Organizational behavior 4th by MShean chap009

9

Foundations of
Team Dynamics
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Teamwork In the Securities Industry
Paul Tramontano (2nd from
left) and other professionals
in the securities industry
have formed teams to better
serve clients. Tramontano
heads a 12-person team
(called the Topeka Wealth
Management Group) at
Citigroup’s Smith Barney.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-2

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


What are Teams?
• Groups of two or more
people
• Exist to fulfill a purpose

• Interdependent -- interact
and influence each other
• Mutually accountable for
achieving common goals
• Perceive themselves as a
social entity

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-3

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Groups versus Teams
• All teams are groups
• Some groups are just people assembled together
• Teams have task interdependence whereas
some groups do not (e.g., group of employees
enjoying lunch together)

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-4

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Many Types of Teams
• Departmental teams

• Skunkworks

• Production/service/
leadership teams

• Task force (project)
teams

• Self-directed teams

• Virtual teams

• Advisory teams

• Communities of
practice

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-5

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Why Rely on Teams
• Compared with individuals working alone,
teams tend to:
– Make better decisions
– Make better products and services due to more

knowledge and expertise
– Increase employee engagement

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-6

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Why Informal Groups Exist
1. Innate drive to bond
2. Social identity
– We define ourselves by group memberships

3. Goal accomplishment
4. Emotional support

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-7

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Effectiveness Defined
• Fulfills objectives assigned to the team
• Fulfills satisfaction and well-being of team
members
• Maintains team’s survival

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-8

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Effectiveness Model
Organizational and
Team Environment
• Reward systems
• Communication
systems

Team Design
•Task characteristics
•Team size
•Team composition

• Physical space
• Organizational
environment
• Organizational
structure
• Organizational
leadership

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Team
Effectiveness

Team Processes
•Team development
•Team norms
•Team roles
•Team cohesiveness

Slide 9-9

• Achieve
organizational
goals
• Satisfy member
needs
• Maintain team
survival

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team’s Task and Size
• Task characteristics
– Better when tasks are clear, easy to implement
– Share common inputs, processes, or outcomes
– Task interdependence

• Team size
– Smaller teams are better

– But large enough to accomplish task

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-10

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Levels of Task Interdependence
High

A

Reciprocal

B

A

Sequential

B

C

Resource

Pooled
A

Low

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

C

Slide 9-11

B

C

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Shell Looks for Team Players

Gourami session in Asia -- Courtesy of Shell International Ltd

Shell holds the 5-day Gourami
Business Challenge in Europe,
North America, and Asia to
observe how well the university
students work in teams. One of
the greatest challenges is for
students from different cultures
and educational specializations
to work together.

Gourami session in U.S.A. -- Courtesy of Shell U.S.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-12

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Composition
1. Motivation
– To perform task
– To work cooperatively the team

2. Competencies
– Skills and knowledge to perform the
task
Gourami session in Asia -- Courtesy of Shell International Ltd

– Ability to work effectively with each
other

3. Homogeneous or heterogeneous,
depending on task requirements

Gourami session in U.S.A. -- Courtesy of Shell U.S.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-13

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Teams
Homogeneous Teams

Heterogeneous Teams

• Less conflict

• More conflict

• Faster team
development

• Longer team
development

• Performs better on
cooperative tasks

• Performs better on
complex problems

• Better coordination

• More creative

• High satisfaction of team

members

• Better representation
outside the team

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-14

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Stages of Team Development
Performing
Norming

Storming
Forming

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Existing teams
might regress
back to an
earlier stage of
development
Slide 9-15

Adjourning

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Norms
• Informal rules and expectations team
establishes to regulate member behaviors
• Norms develop through:
– Initial team experiences
– Critical events in team’s history
– Experience/values members bring to the team

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-16

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Changing Team Norms
• Introduce norms when forming teams
• Select members with preferred norms
• Discuss counter-productive norms
• Reward behaviors representing desired norms
• Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-17

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Conformity to Team Norms
100
Day 12:
Peer
pressure
begins

75

Units
Pressed
per Hour

Day 28:
Employee
has doubled
performance

50

25

0

Day 20:
Employee
begins
working alone

Day 1:
Employee
begins job
with team
4

8

12

16

20

24

28

32

36

40

Production Days
McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-18

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Roles
• Role -- set of behaviors people are
expected to perform in certain positions
– Formally assigned or informally acquired based
on personality preferences

• Belbin’s Team Role Model
– Nine team roles -- all needed for optimal team
performance
– People choose preferred role based on their
personality
– Some roles more important at particular stages

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-19

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Cohesiveness at Lighthouse

Photo: Robert Hirtie. Courtesy of Atlantic Business Magazine & Lighthouse Publishing

The staff at Lighthouse Publishing is a highly cohesive group that
successfully keeps its much larger competitors off-guard. This
cohesiveness has particularly come through when faced with new and

unexpected challenges, such as new products or machine breakdowns.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-20

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Cohesiveness Defined

Photo: Robert Hirtie. Courtesy of Atlantic Business Magazine & Lighthouse Publishing

• The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their
motivation to remain members
• Calculative -- members believe the team will fulfill goals and
needs
• Emotional -- team is part of person’s social identity

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-21

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Influences on Team Cohesiveness
Member
Similarity
External

Challenges

Team
Success

Increasing
Team
Cohesiveness

Team
Size

Member
Interaction

Somewhat
Difficult Entry

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-22

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Team Cohesiveness Outcomes
1. Want to remain members
2. Willing to share information
3. Strong interpersonal bonds
4. Resolve conflict effectively

5. Better interpersonal relationships

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-23

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Cohesiveness and Performance
Team Norms
Support
Company
Goals

Moderately
high task
performance

High task
performance

Team Norms
Oppose
Company
Goals

Moderately
low task
performance

Low task
performance

Low Team
Cohesiveness

High Team
Cohesiveness

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-24

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


The Trouble With Teams
• Individuals better/faster on some tasks
• Process losses - cost of developing and
maintaining teams
• Companies don’t support best work
environment for team dynamics
• Social loafing

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e

Slide 9-25

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.