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Managing Groups and Teams

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Roadmap

Groups and teams

Characteristics of teams

Reasons for team failure Leading teams

Improving team performance

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3

Groups and Teams

Group

Two or more persons who are interacting in

such a way that each person influences

and is influenced by each other person.

Team

A group of people committed to a common

purpose, set of performance goals, andapproach for which the team members hold

themselves mutually accountable.

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Comparing Work Teams and

Work Groups

Prentice Hall, 2002

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The Popularity of Teams

Teams typically outperform individuals when

tasks require multiple skills, judgment, and

experience

Teams are a better way to utilize individualemployee talents

The flexibility and responsiveness of teams is

essential in a changing environment

Empowered teams increase job satisfaction

and morale, enhance employee involvement,

and promote workforce diversity

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Types of Work Teams

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Virtual Team

Virtual Team

Groups of geographically and/or organizationally

dispersed coworkers who interact using a

combination of telecommunications andinformation technologies to accomplish an

organizational task.

Virtual teams may be temporary, existing only to

accomplish a specific task. Or they may be

permanent and address ongoing matters.

Membership is often fluid, evolving according to

changing task requirements.

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Group Dynamics

Group Norms

The informal rules that groups adopt toregulate and regularize group members

behavior. Group Cohesiveness

The degree of interpersonal attractivenesswithin a group, dependent on factors like

proximity, similarities, attraction among theindividual group members, group size,intergroup competition, and agreementabout goals.

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What It Takes to Be a Team

Player

Personality

Individualism versus collectivism

Interpersonal Skills

Conflict management skills

Collaborative problem solving skills

Communication skills

Management Skills Develop and establish goals

Control, monitor, provide feedback

Set work roles and assign tasks

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LIS580- Spring 2006 10

Team Member Roles

Prentice Hall, 2002

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Challenges to Creating Team

Players

Managers attempting to introduce teams

into organization face the most difficulty:

When individual employee resistance to

teams is strong

Where the national culture is individualistic

rather than collectivist

When an established organization places

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Workforce Diversitys

Effects on Teams

Fresh and multiple perspectives on issues

help the team identify creative or unique

solutions and avoid weak alternatives

The difficulty of working together may make itharder to unify a diverse team and reach

agreements

Although diversitys advantages dissipate with

time, the added-value of diverse teams

increases as the team becomes more

cohesive

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Checklist 13.1

How to Build a Productive Team

Have clear mission/purpose.

Set specific performance goals.

Compose the right team size and mix.

Have an agreed-upon structure appropriate tothe task.

Delegate the authority to make the decisionsneeded, given their mission.

Provide access to or control of the resourcesneeded to complete their mission.

Offer a mix of group and individual rewards.

Foster longevity and stability of membership.

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Characteristics of High-

performing Work Teams

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FIGURE 133

Why Teams Fail: The Leadership, Focus,

and Capability Pyramid

Source: Adaptedfrom Steven

Rayner, Team

Traps: What

They Are, How to

Avoid Them.

National

ProductivityReview. Summer

1996, p. 107.

Reprinted by

permission ofJohn Wiley &

Sons, Inc.

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Checklist 13.2

Symptoms of Unproductive Teams

Nonaccomplishment of goals.

Cautious, guarded

communication.

Lack of disagreement.

Malfunctioning meetings.

Conflict within the team.

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The Challenge of Team

Leadership

Becoming an effective team leaderrequires:

Learning to share information

Developing the ability to trust others Learning to give up authority

Knowing when to leave their teams aloneand when to intercede

New roles that team leaders take on

Managing the teams external boundary

Facilitating the team process

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Leading Productive Teams

Team Leader Skills

Coaching, not

bossing

Help define, analyze,and solve problems

Encourage

participation by

others Serve as a facilitator

Team Leader Values

Respecting fellow

team members

Trusting fellow teammembers

Putting the team first

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Team Leader Roles

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Team Leader Behaviors

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Typical Leader Transition

Problems

Perceived Loss of Power or Status

Unclear Team Leader Roles

Job Security Concerns The Double Standard Problem

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LIS580- Spring 2006 22

Stages of Team Development

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The Leaders Role in Creating a

Self-Managing Team Forming

The teams and their leaders begin working out

their specific responsibilities.

