Chapter 11 Management

Team

2 or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task oriented purpose

Group

A collection of 2 or more people

What is the difference between a team and a group?

• Interactions among members within teams revolve around a deeper dependence on one another than the interactions with groups

• Interactions within teams occur with a specific task-related purpose in mind while groups don’t

Work team

• Purpose/Activities: Produce goods or provide services

• Life span: Long

• Member involvement: High

Work team examples

• Self-managed work team

• Production team

• Maintenance team

• Sales team

Management team

• Purpose/Activities: Integrate activities of subunits across business functions

• Life span: Long

• Member involvement: Moderate

Management team example

Top management team

Parallel team

• Purpose/Activities: Provide recommendations and resolve issues

• Life span: Varies

• Member involvement: Low

Parallel team examples

• Quality circle

• Advisory council

• Committee

Project team

• Purpose/Activities: Produce a one-time output (product, service, plan)

• Life span: Varies

• Member involvement: Varies

Project team examples

• Product design team

• Research group

• Planning team

Action team

• Purpose/Activities: Perform complex tasks that vary in duration and take place in highly visible or challenging circumstances

• Life span: Varies

• Member involvement: Varies

Action team examples

• Surgical team

• Musical group

• Expedition team

• Sports team

Multiple team membership

A work arrangement in which employees are assigned to multiple teams simultaneously

Virtual teams

A team in which the members are geographically dispersed, and interdependent activity occurs through e-mail, web conferencing, and instant messaging

5 stages of group development

• Forming

• Storming

• Morning

• Performing

• Adjourning

Forming

First stage of team development during which members try to get a feel for what is expected of them, what types of behaviors are out of bounds, and who’s in charge

Storming

Second stage of team development during which conflict occurs due to members’ ongoing commitment to ideas they bring with them to the team

Norming

3rd stage of team development during which members realize that they need to work together to accomplish team goals and consequently begin to cooperate

Performing

4th stage of team development during which members are comfortable working within their roles, and the team makes progress towards goals

Adjourning

Final stage of team development during which members experience anxiety and other emotions as they disengage and ultimately separate from the team

Punctuated equilibrium

A sequence of team development during which not much gets done until the halfway point of a project, after which teams make necessary changes to complete the project on time

Task interdependence

The degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for info, materials, and resources needed to accomplish work for the team

4 types of task interdependencd:

• Pooled

• Sequential

• Reciprocal

• Comprehensive

Pooled interdependence

Group members complete their work assignments independently, and then their work is simply added together to represent the group’s output

Sequential interdependence

Group members perform different tasks in a prescribed sequence, and members depend on only the member who comes before them in the sequence

Reciprocal interdependence

Group members interact with only a limited subset of other members to complete the team’s work

Comprehensive interdependence

Members have a great deal of discretion in terms of what they do and with whom they interact in the course of the collaboration involved in accomplishing the team’s work

Goal interdependence

The degree to which team members have a shared goal and align their individual goals with that vision

Outcome interdependence

The degree to which team members share equally in the feedback and rewards that result from the team achieving its goals

Team composition

The mix of the various characteristics that describe the individuals who work on the team

5 aspects of team composition

• Member roles

• Member ability

• Member personality

• Team diversity

• Team size

Role

The behavior a person is generally expected to display in a given context

Leader-staff teams

A type of team that consists of members who make recommendations to the leader who is ultimately responsible for team decisions

Team-task roles

Behaviors that directly facilitate the accomplishment of team tasks

Team-task roles examples

• Initiator-contributor

• Coordinator

• Oriented

• Devil’s advocate

• Energizer

• Procedural technician

Initiator-contributor

Proposes new ideas

Coordinator

Tries to coordinate activities among team members

Oriented

Determines the direction of the team’s discussion

Devil’s advocate

Offers challenges to the team’s status quo

Energizer

Motivated the team to strive to do better

Procedural-technician

Performs routine tasks needed to keep progress moving

Team-building roles

Behaviors that directly facilitate the accomplishment of team tasks

Team-building roles examples

• Encourager

• Harmonized

• Compromiser

• Gatekeeper-expediter

• Standard settler

• Follower

Encourager

Praises the contributions of other team members

Harmonizer

Mediates differences between group members

Compromiser

Attempts to find the halfway point to end conflict

Gatekeeper-expediter

Encourages participation from teammates

Standard settler

Expresses goals for the team to achieve

Follow

Accepts the ideas of teammates

Individualistic roles

Behaviors that benefit the individual at the expense of the team

Individualistic role examples

• Aggressor

• Blocker

• Recognition seeker

• Self-confessor

• Slacker

• Dominator

Aggressor

Deflates teammates, expresses disapproval with hostility

Blocker

Acts stubbornly resistant and disagrees beyond reason

Recognition seeker

Brags and calls attention to themself

Self-confessor

Discloses personal opinions inappropriately

Slacker

Acts cynically, or nonchalantly, or goods off

Dominator

Manipulated team members for personal control

3 types of tasks that relate to how important individual member ability levels are to the success of the group

• Disjunctive tasks

• Conjunctive tasks

• Additive tasks

Disjunctive tasks

Tasks with an objectively verifiable best solution for which the member with the highest level of ability has the most influence on team effectiveness

Conjunctive tasks

Tasks for which the team’s performance depends on the abilities of the team’s weakest link

Additive tasks

Tasks for which the contributions from every member add up to determine team performance

Team diversity

The degree to which team members are different from one another

Value in diversity problem-solving approach

A theory that supports team diversity because it provides a larger pool of knowledge and perspectives

Similarity-attraction approach

A theory explaining that team diversity can be counterproductive because people tend to avoid interacting with others who are unlike them

Surface-level diversity

Diversity of observable attributes such as race, gender, ethnicity, and age

Deep-level diversity

The extent to which people feel that they are truly part of a group and that the uniqueness that they bring to the group is welcomed and valued

How does team size impact team success?

Having a greater number of members is beneficial for management and project teams but not for teams engaged in production tasks

Team viability

Team commitment; the likelihood a team can work together effectively into the future