Work Teams. MOON LANDING SURVIVAL EXERCISE THE SITUATION The year is 2040. You are a member of a space crew that was to rendezvous with the mother ship.

Work Teams

MOON LANDING SURVIVAL EXERCISETHE SITUATION

The year is 2040. You are a member of a space crew that was to rendezvous with the mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. You experienced mechanical difficulties and your ship was forced to land about 200 miles from the point you were to be. During re-entry and landing, much of the equipment on your ship was damaged. Your survival depends on you reaching the mother ship. You will need to survey what is left that is useable and determine the most critical undamaged items that you will take for the 200 mile trip.

Your task is to look over the useable, undamaged items left on your ship, and rank them in order of their importance for your crew and their ability to help you reach the mother ship. Rank them starting with 1 for the most important and ending with 15 for the least important.

The Need for Teams

Increased amount of information and specialization

More educated workforce Need for new approach to management

Increased rate of change in environment and jobs

Types of Teams

Larson and La Fasto (1989) Problem-solving teams Creative teams Tactical teams

Ad hoc team

Challenges of Working in Groups

Social Loafing Free Riding Extreme Decisions Groupthink Destructive Conflict Lack of Proximity (virtual teams)

Staffing Effective Teams

Ability-based selection Gain group acceptance Increase group cohesion Be aware of the group consciousness Share the group identification Impression management

Personality-based selection Extraversion (influence) Conscientiousness (performance) Agreeableness (interpersonal skills) General mental ability

Interaction of Personality, Competence, and Self-Esteem

Interaction of Forming and Self-Esteem

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

Forming No Forming

Forming Conditions

Gro

up

Ad

ded

Val

ue

Best Member Highest

Worst Member Highest

Interaction of Neuroticism, Competence, Forming and Feedback

Groups Where Most Competent Person is More Neurotic than Least Competent Person

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

No Forming Forming

Experienced Forming Activity

Gro

up

Ad

ded

Val

ue

No Feedback

Feedback

Interaction of Neuroticism, Competence, Forming and Feedback

Groups Where Most Competent Person is Less Neurotic than Least Competent Person

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

No Forming Forming

Experienced Forming Activity

Gro

up

Ad

ded

Val

ue

No Feedback

Feedback

Managing Key Team Processes

Shared Mental Models Similarity in how team members understand

and try to solve problems Decision Making

Team informity Staff validity Member sensitivity

Interpersonal Processes Leadership

LM

M

M

M

M M

M

MM

M

M

M

L

Formal Team LeadershipA.

B.

David V. DaySingapore Management University

LM

M

M

M

M M

M

MM

M

M

M

Formal Team Leadership

Informal Adaptive Team Leadership

David V. DaySingapore Management University

Contextual Factors to Support Team Leadership Development:

Internal(a) Psychological Safety

(b) Learning Orientation

(c) Low Power Distance

Externala) Autonomy

b) Support

c) Leadership Mindset

M

MM

M

M

M

Informal Adaptive Team Leadership

David V. DaySingapore Management University

Contextual Factors to Support Team Leadership Development

INTERNAL

Unsafe to take risks Interpersonally safe

No learning focus Learning focused

Hierarchical/authoritarian Egalitarian

EXTERNAL

Dependent Autonomous

Scarce resources Plentiful resources

Individual leader Collective leadership

David V. DaySingapore Management University

Contextual Factors to Support Team Leadership Development

INTERNAL

Unsafe to take risks Interpersonally safe

No learning focus Learning focused

Hierarchical/authoritarian Egalitarian

EXTERNAL

Dependent Autonomous

Scarce resources Plentiful resources

Individual leader Collective leadership

David V. DaySingapore Management University

Elements of Group Structure

Norms - implicit or explicit rules that regulate the behavior of group members.

Prescriptive - tell members how to behave.

Proscriptive - tell members how NOT to behave.

Cohesiveness - “forces” that bind group members togetherTask CohesionInterpersonal cohesion

Elements of Group Structure

Goal - a desired state of affairsMust be SMART

Must be operational

Must be accepted

Leadership - differentiation of function within groups.

Task-oriented leadership - focus on getting the group’s job done.

Relations-oriented leadership - focus on reducing interpersonal friction and maintaining good relationships within the group.

Distributed Actions Theory of Leadership

Goal-oriented Actions (Task) Information and Opinion Giver Information and Opinion Seeker Direction and Role Definer Summarizer Energizer Comprehension Checker

Distributed Actions Theory of Leadership

Relationship-oriented Actions (Maintenance) Participation Encourager Communication Facilitator Tension Reliever Process Observer Interpersonal Problem Solver Supporter and Praiser

Stages of Group Development

Stage 1 Forming - Members focus on each other, being accepted, learning more about the group.

Stage 5 Adjourning - Groups disband and focus on closure.

Stage 4 Performing - Group focuses on accomplishing task

Stage 3 Norming - Members develop shared expectations aboutgroup member’s behavior.

Stage 2 Storming - Members struggle for leadership, confront the issue of how much individuality to relinquish

to belong to group.

Characteristics of Effective Work Teams

Informal, relaxed atmosphere Lot of “on-task” discussion (all members participate) Well-defined tasks or objectives Group members listen to one another There IS disagreement Criticism is frequent, frank, comfortable and constructive Ideas and feelings are freely expressed Clear assignments are made and accepted Group leadership shifts to members from time to time The group is aware of how it is operating

From Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise, pp. 232-235. Copyright © 1960

Guidelines for Effective Groups

Establish clear, operational, relevant group goals

Establish effective two-way communication

Ensure that leadership and participation are distributed among all group members

Ensure power is distributed and influence tactics vary to fit the situation

Ensure decisions are made using the appropriate method

Encourage structured controversies to facilitate creativity

Ensure conflict of interests are addressed and resolved constructively

Adapted from Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, F. P. (2000) Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills , p. 13