Member roles

Question 6

how to build a team: 1. team size

Answer 6

• Small is best peaks at 5 with greater satisfaction, more discussion and tend to be informal
• Larger you get less satisfaction causing greater turnover of employees

Question 7

how to build a team: 2. diversity

Answer 7

• Diversity is a source of creativity and can also cause health disagreement leading ti better decision making

Question 8

how to build a team: 3. Member roles

Answer 8

• Task specialist roles eg giving opinions, seeking information, summarising
• Socio-emotional role: provides support for team members’ emotional needs and social unity
• Effective teams have both of these roles in them

Question 9

Team processes

Answer 9

• stages of development
• team norms

Question 10

team processes: stages of team development

Answer 10

o Forming: orientation, break the ice
o Storming: conflict, disagreement
o Norming: establishment of order and cohesion
o Performing: problem solving
o Adjourning: task complete

Question 11

Team processes: Team norms

Answer 11

o A standard of conduct that is shared by team members and guides their behaivours
o Four ways team norms develop: 1. Critical events, 2. Primary, 3. Carryover behaivour, 4. Explicit statements

Question 12

Managing team conflict

Answer 12

• Causes of conflict:
  o Scarce resources
  o Communication breakdown
  o Power and statues difference
  o Goal differences
  o Lack of trust
  o Boredom
• Styles to handle conflict:
  o Competing style
  o Avoiding style
  o Comprising style
  o Accommodating style
  o Collaboration st

Question 13

Global teams

Answer 13

• an innovative use of teams

o Sometimes called virtual teams
o Made of members with different nationalities
o Intercultural teams
o Difficult to manage diverse values and norms
o Finding the right problem to solve and building the right team is key