Teamworking Introduction to Work Psychology PDF, Manchester 1824, 2024

TEAMWORKING BMAN10872 INTRODUCTION TO WORK PSYCHOLOGY Dr Lina Siegl, University of Manchester Alliance Manchester Business School [email protected] The good and bad of teams “When you see a problem and don’t say anything, you cease to be a team member and become a passenger” Why Do Work Te...

TEAMWORKING BMAN10872 INTRODUCTION TO WORK PSYCHOLOGY Dr Lina Siegl, University of Manchester Alliance Manchester Business School [email protected] The good and bad of teams “When you see a problem and don’t say anything, you cease to be a team member and become a passenger” Why Do Work Teams Fail? ⚫ Your Experience? ⚫ 2 minutes to think about a team you were in that wasn’t as successful or satisfying as it could be ⚫ Why did it fail? Note down the reasons The good and bad of teams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKwI6KOHjM Intended learning outcomes ⚫ Understanding of the positive and negative aspects of teamworking ⚫ Insight into the factors that influence team effectiveness ⚫ Knowledge of methods for improving team effectiveness Overview ⚫ The nature of groups and teams ⚫ Benefits and failures of teamworking ⚫ Factors that influence effectiveness of teams – IPO Model ⚫ Developing better teams What is a team? “A team is a group whose members have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose or set of performance goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Kaila, 2006) Comparing Work Groups & Teams Key features of teams ⚫ Characteristics of work teams (West, 2012) 1. Shared objectives 2. Members work interdependently to meet goals 3. Mutual accountability 4. Ideally has authority, autonomy, and resources to meet goals 5. Ideally team member roles are defined NHS Teams and outcomes ⚫ From annual NHS survey (>100,000) ⚫ Question asked ‘Do you work in a team?’ If yes … – Does your team have clear objectives? – Do you have to work closely together to achieve these objectives? – Do you meet regularly to review your team effectiveness and how it could be improved? Types of NHS Teams ⚫ Based on answers to three questions in survey if work in a team: – Pseudo III: all ‘no’ to three criteria (clear objectives, work closely, review) – Pseudo II: any one ‘yes’ to three criteria – Pseudo I: any two ‘yes’ to three criteria – Real Team: all ‘yes’ to three criteria ⚫ Forms continuum of team working from low (Pseudo III to moderate (Pseudo I) to high (Real Team) Team Working and Job Satisfaction Job Satisfaction 3.90 3.70 3.50 3.63 (0.64) 3.34 (0.72) 3.30 3.24 (0.68) 3.10 2.93 (0.74) 2.90 2.76 (0.73) 2.70 2.50 Not Working in Team Pseudo III Pseudo II Pseudo I Real team Types of Team Working Patterns N = 120,000 Teamwork ⚫ Teamwork pertains to the collaborative efforts performed by a team towards a common goal ⚫ Teamwork is an extremely common work practice – Around 75% of UK workplaces have at least some employees in formally-designated teams – Evidence that trend towards using teams is growing Do teams work better? ⚫ Team effectiveness can be judged on – – – – Productivity Creativity/innovation Decision making Team member well-being 1. Team productivity ⚫ Delarue et al. (2008) review of quantitative research shows that teamworking is associated with improved behavioural, operational, and financial performance ⚫ Birdi et al. (2008) track HRM practices and financial performance over 22 years – productivity increases not evident until 6-9 years after implementing teamworking Team pathologies: Social loafing ⚫ A reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared to when they work by themselves (Karau & Williams, 1993) – Affects decision-making and also performance more broadly ⚫ Diffusion of responsibility in groups (‘hiding in the crowd’) ⚫ Social loafing less likely – When individual performance seen as crucial to group performance – When excellent group performance leading to valued outcomes – When individuals are make accountable for their personal inputs and performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nzCEGN8eJM 2. Creativity/innovation ⚫ Research has been largely consistent in finding that a group of individuals will generate more ideas overall if they each work separately and combine their ideas than if they try to generate ideas as a group ⚫ The quality of ideas generated by individuals is at least as good as that generated by groups ⚫ In other words, teams are not always as creative as you may think… Team pathologies: Production blocking ⚫ When one person is talking, other people in the team should be listening – Impedes generation of ideas – May distract and make people forget their ideas – Unable to make an input ⚫ Issue gets worse, the bigger the team size ⚫ Two-person teams found to produce highest quantity and quality of ideas Overcoming production blocking ⚫ Brainstorming: – A creativity-stimulating technique in which prior judgements and criticisms are specifically forbidden from being expressed and thus inhibiting free flow of ideas Good guidelines for brainstorming ⚫ For ideal brainstorming conditions … 1) Always come up with ideas individually 2) Avoid criticising other ideas until all suggestions are out on the table 3) Share