T2. w.7 Managing Team Processes Flashcards
traditional hierarchy
set responsibilities, alone accountable for work performance
Network
successful performance depends on interactions with work team, individually and jointly accountable for team’s work product
Benefits of teams:
changing events
solve complex problems - faster
enable greater creativity and innovation
highly motivating
command group is -
collection of subordinates reporting to same supervisor (departments, divisions)
task force is a
special ad hoc committee dealing with a specific issue, come together to accomplish specific goal then usually disband
A team is a
specific type of formal work group in which there is a high level of interaction among group members who work intensely together to achieve a common group goal
Teams differ from other groups in terms of the:
intensity with which team members work together
presence of a team goal or objective
Groups can be:
Informal - social groups formed naturally based on friendships and common interests
Formal- formed by the organisation with designated work and tasks to meet organisational goals
A group is where two or more
people interact with and influence each other, “are psychologically aware of each other and think of themselves as a group” (Martin & Fellenz, 2010, p. 226).
Problem solving teams
- same dept, meet few hours a week to discuss organisational problems
Cross-functional teams -
employees from same level but from dif, areas, working together to accomplish a task
Self-managed work teams -
no manager/members assigned to lead team
Report high job satisfaction
Have higher absenteeism and turnover
May not manage conflict well
How do you get self-managed work teams to overcome issues?
responsibitliy to be self-managing
Making task complex enough to have lots of steps
Careful selection of members for their skills
Guiding members not supervising
Determining training needs and providing that training
Virtual teams
Locations, some evidence that they can be more effective than a team in one location
Reduces costs, faster turnover as they can potentially work across globe 24hrs a day
Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977)
five stage group-development model
Features of Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977) five stage group-development model
- Forming - uncertainty about structure purpose and leadership, testing waters
- Storming - intragroup conflict due to differences, debates over roles & leadership structure
- Norming- cohesiveness and close relationships, group identity and camaraderie
- Performing - fully functional group, ready to work
- Adjourning- wrapping up activities
do temporary groups with deadlines usually follow this sequence?
no, usually follow own sequence
Gersick’s (1988)
punctuated equilibrium model
Gersick’s (1988) punctuated equilibrium model
Involves transitions btw inertia and activity.
Phase 1- locked into one form of action
Transition- major changes, occurs when group has used up half its allotted time at calendar midpoint, groups spurred on to commence a new activity/direction for phase 2, altering the basic course of action midstream as unlikely to do so when transition phase passes
Phase 2- actions put into place, usually characterised by final burst of effort/activity.
IPO
Input Process Output Model of team functioning
Teams inputs relatively stable,
Processes- interactions btw activities and people
Outcomes- results of inputs or processes
These models might not apply to all teams, but can be used to give a general framework by the processes/phases teams are likely to experience over time
Inputs
Composition (size/structure), task/team characteristics, organisational context
Processes
norms & rules, communication, coordination, cohesion, conflict management
Outputs
Performance, member satisfaction, viability, learning outcomes
+ve team processes hel to
to facilitate effective teamwork, such as the establishment of positive team norms, clear roles, and team cohesion. But while there are many benefits to teams, the expected benefits of teams do not always materialise.
-ve team processes
reflect the darker side of teams, such as when team members engage in negative behaviours like social loafing, over conformity and groupthink.
Good teamwork is about
effective collaboration. One of the most common mistakes that people make is not taking advantage of the different strengths and skills of their teammates.
Process gains:
Combined efforts exceed the sum of the individual inputs
positive synergy
Ability to bounce ideas
Correct mistakes
Bring diverse skills/knowledge
Accomplish work that’s too much for one person alone
Effective team performance depends on:
- member abilities
- motivations
- Coordination strategy - goal setting, good methods of communication.
task interdependence
Refers to how work of one member impacts other members
As this rises, members must work more closely together
Roles,
refers to the set of behaviour patterns expected of someone who occupies a given position in a social unit
Types of roles:
Role perception – individual view of how to act
Role expectations – how others believe a person should act
Role conflict – competing perceptions, expectations and roles
Norms
unwritten rules
behaviours that are accepted
shared within a group
Types of team norms
Performance norms - explicit cues about how hard members should work, timeline etc
Appearance norms - dress codes, unspoken standards about how to act and look
Social arrangement norms
Allocation of resources
why do members conform?
