IO_C14_Team Effectiveness

Work teams

Collection of three or more individuals who interact intensively to provide an organizational product, plan, decision, or service

Work teams

Special type of work groups responsible for achieving goals or objectives

Concentrated and continuous level of interaction; Includes task-oriented and relationship-sustaining action; Member outcomes are tied to others' outcomes; Members need the assistance, expertise, and opinions of the other members; Well-structured groups, with clearly defined roles and norms; High degree of unity and cohesiveness

Characteristics of Work teams

Interaction is primarily aimed at sharing information to achieve goals and make decisions in individual areas of responsibility

Characteristics of Work groups

Group task roles; Group building and maintenance roles; Individual roles

Benne and Sheats Classification of roles played by team members in work groups

Group task roles

Roles that include members' task related roles in which the purpose is to coordinate and facilitate group efforts to determine, define and solve common problems

Initiator; Information seeker; Opinion seeker; Opinion giver; Elaborator; Coordinator; Orienter; Evaluator-critic; Energizer; Procedural technician; Recorder

Example of group task roles

Group building and maintenance roles

Roles geared towards altering or maintaining the group's way of working; the purpose is to build, maintain or strengthen group centered behaviors

Encourager; Harmonizer; Compromiser; Gatekeeper and Expediter; Group; Observer and Commentator; Follower

Examples of group building and maintenance roles

Individual roles

Roles that pertain to the attempts of group members to put forth individual needs; these include behaviors that are irrelevant to group task roles and that counters group building and maintenance

Aggressor; Blocker; Recognition-seeker; Self-confessor; Playboy; Dominator; Help-seeker; Special interest pleader

Examples of individual roles

Leadership; Work producer; Liaison; Team maintenance

Belbin's recent articulation of team roles into 4 functions. What are these 4 functions?

Leader; Shaper

Belbin's roles under leadership

Leader

Role that is the one in-charge of the team's overall performance, discovers the strengths and areas for improvement of each member and ensures that the team can maximize the potential of each one

Shaper

Role that influences the direction of team efforts, ensures articulation of objectives and priorities as well as directs the team towards achieving certain outcomes

Worker; Creator; Complete finisher

Belbin's roles under work producer

Worker

Role that translates plans into work procedures and gets things done systematically and efficiently by carrying out planned activities

Creator

Role that suggests novel ideas and puts forward new strategies for dealing with problems and issues

Complete finisher

Role that ensures that the team feels a sense of urgency and identifies aspect of work that needs greater attention

Liaison

Role that brings in ideas and resources from outside of the team and develop relationships with external entities that may be useful in achieving team goals

Team facilitator; Monitor-evaluator

Roles under team maintenance

Team facilitator

Role that fosters team spirit and facilitate communication among members and help team members in maximizing their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses

Monitor-evaluator

Role that serves as the team's critic as they analyze problems and evaluate ideas and suggestions to enable members to focus on the tasks

Social loafing; Conformity; Groupthink

Behaviors that run counter to team effectiveness

Social loafing

Behavior that occurs when people working in groups exert lesser effort than when they are working alone

Social loafing

Behavior that is heightened when there is no measure of individual performance and tasks are additive and simple rather than interdependent and complex

Social loafing

Behavior in which the possibility of members slacking off lessens when the tasks are appealing, challenging, or involving

Conformity

Members' adherence to group norms that may have a negative or positive effect

Conformity

Behavior that creates a "we feeling" that engenders cohesiveness that may positively or negatively impact group performance

Desire to be liked (Informational influence); Desire to be liked (Normative influence)

Why do members conform?

Groupthink

Behavior that manifests when group members become blindly optimistic and view themselves as invincible, powerful and morally correct

Assign a devil's advocate within the group

How to avoid groupthink?

Forming; Storming; Norming; Performing; Adjourning

Tuckman's Stages of Team Development

Forming

Stage of team development that is concerned with orientation through testing to identify boundaries of interpersonal and task behaviors

Forming

Stage of team development that involves the establishment of dependency relationships with leaders, members, or pre-existing standards

Storming

Stage of team development characterized by conflict and polarization around interpersonal issues

Storming

Stage of team development characterized by resistance to group influence and task requirements

Norming

Stage of team development in which resistance is overcome and in-group feeling and cohesiveness develop, new standards evolve, and new roles are adopted while intimate, personal opinions are expressed

Performing

Stage of team development in which interpersonal structure becomes the tool of task activities