even wild suggestions 4) Offer many suggestions and comments as possible 5) Build on others’ suggestions to create your own 3. Team decision-making ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Different perspectives can be valuable Can build on each others’ ideas and strengths Opportunity for correction of mistakes BUT… more time-consuming, and may be susceptible to some ‘pathologies’ ⚫ Group decision making is generally better than that of the average member of the group, but not as good as that of the most competent member of the group Team pathologies: Groupthink ⚫ Poor group decision-making that occurs when team members are more concerned to achieve agreement than to find best solution (Janis, 1982) ⚫ Most prevalent in groups that – – – – Are highly cohesive (e.g., non-diverse) Have strong leadership Have high pressure to find a solution Are isolated from outside influences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA Team pathologies: Groupthink ⚫ Groupthink occurs when members are more concerned with maintaining group harmony and arriving at a decision, rather than finding the best solution Examples of groupthink Example Definition “Don’t ask, don’t question” Group members censor themselves (refuse to ask probing questions, withhold disagreement”) “You must conform” Group member pressures others to withhold dissent “We all agree” Group members press on with making decisions under the (false) perception that everyone else agrees – due to dissenter silence? “We’re on a mission” Group members frame arguments in terms of what’s right for the group decisions – “moral/ethical” decisions? “Masters of the world” Group members come to believe that the group is totally in command of the mission and can do anything Overcoming groupthink ⚫ It is possible to avoid groupthink by having structured decision-making and rotating team members to increase external contact ⚫ Devil’s Advocate Approach: – Appoint a particular person to prepare counterarguments that list what is wrong with group’s favoured solution and why they should not adopt it/improve upon it – Aim is to ensure full, objective consideration of solution 4. Well-being ⚫ People generally like teamworking – Delarue et al. (2008) review shows that teamworking is associated with improved affective performance – Interventions to introduce teamworking lead to long-term job satisfaction and better well-being (e.g., Wall & Clegg, 1981) ⚫ Positive effects may be the result of increased autonomy and/or social support – Both factors are associated with better well-being Team pathologies: Bullying, ostracism ⚫ If team members are supportive, working in a team is likely to benefit members’ well-being ⚫ But, if one team member is sidelined or picked on, this can be very damaging When should we use teams? ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Difficult and complex tasks Varied demands or high uncertainty Multiple tasks, interdependent tasks Tasks that require varied skills When staff want opportunities for development and learning Summary of teamwork advantages and disadvantages Aspect Beneficial or detrimental? Possible pathology Productivity Teamwork associated with improved behavioural, operational, and financial Productivity, but maybe after period of time Social loafing Creativity Research suggests people generate more/better ideas individually Production blocking Decision-making Group decision-making is generally better than that of the average group member, but not as good as the most competent member of the group Groupthink Well-being People generally like working in teams. Feel greater autonomy and social support Bullying, ostracism Factors that influence team effectiveness ⚫ McGrath (1984) proposes a way of understanding how teams work Stage Meaning Input Refers to characteristics of the team and its members (“who”) Process Refers to how the team operates and the sorts of interactions that occur within the team (“how”) Outcome Refers to outcomes of the team, e.g., for decisionmaking, performance, well-being The IPO model Team roles Team diversity Inputs Processes Cohesiveness Conflict Psychological safety Team development Productivity Creativity/Innovation Decision-making Well-being Outputs Inputs: Belbin’s (1981) team roles Role Attributes Chair/ Coordinator Controlling team progress, gets all to contribute Strengths: Command respect, inspire enthusiasm, communication Weaknesses: Creativity? Shaper Shaping team effort, Strengths: Drive, self-confidence attention to goals Weaknesses: Intolerance of vague ideas Plant Advancing new ideas Strengths: Independence, imagination Weaknesses: Tendency towards impracticality Monitor Evaluator Analysing problems, evaluating ideas Strengths: Critical thinking, objectivity Weaknesses: Too critical? Implementer Turning ideas into practice, carrying out plans efficiently Strengths: Self-discipline, realism Weaknesses: Lack of flexibility and openness to new ideas Inputs: Belbin’s team roles Role Attributes Team worker Supporting other Strengths: Flexibility, popularity, good team members, listening skills maintains team spirit Weaknesses: Avoids friction and competition Resource investigator Exploring ideas, external contacts Completer