Chapter 8 – Team Dynamics PDF

Chapter 8 – Team Dynamics Learning Objectives What are teams Many di/erent teams Team e/ec2veness model Models of team development Team decision making constraints What are Teams? Groups of two or more people Exist to ful?ll a purpose Interdependent – interact an...

Chapter 8 – Team Dynamics Learning Objectives What are teams Many di/erent teams Team e/ec2veness model Models of team development Team decision making constraints What are Teams? Groups of two or more people Exist to ful?ll a purpose Interdependent – interact and collaborate Mutually accountable for achieving common goals – inCuence each other Perceive themselves to be a team © ValeStock/Shu/estock. Team Advantages/Challenges Advantages 1. Make beHer decisions, products/services 2. BeHer informa2on sharing 3. Increase employee mo2va2on/engagement Challenges 4. Process losses – resources needed for team maintenance 5. Social loa?ng – members poten2ally exert less e/ort in teams than alone 6. Brooks’s Law- adding more people to a late soVware project only makes it later Informal Groups Groups that exist primarily for the bene?t of their members Reasons why informal groups exist: Innate drive to bond Social iden2ty -- we de?ne ourselves by group aZlia2ons Goal accomplishment Emo2onal support Self-Directed Teams Self-directed teams de?ned Cross-func2onal groups Organized around work processes Complete an en2re piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, Have substan2al autonomy over task decisions Success factors 1. Responsible for en2re work process 2. High interdependence within the team 3. Low interdependence with other teams 4. Autonomy to organize and coordinate work 5. Work site/technology support team communica2on/coordina2on Virtual Teams Members operate across space, 2me, and organiza2onal boundaries -- linked through informa2on technologies to achieve organiza2onal tasks Virtual Team Success Factors 1. Virtual team member characteris2cs 2. Toolkit of communica2on channels and freedom to choose channels that work best for them 3. Fairly high task structure 4. Opportuni2es to meet face-to-face Many DiHerent Teams Taskforce Self-managing teams Crews Platoons Cross func2onal teams Top management teams Quality circles Project teams Emergency response CommiHee Team EHectiveness Model Organization/Team Environment Reward systems Communica2on systems Organiza2onal structure Organiza2onal leadership Physical space © Chris Ryan/age fotostock Best Tasks for Teams - Team Design 1. Complex tasks divisible into specialized roles 2. Well-structured tasks – easier to coordinate 3. Higher task interdependence Team members must share materials, informa2on, or exper2se to perform their jobs Teams are usually beHer because high interdependence - Requires beHer communica2on/coordina2on and - Mo2vates team membership But teams less e/ec2ve if task goals di/er (e.g. serving di/erent clients) – use other coordina2ng mechanisms Levels of Task Interdependence High A Reciprocal B C A B C Sequential Shared Resource Pooled Low A B C Team Size Smaller teams are beHer because: Less process loss -- need less 2me to coordinate roles and resolve di/erences Require less 2me to develop More engaged with team – know members, more inCuence on the team Feel more responsible for team’s success But team must be large enough to accomplish task Team Composition Cooperating E/ec2ve team members must Share resources Accommodate others be willing and able to work on the team Conflict Resolving Coordinating E/ec2ve team members Diagnose conflict sources Align work with others possess speci?c competencies Use best conflict- Team Member Keep team on handling strategy Competencies track (5 C’s in diagram) Comforting Communicating Show empathy Share information Provide psych freely, efficiently, comfort respectfully Build confidence Listen actively Team Composition: Diversity Team members have diverse knowledge, skills, perspec2ves, values, etc. Advantages View problems/alterna2ves from di/erent perspec2ves Broader knowledge base BeHer representa2on of team’s cons2tuents Disadvantages Take longer to become a high-performing team Team Processes Team processes: refers to the interac2ons and ac2vi2es that occur within a team as it works towards it goal. Internal Team Processes Teamwork behaviour: Ac2vi2es that are devoted to enhancing the quality of interac2ons, interdependencies, coopera2on and coordina2on of teams Taskwork behaviour: E/orts devoted to understanding the task requirements, discovering the rules, establishing paHerns of interac2on , exchanging task-related informa2on, developing solu2ons to problems and so forth External Team Processes Team boundary spanning: Team ac2ons that establish or enhance linkages and manage interac2ons with par2es in the external environment. Team Roles and Transactive Memory Role: A set of behaviors that people expected to perform because they hold certain posi2ons in a team and organiza2on. Formal Team Roles and Informal Team Roles Transac've Memory system describes how task-relevant knowledge is