organizational behavior week 4: managing teams. 2 class agenda: teams and teamwork in organizations ...
Post on 19-Dec-2015
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Organizational Behavior
Week 4:
Managing Teams
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Class agenda: Teams and Teamwork in Organizations
Defining teams & their role in orgs Advantages and disadvantages of teams Teams: Their elements and roles Leadership in teams Challenges to teams
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1. Defining teams and their role in organizations
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What is a team?
“A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
Katzenbach and Smith: “The Discipline of Teams”
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The team concept is central to the design of the modern
horizontal organization
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Top Management
TeamTeamProcessCoordinators
TeamTeamProcessCoordinators
TeamTeamProcessCoordinators
New product development process
Order fulfillment process
Procurement, logistics process
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Read your way to a better team!
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What kinds of teams exist? Executive teams Off-line problem-solving teams
Task forces Quality circles; safety; productivity
On-line production teams E.g., NUMMI, Saturn
Cross-functional process teams Product development
Boundary-spanning (Chrysler) Strategic planning Customer service (e.g., Xerox)
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One type of winning team…
(borrowed from the New York Times; photo by Vincent Laforet)
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… and another:
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2. Advantages and disadvantages of teams
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What is so good about teams?
Complementary skills and experiences Greater flexibility Motivation – fun, energizing, and commitment Lowered resistance to change Empowered people Improved coordination & cooperation Improved accountability & responsibility Superior decision-making
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Teams contributions to organizational effectiveness:• Cost savings (labor, materials) • Productivity • Quality (quality circles)• Customer service• Product development (“skunk works”)• Process development (NUMMI)
• Speed and cycle time• Safety• Decreased absenteeism and turnover
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Teams are key to Southwest Air’s fast turnarounds
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What are the downsides to teamwork?
Inefficiency; slow to produce results Coordination costs (mutual adjustment) Increased uncertainty and risk Accountability & responsibility problems (free
riders) Politics, division, stalemate Groupthink
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The myth of the executive team
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Teams were a bad fit for Levi’s
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Congruence in the design of teams People
Do people have the experience, training, & motivation necessary for teamwork?
Culture Is there a culture of participation & empowerment?
Leadership Is there genuine buy-in from top management? Is management heroic or developmental? Coaches or bosses?
Tasks Are tasks and technology designed for teamwork?
Formal structure Are job designs & reporting hierarchies adapted to teamwork?
Formal systems Are information systems designed for teamwork? Are appraisal and pay systems designed for teamwork?
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3. Elements of teams and roles in teams
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Designing teamsThe set-up Clear goals & well-defined performance objectives Task interdependence (meshing of roles) Appropriate size
The structure Thorough training Right mix of group and individual incentives Diversity, in skills and demographics
The resources Authority/empowerment Sufficient material resources (e.g., space) Access to information
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Roles that enhance team process: Facilitator: Moderator of group process. Makes sure the group stays on
target and points out issues that may derail the group. Not the decision maker (the group is), so does not have final say on any decision.
Timekeeper: In charge of making sure the group stays on track (e.g., you don’t stay up until 4:00am working on a marketing project).
Recorder: In charge of taking notes. Effectively, the “group memory”, charged with ensuring that good ideas are not lost.
Comic relief: Self-appointed position; usually the person with the worst PowerPoint or Excel skills. Helps the group keep a sense of humor about the fact that it is 4:00am & you have just started phase II of the project that is due at 8:20am. (Please note that the timekeeper & facilitator should be shot for this.)
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Roles that impair team process
Blocker: Stubbornly resists all attempts by the team to move ahead, is constantly negative, and frequently returns to rejected issues & ideas
Recognition seeker: Calls attention to him/herself by boasting and acting as if he or she were superior
Bully/dominator: Manipulates the team to pursue his/her agenda; interrupts others; tries to gain attention
Avoider: Isolated; passive resister
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And now, our feature presentation ...
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Instrumental (task-oriented) actions Initiating: Stating the goal or problem,making proposals
“Let’s set up an agenda..” Seeking information or opinions:
“What do you think would be the best approach to this, Jack” Providing information and opinions:
“I worked on a similar problem last year, and..” Clarifying: Helping one another understand ideas and suggestions
“What you mean, Sue, is that we could…” Elaborating: “Building on Don’s idea, we could…” Summarizing: Reviewing points covered & ideas expressed so decisions
are made on full information Appointing a recorder to take notes
Consensus testing: Testing if group is near decision or needs to continue discussion “Is the group ready to decide about this…”
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Maintenance/expressive actions Harmonizing: Mediating conflict, reconciling differences, relieving
tensions “Don, I don’t think you and Sue really see the question that
differently.”
