Team dynamics & creativity in team decision making

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 13.1

Role relationships & conflicts

Figure 13.7

Source: Adapted from Miner, J.B., Management Theory, Macmillan (1971) p.47.

2 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

What are teams?

Groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other are mutually accountable for achieving common objectives and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organisation

Courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy

3 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Groups versus teams

All teams are groups

Some groups are just people assembled together

Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not (eg group of employees enjoying lunch together)

Courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy

4 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Types of teams

Permanent teams team-based departments team-based organisation quality circles

Temporary teams task forces

› temporary teams that investigate a problem

skunkworks› formed spontaneously, using borrowed resources,

to develop products or solve problems

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Why informal groups exist

Relatedness needs fulfil need for social interaction social identity

Goal accomplishment

Emotional support

6 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team effectiveness model

•Task characteristics

•Team size

•Team composition

Team design

• Achieve organisational goals

• Satisfy member needs

• Maintain team survival

Teameffectiveness

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

Team processes

Organisational andteam environment

• Reward systems

• Communication systems

• Physical space

• Organisational environment

• Organisational structure

• Organisational leadership

7 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team design elements

Task characteristicsbetter when tasks are clear, easy to implement task interdependence share common inputs, processes or outcomes

Team size smaller teams are betterbut large enough to accomplish task

Team compositionmembers motivated/competent to perform task in a team environment

team diversity

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Homogeneous vs heterogeneous teams

Higher satisfaction

Less conflict

Faster team development

More efficient coordination

Performs better on simple tasks

More conflict

Slower team development takes longer to agree on norms and goals

Better knowledge and resources for complex tasks

Tend to be more creative

Higher potential for support outside the team

Homogeneous teams Heterogeneous teams

9 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Existing teams might regress back to an earlier stage of development

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Adjourning

Stages of team development

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Team norms

Informal rules and expectations a team establishes to regulate member behaviours

Norms develop throughexplicit statements critical events in team’s history initial team experiencesbeliefs/values members bring to the team

11 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Changing team norms

Introduce norms when forming teams

Select members with preferred norms

Discuss counterproductive norms

Reward behaviours representing desired norms

Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

12 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Teamcohesiveness

Membersimilarity

Memberinteraction

Teamsize

Somewhatdifficult entry

Teamsuccess

Externalchallenges

Causes of team cohesiveness

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Team cohesiveness at Mitel

Trevor Pound couldn’t get away for a planned vacation, so other team members at Mitel turned his work area into a mini paradise. The practical joke illustrates how members of cohesive teams support each other.

© J. Major, Ottawa Citizen

14 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team cohesiveness outcomes

want to remain members are willing to share

information have strong interpersonal

bonds want to support each other resolve conflict effectively are more satisfied and

experience less stress

Members of cohesive teams

© J. Major, Ottawa Citizen

15 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team norms support firm’sgoals

Team norms oppose firm’sgoals

High team cohesiveness

Low team cohesiveness

Cohesiveness and performance

Low taskperformance

Moderatelyhigh task

performance

Moderatelylow task

performance

Hightask

performance

16 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

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

17 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Supporting creativity at IDEO

Employees at Animal Logic, the Sydney-based visual effects company, demonstrate their creative talent in The Matrix, Moulin Rouge and other blockbuster films. Hiring people with diverse backgrounds and living the Aussie culture seems to contribute to the creative process.

Courtesy of Animal Logic

18 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Creativity defined

Developing an original product, service or idea that makes a socially recognised contribution

part of the decision-making process not separate from it

creativity is influenced by both personal competencies and organisational conditions, supported by creativity practices

Courtesy of Animal Logic

19 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Preparation

Creative process model

Incubation

Insight

Verification

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Characteristics of creative people

Intellectual abilities synthetic, general, practical

Relevant knowledge and experience

Motivation and persistence

Inventive thinking style

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Creative work environment

Organisational supporttolerates mistakesencourages communicationoffers job security

Intrinsically motivating worktask significance, autonomy, feedbackself-leadershipflow align competencies with job

Sufficient time and resources

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Creative practices

• Jamming

• Review past projects

• Tell me, stranger

Redefinethe problem

• Chain story

• Artistic activities

• Metaphors

• Morphological analysis

Associativeplay

• Diverse teams

• In-house presentations

• Displayed thinking

Cross-pollination

23 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team constraints: groupthink

Tendency for highly cohesive teams to value consensus at the price of decision quality

More common when the team is highly cohesive is isolated from outsiders

faces external threathas recent failures leader tries to influence decision

© Photodisc. With permission.

24 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Team constraints: group polarisation

Tendency for teams to make more extreme decisions than individuals

Riskier options usually taken because of gambler’s fallacy believe luck is on their side

© Photodisc. With permission.

