understanding work teams

UNDERSTANDING WORK

TEAMS

9-2

WHY ARE TEAMS SO POPULAR?

• Increased competition forced restructuring for efficiency and effectiveness• Teams:

– Better utilize employee talents– Are more flexible and responsive to change– Democratize and motivate

WHY HAVE TEAMS BECOME SO POPULAR?• Great way to use employee talents• Teams are more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment• Can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband• Facilitate employee involvement• Increase employee participation in decision making• Democratize an organization and increase motivation• Note: teams are not ALWAYS effective

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 10-3

Chapter 9 4©Prentice Hall, 2001

THE POPULARITY OF TEAMS

Performance Efficiency

JobSatisfaction

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS AND TEAMS

• Work Group– A group that interacts primarily to share information and to

make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility

– No joint effort required

• Work Team– Generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. The

individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 10-5


Share information

Neutral (may be negative)

Individual

Random and varied

Goal

Synergy

Accountability

Skills

Collective performance

Positive

Individual and mutual

Complementary

Work Groups Work Teams

Comparing Work Groups and Work Teams


STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Prestage I Stage IForming

Stage IIStorming

Stage IIINorming

Stage IVPerforming

Stage VAdjourning

9-8

FOUR TYPES OF TEAMS

9-9

PROBLEM-SOLVING TEAMS• Members often from the same department• Share ideas or suggest improvements• Rarely given authority to unilaterally

implement any of their suggested actions• Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the

same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment

9-10

SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS• 10-15 employees in highly-related jobs

• Team takes on supervisory responsibilities:

– Work planning and scheduling– Assigning tasks– Operating decisions/actions– Working with customers

• May select and evaluate members• Effectiveness is situationally dependent

9-11

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS• Members from same level, but diverse areas within and

between organizations• Exchange information• Develop new ideas and solve problems• Coordinate complex projects• Development may be time-consuming due to complexity

and diversity

9-12

VIRTUAL TEAMS• Computer technology ties

dispersed team together

• Special challenges:– Less social rapport– More task-oriented– Members less satisfied

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

A TEAM-EFFECTIVENESS

MODEL

E X H I B I T 10–3


KEY ROLES OF TEAMS

E X H I B I T 10–4

9-15

TURNING INDIVIDUALS INTO TEAM PLAYERS

• Selection – Need employees who have the interpersonal as well as technical skills

• Training – Workshops on problem-solving, communications, negotiation, conflict-management and coaching skills

• Rewards – Encourage cooperative efforts rather than individual onesRework the reward system to encourage cooperative efforts rather than competitive (individual) onesContinue to recognize individual contributions while still emphasizing the importance of teamwork

BEWARE! TEAMS AREN’T ALWAYS THE ANSWER

Teams take more time and resources than does individual work.• Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:

1. Is the work complex and is there a need for different perspectives: will it be better with the insights of more than one person?

2. Does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the group that is larger than the aggregate of the goals for individuals?

3. Are members of the group involved in interdependent tasks?

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 10-16


Challenges ofCreating Team Players

IndividualPreferences

WorkEnvironments

NationalCulture


REINVIGORATINGMATURE TEAMS

Preparation RefresherTraining

AdvancedTraining

ConstantLearning


ContinuousImprovement

WorkforceDiversity

Contemporary Team Issues

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS

• Extent of Teamwork– Other countries use teams more often than does the U.S.

• Self-Managed Teams– Do not work well in countries with low tolerances for ambiguity and uncertainty

and a high power distance

• Team Cultural Diversity and Team Performance– Diversity caused by national differences interferes with team efficiency, at least in

the short run– After about three months the differences between diverse and non-diverse team

performance disappear


9-21

IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS

Common characteristics of effective teams:– Have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of

trust, and suitable reward system

– Composed of individuals with technical and interpersonal skills

– Work provides freedom, autonomy, and opportunity to use skills

– Members are committed to a common purpose


TEAMS AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT• Team Effectiveness and Quality Management Requires that Teams:

1. Are small enough to be efficient and effective.2. Are properly trained in required skills.3. Are allocated enough time to work on problems.4. Are given authority to resolve problems and take corrective action.5. Have a designated “champion” to call on when needed.

SUMMARY AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS• Effective teams have common characteristics:

– Adequate resources– Effective leadership– A climate of trust– Appropriate reward and evaluation systems– Composed of members with correct skills and roles– Are smaller– Do work that provides freedom, autonomy, and the

chance to contribute– The tasks are whole and significant– Have members who believe in the team’s capabilities

• Managers should modify the environment and select team-oriented individuals to increase the chance of developing effective teams


THANKYOU

understanding work teams

Documents