behavioural science mba 3

8/12/2019 Behavioural Science Mba 3

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BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

MODULE 1


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Organizations consist of groups of people. Agroup is a collection of individuals.

Within an organization, groups might consistof project-related groups such as a productgroup or division or they can encompass anentire store or branch of a company.

The performance of a group consists of theinputs of the group minus any process lossessuch as the quality of a product, ramp-up time

to production, or the sales for a given month. Process lossis any aspect of group interaction

that inhibits group functioning.


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Moreover, teams also tend to be defined by

their relatively smaller size.

For instance, according to one definition, A

team is a smallnumber of people withcomplementary skills who are committed to a

common purpose, performance goals, and

approach for which they are mutuallyaccountable.


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The key properties of a true team

include collaborative actionwhere, along with

a common goal, teams have collaborativetasks.

Conversely, in a group, individuals are

responsible only for their own area. They alsoshare the rewards of strong team

performance with their compensation based

on shared outcomes.

Compensation of individuals must be based

primarily on a shared outcome, not individual

performance.


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Members are also willing to sacrifice for thecommon goodin which individuals give up

scarce resources for the common good instead

of competing for those resources. For example, teams occur in sports such as

soccer and basketball, in which the individuals

actively help each other, forgo their ownchance to score by passing the ball, and win or

lose collectively as a team.


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The purpose of assembling a team is to accomplishlarger, more complex goals than what would be

possible for an individual working alone or even thesimple sum of several individuals workingindependently.

Teamwork is also needed in cases where multiple skillsare tapped or where buy-in is required from severalindividuals.

Working together to further a team agenda seems toincrease mutual cooperation between what are oftencompeting factions.

The aim and purpose of a team is to perform, getresults, and achieve victory in the workplace.

The best managers are those who can gather togethera group of individuals and mold them into an effectiveteam.


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Designing Effective Teams

Designing an effective team means makingdecisions about team composition (who shouldbe on the team), team size (the optimal numberof people on the team), and team diversity(should team members be of similar background,such as all engineers, or of different

backgrounds). Answering these questions will depend, to a large

extent, on the type of task that the team will beperforming.

Teams can be charged with a variety of tasks,from problem solving to generating creative andinnovative ideas to managing the daily operationsof a manufacturing plant.


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A key consideration when forming a team is toensure that all the team members

are qualifiedfor the roles they will fill for theteam.

This process often entails understanding theknowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of teammembers as well as the personality traitsneeded before starting the selection process.

In addition to task knowledge, research has

shown that individuals who understandconcepts such as conflict resolution,motivation, planning, and leadership actuallyperform better on their jobs.


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Research has shown that regardless of team size,the most active team member speaks 43% of the

time. The difference is that the team member who

participates the least in a three-person team isstill active 23% of the time versus only 3% in a 10-

person team. The relationship between team size and

performance seems to greatly depend on thelevel of task interdependence, with some studies

finding larger teams out producing smaller teamsand other studies finding just the opposite.

The bottom line is that team size should bematched to the goals of the team.


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Team composition and team diversityoften gohand in hand.

Teams whose members have complementaryskills are often more successful because memberscan see each others blind spots.

One team members strengths can compensatefor anothers weaknesses.

For example, consider the challenge thatcompanies face when trying to forecast futuresales of a given product.

Workers who are educated as forecasters havethe analytic skills needed for forecasting, butthese workers often lack critical informationabout customers.


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Salespeople, in contrast, regularlycommunicate with customers, which means

theyre in the know about upcoming customerdecisions.

But salespeople often lack the analytic skills,discipline, or desire to enter this knowledge

into spreadsheets and software that will helpa company forecast future sales.

Putting forecasters and salespeople together

on a team tasked with determining the mostaccurate product forecast each quarter makesthe best use of each members skills and

expertise.


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Teams in Organizations

The use of teams began to increase because

advances in technology have resulted in morecomplex systems that require contributions frommultiple people across the organization.

Overall, team-based organizations have more

motivation and involvement, and teams can oftenaccomplish more than individuals.

