OB Exam 1

Team Composition, Process, and Dynamics

pros/cons of why do we use teams?

• Advantages: Provide more information, increase creativity, build higher commitment, and create process gains.

• Disadvantages: Consume more time, create diffusion of responsibility, and lead to process loss

  • diffusion of responsbility — individual less likely to take action when they are part of a larger group

why are teams not a panacea?

• they’re most benefical when tasks are complex + interdependence

what distinguishes a team from a group?

• teams require interdependence

• mutual accountability

• skills complementarity

• collective output

models of team effectiveness (inputs/outputs)

• inputs → composition, process, and dynamics interact to shape team effectiveness

• outputs → performance, ability to improve, and member satisfcation

failures/successes have causes that must be understood at three levels:

• system / organizational level

  • tight coupling — time dependent processes

  • one dominant path — single route to goal

  • little slack — no room for error

• team level (lack of psych safety)

  • status differences, lack of suport for other’s opinion, strangers

• individual level (cog bias)

  • overconfidence bias, sunk cost bias — escalation of commitment, recency bias, fundamental attribution error

what does “we are all boundedly rational” mean?

• our rationality falls short of omniscience

• star performers don’t mean they make good leaders

• people try to make sensible choices, but our ability to be fully rational is limited by our brains, time, and information

trust definition

• willingness to be vulnerable to another pesron without monitoring them

  • enables ceding control

trustiworthness equation

credibility + reliability + intimacy / self-orientation = trust

• credibility = expertise/creditenals

• relaibility = actions, follow through

• intimacy = emotional safety/security

interdependence types

• pooled, sequential, reciprocal

• interdependence requires coordination which distingushies teams from groups

team identity

• belonging to a group and using it to define yourself

• fosters cohesion, commitment, and delineates boundaries

conflict

• isn’t categorically bad

• good conflict (task) can turn into bad (relational) conflict

performance spirals

• start early and are hard to stop, making early wins important for setting a positive environment

• definition:a loop where past performance impacts future self-confidence, dictates next performance.

what’s the impact of team reconfiguration on team dynamics?

• distrupts coordination

• temporary decrease in performance

managers consistently underestimate how much performance relies on ___ instead of individual skill

• learned coordination

what mistake do people make when challenges arise during team reconfigurations?

• fundamental attribution error

culture definition

• shared pattern of beliefs, expectations, norms, values

norms definition

• from repeated coordination over time

• learned quickly because successful coordination is remembered

  • teams develop jargon, shifts from implicit to explicit coordination

pros/cons of norms

• pros — acts as shared scripts for how work gets done

• cons — adapting or unlearning them takes time when team composition changes or new tasks come up

two main causes of process loss

• informational signals (believe incorrect info from others)

• reputational pressures (staying quiet to fit in)

four group dysfunctions

• amplify errors → groups snowball individual misconceptions

• cascade effects → people follow those who spoke first

• polarization → groups take more extreme positions than individuals held before deliberating

• focus on common info → groups ignore unique data

solution fixation trap

• tendency to rush into discussing solutions before fully understanding the problem

advocacy vs. inquiry

• advocacy → treats discussion as a contest with losers/winners, disagreements

• inquiry → collective problem solving, embrace disagreements, shared ownership

poor remedies for group decisions

• increase discussion time

• increase group size

• polling before discussing

good remedies for group decisions

• critical thinking

• assign roles

• seek unique info

• silence leader

• avoid pre decisons

• rewward group success instead of individual

how to manage interpersonal conflict

• focus on facts — depersonalize debat

• mutiply alternatives — options

• create common goals

• use humor

• balance power structure

• qualify consensus

role ambiguity definition

• expectations are missing

• unclear scope/evaluation

role conflict

• expectations are competing

  • ex: 2 ppl telling you different things

coordination neglect (formula)

• division of labor + inadequate communication = coordination neglect

  • most groups focus on division and ignore integration

• ex: everyone worked on own slides, but it all has repeated info

curse of knowledge (formula)

• division of labor + specialization + insufficient translation = curse of knowledge

• develop a common language and productive norms

• ex: marketing person doesn’t know what the engineer is talking ab

curse of knowledge vs. common knowledge effect

• curse of knowledge — not everyone knows the language/technicals

• common knowledge — everyone is saying things that ppl already knows

types of interdependence

• pooled

  • can work individually, dont rlly need each other

  • bundled together at the end for the final product

• sequential

  • work travels in a one way street

  • one person can’t start until the first one finishes

• reciprocal

  • Work flows back and forth in all directions

matching interdependence to coordination

• pooled → standardization

  • bc work is independent, coordinate using preset rules, templates, and standard procedures

  • no meetings are required

• sequential → planning

  • coordinate using schedules, timelines, and clear handoff deadlines

  • must plan the flow of work ahead of time so Person B isn't sitting around waiting

• reciprocal → mutual adjustment

  • coordinate via real time and constant back and forth

common knowledge effect

• groups tend to share info that is already known to everyone

personality traits

• stable characteristics describing central tendencies

• distinct from knowledge, skill, task, expertise  

how does weak/strong situations affect how much personality traits matter?