Compliance - Attain rewards/avoid punishment
Identification with others
Internalisation of norms - you believe the behaviour dictated by the norm is truly the right norm
cohesiveness
the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to stay in the group
how can you build team cohesion?
Creating smaller groups Setting team goals Increasing time spent together increasing group status creating competition with other groups (strengthen ingroup and outgroup distinctions Rewarding group performance ensuring clear and open communication promoting inclusive culture
too much cohesiveness bad bc
can undermine productivity, members spend more time socialising than working/too much conformity and intolerance of deviance
negative team processes
1) social loafing
2) conformity
3) groupthink
4) conflict
1) social loafing
the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually
Tradeoffs- larger groups have more access to knowledge, skills but social loafing can hinder efficiency
Rationales, are that people think they’re not contributing much or jealousy that others aren’t contributing enough.
Greater perceptions of fairness related to less social loafing
how to overcome social loafing
make individual contributions identifiable & indispensable in
achieving desired outcomes.
1) Increasing task difficulty
2) Increase uniqueness of individual contributions
3) Lead individuals to infer that attaining the collective good depends on their personal contributions
4) Instruct individuals directly that their contributions are necessary
5) make groups smaller to minimise effects
3) groupthink
occurs when groups are highly cohesive, when members are under considerable pressure to make a quality decision, and strive for unanimous agreement
2) conformity
members behave according to group norms and processes regardless of their own values and beliefs
Finding a good balance between conformity and will generally result in effective groups and high performance
Too much conformity can hinder performance as they fail to recognise/change dysfunctional norms, but too much conflict means groups can’t get past individual differences
yes we need some conflict in teams, but what type of conflict is good?
encourage the right type of conflict and manage conflict when it arises so that it does not become dysfunctional or harmful to members of the team.
bad apples types
- The Jerk
- The Slacker
- The Depressive Pessimist
What can we do about bad apples?
choose members wisely
Minimise negative spillover to other members
Develop strong awareness of self and others
Set up group norms about appropriate member behaviours
(Hass & Mortensen, 2016)
The secrets of great teamwork
Teams are defined as an
independent collection of individuals who work together toward a common goal and share responsibility for specific outcomes for the organisation.
what matters most to collaboration?
certain enabling conditions
1) A compelling direction
2) A strong structure
3) A supportive context
4) Shared mindset
1) A compelling direction
A direction that energises, orients and engages its members
Explicit goals that are challenging but not too difficult
Goals must be consequential (people care about them) either through extrinsic rewards e.g. pay, or intrinsic rewards e.g. satisfaction
2) A strong structure
1) mix and number of members (balance of skills, diversity - surface & deep level). Adding team members can help but larger teams more vulnerable to poor communication, fragmentation & free riding)
2) optimally designed tasks & processes
3) establish clear norms (norms that discourage destructive behaviour) & promote +ve environments
3) A supportive context
1) Maintaining a reward system that reinforces good performance
2) An information system that provides access to the data needed for work + training
4) shared mindset so group can have a frame of reference, understand each-other better, greater efficiency
Tackles the challenges of:
1) “Us versus them” thinking
2) incomplete information (from geographical dispersion/dif. expertise)
achieve by fostering common identity & understanding
ways to evaluate your team
1) Criteria of
Output
Collaborative ability
Members’ individual development
2) regular light monitoring for preventive maintenance
3) less frequent deeper checks when problems arise
4) self-assessments
types of teams
1) Quality Circles
2) Project teams
3) Production teams
4) virtual teams
autonomous work groups
specific kind of production team that has control over a variety of its functions, including planning shift operations, allocating work, determining work priorities, performing a variety of actual work tasks, and making recommendations regarding the hiring of new work group members.
Purpose: improve the integration of social and technical systems by allowing groups of employees to manage themselves
rationale for IPO
Provides links among team inputs, processes and outputs, thereby enabling an understanding of how teams perform and how to maximise performance
Model suggests that inputs affect outputs indirectly through team processes
Inputs can also affect outputs directly
Feedback loops in which traditional outputs such as team performance can also serve as inputs to future processes