The early 1990s saw a dramatic rise in the use ofteams within organizations, along with dramatic

results such as the Miller Brewing Companyincreasing productivity 30% in the plants thatused self-directed teams compared with thosethat used the traditional organization.


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This same method allowed Texas Instruments

in Malaysia to reduce defects from 100 parts

per million to 20 parts per million. In addition, Westinghouse reduced its cycle

time from 12 weeks to 2 weeks, and Harris

Electronics was able to achieve an 18%reduction in costs.

The team method has served countless

companies over the years through bothquantifiable improvements and more subtle

individual worker-related benefits.


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Companies such as Square D, a maker of circuit

breakers, switched to self-directed teams and

found that overtime on machines like the punchpress dropped 70% under teams.

Productivity increased because the setup

operators were able to manipulate the work in

much more effective ways than a supervisor

could dictate.

In 2001, clothing retailer Chicos FAS was looking

to grow its business. The company hired ScottEdmonds as president, and two years later

revenues had almost doubled from $378 million

to $760 million.


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By 2006, revenues were $1.6 billion, and

Chicos had nine years of double-digit same-store sales growth. What did Edmonds do to

get these results?

He created a horizontal organization ruled byhigh-performance teams with real decision-

making clout and accountability for results,

rather than by committees that pass decisionsup to the next level or toss them over the wall

into the nearest silo.


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TASKS OF TEAMS

As early as the 1970s, J. R. Hackman identifiedthree major classes of tasks: (1) production tasks,(2) idea generation tasks, and (3) problem-solvingtasks.

Production tasksinclude actually makingsomething, such as a building, a product, or a

marketing plan. Idea generation tasksdeal with creative tasks,

such as brainstorming a new direction or creatinga new process.

Problem-solving tasksrefer to coming up withplans for actions and making decisions, bothfacets of managerial P-O-L-C functions (planningand leading).


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For example, a team may be charged with

coming up with a new marketing slogan,which is an idea generation task, while

another team might be asked to manage an

entire line of products, including makingdecisions about products to produce,

managing the production of the product lines,

marketing them, and staffing their division.

The second team has all three types of tasks

to accomplish at different points in time.


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Goals Of Teams

Typical team goals are improving quality, reducingcosts, and meeting deadlines.

Teams also have a stretch goal, which is difficult toreach but important to the business unit.

Many teams also have special project goals. TexasInstruments (TI), a company that makes

semiconductors, used self-directed teams to makeimprovements in work processes.

Teams were allowed to set their own goals inconjunction with managers and other teams.

TI also added an individual component to the typicalteam compensation system. This individual componentrewarded team members for learning new skills thatadded to their knowledge.


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These knowledge blocks include topics suchas leadership, administration, and problemsolving.

The team decides what additional skills peoplemight need to help the team meet itsobjectives.

Team members would then take classes orotherwise demonstrate their proficiency inthat new skill on the job to be certified for

mastering the skill. Individuals could then be evaluated based on

their contribution to the team and how theyare building skills to support the team.


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Initiative, expertise, decisiveness, years of

experience, a strong point of view and a laser-

like focus on results The employees and leaders on whom you

most depend exhibit these qualities.

Yet when these talented individuals joinforces on a leadership team or a high-profile

project team, their personal strengths dont

always mesh effectively to deliver on mission-

critical goals.

Too often, bad teams happen to high

performers.


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High-performance teams depend on a shared mission,vision and values to align their personal interests,harness their collective expertise and focus their

individual efforts. They establish clear roles and responsibilities - plus a

framework for making decisions and resolvingconflicts. Most important, they commit to an

environment of trust. Members of high-performance teams:

Demonstrate a blend of professional expertise andpersonal credibility

Hold themselves and each other accountable for thebroader impact of their actions, foregoing "turf wars"

Are skillful, candid communicators, balancing advocacywith openness to others ideas.


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TEAM VISION and MISSION:

Vision Statements and Mission Statements are the inspiring

words chosen by successful leaders to clearly and conciselyconvey the direction of the organization.

