Foundation of Team Dynamics

Chapter 9: Foundation of

TeamDynamics

WHAT ARE TEAMS?

Groups of two or more people

Exist to fulfill some purpose

Held together by interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals

Requires communication to coordinate activities

Members influence each other

Groups vs. TeamsAll 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)

Types of Teams and Groups

- Departmental Team

- Management Team

- Task Work- Skunk works

- Friendship Groups

- Community of Practice

Formal Teams

Informal Groups

Permanent Temporary

Why Informal Group Exist? Relatedness Needs/Innate Drive to Bond

- Fulfil needs for friendship and social interaction

- Social identity

Goal Accomplishments - Achieve goals difficult for individual alone

Emotional Support - Teams provide comfort in stressful situations

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

MODEL OF TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Team Effectiveness occurs when the team is able to:

fulfils organizational objectives

fulfils needs of individual members

is able to survive (i.e. maintain member commitment)

Elements of Team Effectiveness Model

•Task characteristics•Team size•Team composition

Team Design

• Achieve organizational goals

• Satisfy member needs

• Maintain team survival

TeamEffectiveness

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

Team Processes

Organizational andTeam Environment

• Reward systems

• Communication systems

• Physical space

• Organizational environment

• Organizational structure

• Organizational leadership

Reward Systems

Communication Systems

Physical Space

Organizational Environment

Organizational Structure

Organizational Leadership

Organizational and Team Environment

Team Design Features 1. Task Characteristic

- Better when task are clear, easy to implement

members learn roles more quickly; easier to become cohesive

ill-defined tasks require members with diverse backgrounds and more time to coordinate

- Task Interdependence

supports team dynamics

must share common inputs, work processes or receive outcomes based on mutual work

Level of Task Interdependence

Pooled Interdependence (Lowest Level)- operate independently except for reliance on common purpose or authority (e.g.; employees share a common cafeteria)

Sequential Interdependence- output of one person becomes direct input for another (e.g.; fish processing plant)

Reciprocal Interdependence (Highest Level)- work is exchange among individuals (e.g.; emergency medical team)

2. Team Size

- Smaller teams are better because larger teams:

need more time to coordinate need more time to develop less member involvement, thus less

commitment

- But team must be large enough to accomplish task

3. Team Composition

- Motivation To Perform task To work cooperatively the team --- collectivist

values for stronger team motivation

- Competencies Collectively possess skills and knowledge to

perform the task Individual competencies to work effectively

- Homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending on task requirements

Less conflict

Faster team development

Performs better on cooperative tasks

Better coordination

High satisfaction of team members

More conflict

Longer team development

Performs better on complex problems

More creative

Better representation outside the team

Homogeneous Teams Heterogeneous Teams

4. Team Diversity

STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Existing teams might regress back to an earlier stage of development

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Adjourning

TEAM NORMSInformal rules and expectations team establishes to regulate member behaviours

Conformity to team norms:

Based on team’s power over its members Direct and anticipated pressure or rewards for continued membership

Norms develop through:

Explicit statements Critical events in team’s history Initial team experiences Beliefs/values members bring to the team

Changing Team Norms

Introduce norms when forming teams

Select members with preferred norms

Discuss counter-productive norms

Reward behaviours representing desired norms

Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

TEAM ROLES

ROLE – the set of behavior that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization

Some team roles are formally assigned to specific people

Team members often take on various roles informally based on their personality and values

TEAM COHESIVENESS -- Degree of attraction people feel toward team and motivation to remain members- usually an important factor in a team’s success

Causes of team cohesiveness

1. Member similarityHomogeneous team easier to develop cohesiveness, less conflict

2. Team size Smaller teams, more cohesive Easier to agree upon goals, coordinate tasks If team too small, difficult to reach goals

3. Member Interaction More interaction increases cohesiveness More interaction through higher task interdependence, co-location, open workspace

4. Somewhat difficult entry Somewhat difficult entry increases cohesiveness

-- more prestigious, increases member bond¨Caution: severe initiation or costs can damage cohesiveness

5. Team successSuccessful teams more attractive (self-identity)Gives team more confidence (self-efficacy)Spiral Effect – increased success increases cohesiveness

6. External competition and challenges

Cohesiveness higher with external competition/challenges

Value membership as a form of social support

Want to remain members

Willing to share information

Strong interpersonal bonds

Resolve conflict effectively

Better interpersonal

relationships

Team Cohesiveness Outcomes

Cohesive teams potentially perform better

—less conflict

But norms must be consistent with

organisational goals

Lower performance when team is cohesive,

WHEN norms oppose organisational goals

Cohesiveness & Task Performance

Individuals work 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 - persons make less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.

THE TROUBLE WITH TEAMS

social loafing is most common where:

Low task interdependence

Individual output not visible

Routine, uninteresting tasks

Low task significance

Low collectivist values (non-cooperative / disorganise)

How to minimize social loafing

Form smaller teams – each performance becomes more noticeable

Specialize tasks – assign tasks, each person’s contribution is easier to see

Measure individual performance – but there are difficulty for problem-solving projects

Increase jobs enrichment – assign motivating jobs

Select motivated employees – select collectivist value orientation