Lecture Business and administrative communication: Chapter 8 - Kitty O. Locker, Donna S. Kienzler

Chapter 8
Working and
Writing in Teams

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Team Interactions: Three Dimensions 
Informational—focus on content:
problem, data, solutions
 Procedural—focus on methods,
processes
 Interpersonal—focus on people,
cooperation, team loyalty


8­2


Team Interactions, continued…
Formation
 Begin to define task
 Develop social
cohesiveness
 Set up and clarify
procedures
 Adopt ground rules
 Use interpersonal
communication to
resolve tensions
 Analyze problem

well before seeking
solutions

Coordination
 Longest phase
 Most comments
informational
 Conflict as team
debates alternate
solutions
 Interpersonal and
procedural
comments help
team stay on track
 Consider many
solutions

Formalization
Consensus state
Team implements
decisions, which
determines its
success
Team seeks to
forget earlier conflicts

8­3


Positive Actions in Teams







Encouraging participation
Relieving tensions
Checking feelings
Solving interpersonal problems
Listening actively

8­4


Negative Actions in Teams
 Blocking
 Dominating
 Clowning
 Overspeaking
 Withdrawing

8­5


Team Leadership


Effective teams balance three types of
leadership:

Informational—create, assess ideas and text
 Interpersonal—check feelings, resolve conflict,
monitor process
 Procedural—set agenda, keep members
informed, check on assignments




Roles need not be filled by one person
8­6


Decision­Making: Problem Solving

8­7


Decision­Making: Dot Planning


Lets large team set priorities quickly





Team brainstorms ideas
Ideas recorded on large pages
Pages posted on wall

Each member affixes colored adhesive dots
by ideas
High
Low

Dots
show highest and
lowest priorities
8­8


Feedback Strategies
Generate and heed as much feedback as
possible
 Seek external—supervisors, suppliers,
clients, customers
 Seek internal—within in the team


8­9


Successful Student Teams

8­10


Peer Pressure and Groupthink
Groupthink—tendency for teams to
value agreement so highly they punish

dissent
 Correctives to groupthink






Search for alternatives
Test assumptions
Protect rights of individuals to disagree

8­11


Diverse Teams
Differences affect how people behave in
team, what they expect from team
 Play to one another’s strengths
 Find practical ways to deal with
differences


8­12


Conflict Resolution
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

Make sure people involved really
disagree
Ensure that everyone has correct
information
Discover needs each person is trying to
blem
o
r
p
meet
g
sentin
m
e
r
p
e
proble
l
Th
a
e
r
t be
o
n
y

a
m
Search for alternatives
Repair negative feelings
8­13


Criticism Responses






Paraphrasing
Checking for feelings
Checking inferences
Buying time with limited agreement
Using you-attitude


Look at things from others’ viewpoint I
statements are effective

8­14


Effective Meeting Guidelines









Make purpose explicit
Distribute an agenda
Allow time for discussion
Save time with an omnibus motion
Pay attention to people and process as well as
tasks
Summarize group’s consensus after each point
Summarize all decisions at end of meeting
8­15


Technology in Teams


Meetings





Scheduling





Skype, FaceTime, Google+
GoToMeeting
Online calendars
Project management

Collaboration
8­16


Collaborative Writing
Working with other writers to produce a
single document
 Requires attention to






Team formation process
Conflict resolution
Steps in writing process

8­17


Collaborative Writing, continued…


Planning








Make analysis explicit; know where you agree and disagree
Plan organization, format, and style before anyone writes
Consider work styles and other commitments
Decide how you will give feedback
Build leeway into deadlines

Composing





Decide who will write what
Decide how to share drafts
Label and date drafts
If quality is crucial, have best writer compose after others
gather data
8­18

Collaborative Writing, continued…


Revising







Evaluate content, discuss revisions as team
Evaluate organization, discuss revisions
Recognize that different people favor different writing styles
When satisfied with content, have best writer make all changes
to writing style

Editing and Proofreading




One person checks mechanics, format, and style for
correctness, consistency
Use a spell checker
Proofread document also

8­19

Making the Team Process Work

8­20