Compromising: Admitting error at times of conflict “Well, I’d be willing to change if you provided some help on…”
Gate-keeping: Making sure all members have a chance to express ideas and feelings “Sue, we haven’t heard from you on this issue.”
Encouraging: Helping a member make his or her point; creating climate of acceptance “I think what you started to say is important, Jack. Please
continue.”
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Functional teams: Process attributes Openness: Members encourage flexibility, experimentation, and creativity
Empathy: Members attempt to listen and to understand each other’s views and values
Equality: Members respect the positions of others and no one is made to feel inferior
Spontaneity: Members express ideas freely and honestly without hidden motives
Problem orientation: Members openly discuss mutual problems without rushing to give solutions or insist on agreement
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Dysfunctional teamsProcess Attributes
Evaluation: Members’ manner of speech, tone of voice, or verbal content is perceived as critical or judgmental of others
Control: Communication is perceived as an attempt to manipulate or dominate the recipient
Strategems: Members are seen as operating from hidden motives, playing games, feigning emotion, withholding information, or having private access to sources of data
Superiority: Members convey an attitude of condescension toward others
Dogmatism: Members insist that their own points are best and try to foist them on the team
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Which describes Dilbert’s world
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4. Leadership in teams
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Leadership roles Ask questions Get the group to solve problems Promote real participation Help resolve conflict Train others Provide positive reinforcement Encourage high performance goals Tell the truth, even when it’s disagreeable Act as liaison with higher management
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L
L
L
L
L = Leader
Start - up
Transitional
Experienced
Mature
C. Manz & H. SimsBusiness Without BossesJohn Wiley, 1993
Leaders are most important in the early stages ofteam development
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How dysfunctional leaders arise Formal leader abdicates
authority
Criticisms become personal
Divergent team goals (revenge, bigotry, disinterest, time)
Low information flow
No rules of engagement, etc
Bad time management
Decision biases
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Leading a dysfunctional team Adopt a Socratic leadership
style
Attack data and logic, not persons
Don’t polarize others in group against you
Remain calm
Don’t reveal an explicit position that can be attacked – appear neutral
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5. Challenges to teams
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The value of diversity and dissent (Based on Charlan Nemeth’s jury research)
Exposure to minority viewpoints, even when they’re wrong, stimulates divergent thought and a search for information on both sides. Leads to better performance and decision-making, more creativity. Downsides are: conflict, low morale, persecution of minorities
How about role playing at dissent: The devil’s advocate? Doesn’t work. Need an authentic minority. Devil’s advocates can
reinforce the convictions of the group.
We profit from people with whom we disagree. But we don’t give them credit – we get angry.
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The problem of groupthinkDefinition: When members fail to disagree, to bring up doubts and fears, or to
bring up information that contradicts the team’s decision. Suddenly, they are going in a direction that makes no one happy simply because no one wants to cause conflict.
Components: Illusion of invulnerability Rationalizations collectively devised to discount negative feedback Unquestioning belief by members in team’s inherent morality and stereotyped
negative views of external detractors Direct pressure on any individual who expresses doubts about the team’s
shared illusions or questions validity of the majority view Reluctance to deviate from what appears to be team consensus despite
misgivings, and tendency to minimize personal doubts Escalation of commitment
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Are teams or individuals better at decision-making?
Teams make more accurate decisions than their average member greater likelihood of detection of error greater memory of facts greater probability that someone will know the right
answer Teams bring together a greater diversity of skills,
information, knowledge, points of view Teams, especially diverse teams, tend to be more
creative People are more likely to accept a decision when
they are involved in the decision-making process
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Key points to remember
Just any old group of people is not a team Teams are not always the answer To ensure success, teams must be
carefully designed and supported Being a good team member requires effort Leading teams is tricky business
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Training for teamwork Meeting skills, time management Conflict management Problem-solving, TQM Group dynamics, team building Change management Coaching and feedback skills Business knowledge (e.g., customer service)
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Outward Bound and similar team-building programs may help Break down status and role distinctions Foster real interdependence & cooperation Cognitive dissonance builds commitment
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Thursday
Lecture tie-up, business Prepare case: “The team that wasn’t” Project team discussions