finisher Hard working, Strengths: Sense of purpose, attention to orderly, focus on task detail Weaknesses: Intolerance of casual approaches Expert/Tech Provides specialist specialist knowledge Strengths: Outgoing, inquisitive Weaknesses: Can lose interest in later stages Strengths: Knowledge Weaknesses: Contribution is narrow Inputs: Team diversity ⚫ Diversity can refer to “any attribute people use to tell themselves that another person is different” (Williams & O’Reilly, 1998) – Can include age, gender, experience, technical knowledge, etc … ⚫ Inconsistent findings for heterogeneity in teams – Can be negative for processes like cohesiveness and conflict – Can lead to positive performance – more information, skills, and perspectives (Polzer & Swann, 2002) ⚫ Kandola (1995) says diverse teams have greater potential to be effective, but conflict may inhibit potential from being fulfilled The IPO model Team roles Team diversity Inputs Processes Cohesiveness Conflict Psychological safety Team development Productivity Creativity/Innovation Decision-making Well-being Outputs Process: Cohesiveness ⚫ Where group members share similar beliefs, values, and objectives ⚫ Better cooperation and group member well-being ⚫ Linked to better performance (e.g., Gully et al., 1995) ⚫ BUT detrimental for decision-making (Mullen et al., 1993) – Cohesive groups are more susceptible to groupthink Process: Conflict ⚫ Jehn (1995) distinguishes between – Task conflict. Conflict based on the task being performed – Relationship conflict. Conflict based on interpersonal relations ⚫ While relationship conflict can damage performance and well-being, task conflict can improve performance if the team is working on a non-routine task ⚫ Need for ‘constructive controversy’ – Elaborating views, asking questions, integrating perspectives Process: Psychological Safety Psychological Safety – the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. (Edmondson, 1999; Edmondson & Lei, 2014) ⚫ employees share information and knowledge and better decision making (Collins & Smith 2006). ⚫ suggestions for organizational improvements (Detert & Burris 2007). ⚫ taking initiative to develop new products and services (Baer & Frese 2003). ⚫ enables team learning (Edmondson 1999) and performance (Schaubroeck et al. 2011). 38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2PaZ8Nl2T4 Process: Team development ⚫ A broad approach to trying to improve the effectiveness of teams ⚫ When team development is successful, it can have huge positive impact – US Airways Hudson River landing attributed to effective teamworking, learned during Crew Resource Management programme designed to train team skills (NTSB, 2010) – Participation in team training for surgical teams is associated with lower mortality rates in 74 facilities (Neily et al., 2010) Team development fails Eagle Star Insurance had employees walk across a bed of hot coals to improve team ‘bonding’ https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/training-and-coaching-dont-play-with-fire/ Ericsson staged a hijacking to improve team reactions to stress "This is a regrettable incident, and we feel bad about the disturbance caused to the police," spokesman Lars Stalberg said. “The mistake was not giving notice to the police." Types of team development intervention ⚫ Shuffler et al. (2011) highlight the importance of interventions being based on theory and evidence, rather than ad hoc – This can make the difference between successes and failures ⚫ They distinguish two main forms of intervention – Team building – Team training Team building Description Emphasis When is it useful Set of strategies to improve interpersonal relations Klein et al. (2009) propose four types of team building: (i) Trust exercises (ii) Goal-setting (iii) Role clarification (iv) Problem solving -To address breakdowns in team cohesion -To improve trust and confidence in team members -To improve communication -To reduce relationship conflict Team building Team training Description Set of strategies based on theory to build team competencies Emphasis When is it useful Aim is to identify knowledge, skills, abilities necessary for good performance in the team, then to practice and perfect these -To improve team performance outcomes -To improve cognitive outcomes (e.g., shared knowledge among team members) -To improve team decision making Team training example ⚫ Crew Resource Management (CRM) ⚫ Focus not on technical KSAs but on team KSAs including communication, situational awareness, problem solving, and decision making – Training in the cognitive and interpersonal skills needed to manage resources within an organised system Effectiveness of team building and team training ⚫ From Shuffler et al. (2011), based on Salas et al. (2008) and Klein et al. (2009) Summary ⚫ Teams can have numerous potential benefits ⚫ To ensure reaching their potential, organisations need to ‘get it right’ in terms of team diversity and team processes ⚫ Team building and team training development initiatives may also prove useful – Team building better for aiding team processes and affective outcomes – Team training better for aiding performance and cognitive outcomes Next Week’s Lecture ⚫ Leadership 49