Download - Foundation of Team Dynamics
Chapter 9: Foundation of
TeamDynamics
WHAT ARE TEAMS?
Groups of two or more people
Exist to fulfill some purpose
Held together by interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals
Requires communication to coordinate activities
Members influence each other
Groups vs. TeamsAll teams are groups
Some groups are just people assembled together
Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not (e.g., group of employees enjoying lunch together)
Types of Teams and Groups
- Departmental Team
- Management Team
- Task Work- Skunk works
- Friendship Groups
- Community of Practice
Formal Teams
Informal Groups
Permanent Temporary
Why Informal Group Exist? Relatedness Needs/Innate Drive to Bond
- Fulfil needs for friendship and social interaction
- Social identity
Goal Accomplishments - Achieve goals difficult for individual alone
Emotional Support - Teams provide comfort in stressful situations
Why Rely on Teams?Compared with individuals working alone, teams tend to:Make better decisions
Make better products and services due to more knowledge and expertise
Increase employee engagement
MODEL OF TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
Team Effectiveness occurs when the team is able to:
fulfils organizational objectives
fulfils needs of individual members
is able to survive (i.e. maintain member commitment)
Elements of Team Effectiveness Model
•Task characteristics•Team size•Team composition
Team Design
• Achieve organizational goals
• Satisfy member needs
• Maintain team survival
TeamEffectiveness
•Team development•Team norms•Team roles•Team cohesiveness
Team Processes
Organizational andTeam Environment
• Reward systems
• Communication systems
• Physical space
• Organizational environment
• Organizational structure
• Organizational leadership
Reward Systems
Communication Systems
Physical Space
Organizational Environment
Organizational Structure
Organizational Leadership
Organizational and Team Environment
Team Design Features 1. Task Characteristic
- Better when task are clear, easy to implement
members learn roles more quickly; easier to become cohesive
ill-defined tasks require members with diverse backgrounds and more time to coordinate
- Task Interdependence
supports team dynamics
must share common inputs, work processes or receive outcomes based on mutual work
Level of Task Interdependence
Pooled Interdependence (Lowest Level)- operate independently except for reliance on common purpose or authority (e.g.; employees share a common cafeteria)
Sequential Interdependence- output of one person becomes direct input for another (e.g.; fish processing plant)
Reciprocal Interdependence (Highest Level)- work is exchange among individuals (e.g.; emergency medical team)
2. Team Size
- Smaller teams are better because larger teams:
need more time to coordinate need more time to develop less member involvement, thus less
commitment
- But team must be large enough to accomplish task
3. Team Composition
- Motivation To Perform task To work cooperatively the team --- collectivist
values for stronger team motivation
- Competencies Collectively possess skills and knowledge to
perform the task Individual competencies to work effectively
- Homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending on task requirements
Less conflict
Faster team development
Performs better on cooperative tasks
Better coordination
High satisfaction of team members
More conflict
Longer team development
Performs better on complex problems
More creative
Better representation outside the team
Homogeneous Teams Heterogeneous Teams
4. Team Diversity
STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT
Existing teams might regress back to an earlier stage of development
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
TEAM NORMSInformal rules and expectations team establishes to regulate member behaviours
Conformity to team norms:
Based on team’s power over its members Direct and anticipated pressure or rewards for continued membership
Norms develop through:
Explicit statements Critical events in team’s history Initial team experiences Beliefs/values members bring to the team
Changing Team Norms
Introduce norms when forming teams
Select members with preferred norms
Discuss counter-productive norms
Reward behaviours representing desired norms
Disband teams with dysfunctional norms
TEAM ROLES
ROLE – the set of behavior that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization
Some team roles are formally assigned to specific people
Team members often take on various roles informally based on their personality and values
TEAM COHESIVENESS -- Degree of attraction people feel toward team and motivation to remain members- usually an important factor in a team’s success
Causes of team cohesiveness
1. Member similarityHomogeneous team easier to develop cohesiveness, less conflict
2. Team size Smaller teams, more cohesive Easier to agree upon goals, coordinate tasks If team too small, difficult to reach goals
3. Member Interaction More interaction increases cohesiveness More interaction through higher task interdependence, co-location, open workspace
4. Somewhat difficult entry Somewhat difficult entry increases cohesiveness
-- more prestigious, increases member bond¨Caution: severe initiation or costs can damage cohesiveness
5. Team successSuccessful teams more attractive (self-identity)Gives team more confidence (self-efficacy)Spiral Effect – increased success increases cohesiveness
6. External competition and challenges
Cohesiveness higher with external competition/challenges
Value membership as a form of social support
Want to remain members
Willing to share information
Strong interpersonal bonds
Resolve conflict effectively
Better interpersonal
relationships
Team Cohesiveness Outcomes
Cohesive teams potentially perform better
—less conflict
But norms must be consistent with
organisational goals
Lower performance when team is cohesive,
WHEN norms oppose organisational goals
Cohesiveness & Task Performance
Individuals work better/faster on some tasks
Process losses cost of developing and maintaining teams
Companies don’t support best work environment for team dynamics
Social loafing - persons make less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.
THE TROUBLE WITH TEAMS
social loafing is most common where:
Low task interdependence
Individual output not visible
Routine, uninteresting tasks
Low task significance
Low collectivist values (non-cooperative / disorganise)
How to minimize social loafing
Form smaller teams – each performance becomes more noticeable
Specialize tasks – assign tasks, each person’s contribution is easier to see
Measure individual performance – but there are difficulty for problem-solving projects
Increase jobs enrichment – assign motivating jobs
Select motivated employees – select collectivist value orientation