Week 6 Workplace Psychology: Teams And Teamwork

Learning Objectives

• Level of Analysis: Understand the various levels at which human behavior is analyzed in organizational psychology: micro (individual), meso (team), and macro (organization).
• Concept of Teamwork: Explore what teamwork entails and its significance in organizational settings.
• Types of Teams: Identify different types of teams and their specific functions including problem resolution, creative, tactical, ad hoc, virtual, cross-functional, and multi-team systems.
• Team Development: Discuss how teams and their members evolve over time following models like Tuckman's stages of team development.
• Team Structure and Processes: Understand how teams are structured and how they function, including decision-making processes, communication patterns, and group dynamics.
• Decision-Making and Mental Models: Examine how teams make decisions and share mental frameworks.
• Problematic Team Functioning: Analyze reasons why teams might struggle or fail.

Types of Teams

• Basic Types:
  • Problem Resolution Teams: High-trust focus on solving specific temporary issues.
  • Creative Teams: Innovate and develop new products or services.
  • Tactical Teams: Execute well-defined plans, focusing on clarity and specific roles (e.g., surgical teams).
  • Ad hoc Teams: Temporary teams formed for specific problem-resolution or tactical tasks.
  • Virtual Teams: Teams that collaborate electronically.
  • Cross-Functional Teams: Composed of members from different departments (e.g., a surgical team with various specialists).
  • Multi-Team Systems: Interdependent teams working toward system-wide goals, involving multiple organizations (e.g., emergency services).

Work Group vs Work Team

• Work Group:
  • Individuals see themselves as a social entity but may not have interdependent tasks.
• Work Team:
  • Members share a common goal, have interdependent functions, distinctive roles, and a coordinated approach to achieve objectives. High synergy is aimed to deliver greater outcomes than individual contributions alone.

Team Life Cycle (Tuckman's Model)

• Stages:
  1. Forming: Orientation phase; members introduce themselves and set objectives and roles.
  2. Storming: Conflicts may arise as the true dynamics begin to surface; need for direction and support is critical.
  3. Norming: Establishing trust and understanding roles, bringing team members together; focus on collective goals.
  4. Performing: Members are motivated, knowledge of roles is clear, and a high level of performance is achieved.
  5. Adjourning: The team disbands after achieving goals; members may experience a sense of loss.

Team Structure

• Triad Model: Roles within teams can be categorized based on three parameters:
  • Skill Differentiation: High/low skill diversity on tasks.
  • Authority Differentiation: Decision-making power distribution.
  • Temporal Stability: Duration members remain together.

Factors Affecting Team Effectiveness

• Individual Characteristics: Skills, abilities, diversity, personality traits, demographic differences.
• Organizational Context: Support, culture, operational clarity, autonomy.
• Process Variables: Effective communication, cohesiveness, leadership characteristics, well-defined norms, and decision-making processes.

Groupthink vs. Apollo Syndrome

• Groupthink: Harmonious decision-making that overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives, often due to high cohesiveness. Symptoms include pressure to conform, invulnerability, and stereotypical views of outsiders.
• Apollo Syndrome: Highly capable teams struggle with decision-making due to individual agendas, active debate leading to negativity, and conflicting interests.

Social Loafing

• Definition: Reduced effort in a group setting compared to when working alone, stemming from deindividuation, output equity perceptions, and lack of clear performance standards.
• Mitigation: Increase identifiability of individual contributions, enhance group cohesiveness, set clear standards, and foster intergroup competition to discourage loafing.

Trust in Teams

• Components of Trust: Ability, benevolence, and integrity are essential for fostering trustworthy relationships in teams which are critical for effective collaboration.
  • Trust Propensity: Individual willingness to rely on others based on prior experiences and perceptions.