Leading Teams: Understanding Team Dynamics and Conflicts

Team

a unit of two or more people who interact and coordinate their work to accomplish a common goal to which they are committed and hold themselves mutually accountable

Social facilitation

the tendency for the presence of others to enhance one's performance

Functional team

composed of a manager and subordinates in the formal chain of command

Cross-functional team

composed of employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different areas of expertise

Task force

a group of employees from different departments formed to deal with a specific activity and existing only until that task is completed

Special-purpose team

created outside the formal structure to undertake a project of special importance, such as developing a new product

Self-managed team

a team that manages itself and is responsible for its own work

Vertical team

a team that consists of members from different levels of the organization

Virtual team

group made up of geographically or organizationally dispersed members who are linked primarily through advanced information and telecommunications technologies

Global team

cross-border team made up of members of different nationalities whose activities span multiple countries

Free rider

a team member who attains benefits from team membership but does not actively participate in and contribute to the team's work

Team effectiveness

based on three outcomes: satisfaction, productive output, and capacity to adapt and learn

Satisfaction

the team's ability to meet the personal needs of its members and hence maintain their membership and commitment

Productive output

performance and the quality and quantity of task outputs as defined by team goals

Capacity to adapt and learn

the ability of teams to bring greater knowledge and skills to job tasks and enhance the organization's ability to respond to new threats or opportunities in the environment

Dysfunctional teams

teams that do not function effectively and may hinder performance

Best performing teams

Range in size from three to six members.

Diversity

A variety of diverse skills, knowledge, and experience produces innovative solutions.

Socioemotional role

Member who supports team members' emotional needs and strengthens the social entity.

Task specialist role

Member who helps the team reach its goal.

Team cohesiveness

The extent to which members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain on the team.

Determinants of team cohesiveness

Team interaction, shared goals, personal attraction to the team.

Consequences of team cohesiveness

Morale and productivity.

Team norm

Informal operating guidelines that establish agreed-upon behaviors about how the team's work will get done.

Important team norms

Psychological safety, composed of emotional expression and social sensitivity, equal participation.

Conflict

A serious disagreement or argument in which one party attempts to block the intentions or goals of another.

Task conflict

Disagreements about the goals to be achieved or the tasks to be performed.

Relationship conflict

Interpersonal incompatibility that creates tension and personal animosity among people.

Faultlines

Hypothetical dividing lines based on one or more demographic characteristics of members.

High directness-high intensity

A person aggressively expresses conflict.

High directness-low intensity

A person expresses conflict in a low-voltage manner; most constructive approach.

Low directness-high intensity

A person ambiguously uses aggressive tactics.

Low directness-low intensity

A person ambiguously uses low-key tactics.

Negotiation

People engage in give-and-take discussions and consider various alternatives to reach a joint decision.

Integrative negotiation

Win-win approach assumes that all parties want to come up with a creative solution that can benefit both sides.

Distributive negotiation

Win-lose approach that is competitive and adversarial.

Techniques for confronting and resolving conflicts

Include superordinate goals, bargaining/negotiation, mediation, providing well-defined tasks, and facilitating communication.

Reaching a Win-Win Solution

Separate the people from the problem, focus on underlying interests, listen and ask questions, insist that results be based on objective standards.