Work Teams Lecture 17 PDF

Group/Team and Work Understanding Work Teams Lecture 17 Università Tor Vergata Organizational Behaviour Agenda Definition and Importance of Work Teams The Nature of a Team Types of Teams Teamwork Activities Ho...

Group/Team and Work Understanding Work Teams Lecture 17 Università Tor Vergata Organizational Behaviour Agenda Definition and Importance of Work Teams The Nature of a Team Types of Teams Teamwork Activities How to Make Teams More Effective 2 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Definition and Importance of Work Teams A group of people who come together to use their complementary skills to achieve a common purpose for which they are collectively accountable Work teams are important in organizations for various reasons, including: 1. Improving performance: Teams can enhance productivity and efficiency by combining the skills and knowledge of multiple individuals 2. Increasing employee participation: Teams can promote employee engagement and involvement in decision- making processes 3. Identifying and solving work-related problems: Teams can effectively address and resolve issues by pooling their collective knowledge and expertise 4. Achieving better industrial relations: Teams can improve employee communication and collaboration, leading to better working relationships 5. Improving product quality: Teams can contribute to higher-quality products by leveraging their members' diverse skills and expertise 6. Reducing production costs: Teams can help streamline processes and optimize resource utilization, leading to cost savings 7. Increasing work flexibility: Teams can adapt more quickly to changing circumstances and respond to new challenges 8. Speeding up innovations: Teams can foster creativity and innovation by encouraging collaboration and exchanging ideas 9. Facilitating the adoption of new technologies: Teams can facilitate adopting and implementing new technologies within an organization 10.Meeting the challenge of global competition: Teams can help organizations stay competitive in the global market by fostering innovation and adaptability 3 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour The Nature of a Team Characteristics A group of people holding themselves collectively accountable for using complementary skills to achieve a common purpose 1. Collective accountability: Team members share responsibility for achieving the team's goals and are accountable for the team's performance. 2. Complementary skills: Team members possess diverse skills and expertise that complement each other, enabling the team to accomplish tasks more effectively. 3. Common purpose: Teams have a clear and shared objective that guides their actions and decisions. 4. Collaboration: Team members work together, share information, and support each other to achieve a common purpose. 5. Interdependence: Team members rely on one another to complete tasks and achieve the team's goals. 6. Mutual trust: Team members trust each other's abilities and intentions, fostering a positive and supportive working environment. 7. Effective communication: Teams have open and honest communication channels that facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. 8. Conflict resolution: Teams can address and resolve conflicts constructively, ensuring that disagreements do not hinder progress toward the common purpose. 9. Adaptability: Teams can adjust to changing circumstances and respond effectively to new challenges and opportunities. 10. Continuous improvement: Teams regularly evaluate their performance and seek ways to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency 4 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour The Nature of a Team Differences between Groups and Teams The terms 'group' and 'team' are often used interchangeably but differ in performance results A work group's performance is a function of its members’ actions. In contrast, a team's performance includes both individual results and collective work products, which reflect the joint, real contribution of team members Group members may work independently and focus on their tasks. Team members work collaboratively, share a common goal, and rely on each other's complementary skills to achieve that goal Teams require more than task work (individuals interacting with tools, machines, and systems). They also need teamwork, which involves coordinating and cooperating through a shared understanding of members' knowledge, skills, and experiences to achieve team objectives 5 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Types of Teams Problem-solving Teams Problem-solving teams are formed to address specific organizational issues or challenges. Their primary purpose is to analyze problems, identify their root causes, and develop effective solutions to resolve them Characteristics: 1. Diverse expertise: Members of problem-solving teams often possess different skills and knowledge, which allows them to approach the problem from various perspectives and develop well-rounded solutions 2. Temporary nature: These teams are usually formed for a limited time to address a particular issue and disband once the problem is resolved 3. Clear objectives: Problem-solving teams aim to address and resolve the issue at hand 4. Collaborative approach: Team members work together, share information, and support each other in problem- solving 5. Effective communication: Open and honest communication is essential for problem-solving teams to ensure that all perspectives are considered, and the best solution is developed 6. Decision-making: Problem-solving teams often decide the best course of action to address the issue based on their analysis and proposed solutions 6 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Types of Teams Self-managed Work Teams