By crafting a clear mission statement and vision statement,you can powerfully communicate your intentions andmotivate your team or organization to realize an attractive

and inspiring common vision of the future. "Mission Statements" and "Vision Statements" do two

distinctly different jobs.

A Mission Statement defines the organization's purposeand primary objectives.

Its prime function is internalto define the key measure ormeasures of the organization's successand its primeaudience is the leadership team and stockholders.


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Vision Statements also define theorganizations purpose, but this time they do

so in terms of the organization's values ratherthan bottom line measures (values are guidingbeliefs about how things should be done.)

The vision statement communicates both the

purpose and values of the organization. For employees, it gives direction about how

they are expected to behave and inspires

them to give their best. Shared with customers, it shapes customers'

understanding of why they should work withthe organization


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LIFE CYCLE OF A TEAM:

Dr Bruce Tuckman published his Forming Storming NormingPerforming model in 1965.

He added a fifth stage, Adjourning, in the 1970s. The FormingStorming Norming Performing theory is an elegant and helpfulexplanation of team development and behaviour

Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and

ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadershipstyle.

Beginning with a directing style, moving through coaching, thenparticipating, finishing delegating and almost detached.

At this point the team may produce a successor leader and theprevious leader can move on to develop a new team.

This progression of team behaviour and leadership style can beseen clearly in the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum - theauthority and freedom extended by the leader to the teamincreases while the control of the leader reduces.


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The Rationale Behind Team Building ProgramsThe goal of team building activities is typically tonurture cognizance of the esprit de corps and to

boost loyalty to the teams apportioned goals andtargets.

The appropriate way utilized, these activities canstrengthen robust interpersonal relationshipswhich aid to bond the team nearer together.

The aim of team improvement shouldincorporate the support of individual team

members to collaborate together in the teamsworkplace environment, mingling and combiningskills into a combined effort so that eachindividuals goal accomplishment is plugged into

the greater overall team goal accomplishment.


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TEAM ROLES:

Meredith Belbin studied team-work for many

years, and he observed that people in teamstend to assume different "team roles."

He defined a team role as "a tendency tobehave, contribute and interrelate with othersin a particular way" and named nine suchteam roles that underlie team success.

Belbin suggests that, by understanding your

role within a particular team, you can developyour strengths and manage your weaknessesas a team member, and so improve how youcontribute to the team.


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Teams can become unbalanced if all team

members have similar styles of behavior or

team roles. If team members have similar weakness, the

team as a whole may tend to have that

weakness. If team members have similar team-work

strengths, they may tend to compete (rather

than co-operate) for the team tasks andresponsibilities that best suit their natural

styles.


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Belbin identified nine team roles and he

categorized those roles into three groups:

Action Oriented, People Oriented, and ThoughtOriented. Each team role is associated with

typical behavioral and interpersonal strengths.

Belbin also defined characteristic weaknessesthat tend to accompany each team role.

He called the characteristic weaknesses of team-

roles the "allowable" weaknesses; as for any

behavioral weakness, these are areas to be aware

of and potentially improve.

The nine team-roles are:


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Action Oriented Roles

Shaper (SH)Shapers are people who challenge the team to

improve. They are dynamic and usually

extroverted people who enjoy stimulatingothers, questioning norms, and finding the

best approaches for solving problems.

Their potential weaknesses may be thatthey're argumentative, and that they may

offend people's feelings.


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Implementer (IMP)

Implementers are the people who get thingsdone. They turn the team's ideas and concepts

into practical actions and plans.

They are typically conservative, disciplinedpeople who work systematically and efficiently

and are very well organized. These are the people

who you can count on to get the job done.

On the downside, Implementers may be inflexible

and can be somewhat resistant to change.


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Completer-Finisher (CF)Completer-Finishers are the people who see that

projects are completed thoroughly.

They ensure there have been no errors oromissions, and they pay attention to the smallest

of details. They are very concerned with deadlines, and will

push the team to make sure the job is completedon time. They are described as perfectionists who

are orderly, conscientious, and anxious. However, a Completer-Finisher may worry

unnecessarily, and may find it hard to delegate


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Team Worker (TW)Team Workers are the people who provide

support and make sure that people within theteam are working together effectively.

