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COM 321 - Leading People & Organizations I > Module 2: Building Strong Teams - Learning Objectives Study Guide > Flashcards

Module 2: Building Strong Teams - Learning Objectives Study Guide Flashcards

1
Q

How can a leader initiate trust-building in his/her workplace?

A

Do things that help people like each other.

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2
Q

What are the two dimensions of trustworthiness? What do they entail?

A

Character and competence.

Not everyone values these two dimensions equally; trust needs to built differently with each individual.

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3
Q

What is the best way to earn trust?

A

Show trust!

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4
Q

How can we develop trust?

A
  • Trust requires time, and many interactions between individuals
  • Ideally, the interactions should require REAL VULNERABILITY: High-stress, intense interactions around solving hard problems with high stakes
  • *This will help us understand how people will react under stress, their emotional triggers
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5
Q

Who are we most likely to trust? What does this entail?

A

People with commonalities: Shared values, goals, backgrounds.
Look for uncommon commonalities –> rare similarities

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6
Q

What is a fundamental characteristic of trust?

A

Trust is situation-specific.

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7
Q

Why do teams underperform, given the extra resources they have?

A

Problems with coordination and motivation, that chip away the benefits of collaboration.

As well, the competitive dynamics can hinder progress.

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8
Q

What are the conditions necessary to build a well-performing team? (5)

A
  • Teams need to be ‘real’ (bonded: knowing who is/isn’t on the team)
  • Teams need a compelling direction: Members need to know and agree on their common task/objective.
  • Teams need enabling structures: Well-designed tasks, an adequate number and mix of individuals, enforced norms
  • Teams need supportive organization: The organizational context (reward system, HR system, information system) facilitates team work
  • Teams need expert coaching: Coaching as a group!
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9
Q

Who is responsible for setting a compelling direction for a team? Why may this be challenging?

A

The leader is ultimately responsible for setting the direction for the team. This exercise of authority is emotionally challenging.

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10
Q

What is the importance of the mid-point for a team project? What does this entail?

A

The mid-point is a ‘reference’ point in which team members are most willing to assess their current work, and make changes to their path/methods.

Leaders should try to create ‘artificial’ mid-points to encourage teams to communicate and share.

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11
Q

Why are the first few minutes of an initial team meeting crucial?

A

They establish the direction, the norms of conduct, and the relationship between the leader and the group

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12
Q

Why are bigger teams not always better than smaller ones? What is the rule of thumb?

A

Bigger teams may have more resources, but require more management (more links). The rule of thumb? No double digits!

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13
Q

True or false: As team members become comfortable and familiar with one another, they start accepting each others’ weaknesses. Thus, their performance declines.

A

False - Teams need a chance to settle in and get to know each other. They become stronger as an unit, with time.

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14
Q

How can you prevent a team from becoming complacent?

A

Introduce a deviant (a brave individual who is willing to say the things that no one else is willing to say), who can challenge the tendency to desire too much homogeneity.

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15
Q

Why do organizations with great HR departments have less effective teams?

A

There is too much focus on systems that guide, direct and correct INDIVIDUAL behaviour.

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16
Q

What are five common problems within teams?

A
  • Lack of trust
  • Fear of conflict
  • Lack of commitment, due to a lack of defined goals
  • Avoidance of accountability, due to a ‘fuzzy’ team structure
  • Inattention to results
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17
Q

How can we, and why should we integrate both cooperation and competition within a workplace team?

A
  • Promote a constructive, healthy form of internal competition –> Increase the drive to improve
  • High cooperation and high competition = Highly-energized individuals, working together effectively
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18
Q

What is the importance of orchestrating early wins? How can we do this?

A
  • Teams have a tendency to fall into ‘self-fueling spirals’
  • Early wins build faith and team capacity
  • Attracts greater resources, higher-quality feedback

-Carve larger tasks into smaller ones, and make the earlier tasks easy wins, where the success is concrete and unambiguous

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19
Q

How can a leader help his team break out of losing streaks? What team characteristics should the leader be aware of?