distributed within a team and the collec2ve awareness of who knows what. Clearly de?ned and complementary strengths make for a stronger team but unless team members know who has what skill those skills might get wasted and lead to processes. Teams with more well-developed transac2ve memory systems outperform teams with less well- developed systems. Team Roles Roles : A set of expected behaviours of a person in a given posi2on in a social unit Role expecta2ons: How others believe a person should act in a given situa2on Role conCict: A situa2on in which an individual ?nds that complying iwht one role requirement may make it more diZcult to comply with another Role ambiguity: A person is unclear about his or her role Role overload: too much is expected of someone role underload too liHle is expected of someone, and that person feels that he or she is not contribu2ng to the group. Langton et al ( 2015) Team processes-Team Norms Informal rules and shared expecta2ons team establishes to regulate member behaviors Norms develop through: Ini2al team experiences Cri2cal events in team’s history Experience/values members bring to the team Preven2ng/Changing Dysfunc2onal Team Norms State desired norms when forming teams Select members with preferred values Discuss counter-produc2ve norms Introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunc2onal norms Disband teams with dysfunc2onal norms Team processes-Team Cohesion Team cohesion The degree of aHrac2on people feel toward the team and their mo2va2on to remain members Team cohesion is stronger/occurs faster with: Higher member similarity Smaller team size Regular/frequent member interac2on Somewhat diZcult team entry (membership) Higher team success More external compe22on/challenges Team Cohesion and Performance High cohesion teams usually perform beHer because: Mo2vated to maintain membership and achieve team objec2ves Share informa2on more frequently Higher coworker sa2sfac2on BeHer social support (minimizes stress) Resolve conCict more swiVly and e/ec2vely Con2ngencies of cohesion and performance 1. Task interdependence Cohesion mo2vates coopera2on; less important with low interdependence 2. Team norms consistent with organiza2onal objec2ves Cohesion mo2vates conformity to team norms Cohesion mo2vates LOWER performance if norms oppose company objec2ves Team EQcacy The collec2ve belief among team members if the team’s capability to successfully comple2ng a task is team e0cacy. Teams with high level of eZcacy outperform teams with lower level of eZcacy. High eZcacy leads to team members sehng ambi2ous goals, put forth greater e/ort, persist longer when faced with a challenge and view nega2ve feedback as an opportunity. Low team eZcacy leads to team members feeling apathy, uncertainty and a lack of direc2on. In teams with high eZcacy, individual team members are more likely to display coordina2on and coopera2ve type behavior. Three Levels of Trust High Identification-based Trust Knowledge-based Trust Calculus-based Trust Low © Victor Biro/Alamy Stock Photo 5 Stage Model of Team Development Stages of Team Development Forming Learn about each other; evaluate membership. Storming ConCict; members proac2ve, compete for roles. Norming Roles established; consensus around team objec2ves and team mental model. Performing EZcient coordina2on; highly coopera2ve; high trust; commitment to team objec2ves; iden2fy with the team. Adjourning Disbanding; shiV from task to rela2onship focus. Team Development: Forming Identities and Mental Models 1. Developing team iden2ty Viewing team as “us” rather than “them” Team becomes part of the person’s social iden2ty 2. Developing team mental models and coordina2ng rou2nes Forming habitual rou2nes with team members Forming shared/complementary mental models Team Building Formal ac2vi2es intended to improve the team’s development and func2oning Why is team building necessary? 1. Clarify team’s performance goals 2. Improve team’s problem-solving skills 3. Improve role de?ni2ons 4. Improve rela2ons Team Decision Making Constraints (1 of 2) Time constraints Time to organize/coordinate Produc2on blocking Evalua2on apprehension Reluctance to men2on ideas that seem silly because of belief of evalua2on by other team members Peer pressure to conform Suppressing opinions that oppose team norms Team Decision Making Constraints (2 of 2) Overcon?dence (inCated team eZcacy) Team eZcacy usually bene?cial (mo2vates performance) InCated team eZcacy - Outcomes: false sense of invulnerability, less vigilant decisions, less task conCict - Caused by: combina2on of past success and percep2on that success is caused by skill not chance Informa2on Sharing Problem Informa2on held by majority of group members has greater weight than informa2on held by minority members General Guidelines for Team Decisions Team norms should encourage cri2cal thinking SuZcient team diversity Checks/balances to avoid dominant par2cipants Maintain op2mal team size Introduce e/ec2ve team structures Team dynamics – video to watch hHps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM