Week 5: Teams

Question 1

What are possible issues of team-based structures?

Answer 1

–teams do not always result in greater organisational performance
–people management issues
–process management issues
–“group-think”

Question 2

What are the benefits of team-based structures?

Answer 2

–increased productivity
–improvements to product & service quality
–lower absenteeism & turnover
–higher levels of wellbeing & job satisfaction

Question 3

What are people management signs of failure of team-work?

Answer 3

–lack of top management support
–weak project manager
–no stakeholder participation
–lack of essential KSAOs
–insufficient time allocation for project completion

Question 4

what are process management signs of failure?

Answer 4

–lack of documentation of success criteria
–ineffective project change management
–project milestones/due dates not specified
–inadequate resource allocation
–communication breakdown among stakeholders

Question 5

What does team effectiveness & performance requires?

Answer 5

–clearly defined processes
–monitoring processes
–interpersonal processes

Question 6

Explain about the model of team effectiveness:

Answer 6

- teamwork processes
defining processes
action processes
interpersonal processes

- moderators
team size
task interdependence

- team effectiveness
Team performance & Wellbeing, Satisfaction
Team cohesion, team potency, team mental models

Question 7

Name the team defining processes

Answer 7

planning stage before beginning the work:

•mission analysis
–mission statement
–aim, values, activities

•strategy formulation and planning
–plan to achieve desired goals/state

•Goal specification:
–consistent with mission and strategy
–specific to team objectives
–reasonable to achieve
3-5 goals have been shown to be best

Question 8

Which team work processes are included in monitoring?

Answer 8

•amount of effort expended:
–commitment; goal achievement

•performance strategies:
–goal-setting key milestones, error identification; corrective actions; team alignment

•level of knowledge and skill applied:
–training and support needs

Question 9

Name the team processes involved in interpersonal team processes

Answer 9

•conflict management:
–leadership; communication; training

•motivation management:
–team climate (trust); communication; decision-making involvement

•affect (emotion) management:
–training; leadership

Question 10

Which team sizes are best?

Answer 10

small (3-5) and intermediate (5-7)
as compared to large (8-15)

Question 11

when do we have emergent states as a result of teamwork?

Answer 11

•induced psychological states
•positive impact on team performance
•reached only when the team has worked together for a long time
Require:
–team cohesion
–mental models
–team potency

Question 12

What is team cohesion?

Answer 12

•an emotional bond that develops among members as they work together as a team.
–interpersonal liking
–attachment
–shared goal commitment
–sense of team importance
•downside of cohesion: groupthink

Question 13

What are the 8 signs of groputhink?

Answer 13

i. illusions of invulnerability
ii. unquestioned belief in the morality of the group
iii. rationalising
iv. stereotyping
v. self-censorship
vi. illusions of unanimity
vii. direct pressure to conform
viii. “mindguards”(

Question 14

What causes group-think?

Answer 14

−deindividuation
−insulation of the group
−lack of impartial leadership
−lack of procedural norms
−membership homogeneity
−stressful external threats
−recent failures
−excessive difficulties in decision-making
−moral dilemmas

Question 15

How can group think be pre vented?

Answer 15

−assign each member the role of “critical evaluator”
−leaders shouldn’t express an opinion when assigning tasks
−leaders should be absent from many group meetings to avoid influencing the outcome
−set up several independent groups to work on the same problem
−examine all effective alternatives
−members should discuss the group’s ideas with trusted people and experts outside of the group
−invite outside experts into meetings
−assign at least one group member the role of Devil’s advocateand alternate the member each meeting

Question 16

What is meant by mental models?

Answer 16

•shared understandings among team members
–team tasks, goals, roles, KSAOs
•improve team coordination
•improve error detection
•improve performance
•reduce conflicts

Question 17

What is team potency?

Answer 17

whether members believe that they can be effective as a team across tasks or contexts
•differs from self-efficacy
•differs from team efficacy (belief about competency to perform a given task)

Requisites: member confidence in:
•own capabilities
•team’s capabilities

Question 18

Name the three types of teams covered in the lecture

Answer 18

–self-managing teams
–virtual teams
–cross-functional teams

Question 19

Definition of self-managing teams

Answer 19

groups of interdependentindividuals who can self-regulatetheir behaviour on relatively whole tasks

Question 20

Why self-directed teams may fail:

Answer 20

–significant culture change does not accompany their introduction
–management refuses to change its management style
–team leaders not given adequate training
–cross-cultural issues not managed

Question 21

How can one ensure the success of self-managing teams?

Answer 21

–decision-making autonomy
–feedback on results
–open communication
–high level of employee involvement
–group (KSAO) composition

Question 22

What are the virtual team best practices?

Answer 22

–sharing personal information
–sharing information about day-to-day activities
–sharing essential knowledge
–encouraging face-to-face meetings
–building a strong team identity
–providing easy access to/support for videoconferencing and online spaces

Question 23

Virtual team critical success factors:

Answer 23

–appropriate reward structures
–formal technology training
–implementing organisational processes
–agreeing on norms and communication protocols
–ensuring task‒technology fit
–strong team leadership (e.g. goal, norm and role clarification)

Question 24

Definition cross-functional team

Answer 24

group of people who apply different skills, with a high degree of interdependence, to ensure the effective delivery of a common objective

Question 25

What are the unique features of cross-functional teams?

Answer 25

–team members identify more strongly with their function than with the organisation as a whole
–they are temporary (team disbands when the task/project is completed)
–they face high-performance expectations

Question 26

Cross-functional teams: name critical success factors

Answer 26

–senior management defines teams’ role in the organisation
–strategic alignment between the team’s agenda and inter-departmental agendas
–visible support from top management
–strong project leader
–sound allocation of resources
–effective team motivation and rewards

Question 27

What is meant by team diversity?

On which levels can diversity occur?

Answer 27

Team diversity: degree to which objective or subjective differences exist between members

• objective differences (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity)
• task process diversity (e.g. decision-making, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving)
• dispositional diversity (e.g. values, personality)

Question 28

Which dispositional factors help teams?

Answer 28

Openness, conscientiousness and collective orientation aid team performance

Question 29

Definition of sociotechnical systems

Answer 29

Systems based on the idea that greater productivity in a work unit can be accomplished through the optimisation of the social (human) and technical subsystems embedde in the work unit.

+ reduce absteeism, turnover
+ create work satisfaction
+ increase productivity
+ increase service / quality

ideas:

1. creation of self-directed work units: giving them responsiblity
2. provide autonomy
3. control and regualtion & feedback is up to team
4. greater job enrichment

Question 30

Druskat and Wheller reported that self-directed teams require oversight from external leaders.

Identified four functional categories of leadership behaviours linking teams with larger organisations. -> which are they?

Answer 30

1. relating
move back and forth btw team and larger organisation to build trust, improve communication and care for team members.

2. Scouting
provide infos from lager organisational context to self-directed team members who may not be privy to such infos

3. persuading
involves mangers securing the support of other top managers and influencing team perofmance

4. empowering
delegate authority, exercise flexiblity regarding team decisitons and provide coaching for members of team