A
  • Team will ignore/misinterpret positive feedback
  • The leader should challenge the attributions (beliefs about cause of failure), to unstable and controllable attributions
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20
Q

What is the importance of practice?

A
  • Practice = Opportunity to experiment, make mistakes
  • “Learning mode”
  • “Intelligent failures”, in a stable, familiar, low-risk, low-arousal environment
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21
Q

What is the importance of stable team membership?

A
  • Team needs time to learn to work together, and combine efforts
  • Develop knowledge on how to read and predict others
  • Anticipate clearer roles
22
Q

In what cases should teams analyze and debrief?

A

For both successes and failures!

23
Q

How is diversity linked to performance? Why?

A

Diversity leads to better financial performance, thanks to…

  • More creativity and innovation: Combining a wider range of perspectives and ideas
  • Better decision-making: Reducing biases, developing more alternatives and better solutions
  • Better complex problem-solving: Combining different experiences and expertise
  • Retaining valued employees

WORKING WITH DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS CHALLENGES YOU TO PROCESS INFORMATION MORE CAREFULLY (forces you to test assumptions, correct mistakes)

24
Q

What are the challenges faced by diverse teams?

A
  • Lower levels of trust
  • Harder to build consensus
  • Worse team cohesion
  • More (perception of) conflict
25
Q

How do we assess the potential effectiveness of diversity in a given situation?

A
  • Framing: WHY is the organization choosing to diversify?
  • Task complexity: Diversity matters most when the task is complex
  • Time: Diverse teams require more time to excel
  • Form of cultural diversity: Heterogeneous/Fault-line/Token
26
Q

In which ways can brainstorming stifle creativity?

A
  • People silence themselves (being afraid to look stupid)
  • People silence others (dominate conversation)
  • Everyone supports the boss’ favorite idea
27
Q

What is ‘burstiness’, and why is it important?

A

Psychologists understand burstiness as a pattern of how rapidly we’re taking turns in conversation and interrupting each other –> Free participation and idea-flow = CREATIVITY!

28
Q

What is psychological safety, and why is it important? How can a leader create psychological safety?

A

Psychologically safe team members “feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea. –> Where you can take risks without feeling afraid.

  • mutual respect & trust
  • importance of praising and crediting –> motivating

A leader can create psychological safety by…

  1. Setting the stage: Reframing failure
  2. Inviting participation: Demonstrating curiosity, and putting in place structures that make it safe to participate.
  3. Responding actively to feedback: Appreciative, respectful, forward-guiding way
29
Q

What is the importance of structure within a workplace? How could we utilize a task bubble?

A

Too much structure can inhibit creativity, but so can too little structure.

A task bubble gives a space to hone and refine ideas. It is a period of time in which the group is focused on a common project. A room of ‘burstiness’!

That’s a task bubble, where people are totally absorbed in a common project. It keeps the group focused. That way, everyone can build on each other’s ideas and bursts. Task bubbles give the writers and producers the space they need to hone and refine their ideas. Without these protected hours for collaboration, they’d all be working at different times, out of sync.

30
Q

What are the ideal conditions for ‘burstiness’?

A
  • Psychological safety
  • A proper balance of structure
  • The right mix of people in the room: Invite diversity
  • Spend time with one another
31
Q

What are the six ways to kill a brainstorm?

A
  • Letting the boss speak first
  • Giving everyone a turn: The focus should never be on a single person!
  • Asking the experts only: We want authentic breakthroughs that utilize information from unrelated fields
  • Going off-site: It is better to conduct brainstorming in proximity of daily work
  • No silly stuff: All ideas should be welcome. Brainstorming should be fun!
  • Writing down everything: Destroys momentum, dissipates energy, distracts from the main exercise purpose.
32
Q

When does brainstorming actually make a difference?

A

When it is part of a larger creation process. We need to prepare and use the ideas generated!

33
Q

When is brainstorming (in)effective?