25 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Decision process

High risk

Individualopinions

Low risk

Group polarisation process

Team decision

Team decision

Social supportPersuasion

Shifting responsibility

26 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

General guidelines for team decisions

Ensure neither leader nor any member dominates

Maintain optimal team size

Team norms encourage critical thinking

Introduce effective team structures

27 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Generating constructive controversy

Form heterogeneous decision making team

Ensure team meets often to face contentious issues

Members should take on different discussion roles

Team thinks about the decision under different scenarios

28 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Brainstorming at IDEO

IDEO, a leading industrial design firm, relies on brainstorming sessions that generate ideas, usually about designing products. A typical session lasts between one and two hours and is attended by the design team as well as other IDEO engineers with relevant skills.

© E. Luse/San Francisco Chronicle

29 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Features of brainstorming

No criticism

Encourage many ideas

Speak freely

Build on others’ ideas

© E. Luse/San Francisco Chronicle

30 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

© E. Luse/San Francisco Chronicle

Effectiveness of brainstorming

Early scholars criticised brainstormingevaluation apprehension and production blocking still exist

More favourable view now less dysfunctional conflictmore task focusmore decision acceptance

more enthusiasm and customer commitment

evaluation apprehension not a problem in high trust teams

31 2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

Describeproblem

Individualactivity

Teamactivity

Individualactivity

Nominal group technique

Write downpossiblesolutions

Possiblesolutionsdescribedto others

Vote onsolutionspresented

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.32

Belbin’s team roles

• The most consistently successful groups comprise a range of roles undertaken by various members

• The constitution of the group itself is an important variable in its success

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.33

Different team roles

• Plant• Resource

investigator• Co-ordinator• Shaper• Monitor–evaluator

• Team worker• Implementer• Completer• Specialist

Belbin

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.34

Belbin’s evolved roles:Plant

Team-role contribution

• Creative• Imaginative• Unorthodox• Solves difficult

problems

Allowable weaknesses

• Ignores details• Too preoccupied to

communicate effectively

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.35

Belbin’s evolved roles:Resource investigator

Team-role contribution

• Extrovert• Enthusiastic• Communicative• Explores

opportunities• Develops contacts

Allowable weaknesses

• Over-optimistic• Loses interest

once enthusiasm has passed

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.36

Belbin’s evolved roles:Co-ordinator

Team-role contribution

• Mature• Confident• A good chairperson• Clarifies goals• Promotes decision-

making• Delegates well

Allowable weaknesses

• Can be seen as manipulative

• Delegates personal work

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.37

Belbin’s evolved roles:Shaper

Team-role contribution

• Challenging• Dynamic• Thrives on

pressure• Has the drive &

courage to overcome obstacles

Allowable weaknesses

• Can provoke others

• Hurts other’s feelings

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.38

Belbin’s evolved roles:Monitor-evaluator

Team-role contribution

• Sober, strategic & discerning

• Sees all options• Judges accurately

Allowable weaknesses

• Lacks drive & ability to inspire others

• Overly critical

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.39

Belbin’s evolved roles:Team worker

Team-role contribution

• Co-operative• Mild• Perceptive & diplomatic• Listens• Builds• Averts friction• Calms the waters

Allowable weaknesses

• Indecisive in crunch situations

• Can be easily influenced

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.40

Belbin’s evolved roles:Implementor

Team-role contribution

• Disciplined• Reliable• Conservative &

efficient• Turns ideas into

practical actions

Allowable weaknesses

• Somewhat inflexible

• Slow to respond to new possibilities

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.41

Belbin’s evolved roles:Completer

Team-role contribution

• Painstaking• Conscientious• Anxious• Searches out

errors & omissions• Delivers on time

Allowable weaknesses

• Inclined to worry unduly

• Reluctant to delegate

• Can be a nit-picker

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.42

Belbin’s evolved roles:Specialist

Team-role contribution

• Single-minded• Self-sharing• Dedicated• Provides

knowledge & skills in rare supply

Allowable weaknesses

• Contributes on only a narrow front

• Dwells on technicalities

• Overlooks the ‘big picture’

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.43

Constructing the perfect team

• The group work in such a way that adds up to a sum greater than the individual parts (synergy)

• If business people are happy to accept that group effort is always better than individuals working in isolation, then Belbin’s research may help in constructing the perfect team

White

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.44

Communication networksFigure 14.2

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.45

Communication networks & simple task complexity

Figure 14.3

Source: Baron/Greenberg, Behaviour in Organisations: Understanding Managing, Third edition, Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.46

Communication networks & complex task complexity

Figure 14.3

Source: Baron/Greenberg, Behaviour in Organisations: Understanding Managing, Third edition, Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Mullins: Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edition © Pearson Education Limited 2005

OHT 14.47

Task functions within groups

Functions within a group that are directed

towards –

• Problem solving• The accomplishment of the tasks of the group • The achievement of its goals• Production activities