Mos 2181- Chapter 11

two or more people who work inter-dependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented person

1. the interactions among members revolve around a deeper dependance on one another than the interactions within groups

2. the interaction within teams occur with a specific task related purpose in mind

1. the nature of today's work requires them

- as work has become more complex

2. may be useful in organizations beyond accomplishing the work itself

-designed to be relatively permanent

-their purpose is to produce goods or provide services

-they generally require members' full time commitment

ex. production team, sales team

-similar to work teams in that they are designed to be relatively permanent

-however, management teams participate in managerial-level tasks that affect the entire organization

- they are responsible for coordinating the activities of organizational sub units

composed of members from various jobs who provide recommendations to managers about important issues that run 'parallel' to the organizations production process

- require only part time commitment from members

- they are designed to be either permanent or temporary

formed to take on one time tasks that are generally complex and require a lot of input from members with different types of training and expertise

- can involve part or full time commitment

perform tasks that are normally limited in duration

- the tasks are quite complex and take place in contexts that are either highly visible or highly challenging

ex. sports teams, musical groups

teams in which the members are geographically dispersed, and interdependent activity occurs through electronic communications

- 800% increase in the number of virtual employees in the last decade

1. forming- members orient themselves, by trying to understand the boundaries in the team

2. storming- members remain committed to ideas they bring with them to the team; this initial unwillingness to accommodate others idea triggers conflict that negatively affects some interpersonal relationships and harms the teams progress

3. norming- members realize they need to work together to accomplish team goals, so they begin to cooperate with one another

4. performing- members are comfortable working within their roles, and the team makes progress towards their goals

5. adjourning- members experience anxiety and other emotions as they disengage and ultimately separate the team

-when teams are formed with clear expectations regarding what is expected from the team and its members

-project teams that follow a "punctuated equilibrium"

- at the initial team meeting, members make assumptions and establish a pattern of behaviour that lasts for the first half of its life

- that pattern continues to dominate the teams behaviour as it settles into a sort of inertia

- at the midway point of the project, members realize they have to change their task paradigm to complete it on time

- teams that take this opportunity to plan a new approach during this time tend to do well, and the new framework dominates their behaviour until task completion

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

with this type of interdependence groups members complete their work assignments independently and then this work is simply 'piled up' to represent the groups output

different tasks are done in a prescribed order, and the group is structured such that the members specialize in these tasks

- although members in groups with this type interact to carry out their work, the interaction only occurs between members who perform tasks that are next to each other in the sequence

ex. assembly line in manufacturing

-members are specialized to perform specific tasks

-instead of a strict sequence of activities, members interact with a subset of other members to complete the teams work

-the highest level of interaction and co-ordination among members as they try to accomplish work

- each members has a great deal of discretion in terms of what they do, and with whom they interact in collaborating to accomplish the teams work

members must spend more time communicating and coordinating with other members to complete tasks; which can result in decreases in productivity

increase the ability of the team to adapt to new situations

exists when team members have a shared vision of the teams goals and align their individual gals with that vision as a result

ensure the team has a formalized mission statement that members buy in to; often makes sense for the teams to go through the process of developing their own mission statements

clearly describe what the team is trying to accomplish in a way that creates a sense of commitment and urgency among team members

-when team members share in the rewards that the team earns

-high outcome interdependence implies that team members depend on the performance of other team members for the rewards they receive

- low outcome interdependence implies that team members receive rewards and punishments on the basis of their own performance

increase the amount of info shared among members, which promotes learning, and ultimately team performance

the mix of the various characteristics that describe the individuals who work in the team

a role is a pattern on behaviour a person is generally expected to display in a given context

- to distinguish a role, one can consider the specific sets of tasks focused activities that define what the individual members are expected to do for their team

team task roles: refer to behaviours that directly facilitate the accomplishment of team tasks

team building roles: refer to behaviours that influence the quality of the teams social climate

individualistic roles: reflect behaviours that benefit the individuals at the expense of the team

must consider physical abilities and cognitive abilities

task with an objectively verifiable best solution, so the member who possesses the highest level of the ability relevant to the task will have the most influence on the effectiveness on the team

tasks for which the performance depends on the abilities of the "weakest link"

tasks for which the contributions resulting from the abilities of every member add up to determine team performance

agreeableness- tends to make people more trusting and cooperative

conscientiousness- tends to make people more dependable and hard working

extraversion- tends to make people perform more effectively in interpersonal contexts and optimistic,

the degree to which members are different from one another in terms of any attribute that might be used by someone as a basis of categorizing people