• strong = constrain behavior

  • clear expectations, checklist, ex: scripted jobs

• weak = ambigious goals, ex: start up

big 5 personality traits

• openness to experience

• extraverison

• conscientiousness

• agreeableness

• emotional reactivity

Openness to Experience

• Intellectual curiosity and imagination.

• Pros: Original ideas, learns quickly.

• Cons: Chases novelty, impatient with routine.

Extraversion

• Outward energy and sociability

• Pros: Speaks up, builds networks, leader emergence

• Cons: Dominates airtime, acts before listening.

Conscientiousness

• Self-discipline and reliability.

• The strongest single trait predictor of job performance.

• Pros: Delivers on deadlines without supervision.

• Cons: Rigid, perfectionist, micromanage

Agreeableness

• Cooperation and warmth

• Pros: Builds trust, absorbs friction

• Cons: Avoids necessary conflict, holds back hard feedback.

Emotional Reactivity (Neuroticism)

• Sensitivity to risk and criticism

• Pros: Spots risks early, prepares hard

• Cons: Spreads stress, burnout, hard to lean on in a crisis.

Why are a leader’s personality traits not considered their absolute "destiny"?

• bc behavior is situationally dependent

• traits only drive leader effectiveness through what leaders actually do

why does the least agreeable person on a team heavily predict performance on a "Weakest member" task?

• bc they "ruins the floor" for everyone.

• a highly disagreeable member can completely break down the team's necessary coordination.

strategic core

• roles that touch most of the team’s problems

• high task exposure + high workflow centrality

• ex: nurse bc they see everyone, and the doctor doesn’t

why are stars bad?

• bc 30% is stars performance, 70% is the organization that grew them

• better to invest in ppl that are there, instead of reaching for stars

three kinds of human capital

• general — skills that work anywhere

  • the most portable

• team specific — lives in pairs, not in either person

• firm specific — only pays off here, worth less to the next employer

  • least portable

three questions you can ask any team

• what attributes matter (best, weakest, average)?

• what roles matter? (find strategic core)

• what kind of human capital is required (portability)

team vs. group difference

• teams have interdependence that requires coordination

  • defined by four traits

    • interdependence

    • skills complementarity

    • mutual accountability

    • collective output

• groups don’t have these traits and they dont have interdependence

skills complementarity (1/4 traits in teams)

• members bring different skills that are needed to complete the task

mutual accountability (1/4 traits in teams)

• members holld themselves and each other responsible for the outcome

collective output (1/4 traits in teams)

• final product is a single joint effort instead of individual pieces

interdependence definiton (1/4 traits in teams)

• members must rely on one another to get the work done

team composition definition

• who is on the team

• mix of personality traits

• type of human capital (general, team specific, firm specific)

• whose attributes matter most for the tasks

team process definition

• how the team decides and acts

• division of work

• avoid process loss like solution fixation trap

team dynamic definition

• cultural environment

• trust, cultural norm, relational/task conflict

escalation of commitment

• also known as sunk cost bias

• stick with failing course of action bc you’ve already invested sm time

process loss vs. gain

• loss → errors that happened bc of the process teams used to make decisions

  • when the team performs worse than its individual members

• gain → when the team produces a better outcome together instead of separtely

• ex: moon case

why did interdependence matter? (rowing reading)

• trusting them to do their job without second guessing

• overall speed determined by weakest link

benefits of being trusted

• speeds up effiency

• forgive mistakes

benefits of trusting others

• reciprocal effects (makes them more trustworthy themselves)

• creative customer service

why does personal trust not easily scale across large groups?

• scaling requires organizations to have common shared values

  • ex: trusting friend’s friend vs. trusting friend

3 aspects of a trust relationship

• two asymmetrical roles

  • trustor (taking risk of trusting)

  • trustee (one being trusted)

• elements of risk

  • trust = alternate to risk-averse behaviors & counters flight/fight

  • ppl tend to overreact to short term w/ fear, undderreact to long-term w/ trust

• reciprocity

  • trusting someone makes them more incline to trust you

3 factors for trusting

• propensity to trust — general outlook towards strangers

• percieved/objective risk — evlauting stakes in situation

• tactical decision — influence by social environment/belief system

four shared values (to scale trust)

• transparency — admit mistakes

• long term orientation — value on giong relationships > one off transactions

• collab — replace competition w/ problem solving tg

• other focused — align process instead of internal quota

trust isn’t abstract/business process, instead trust is….?

