Organizational Teams (Chapter 11) : Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, COMS 404
Organizational Teams (Chapter 11) : Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, COMS 404
Organizational Teams (Chapter 11) : Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, COMS 404
Consider what you know about teams, team work, organizational teams, and the ways people interact on the job. Reflect on your personal experiences as a team member.
Face it, teams are a part of organizational life. Teams are small groups (3-9 people) who are INTERDEPENDENT, committed to one another, and are mutually accountable We study teams because they are so essential in the functioning of organizations They impact individuals, too! Learning to effectively understand, and work within, teams will help your career
Relational Communication
Decision Making
Norms
Cohesiveness
Diversity
Satisfaction
Stress
Stuckness
Characteristics of teams
Relationships are formed that help employees feel more connected to the team Individuals receive support from others to face difficult challenges The team provides opportunities for members to demonstrate leadership abilities Teams allow us to test ideas before making them public
Poor relationships exist. Primary provoker Secondary provoker Avoiding or accommodating those instigating the conflict Dysfunctional relationships have many implications (page 212)
Relational Communication
Think about it
Explore the information about dysfunction on page 212.
The process the team goes through to make decisions is critical to its success. The way in which team members talk about issues affects the way they think about these issues, which, in turn, determines the quality of the choices they make as a team. Negative actions have a greater ability to disrupt the teams performance than do positive actions to make the team successful.
cromwellhaus.com
Decision Making
Norms
Norms are the informal rules that teams establish to govern their activities and behaviors. The norms that become a part of the teams culture are made up of shared values, beliefs, rituals, and stories about the team.
Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness is the degree to which members feel connected to the team. The more these linkages are identified and reinforced, the greater the team cohesiveness. Cohesiveness = positive outcomes
Think about it
Consider your organization this semester. What are some norms and how were they developed?
Diversity
Surface diversity (demographics) Direct task related/informational diversity (differences in education, technical, functional, applied backgrounds) Homogenous teams have advantages and disadvantagesbe aware of these Cross-cultural teams have the potential to be the most successful, given the diversity of ideas and contributions they can generate.
Satisfaction means the team feels it has accomplished its task and members have been recognized individually for their contributions. Rewards Social needs Impact of teams on our behaviors and attitudes
Satisfaction
Think about it
Consider your last team. Identify satisfaction and potential impacts.
www.pptbackgrounds.net
Working with others requires coordination and compromise resulting in conflict and consequently results in stress created by the desire to perform and the strain of negotiating with others.
Stress can be created by violating team norms Teams or individuals can experience stress Several types of team stressors exist: Team training load Team workload Team size Team cohesion Goal structure
Stress
Think about it This can be a tricky concept. Examine when stuckness has been harmful and when it has been helpful in your own experiences.
Stuckness occurs when the team is unable to break a pattern of behavior that keeps it from moving forward, it continues to make the same mistakes.
Sometimes the team tends to repeat old patterns of interaction and behavior instead of confronting the opposing forces or beliefs within the team and finding connections between them. This is a situation where changing old norms might be helpful rather than harmful.
Stuckness
There are 4 major types of organizational teams (Cohen & Bailey, 1997)
Management teams coordinate and provide direction to sub-units under their jurisdiction, laterally integrating interdependent sub-units across key business processes (p. 243).
Work teams are continuing work units responsible for producing goods or providing services (p. 242).
Parallel teams pull together people from different work units or jobs to perform functions that the regular organization is not equipped to perform well (p. 242).
Types of teams
One important element of the survival and effectiveness of teams is their connection with the relevant environment, according to Gladstein Acona (1990), who set forth three basic leadership strategies for connecting the team to the environment.
Informing strategy
Know these three basic leadership strategies for connecting the team to the larger environment
SMWTs are gaining popularity They are sometimes called self-directed Teams have responsibility for their own work Set own tasks Monitor own behavior Can increase employee commitment, competence, productivity, problem-solving, and satisfaction
Think about it
SMWTs are prime organizational contexts for double-loop (generative) learning (chapter 6)
Envisioning involved the creation of new and compelling visions, which involves generating ideas and defining goals. Organizing includes the coordination of the many elements that are connected to the teams tasks, which involves attention to deadlines, efficiency, and structure. Spanning deals with the connection of the teams activities with the important constituents in the relevant environment, which includes networking, securing resources, and being politically aware. Social behaviors include concern for the social and psychological needs of the team members, which includes interpreting and paraphrasing, using humor, and mediating conflicts.
A virtual team is a group that works across space, time, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technologies (Lipnack & Stamps, 1997, p. 7).
Virtual teams
They have a clear and engaging direction. The basic work is designed to be done by a team Team rewards (not individual or mixed rewards) are strongly associated with team effort. Physical resources are readily available. The team, not the leader, has the authority to make decisions over basic work strategies. The team can articulate clear goals The team establishes norms that promote strategic thinking.
Superb teams
Ineffective teams
Fail to meet customer needs Deteriorate over time Alienated, dissatisfied members
Effective teams
Team size
As size increases, so does diversity of thought, values, backgrounds, personality that can lead to misunderstandings Lack of commitment to interdependence can lead to lack of understanding about team benefits Some team members are more interested in individual, not group, goals Misunderstandings also come about when team members accept what they perceive to be common goals and processes in an effort to avoid conflict this is known as GROUPTHINK
Team interdependence
Common goals
Consider the positive and negative elements of team conflict. How can you maximize the positive and minimize the negative?
Use the concepts in this chapter to examine the organization you are following. Can you locate information about teams and collaboration for that organization? What does this information tell you?
Organizational Teams