Team Dynamics

Team DynamicsChapter 8; group 6

What is a team?Groups of two or more people

Interact and influence each other

Achieving common goals with organizational objectives

Important components of a team

1. All teams exist to fulfill some purpose2. Team members are held together by

their independence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals

3. Team members influence each other4. A team exists when its members

perceive themselves to be a team

Team type Description

1. Departmental teams

Employees who have similar or complementary skills and are located in the same unit

2. Production/services/leadership teams

Multi-skilled employees who produce a common product/service or make ongoing decisions

3. Self-Directed teams

They are organized around work processes that complete an entire piece of work and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks

4. Advisory teams

Provide recommendation to decision makers

Team type Description5. Task Force

(project) teamsMultiskilled, temporary teams whose assignment is to solve a problem, realize an opportunity, or design a product or service

6. SkunkworksMultiskilled teams that are usually located away from the org and are relatively free of its hierarchy

7. Virtual teamsMembers operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve org. Tasks

8. Communities of practice

Teams bound together by shared expertise and passion for a particular activity or interest

Team Design:Team characteristicsTeam sizeTeam compositionOrganizational and

Team Environment:RewardsCommunicationOrg StructureOrg LeadershipPhysical space

PhysicTeam Processes:Team DevelopmentTeam normsTeam cohesionTeam trust

Team Effectiveness:Accomplish tasksSatisfy member needsMaintain team survival

Model of Team Effectiveness

Performing- Task oriented, committed- Efficient coordination- High cooperation and trust- Conflicts resolved quickly

Norming- Establish roles- Agree on team objectives- Form team mental models- Develop cohesion

Storming- Interpersonal conflict- Compete for team roles- Influence goals and means- Establish norms

Forming- Discover expectations - Evaluate value of membership- Defer to existing authority- Test boundaries of behavior

Adjourning

Stages of team development

Self directed teams

These teams complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks.

They have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks

Success Factors1. Responsible for an entire work

process2. Sufficient autonomy to

organize and coordinate their work

3. The work site and technology support coordination and communication among team members and increase job enrichment

Virtual Teams

They are not usually co-located

Due to their lack of co-location, members of virtual teams depend primarily on information technologies rather face to face interaction

Success Factors1. Must have good

communication technology skills, strong self-leadership skills to motivate and guide their behavior without peers

2. A toolkit of communication channels

3. Need plenty of structures

Four constraints on team decision making

Time Constraints

Evaluation Apprehension

Pressure to Conform

Groupthink

Improve team decision making

Constructive conflictBrainstormingElectronic brainstormingNominal group technique