Performing

Stage of team development in which roles become flexible and functional and group energy is channeled to the task and structural issues are resolved and structure is supportive of task performance

Adjourning

Stage of team development added by Tuckman and Jensen which is the termination stage that involves the separation of the group

Team Effectiveness

Achieved if a teams output meets and exceeds the need/s for which it was established

Productive output of the work group should meet or exceed the performance standards of the people who receive and/or review the output; Social processes used in carrying out the work should maintain or enhance the capability of members to work together on subsequent team tasks; Group experience should satisfy rather than frustrate the personal needs of group members

Hackman's 3 criteria to assess team effectiveness

Input-Process-Output (IPO)

Dominant western model approach of team effectiveness by Steiner, McGrath, and Hackman

Input-Process-Output (IPO)

Model that assumes that there are antecedent factors (inputs) that facilitate or hinder teamwork (processes) which in turn determine the results of team activities (output)

Inputs

Antecedent factors that may directly or indirectly influence the team members and the team itself

Individual; Team; Environmental

Inputs are outlined at 3 levels. What are these levels?

Individual level antecedent factors

Team members' personality, knowledge, skills, and abilities

Team level factors

Group size, structure, level of cohesiveness, and resources

Environmental factors

Reward structures, level of stress and relationship with other units

Processes

Members' interdependent acts that convert inputs to outcomes through cognitive, verbal, and behavioral activities, directed toward organizing task work to achieve collective goals

Process

Means by which members work interdependently to utilize various resources—such as expertise, equipment, and money—to yield meaningful outcomes

Output

Criteria to assess the effectiveness of team actions in which an example is Hackman's criteria for team effectiveness

"Process" is used to label affective and cognitive states; Implies a linear relationship that discounts nonlinear interactions

Limitations of the IPO model

Input-Mediator-Output-Input (IMOI) Model

Limitations of the IPO model led to the development of what model?

Performance; Team member attitudes; Quality of work relationships

Ateneo CORD's characteristics of team effectiveness

Performance

Characteristic of team effectiveness that refers to the team having achieved or surpassed the assigned goals and tasks

Team member attitudes

Characteristic of an effective work team is also one whose members upheld a positive attitude towards work

Flexibility

Highly rated team member attitude which is taking on someone's responsibilities when the person is unable to come to work and finding ways to make things work, and willingness to engage. Also closely linked to heightened sensitivity and a feeling for the other, and is seen as a highly relational behavior

Quality of work relationships

Team that is considered effective if a dignified work relationship is maintained within the group

Quality of work relationships

Desirable characteristic is the ability to sustain an environment of trust, respect, and open communication despite work-related differences and challenges

Panagutan

According to Jocano, successful Filipinos in teams display this cultural value which is strongly linked to interdependence and maintaining reciprocal relationships. What is this value?

Input; Process

Western Predictors of Team Effectiveness

Task characteristics; Group composition; Organizational factors

Inputs that are predictors of team effectiveness

Cognitive activities; Verbal activities; Behavioral activities

Processes that are predictors of team effectiveness

Work systems and processes; Team member competence; Social relations; Leadership

Ateneo CORD's 4 critical factors to effective Filipino work teams (Strongest to weakest influence)

Work systems and processes

Filipinos value having concrete targets and clearly defined task assignments

Team member competence

Selecting people with technically diverse skills and who are flexible and resourceful were described as critical for effective team performance

Resourcefulness

This personal trait becomes a critical characteristics of members in teams with limited means

Flexibility

This trait is important to remain effective despite changing situations and demands

Social relationships

Relating to each other as friends leads to a happier office atmosphere and enhances the capacity of individuals and groups to overcome weaknesses; Having a family atmosphere helps to motivate workers

Leadership

Effective team leaders were described as extending support towards team members and acting as conduit between the team and top management

Paternalism

Effective Filipino team leaders reflect this Filipino value wherein leaders are expected to act in a morally upright, responsible, and compassionate manner towards their subordinates. What value is this?

Organization support; Team trainning

2 categories of team development interventions

Organization support

Team development intervention that involves creating such an environment includes "encouraging members to think like a team, providing adequate time for meetings, and demonstrating faith in members' capacity to achieve."

Team training

Intervention recognized so team members can develop their competencies

Cross training; Team coordination and adoption training; Guided team self-correction training

Salas, Nichols, and Driskell's studied the impact of 3 training strategies. What are these 3 training strategies?

Coordination and adoption strategies; Team-guided self-correction

Teams improved the most with what strategies?

Team guided self-correction

This strategy has the largest effects on performance