Self-managed work teams are groups of employees empowered to make decisions and manage themselves daily. They replace traditional work units and assume duties previously performed by a manager or first-line supervisor Characteristics: 1. Shared responsibilities: Team members collectively take on the responsibilities of their former supervisor, such as planning and scheduling work, assigning tasks, training, performance evaluation, and quality control 2. Multiskilling: Team members are expected to perform many different jobs, even all the team's jobs, as needed. This allows for greater flexibility and adaptability within the team 3. Decision-making authority: Self-managed work teams have the authority and responsibility to make essential decisions, set work schedules, order materials, and coordinate with other teams 4. Cross-training: All team members are trained in various job functions, ensuring they can effectively contribute to the team's goals and adapt to changing circumstances 5. Team size: A self-managing team typically includes between 5 and 15 members, which is large enough to provide a mix of skills and resources but small enough to function efficiently 6. Improved performance: Self-managed work teams are expected to result in productivity and quality improvements, production flexibility, faster response to technological change, reduced absenteeism and turnover, and improved work attitudes and quality of work life However, self-managing teams may not be suitable for all organizations, work situations, and people. They require a proper setting and a great deal of management support to be effective 7 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Types of Teams Cross-functional Teams Cross-functional teams are composed of employees from different functional departments who come together to complete a specific task within a finite time. Their purpose is to combine diverse expertise to achieve a more informed and well-rounded outcome, break down functional boundaries, improve coordination and integration, and increase the speed and flexibility of responses to customers Characteristics: 1. Representative nature: Team members usually retain their positions in their 'home' functional departments while working on the cross-functional team 2. Temporary: Cross-functional teams have a finite life, disbanding once their task is completed, even if it takes years to achieve 3. Innovative: These teams are established to solve non-conventional problems and meet challenging performance standards 4. Diverse expertise: Cross-functional teams bring together employees with different skills and knowledge, allowing for a more comprehensive approach to problem-solving and decision-making 5. Improved coordination and integration: Organizations can enhance coordination and integration across departments by forming teams with people from different functional areas 6. Enhanced communication: Cross-functional teams can improve communication by spanning boundaries between functions, leading to better overall outcomes 8 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Types of Teams Virtual Teams Virtual teams are individuals working together through computer-mediated communication, overcoming geographical distance and time constraints. Virtual teams bring together people with diverse expertise, regardless of location, to collaborate on projects, share information, make decisions, and complete tasks efficiently and effectively Characteristics: 1. Geographically dispersed: Team members can be located in different cities, countries, or even continents, collaborating through various communication technologies 2. Technology-dependent: Virtual teams rely on communication tools such as email, video conferencing, instant messaging, and collaborative software to interact and work together 3. Flexible work schedules: Virtual team members often have flexible work schedules due to time zone differences, allowing them to collaborate effectively across different time zones 4. Limited face-to-face interaction: Virtual teams primarily communicate through electronic means, which can limit the role of emotions and nonverbal cues in the communication process 5. Structured tasks: Virtual teams may work best when tasks are structured and the work is less interdependent 6. Effective: Successful virtual team leaders focus on establishing clear goals, roles, and communication norms, ensuring that team members are engaged and heard from during virtual meetings, and monitoring team progress through technology 9 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Types of Teams Multiteam Systems Multiteam systems involve multiple teams working together towards a common goal or project. Multiteam systems aim to leverage multiple teams' strengths and expertise to achieve greater outcomes than a single team could accomplish Characteristics: 1. Collaboration: Multiteam systems require high levels of collaboration and coordination among teams Communication, information sharing, and joint problem-solving are critical components of success 2. Interdependence: Teams in a multiteam system are interdependent, meaning that one team's work affects the other teams' work. This requires a high level of trust and mutual respect among team members 3. Complexity: Multiteam systems are often complex and dynamic, requiring teams to adapt to changing circumstances and work together in new and innovative ways 4. Leadership: Effective leadership is essential for multiteam systems to succeed. Leaders must be skilled at managing the interdependencies between teams, facilitating collaboration, and aligning goals and objectives 5. Diversity: Multiteam systems often involve teams with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. This diversity can lead to increased creativity and innovation but also requires