Chapter 11: The Team Concept PDF

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 11 The Team Concept © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw...

Because learning changes everything. ® Chapter 11 The Team Concept © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.  Learning Objectives Describe the characteristics of a high-performance group Demonstrate and reinforce positive versus negative group member roles Know what the leader can do to develop communication, teamwork, and a one-team attitude © McGraw-Hill Education 2  The Team Concept Leadership is the ability to harness and channel the power of the group Leadership requires: Understanding of group behavior Ability to tap the constructive power of teams © McGraw-Hill Education 3  Excellent Teams, 1 Fully functioning groups and teams possess 12 key characteristics: Clear mission Informal atmosphere Lots of discussion Active listening Trust and openness © McGraw-Hill Education 4  Excellent Teams, 2 Disagreement is OK Criticism is issue-oriented and never personal Consensus is the norm Effective leadership Clarity of assignment Shared values and norms of behavior Commitment © McGraw-Hill Education 5  Positive versus Negative Group Member Roles Successful groups depends on: Individuals and what they choose to do The example and direction of leaders Modeling and reinforcing positive versus negative group member roles © McGraw-Hill Education 6  Roles That Build High-Performance Groups Encourager: Helps people make contributions to fulfill their potential Clarifier: Creates order out of chaos and replaces confusion with clarity Harmonizer: Brings together opposite points of view Idea generator: Suggests ideas that others do not Ignition key: Orchestrates and facilitates the group’s work Standard setter: Possesses knowledge and skills deemed important by the group Detail specialist: Searches for errors and omissions and keeps the group on red alert © McGraw-Hill Education 7  Roles That Reduce Group Success Ego tripper: Interrupts others, launches into long monologues, and is overly dogmatic Negative artist: Rejects all ideas suggested by others, takes a negative attitude on issues, argues unnecessarily, and refuses to cooperate Above-it-all person: Withdraws from the group and its activities by being aloof, indifferent, and excessively formal Aggressor: Attacks and blames others and shows anger or irritation against the group or individuals © McGraw-Hill Education 8  Roles That Reduce Group Success, 2 Jokester: Fools around most of the time and distracts the group from its business just to get a laugh Avoider: Does anything to avoid controversy or confrontation and is dedicated to personal security and self-preservation Power victim: Seeks negative attention and draws time and energy from the group © McGraw-Hill Education 9  Dealing with Problem Behavior, 1 Talking it over in a calm and patient way after individual has bad behavior Reporting observations uncritically Pointing out that it is recognized that the person wants to be successful but to reach that goal, he or she must take others into account Reporting how it made one feel and how others must feel if the behavior is irritating Asking why the person behaves as he or she does © McGraw-Hill Education 10  Dealing with Problem Behavior, 2 Avoiding counterattack if the person challenges, philosophizes, defends, or tries to debate one’s observations Helping the person understand that cooperating with others can be rewarding Confronting the person with the facts and consequences of the person’s negative behavior if he or she is closed-minded Letting the person know that his or her behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated if he or she does not respond to one’s efforts © McGraw-Hill Education 11  Designing Teams for Success Employees often work in task-focused teams of five to eight individuals Effective teams often have “slices of genius” from different cultures and work areas, gaining the benefits of synergy to generate creative business solutions Team size varies drastically depending on the environment Amazon uses the “two-pizza rule” – if two pizzas can’t feed a team, it is too large Microsoft’s ideal team size for software development is eight © McGraw-Hill Education 12  Figure 11.2: The Problem-Solving Cycle Jump to Figure 11.2: The Problem-Solving Cycle, Appendix © McGraw-Hill Education 13  Problem-Solving Styles Problem solving has four elements E: Having experiences R: Reflecting on results T: Building theories A: Taking action © McGraw-Hill Education 14  Points to Remember Concerning Problem-Solving Styles Steps in problem solving include having experiences, reflecting on results, building theories, and taking action Having a preference for more than one style of problem solving is possible Tolerance of differences is required when people with different styles of problem solving live or work together Most people have difficulty changing their problem-solving