Leading Teams and Groups in Crisis

Leading Teams and Groups in Crisis

• Teams and Groups Explained:
  • Groups are two or more people interacting with shared norms, goals, and identity.
  • Teams are small groups with complementary skills, mutually accountable for common purpose, goals, and approach.

Classification of Teams and Groups

• Command Groups: Individuals reporting directly to a manager.
• Task Groups: Individuals working together to complete a job or task.
• Interest Groups: Individuals working together for a shared objective.
• Friendship Groups: Individuals brought together by shared characteristics.
• Formal Groups: Designated work groups defined by organizational structure (e.g., Command Group, Task Group).
• Informal Groups: Groups not formally structured or organizationally determined but formed due to social needs (e.g., Interest Groups, Friendship Groups).

Why People Join Groups

• Security
• Status
• Self-esteem
• Affiliation
• Power
• Goal achievement

Group Dynamics

• Group Size:
  • Small groups (2-9 members) interact better and tend to be more motivated.
  • Larger groups are better for more resources and division of labor.
  • Disadvantages of large groups include communication challenges, lower motivation, social loafing, and groupthink.
• Group Tasks:
  • Task interdependence shows how one member's work impacts another.
  • Higher interdependence leads to closer teamwork.
• Groupthink: A psychological phenomenon where the desire for group harmony leads to poor decision-making.

Groups Development Stages

• Groups move through stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning.
• They can stop at a stage or move back through stages.
• Each stage presents its own challenges.
  • Forming: Ice-breaking; uncertainty, awareness of friendships, task objective, information gathering and commitment/acceptance to organizational goals, and anxiety about group, task, and capability is important.
  • Storming: Intragroup conflict; competition, tense behaviors and conflict regarding roles and objectives. Dominant members emerge. Spread of conflict can lead to anger, and conflict resolution is crucial. Some conflict is beneficial.
  • Norming: Close relationships, cohesiveness, positive feelings toward the group and its purpose, togetherness, roles are set; and rules and norms are established and enforced.
  • Performing: Group is fully functional. Trust and acceptance amongst members. Presentation of ideas. Focused on the task; committed to the mission. The group does its real work.
  • Adjourning: Concerned with wrapping up activities, not performance; important for task force teams; terminating behaviours; disengaging from relationships; recognition for performance and closure; turnover rather than adjournment.

Factors Affecting Group Effectiveness

• Task and maintenance roles
• Structure
• Process
• Diversity
• Creativity

Team Formation

• A group becomes a team when there is:
  • Shared leadership
  • Individual and collective accountability
  • Shared purpose or mission
  • Routine problem solving
  • Effectiveness defined by collective outcomes

Types of Work Teams

• Advice teams (help broaden information base for managerial decisions)
• Production teams (perform day-to-day operations)
• Project teams (apply specialized knowledge for problem solving)
• Action teams (highly-coordinated specialists who display peak performance on demand).

Managing a Virtual Team

• Start with face-to-face interaction.
• Establish regular interaction times.
• Set firm communication rules.
• Use visual communication tools.
• Provide consistent feedback.
• Team members evaluate each other.
• Create a virtual meeting room (e.g., via intranet).
• Be available to employees.
• Encourage informal, off-line conversations.

Characteristics of an Effective Team

• Clear purpose
• Informality
• Participation
• Listening
• Civilized disagreement
• Consensus decisions
• Open communication
• Clear roles and work assignments
• Clear values, norms, identity
• Shared leadership
• Self-assessment

Why Teams Fail

• Management Mistakes:
  • Weak strategies and poor business practices.
  • Hostile environment for teams.
  • Teams implemented as quick fixes, without long-term commitment.
  • Unchanged bad habits.
  • Vague or conflicting team assignments.
  • Inadequate team skills training.
  • Poor team staffing
  • Lack of trust.
• Team Problems:
  • Unrealistic expectations.
  • Conflict over differences in work styles.
  • Emphasis on results only, not on processes.
  • Lack of persistence, overcoming obstacles.
  • Resistance to change.
  • Poor interpersonal/team skills.
  • Poor team member fit.
  • Lack of trust.
  • Power struggles

Managing Groups and Teams for High Performance

• Reducing social loafing:
  • Make individual efforts identifiable and accountable.
  • Emphasize individual member contributions.
  • Keep group size appropriate.
• Motivating group members to achieve organizational goals:
  • Members benefit when the group performs well.
  • Rewards can be monetary or non-monetary.
  • Individual compensation combines individual and group performance.
  • Resources such as choice assignments can be available to high-performing groups.

Leading in Crisis

• What is Crisis?
  • Specific, unexpected, non-routine events creating high uncertainty threatening organizational goals.
• How to Lead in Crisis
  • Keep focus, avoid panic.
  • Communicate openly and often.
  • Provide context and perspective.
  • Establish tone.
  • Be visible.
  • Maintain company culture.
  • Redefine norms following an event.