• active, human relationship driven by..

  • low self orientation

  • emotional safety

  • shared org values

self orientation definition

• focus on ur own needs, desires, and personal interests rather than those of others

high vs. low performers (solution trap reading)

• high — share info upfront, hypothesis, explore solutions, loop again

• low — solutions first and stays trapped there; no evidence

4 ways to protect ur team (solution trap reading)

• start with facts, no opinions

• label and park “immature solutions” (ex: let’s come back when we’re sure)

• evidence answers

• visual displays

what happens when team’s coordinate too much vs. too little?

• too much — work slows down + micromanage

• too little — info drops, decision stalls

risk of hiring stars

• stars high performance depends on firms resources, culture, system

  • winning strat is to retain internal talent instead of buying stars

• stars aren’t loyal + blaze for a while, fade when they change firms

why are star performance firm specific

• hidden organization capabilities

  • resources

  • systems

  • leadership

  • internal networks

what’s the fundamental attribution error in hiring stars?

• exec always think star’s record is individual, not bc the firm does it

• an all star team fails bc individual egos destory organziation’s processes

four traits that make up a team

• interdependence

• skills complementarity

• mutual accountability

• collective output

5 stages of group development

• Forming: Uncertainty about purpose, structure, and leadership. Members test the waters.

• Storming: Members accept the group but resist the constraints it imposes on individuality.

• Norming: Close relationships develop, cohesiveness forms. Common set of expectations.

• Performing: Fully functional and accepted. Energy shifts from getting to know each other to performing the task.

• Adjourning: Wrapping up activities and preparing to disband.

examples of process loss

• social loafing/free rider problem

• coordination problems — group doesn’t have a shared approach

• Social Facilitation Losses — risk of being wrong

• uniquely held info

• groupthink — agreeing just to agree

  • ex: vibes are good and u dont wanna say something negative

transactive memory / mental model (a type of process gain)

• transactive memory — groups split the work of remembering, storing, and retrieving information

• ex: lego man activity

inadequate sharing of info can lead to… (uniquely held info)

• Attenuation blocking — dont share new ideas fail to share later, bc ideas are less relevant/important

• Concentration blocking — concentrate on remembering previous ideas, rather than generating new ones, until they can contribute them

• Attention blocking — ideas are not generated because members must constantly listen to others speak

Social Facilitation

• risk of being wrong in front of peers

groupthink

• Agreeing just to agree. When team members keep opposing views to themselves because of pressure to conform, fear of judgment, or a desire to avoid conflict.

  • Example: A project team nods along with a flawed strategy because no one wants to ruin the positive vibe or contradict the leader.

tight coupling

• different parts of a system or process are so closely connected that a change or error in one part immediately affects the others

• ex: chain of falling dominoes

2 leadership behaviors

• consideration — supporting employees, trusting, care ab their well being

• initiating structure — focused on organizing work, define roles, setting goals

coordination loss

• loss productivity caused by difficulty integrating and coordinating member’s contributions

homophily

• tendency to form relationships w/ people who are similar to ourselves

punctuated equilibirum

• teams have major change at their midpoint bc they realize half the time is gone

• increases urgency and execution

propensity to trust

• how likely someone is to trust a stranger

long term orientation

• priortizing continuing relationships over individual transactions

• promotes trust

operationalizing competencies

• defining the specific observable behaviors and capabilities required for a job

3 responsbilities of team leadreship

• team design — structure, define goals, determine roles

• team launch — kickoff, shared vision, norms, trust

• team process mgmt — manage conflict, active adjustments

why does the size of teams matter

• small teams are better

• larger teams create more process loss

availability vs. recency bias

• availability — how easy it comes to mind

• recenecy — extra weight to things that happened most recently while forgetting or ignoring older information

traits v behaviors

• traits = what person tends to be

• behaviors = what a person actually does

info aggregation

• combining members different info so the group can know more than one person

equity theory

• individuals compare their input/output ratio to peers and alter their effort if they think its unjustice

  • ex: massimo stops passing ball bc a rookie gets free apartment

transactive memory vs. mental model

• transactive — shared understanding of ppl (ex: splitting up memorizing stuff)

• mental model — shared understanding of the work itself

types of leadership interventions (based on timing)

• beginning — motivational

• midpoint — consult

• endpoint — educational

leader as an architect vs coach

• architect — team design before work happens

• coach — team launch + process

low effectiveness cycle

• negative attributions —> reduce trust —> increase relational conflict —> even lower team effectiveness

informational diversity

• differences in team member’s knowledge and perspectives

role representation

• clarity ab who represents what, function, org etc on a team

pyschological safety definition

• shared belief that its safe to speak up without fear of consequence