styles Organizations or groups need all four styles of problem solving © McGraw-Hill Education 15  Leader as Team Builder Team work is essential for group success Leaders in every endeavor know the power of the team concept for achieving results Effective leaders value teamwork as a virtue, and they demonstrate this by their own efforts as team builders and champions of the group “The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.” – Coach Knute Rockne © McGraw-Hill Education 16  Hiring and Developing Winners Leaders must: Recruit and develop team members who can perform successfully Commit to excellence and model this ideal personally Hire the best talent available and train and develop all other personnel Consider the interests of all, knowing effective performance is required Be cautious about labelling people based on their quality © McGraw-Hill Education 17  How to Create a High-Performance Team Effective leaders understand that individual competence will not result in a high-performance team An essential component is the leader’s ability to create a spirit of cooperation and a “one-team” attitude Thomas Edison’s approach was to assemble small teams of people who possessed high levels of knowledge and character, a desire to work, and a commitment to excellence © McGraw-Hill Education 18  How to Create a High-Performance Team, 2 Creating a spirit of cooperation and a one-team attitude Showing enthusiasm for the work of the group Making timely decisions based on agreed-upon goals Promoting open-mindedness, innovation, and creativity by personal example and a conducive work climate Admitting mistakes and uncertainties, modeling honesty as a virtue Being flexible in using a variety of tactics and strategies to achieve success © McGraw-Hill Education 19  How to Create a High-Performance Team, 3 Having persistence and lasting power Giving credit to others for the team’s accomplishments, meeting people’s needs for appreciation and recognition Keeping people informed about progress and problems Keeping promises and following through on commitments Training for success Putting others first and self last © McGraw-Hill Education 20  Characteristics of a Successful Team Clear, elevating goal Results-driven structure Competent team members Unified commitment Collaborative climate Standards of excellence External support and recognition Principled leadership © McGraw-Hill Education 21  Virtual Teams Virtual teams work best with structured tasks requiring only moderate levels of task interdependence Five requirements for global trends to work include: Senior management leadership support Effective use of communication technology An organization structure that supports global operations Trust and respect among team members Ability to capitalize on the strength of diverse cultures, languages, and people © McGraw-Hill Education 22  Figure 11.8: Stages in the Life of a Group Jump to Figure 11.8: Stages in the Life of a Group, Appendix © McGraw-Hill Education 23  Stage I: Forming The group is formed, but its purpose and members’ expectations are unclear Characterized by caution and tentative steps to test the water Individuals try to determine acceptable behavior and the nature of the group’s task, as well as how to deal with each other to get work done Interactions are superficial and tend to be directed toward the formal leader Skills and knowledge as a team are undeveloped © McGraw-Hill Education 24  Stage II: Storming Individuals react to what has been done, question authority, and feel comfortable being themselves Characterized by conflict and resistance to the group’s task and structure Members learn to deal with differences to work together to meet the group’s goals Groups that do not get through this stage successfully are marked by divisiveness and low creativity © McGraw-Hill Education 25  Stage III: Norming Norms of behavior are developed that are considered necessary for the group to accomplish its task Greater degree of order begins to prevail, and a sense of group cohesion develops Members identify with the group and develop customary ways for resolving conflict, making decisions, and completing assignments Members typically enjoy meetings and freely exchange information Productivity continues to increase as group skills and knowledge further develop © McGraw-Hill Education 26  Stage IV: Performing Payoff stage in the life of a group People are able to focus their energies on the task, having worked through issues of membership, purpose, structure, and roles Group is focused on solving problems and completing tasks Members take initiative, and their efforts emphasize results As the group achieves significant milestones, morale goes up and people have positive feelings about each other and the accomplishments of the group Each member takes on leadership roles as necessary © McGraw-Hill Education 27  Avoiding Groupthink As a group transitions between stage III and stage IV, there is a risk of falling into