Top Performance through Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communication

Chapter

9

LO 9.1 Describe why and how organizations empower employees.

LO 9.2 Distinguish among the five types of teams in the workplace.

LO 9.3 Identify the characteristics of an effective team and summarize the stages of team development.

LO 9.4 Relate cohesiveness and norms to effective team performance.

Learning Objectives

LO 9.5 Describe the factors that cause conflict in teams and ways to manage conflict.

LO 9.6 Explain the importance and process of effective communication.

LO 9.7 Compare the different types of communication.

LO 9.8 Explain external communication and methods of managing a public crisis.

Empowerment: Giving employees shared authority, responsibility and decision-making with their managers

Sharing information and decision-making authority Keeping them informed about company’s financial

performance

Giving them broad authority to make workplace decisions

Empowering Employees

Employee stock ownership plans Gives employees stock ownership, leading to

potential profits as the value of the firm increases.

Motivates employees to work smarter and harder so can share in firm’s financial success.

Stock options Right to buy a specified amount of company

stock at a given price within a given time period. Being offered more frequently to employees at all

levels. Approximately one-third of all options go to the

top five executives at a firm.

Linking Rewards to Company Performance

Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Stock Options

Team: A group of people with certain skills who share a common purpose, approach, and performance goals Mutually responsible and accountable for

accomplishing objectives. Ability to work on teams often emphasized

during the hiring process. Work teams: Relatively permanent groups

of employees with complementary skills who perform the day-to-day work of organizations Two-thirds of firms use work teams.

Teams

Five Types of Teams

Team size Can range widely, but most have fewer than 12

members. Ideal size is usually six or seven members.

Team level and team diversity Team level: The team’s average level of

ability, experience, personality, or any other factor

Team diversity: The team’s differences in ability, experience, personality, or any other factor

Team Characteristics

Stages of Team Development

Consensus about the leader’s role develops during the ________ stage.

a. forming b. storming c. norming d. adjourning  

Test Your Knowledge

Consensus about the leader’s role develops during the ________ stage.

a. forming b. storming c. norming d. adjourning  Answer: C

Test Your Knowledge

Team cohesiveness: The extent to which team members feel attracted to the team and motivated to remain part of it

Increases when members interact frequently, share common attitudes and goals, and enjoy being together.

Cohesive teams quickly achieve high levels of performance and consistently perform better.

Team-building retreats are sometimes used to encourage cohesiveness and improve member satisfaction and retention.

Team norm: A standard of conduct shared by team members that guides their behaviour. Can be positive (contributing to accomplishment of goals)

or negative (contributing to reduced work effort/quality, poor job attendance).

Team Cohesiveness and Norms

Which situation is most likely to undermine team cohesiveness?

a. Team members genuinely like each other. b. Team members share common goals. c. Team members are unsure of the team’s mission. d. Team members have similar attitudes toward work. 

Test Your Knowledge

Which situation is most likely to undermine team cohesiveness? a. Team members genuinely like each other. b. Team members share common goals. c. Team members are unsure of the team’s mission. d. Team members have similar attitudes toward work.

 Answer: C

Test Your Knowledge

Conflict: The outcome when one person’s, or one group’s, needs do not match those of another, and one side may try to block the other side’s intentions or goals

Cognitive conflict: A disagreement that focuses on problem- and issue-related differences of opinion Reconciling these differences strongly improves team

performance

Affective conflict: a disagreement that focuses on individuals or personal issues

Team leaders should facilitate good communication so that teammates respect each other and work cooperatively.

Team Conflict

Communication: A meaningful exchange of information through messages

Managers spend 80 percent of their time in direct communication with others.

Company recruiters rate effective communication as the most important skill they’re looking for in hiring new employees.

The Importance of Effective Communication

The Process of Communication

Encoding a message includes

a. providing a feedback loop. b. translating meaning into

understandable terms.c. choosing a context.d. processing interference. 

Test Your Knowledge

Encoding a message includes

a. providing a feedback loop. b. translating meaning into

understandable terms.c. choosing a contextd. processing interference. Answer: B

Test Your Knowledge

Communication in low-context cultures tends to rely on explicit written and verbal messages. Canada, United States, Switzerland, Germany, Austria

Communication in high-context cultures depends not only on the message itself but also on the conditions that surround it, including nonverbal cues, past and present experiences, and personal relationships between the parties. Japan, Latin America, India

The Process of Communication

Basic Forms of Communication

An important part of oral communication is listening

Cynical (defensive) listening: Receiver of a message feels that the sender is trying to gain some advantage from the communication.

Offensive listening: Receiver tries to catch the speaker in a mistake or contradiction.

Polite listening: Receiver listens mechanically to be polite rather than to communicate.

Active listening: Requires involvement with the information and empathy with the speaker’s situation

the basis for effective communication

Oral Communication

Channels include reports, letters, memos, online discussion boards, social media, e-mails, and text messages

Effective written communication reflects its audience, the channel carrying the message, and a suitable degree of formality

E-mail is a very effective communication channel Volume Security Retention

Written Communication

Flows within the chain of command

Downward communication Upward communication Open and honest

communication is key

Formal Communication

With open communication, employees feel free to express opinions, offer suggestions, and even voice complaints.

Seven Characteristics of Open Communication: Employees are valued High level of trust exists Conflict is invited and resolved positively Creative dissent is welcomed Employee input is solicited Employees are well-informed Feedback is ongoing

Formal Communication

Informal communication channels carry messages outside formally authorized channels

Organizations becoming more decentralized/global; informal communication provides an important source of information

Grapevine: is an internal information channel that passes information from unofficial sources Main drawback is gossip; spreads misinformation, weakens

morale

Informal Communication

Nonverbal communication transmits messages through actions and behaviours.

Gestures, posture, eye contact, tone and volume of voice, and even clothing choices are all nonverbal actions that become communication cues.

Have a far greater impact on communications than many people realize.

Can show a person’s true feelings and thoughts; receivers tend to believe nonverbal cues when they conflict with verbal ones

Nonverbal Communication

External communication: A meaningful exchange of information through messages sent between an organization and its major audiences

Customers, suppliers, firms, general public, government officials

Every communication with customers should create goodwill.

Communication during crisis: Respond quickly. Put top company management in front of news media. Stick to the facts. When you don’t know, offer to find out. Recognize the existence of a problem. Speak briefly and clearly.

External Communication