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

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

diversity of observable attributes, such as each gender ethnicity and age

- negative effects of this diversity tend to disappear as members become more knowledgable about each other

diversity of attributes that are inferred through observation or experience, such as ones values or personality

-time appears to increase the negative effects

for management/project teams- having a greater number of members is beneficial

for production teams- having a smaller number of members is beneficial

reflects the different types of interactions that occur within teams that contribute to their ultimate end goals

- have a strong impact on team effectiveness

getting more from the team that you would expect according to the capabilities of its individual members

- synonymous with "synergy"

- results in useful resources/capabilities that didn't exist before the team created them

getting less from the team than you would expect on the basis of the capabilities of the individual members

1. coordination loss- extra effort focused on integrating work consumes time and energy that might otherwise be devoted to task activity

2. production blocking- occurs when members have to wait on one another before they can do their part of the team task

3. motivational loss- the loss in team productivity that occurs when team members don't work as hard as they could

4. social loafing- uncertainty regarding "who contributes what" results in team members feeling less accountable for team outcomes, which causes them to exert less effort when working on team tasks than they would if they worked alone

the activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks

- any time that team members interact with tools or technologies that are used to complete their work

activities focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions

brainstorming; which involves a face-to-face meeting of team members in which each offers as many ideas as possible about some focal problem or issue

1. tendency for people to social loaf in brain storming sessions

2. members may be hesitant to express ideas that seem silly or not well thought out

3. results in production blocking because members have to wait their turn to express their ideas

in team contexts, decisions result from the interaction among team members

- members work together to reach a "consensus"

1. decision informity- reflects whether members possess adequate info about their own task responsibilities

2. staff validity- the degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader

3. hierarchal sensitivity- reflects the degree to which the leader effectively weighs the recommendations of the members

involves 3 types of activities with individuals and groups other that those who are considered part of the team

communications that are intended to protect the team, persuade others to support the team, or obtain important resources for the team

communications that are intended to coordinate take related issues with people or groups in other functional areas

things team members do to obtain info about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace

the interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the teams work but don't directly involve task accomplishment itself

teamwork activities that focus on preparation for future work

- mission analysis: analysis of the teams task

- strategy formulation:development of courses of action and contingency plans

- goal specification: the development and prioritization of goals related to the teams mission and strategy

-monitoring progress goals

-systems monitoring: keeping track of things that the team needs to accomplish its work

- helping behaviour: members going out of their way to help or back up other team members

- coordination: synchronizing team members activities in a way that makes them mesh effectively and seamlessly

- motivating and confidence building: things team members do or say that affect the degree to which members are motivated to work hard on the teams task

- affect management: activities that foster a sense of emotional balance and unity

- conflict management: the activities that the team uses to manage conflicts that arise in the course of its work

- relationship conflict: disagreements among team members regarding interpersonal relationships or incompatibilities with respect to personal values

-task conflict: disagreements among members about the teams task

specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together

a team state the occurs when members of the team develop strong emotional bonds to other members of the team and to the team itself

- can sometimes cohesion can lead to "group think" which are behaviours that support conformity and team harmony at the expense of other team priorities

a team state reflecting the degree of confidence among team members that the team can be effective across situations and tasks

the level of common understanding among team members with regard to important aspects of the team and its task

the degree to which specialized knowledge is integrated into an effective system of memory for the team

MODERATE POSITIVE effect

WEAK POSITIVE effect

team training that involves helping people develop general teamwork competence that they can transport from one team context to another

training team members in the duties and responsibilities of their teammates

members simply receive information regarding the roles of the other team members

team members observe how other members perform their roles

members are given actual experience carrying out the responsibilities of their teammates

the use of team experiences that facilitates the teams ability to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit

fun activities that facilitate team problem solving, trust, relationship building and the clarification of role responsibilities

ex. ropes course

mos 2181