These people fill the role of negotiators withinthe team and they are flexible, diplomatic, and

perceptive. These tend to be popular people who are very

capable in their own right, but who prioritizeteam cohesion and helping people getting along.

Their weaknesses may be a tendency to beindecisive, and to maintain uncommittedpositions during discussions and decision-making.


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Thought Oriented Roles

Plant (PL)

The Plant is the creative innovator who comesup with new ideas and approaches.

They thrive on praise, but criticism isespecially hard for them to deal with.

Plants are often introverted and prefer towork apart from the team. Because their ideasare so novel, they can be impractical at times.

They may be poor communicators and cantend to ignore given parameters andconstraints.


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Monitor-Evaluator (ME)Monitor-Evaluators are best at analyzing and

evaluating ideas that other people (oftenPlants) come up with.

These people are shrewd and objective, andthey carefully weigh the pros and cons of allthe options before coming to a decision.

Monitor-Evaluators are critical thinkers andvery strategic in their approach.

They are often perceived as detached orunemotional. Sometimes they are poormotivators, who react to events rather thaninstigating them


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Specialist (SP)

Specialists are people who have specializedknowledge that is needed to get the job done.

They pride themselves on their skills andabilities, and they work to maintain their

professional status. Their job within the team is to be an expert in

the area, and they commit themselves fully to

their field of expertise. This may limit their contribution, and lead to a

preoccupation with technicalities at theexpense of the bigger picture.


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FIRO Theory

FIRO (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations

Orientation) is a comprehensive and widely-used theory of interpersonal relations created

by Will Schutz, Ph.D., and introduced in 1958

in the book FIRO: A Three-Dimensional Theoryof Interpersonal Behavior.

Schutz originally devised the theory to

measure and predict the interaction betweenpeople for the purpose of assembling highly

productive teams.
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FIRO Team Role Description

Clarifier

Presents issues or solutions for clarification,

summarizes discussion, introduces new members

to the team, keeps team members up to date,provides the group with facts and data.

Tension-Reducer

Helps move the team along by joking or clowning

at appropriate moments, redirects the group at

tense moments, builds on common interests in

the group.


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Individualist

Is not an active team player, sees meetings asunnecessary or distracting, may work on other tasks or

hold side conversations during meetings, may notfollow through or cooperate with group decisions.

Director

Pushes for action and decision-making, may interrupt

others or monopolize the air-time in meetings, maybe unrealistically optimistic about what can beaccomplished.

Questioner

Seeks orientation and clarification, is a constructivecritic of the team and its members, may use questionsto postpone closure or decisions.


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Rebel

Struggles to establish a position within the group,may criticize others, challenges the status quo,

may refuse to comply with group decisions,provides alternative ideas but may have difficultywith follow-through.

Encourager

Builds the ego or status of others, is friendly,responsive, warm, diplomatic, may sacrifice thetruth to maintain good relationships.

Listener

Maintains a participatory attitude and interestnonverbally, is involved in group goals, showsinterest by receptive facial and bodilyexpressions.

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Cautioner

Expresses concern about the direction of thegroup, relays doubts about the success of

initiatives planned, shows reluctance to get sweptup in group energy, provides careful analysis ofpotential problems, may play devils advocate.

Initiator Suggests procedures or problems as discussion

topics, proposes alternative solutions, is the idea

person, actively encourages others to share in

discussions. EnergizerUrges the team toward decision-making,

insists on covering the agenda, prods the team toaction.


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Opinion-Giver

States a belief or opinion on all problems and issues, offerspredictions based on past experiences, worksindependently from the group, does not try to become partof the leaders inner circle.

Harmonizer

Agrees with the group, reconciles opposing positions,

understands, complies, and accepts. Consensus-Tester

Checks for agreement, brings closure to discussions,confronts unacknowledged feelings in the group, wants tobuild a close-knit, powerful team.

Task-Master Tries to keep the group focussed on its central purpose and

required outcomes, ignores social chitchat, believes thatthe team members do not have to like each other to do the

job, reminds the group that this is business, not a family.

behavioural science mba 3

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