Training is the leaders main task.

Storming

Questions typically arise regarding who is leading

the team and what its structure and purposeshould be.

The leader ensures that team members continue to

learn and eventually exercise leadership skills.

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The Leaders Role in Creating a

Self-Managing Team (contd) Norming

Team members agree on purpose, structure, andleadership and are prepared to start performing.

The leaders job is to emphasize the need for theteam to temper cooperation with the responsibilityto supervise its own members.

Performing

A period of productivity, achievement, and pride asthe team members work together to get the jobdone.

Adjourning

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How to Improve Team

Performance Select members for skill

and teamwork.

Establish challengingperformance standards.

Emphasize the tasksimportance.

Assign whole tasks.

Send the right signals.

Encourage social

support. Make sure there are

unambiguous teamrules.

Challenge the group

regularly with fresh facts

and information.

Train and cross-train.

Provide the necessary

tools and material

support.

Encourage emotionally

intelligent team

behavior.

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Providing an Organizational Context

That Supports Teams

Team Work

Approach

Organizational

Structure

OrganizationalSystems

Organizational

Policies

Employee

Skills

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FIGURE 135

Designing Organizations to

Manage Teams

Source: Adapted from James H. Shonk, Team-Based

Organizations (Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1997), p. 36.

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Pros and Cons of Group Decision

Making

Pros

More points of view

More ways to define the

problem More possible

solutions/alternatives

More creative decisions

Stronger commitment todecisions

Cons More disagreement and

less problem solving

Desire for consensus(groupthink)

Domination by a singleindividual

Less of commitment to

the group decision

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FIGURE 137

Signs That Groupthink May Be a

Problem

Source: Adapted from information provided in Irving James, Group Think: Psychological

Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascos, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982).

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Improving Group Decision

Making Devils-Advocate Approach

The group appoints a person to prepare

a detailed counterargument that lists

what is wrong with the groups favoredsolution and why the group should not

adopt it.

The aim is to ensure

a full and objective

consideration of the

solution proposal.

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Improving Group Decision

Making (contd)

Brainstorming

A creativity-stimulating technique in which prior

judgments and criticisms are specifically forbidden

from being expressed and thus inhibiting the freeflow of ideas, which are encouraged.

Brainstorming rules:

Avoid criticizing others ideas until all suggestions are out

on the table. Share even wild suggestions.

Offer many suggestions and comments as possible.

Build on others suggestions to create your own.

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Improving Group Decision

Making (contd)

The Delphi Technique A multistage group decision-making process aimed

at eliminating inhibitions or groupthink through

obtaining the written opinions of experts workingindependently.

Process steps Identify the problem.

Solicit the experts individual opinions on the problem.

Analyze, distill, and then resubmit these opinions to otherexperts.

Continue this process for several more rounds until theexperts reach a consensus.

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Improving Group Decision

Making (contd)

The Nominal Group Technique1. Each group member writes down his or her ideas

for solving the problem at hand.

2. Each member then presents his or her ideas orally,and the person writes the ideas on a board forother participants to see.

3. After all ideas are presented, the entire group

discusses all ideas simultaneously.4. Group members individually and secretly vote on

each proposed solution.

5. The solution with the most individual votes wins.

G.Dessler, 2003

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Improving Group Decision

Making (contd)

The Stepladder Technique1. Individuals A and B are given a problem to solve,

and each produces an independent solution.

2. A and B develop a joint decision, and meet with C,who has analyzed the problem and arrived at adecision.

3. A, B, and C discuss the problem and arrive at a

consensus decision, and are joined by D, who hasanalyzed the problem and arrived at a decision.

4. A, B, C, and D jointly develop a final groupdecision.

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Improving Group Decision

Making (contd)

How to Lead a Group Decision-MakingDiscussion1. See that all group members participate and

contribute.2. Distinguish between idea getting and idea

evaluation.

3. Do not respond to each participant or dominate the

discussion.4. Direct the groups effort toward overcoming

surmountable obstacles.

5. Dont sit down.