groupthink According to psychologist Irving Janis, groupthink: Refers to a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive group Occurs when members’ striving for unanimity overrides their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action © McGraw-Hill Education 28  Avoiding Groupthink, 2 Psychologist Irving Janis describes additional factors that when combined with cohesiveness can foster groupthink Highly insulated group with restricted access to external information Stressful decision-making context A combination of group cohesiveness, isolation, and stress, a group can arrive at decisions that are unsuccessful and possibly even catastrophic © McGraw-Hill Education 29  Symptoms of Groupthink Illusion of invulnerability Belief in the inherent morality of the group Rationalization Stereotypes of out-groups Self-censorship Direct pressure Mindguards – protecting the group from thoughts or ideas that may be disturbing Illusion of unanimity © McGraw-Hill Education 30  Techniques to Avoid Groupthink Assigning the role of critical evaluator to each member Adopting an impartial stance to encourage open discussion and impartial probing of a wide range of policy and problem-solving alternatives Setting up outside evaluators to work on the same policy question Having one member play devil’s advocate when the agenda calls for evaluation of decision or policy alternatives Holding a second-chance meeting to rethink the issue after reaching a preliminary consensus about what seems to be the best policy or decision © McGraw-Hill Education 31  Team-Building Interventions and Techniques The most common approach to team building is to grow over the normal course of time as the team responds to challenges and successfully performs its natural functions Team building can be enhanced by experiential strategies and activities Adventure and challenge experience can also effectively build relationships, develop group identity and increase team pride © McGraw-Hill Education 32  Team-Building Interventions and Techniques, 2 Questions that can be asked when discussing important issues Where have we been? Where are we now? What is our purpose or mission? What should be our goals? What are our values? Who are our stakeholders? What should be our strategy? What are the critical factors that define success? How should we work together to fulfill our potential? © McGraw-Hill Education 33  Appreciative Inquiry A positive and popular approach to team building developed at Case Western Reserve University that uses a “Four-D” model: Discovery Positive experiences, success stories, and best practices are shared Dreaming Open discussion and non-judgmental listening are important Designing Collective dialogue and agreement on a direction and course of action are included Delivering Action steps to achieve specific objectives are included © McGraw-Hill Education 34  The Role of the Leader in the Team Concept Success is enhanced if an organization understands and effectively manages five team processes: Buy-in How the work of the team is legitimized and goals are set Accountability How individual and team performance is managed and rewarded Learning How performance is improved and skills developed © McGraw-Hill Education 35  The Role of the Leader in the Team Concept, 2 Infrastructure How the work of the team is systemized and resources accessed Partnering How people interact and work together to achieve success on the team and across organizational units Leadership is a key factor in all five processes Teams perform most successfully when their leader facilitates the work of the group © McGraw-Hill Education 36  The Role of the Leader in the Team Concept, 3 For optimum results, leaders should: Coordinate the group Advocate for the team across the organization Access needed resources and processes Ensure that results are supported by, and meaningful to, the organization © McGraw-Hill Education 37  Team Dynamics Five dysfunctions lethal for team Five traits of highly effective success: teams: Trust one another Absence of trust Engage in unfiltered conflict Fear of conflict around ideas Lack of commitment Commit to decisions and plans Avoidance of accountability of action Inattention to results Hold one another accountable Focus on the achievement of collective results © McGraw-Hill Education 38  The Human Side of Team Effectiveness Research continues on the subject of team effectiveness In 2012, Google launched a study, code name Project Aristotle, to learn why some teams stumbled and others soared Psychological safety, more than anything else, is critical to team success On good teams, people feel free to speak in roughly the same proportion, a phenomenon referred to as equality in the distribution of conversational turn-taking Good teams have high average social sensitivity © McGraw-Hill Education 39  End of Main Content Because learning changes everything. ® www.mheducation.com © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.