Developing Teamwork

1
Chapter 6

• Developing Teamwork

2
Chapter Outline

• Teams versus Groups Whats the Difference?
• Why Have Teams Become So Popular?
• Types of Teams
• Beware! Teams Arent Always the Answer
• Creating Effective Teams
• Developing Trust
• Teams and Workforce Diversity

3
Developing Team Work
Questions for Consideration

• Whats the difference between a group and a team?
• Are teams always the right answer?
• How can we ensure that teams work effectively?

4
Teams versus Groups

• Work Group
• A group that interacts primarily to share
  information and to make decisions to help each
  other perform within his or her area of
  responsibility
• Work Team
• A group whose individual efforts result in a
  performance that is greater than the sum of those
  individual inputs

5
Exhibit 6-1 Teams and Work Groups
6
PointTeams The Way to Go

• The value of teams is now well known. The
  following are benefits that can result from the
  introduction of work teams.
• Increased employee motivation.
• Higher levels of productivity.
• Increased employee satisfaction.
• Common commitment to goals.
• Improved communication.
• Expanded job skills.
• Organizational flexibility.

7
CounterPointTeams Are Not Always the Answer

• A critical look at four of the assumptions which
  seem to underlay this team ideology.
• Mature teams are task oriented and have
  successfully minimized the negative influences of
  other group forces.
• Individual, group, and organizational goals can
  all be integrated into common team goals.
• Participative or shared leadership is always
  effective.
• The team environment drives out the subversive
  forces of politics, power, and conflict that
  divert groups from efficiently doing their work.

8
Types of Work Teams

• Problem-Solving
• Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the same
  department who meet for a few hours each week to
  discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency,
  and the work environment
• Self-Managed
• Groups of 10 to 15 people who take on
  responsibilities of their former supervisors
• Cross-Functional Teams
• Employees from about the same hierarchical level,
  but from different work areas, who come together
  to accomplish a task
• Virtual Teams
• Use computer technoloogy to tie together
  physically dispersed members in order to achieve
  a common goal

9
Exhibit 6-2Four Types of Teams
10
Exhibit 6-3How a Typical Quality Circle Operates
11
Beware! Teams Arent Always the Answer

• Questions to determine whether a team fits the
  situation
• Can the work be done better by more than one
  person?
• Does work create a common purpose or set of goals
  for the people in the group that is more than the
  aggregate of individual goals?
• Are members of the group interdependent?

12
Exhibit 6-4 A Model of Team Effectiveness
13
Creating Effective Teams

• Work Design
• Composition Considerations
• Team Size and Composition
• Context
• Resources
• Leadership and Structure
• Appropriate Performance Evaluation
• Reward Systems That Acknowledge Team Effort
• Internal Team Needs Process
• A Common Purpose
• Specific Goals
• Team Efficacy
• Conflict Levels
• Accountability

14
Composition Considerations

• Teams need the following skills to perform
  effectively
• technical expertise
• problem-solving and decision-making skills
• interpersonal skills

15
Building Trust

• Demonstrate that youre working for others
  interests as well as your own.
• Be a team player.
• Practice openness.
• Be fair.
• Speak your feelings.
• Show consistency in the basic values that guide
  your decision making.
• Maintain confidence.
• Demonstrate competence.

16
Exhibit 6-5 Key Roles on Teams
17
Exhibit 6-6 Team Behaviour at Imperial Oil
18
Exhibit 6-7Dimensions of Trust
19
Dimensions of Trust

• Integrity
• Honesty and truthfulness
• Competence
• Technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills
• Consistency
• Reliability, predictability, and good judgment in
  handling situations
• Loyalty
• Willingness to protect and save face for a person
• Openness
• Willingness to share ideas and information freely

20
Exhibit 6-8Advantages and Disadvantages of
Diversity

• Multiple perspectives
• Greater openness to new ideas
• Multiple interpretations
• Increased creativity
• Increased flexibility
• Increased problem-solving skills

• Ambiguity
• Complexity
• Confusion
• Miscommunication
• Difficulty in reaching a single agreement
• Difficulty in agreeing on specific actions

21
Shaping Team Players

• Selection
• Care should be taken to ensure that candidates
  can fulfill their team roles as well as technical
  requirements.
• Training
• A large proportion of people raised on the
  importance of individual accomplishment can be
  trained to become team players.
• Performance Evaluation
• Performance as a team member has to be evaluated
  alongside individual performance
• Rewards
• Reward systems needs to be reworked to encourage
  cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones.

22
Summary and Implications

• The introduction of teams into the workplace has
  greatly influenced employee jobs
• High-performing teams have common
  characteristics
• they contain people with special skills
• they commit to a common purpose, establish
  specific goals
• they have the leadership and structure to
  provide focus and direction
• they hold themselves accountable at both the
  individual and team levels
• there is high mutual trust among members
• It is difficult to create team players. To do
  so, managers should
• select individuals with interpersonal skills
• provide training to develop teamwork skills
• reward individuals for cooperative efforts