A

Variance in skill and leadership…

  • People who are bad at brainstorming
  • Authoritarian organizational structure

Brainstorming is useful in the right hands, within the right organizational structure and as part of a larger creative process!

34
Q

What is the importance of negative emotions in a workplace?

A

Negative emotions can foster greater engagement, as it directs employees’ attention to serious issues, thus prompting corrections that can lead to success

35
Q

What are the conflicts inherent in a workplace, and how are they important?

A
  • Relationship conflicts (personality clashes, value differences) are detrimental to a workplace.
  • Task conflicts (around how the work is performed) fuel better performance, through better decision-making and stronger financial outcomes
36
Q

What is the importance of mistakes in a workplace?

A

To achieve top performance, we must first recognize and learn from our mistakes (acknowledge errors). To do so, employees need to feel psychologically safe.

37
Q

What should organizations prioritize, improvement or perfection?

A

Improvement!

38
Q

What are the downsides of having too much similarity within a workplace?

A
  • Complacency: No one is there to challenge us to think differently
  • Overconfidence: Overestimation of the accuracy of opinions, less effort invested in decisions –> More errors
39
Q

When should homogenous and heterogenous workforces be used?

A

Homogenous: Simple work, in which creative thinking is rarely required.

Heterogenous: Organizations looking to be on the forefront of innovation.

40
Q

What is the single, most important thing a boss can do?

A

Focus on guidance (aka “feedback” - praise and criticism): Giving it, receiving it, encouraging it.

41
Q

What can a manager do to create an environment of meaningful guidance?

A
  • Find opportunities for impromptu feedback
  • Make backstabbing impossible
  • Make it easier to speak truth to power (manager-guidance sessions)
  • Put your own oxygen mask on first (take care of yourself before others)
42
Q

What is the fundamental attribution error?

A

The tendency to believe that the way other people behave is a reflection of who they are, rather than the situation they are in.

43
Q

Management styles: What is radical candor?

A

A healthy mix of genuine praise and constructive criticism that is delivered kindly and respectfully.

(Care personally, challenge directly)

Achieving “radical candor” status takes a lot of work and relationship building. If you don’t have a foundation of mutual trust and respect your team will probably not believe you when you praise them, not take criticism well and likely will be too insecure to openly share their thoughts and criticisms of you as the leader of the team.

44
Q

Management styles: What is obnoxious aggression?

A

A boss who will challenge and criticize but does not genuinely care about the employees or the outcomes. Praise feels insincere and criticism isn’t delivered respectfully or kindly.

45
Q

Management styles: What is ruinous empathy?

A

A boss who genuinely cares but does not challenge their employees to improve. This person offers vague but sincere “surface level” praise and either offers no criticism or sugar coated and unclear (read useless) criticism.

46
Q

Management styles: What is manipulative insincerity?

A

A boss who neither cares nor challenges. Offers non-specific praise that comes across as fake and offers criticism that is neither constructive nor kind.

47
Q

What is the self-serving bias?

A

Tendency to attribute positive results to our own efforts and personality, and negative results to the situation.

48
Q

What is the 2-step process for an attribution?

A
  1. Make the internal attribution
  2. Adjust the internal attribution by considering the situation (think carefully, slow down, motivated to make accurate judgment)
49
Q

What are the conditions necessary for encouraging positive conflict and collaboration?

A
  • Removed power structure
  • Peer-to-peer feedback
  • Shared successes
  • Giving/taking honest notes
50
Q

What should giving feedback look like?

A
  • Constructive: Project and behaviour-based, not person-based
  • Suggestions, not prescriptions
  • Candid feedback, from a place of empathy
  • Immediate
  • Criticism in private, praise in public
  • Specific
  • Not too much at once
  • Being open to feedback yourself
51
Q

What are the rules for receiving feedback?

A
  • Try to not get defensive
  • Listen with intent to understand, not respond
  • Listen actively - try to clarify what you have heard

COM 321 - Leading People & Organizations I (6 decks)

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