careful management to leverage differences effectively 10 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Teamwork Activities The Big Five teamwork activities 1. Team leadership: It involves the leader's ability to guide and structure team experiences to facilitate coordinated adaptive action. The leader creates and maintains a shared mental model, monitors the environment so the team can respond to changes, and establishes performance expectations. This enables effective teamwork, team problem-solving, and member motivation 2. Mutual performance monitoring: Team members keep track of each other's work while doing their own to ensure procedures are correctly followed, and mistakes are avoided or corrected. This is based on a shared understanding of tasks and responsibilities and an open, trusting climate. The associated mechanisms include identifying mistakes and providing feedback and backup behavior to allow self-correction 3. Backup behavior: It involves allocating resources and task-related effort to another team member when there is a workload distribution problem. The associated mechanisms include providing feedback and coaching to improve their performance, assisting a teammate to perform their task, and performing the team member's task for them. This assists teammates when their workload exceeds capacity by shifting their work to underutilized team members 4. Adaptability: Teams readjust their activities appropriately when deviations from expected actions have been recognized. The associated mechanisms include identifying cues signaling that the situation has changed, considering the implications, and developing a new plan to deal with the new circumstances. This allows teams to respond to unexpected demands, such as those requiring innovation or resulting from failure 5. Team orientation: This is an attitudinal preference for placing team goals above individual goals and taking others' behavior into account when interacting with them. The associated mechanisms include providing feedback about team success and cooperation, focusing on workload sharing, communication, and accountability expectations, and creating norms for cooperative behavior through reward systems. This increases cooperation and coordination among team members to increase task involvement, information sharing, and mutual goal 11 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Teamwork Activities Co-located teamwork Co-located teamwork  Teamwork in which team members work in the same physical location, such as a shared office or workspace. This type of teamwork offers several advantages over distributed teams that work remotely from different locations Advantages: 1. The ease of communication and collaboration. Team members can easily communicate face-to- face, share ideas, and work together in real time. This can lead to greater team cohesion and a more efficient work process, as issues can be resolved quickly without time-consuming online communication 2. More informal interactions among team members, such as impromptu brainstorming sessions or water cooler conversations. These informal interactions can lead to greater creativity, innovation, and camaraderie among team members 3. Help to build trust among team members. When team members work in the same physical location, they can better get to know each other personally and develop a deeper understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. This can lead to a more effective and efficient work process, as team members can rely on each other to complete tasks and make decisions Disadvantage 1. Team members may be prone to distractions or interruptions from colleagues, reducing productivity and focus 12 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour Teamwork Activities An Ecological Framework for analyzing work team effectiveness A perspective that looks at teams as embedded within their organizations and emphasizes the interactions between a team and the different aspects of its environment (Sundstrom, De Meuse, and Futrell) Dependent Variable: Team effectiveness: team's performance and viability as the outcome of team development and organizational context, mediated by the team's boundaries Independent variables: 1. Organizational context: This refers to the features of an organization that are external to the work team but relevant to how it operates. It comprises eight features: organizational culture, task design and technology, mission clarity, autonomy, performance feedback, rewards and recognition, training and consultation, and physical environment 2. Team development: This variable focuses on the interpersonal processes, norms, cohesion, and roles within a team. A team needs to coordinate and integrate the contributions of its members to achieve effectiveness Mediators: 1. Boundaries: These differentiate one team from another, present real or symbolic barriers to access or transfer of information, goods, or people, and define what constitutes effectiveness for the team within its particular organizational context Team's effectiveness is dynamically interrelated with the organizational context, boundaries, and team development, making it an ongoing process rather than a fixed end-state 13 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour How to Make Teams More Effective Context Context plays a significant part in determining team success Key factors: 1. Adequate resources: Teams rely on resources outside the group to sustain them, and a scarcity of resources can directly reduce their ability to perform effectively and achieve their goals. Support from the organization, such as timely information, equipment, adequate staffing, encouragement, and administrative assistance, is crucial for team performance 2. Leadership and structure: Teams need leadership and structure to function effectively, either from management or team members. Agreeing on the specifics of work and integrating individual skills requires leadership. In multiteam systems, leaders must empower teams by delegating responsibility and facilitating teamwork among different teams 3. Climate of trust: Trust among team members is essential for effective teamwork. It facilitates cooperation, reduces the need to monitor each other's behavior, and bonds members around the belief that others on the team won't take advantage of them. Trust is also the foundation of leadership, allowing a team to accept and commit to its leader's goals and decisions 4. Performance evaluation and reward systems: A performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions are important for team success. The organization's reward system must be reworked to encourage cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones, ensuring that team members are recognized and rewarded for their collective achievements 14 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour How to Make Teams More Effective Team Composition Team composition plays a crucial role in determining the success of a team Key factors: 1. Competencies: A team should have members with the necessary skills and abilities to complete the assigned tasks. Combining individual competencies should complement and contribute to the team’s overall performance 2. Personalities: The personality traits of team members can significantly impact team dynamics. It is essential to have a mix of personalities that can work well together, fostering a positive and collaborative environment 3. Allocation of roles: Proper role allocation is crucial for a team's success. Assigning roles based on members' strengths and abilities ensures that tasks are completed efficiently and effectively, leading to better overall team performance 4. Diversity: A diverse team can bring different perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the table, leading to more innovative solutions and better decision-making. Diversity can include age, gender, ethnicity, and educational background 5. Size: The size of a team can impact its effectiveness. Smaller teams tend to be more agile and can make decisions more quickly, while larger teams may have more resources and a broader range of skills. However, larger teams can also face challenges related to communication and coordination 6. Members’ Preferences: Considering team members' preferences for teamwork can contribute to a more positive and productive work environment. When individuals are comfortable with their roles and the team's dynamics, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to their success 15 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour How to Make Teams More Effective Team Processes Team processes play a vital role in determining the success of a team Key factors: 1. Common plan and purpose: Effective teams analyze their mission, develop goals to achieve that mission, and create strategies for achieving the goals. Teams that consistently perform better have established a clear sense of what needs to be done and how 2. Specific goals: Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and performance goals. Specific facilitate clear, help teams maintain their focus on getting results, and should be challenging to raise performance 3. Team efficacy: Effective teams have confidence in themselves and believe they can succeed. This confidence, known as team efficacy, motivates them to work harder. Successful teams raise their beliefs about future success, motivating them to work harder 4. Mental models: Teams with shared mental models have a common understanding of how the team functions, each member, and the team's objectives. This shared understanding helps to improve communication, coordination, and overall team performance 5. Conflict levels: A managed level of conflict can be beneficial for teams, as it can lead to better decision-making and problem- solving. However, excessive conflict can hinder team performance. Effective teams balance healthy debate and maintaining positive relationships among team members 6. Social loafing: Social loafing occurs when individuals reduce their effort when working in a team. Effective teams minimize social loafing by ensuring each member's contribution is visible and valued and holding members accountable for their performance 16 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini Organizational Behaviour How to Make Teams More Effective Turning Individuals into Team Players Turning individuals into effective team players is crucial for team success Key factors: 1.Selecting: Hiring team players - Some people already possess the interpersonal skills to be effective team players. When hiring, it is essential to ensure that candidates can fulfill their team roles and technical requirements. Managers can choose not to hire candidates who lack team skills or assign them to tasks that don't require teamwork. Training can help candidates develop the necessary skills to become team players 2.Training: Creating team players - Training programs can help employees develop the skills required for effective teamwork, such as problem-solving, communication, negotiation, conflict management, and coaching. Workshops and exercises can help employees experience teamwork satisfaction and improve their team skills 3.Rewarding: Providing incentives to be a good team player - An organization's reward system should encourage cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones. By reworking the system to recognize and reward team contributions, organizations can motivate individuals to become better team players and contribute to the team’s overall success 17 Dipartimento di Management e Diritto Prof. Luca Gnan Prof. Giulia Flamini