Tech Guide E The Technology of Teams Introduction to Business Information Systems by James Norrie,...

Tech Guide EThe Technology of Teams

Introduction to Business Information Systems

by James Norrie,

Mark Huber, Craig Piercy, and Patrick McKeown

What We Will Cover

Why do organizations use teams? How People Work in Teams How Teams Develop Hallmarks of Highly Effective Teams Bringing It All Together

Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd.

Teams—Introduction

You have all worked on group projects at school, and many of you have played on a sports team

Throughout your career, you will work in teams; the concepts you learn here will be used throughout your IS career


Why Do Organizations Use Teams? To be successful in a complex, varied

environment, organizations hire talented knowledge-enabled professionals who work primarily as individuals

Organizations tap into the collective power of their employees through teams, which offer a more diverse and complementary set of: Skills Knowledge Expertise


Why Do Organizations Use Teams?

Most organizations succeed through a combination of individual and team effort

A team of the right people, working in an aligned fashion, in the right direction, will be much greater than the sum of its parts

Large, complex IS projects and tasks can only be accomplished with teams, sometimes hundreds of people, scattered across the organization and around the world


What Is a Team?

Teams have been defined as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”

—Jon R. Katzenbach & Douglas K. Smith, The Wisdom of Teams


Not All Groups Are Teams: How to Tell the Difference


Work group Team

Strong, clearly focused leader Shared leadership roles

Individual accountability Individual and mutual accountability

The group's purpose is the same as the broader organizational mission

Specific team purpose that the team itself delivers

Individual work products Collective work products

Runs efficient meetings Encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings

Measures its effectiveness indirectly by its influence on others (e.g., financial performance of the business)

Measures performance directly by assessing collective work products

Discusses, decides, and delegates Discusses, decides, and does real work together

Types of Teams

Independent Natural work group Project Functional Cross-Functional Virtual


Types of Teams

Independent Natural work group Project Functional Cross-functional Virtual


•Everyone does the same task

•Work from one team member has little or no direct impact on other team members

Types of Teams



•Report to the same manager or work in the same area to contribute to group goals

Types of Teams



•Team comes together for a specific project or assignment and disbands when the project or assignment is completed

Types of Teams



•Team is composed of members from the same department or function, such as the Student Career Centre or Registrar’s Office

Types of Teams



•Members of the team are from varying disciplines, such as sales, parts, customer service, etc.

•Responsible for supporting a unit or position

Types of Teams



•Team members work from various facilities or locations, coming together virtually using technology

Team Skills Technical skills

Expertise, functional knowledge Problem-solving skills

Investigate, analyse, make decisions, implement them

Need to identify problems, evaluate options, make decisions, move forward

Interpersonal skills Ability to compromise and build consensus Listening and supporting are essential

skills


Team Skills

People are hired for technical skills (hard skills)

Interpersonal (soft) skills are the “make-or-break” capabilities that allow teams to succeed

Technical and problem-solving skills can be learned; interpersonal skills and attitudes are difficult to learn

The best teams have complementary skills


Team Roles

Dr. Meredith Belbin developed three categories of team roles:

Action-oriented roles: Get things done! People-oriented roles: Take care of us all Cerebral roles: The Thinkers


Team Roles

Action-oriented roles


Shaper challenging, dynamic, driven, has courage to overcome obstacles

Implementer disciplined, reliable, conservative, efficient, makes ideas actionable

Finisher conscientious, anxious, delivers on time

So what would be the challenges working on a team full of action-oriented people?

Team Roles

People-oriented roles


Coordinator mature, confident, good chairperson, clarifies goals, delegates

Teamworker co-operative, mild, perceptive, diplomatic, listens, builds alliances, averts friction

So what would be the challenges working on a team full of people-oriented team members?

Resource extroverted, communicative, explores opportunities Investigator

Team Roles

Cerebral Roles


Plant creative, imaginative, solves difficult problems

Monitor sober, strategic, discerning, sees options, judges accurately

Specialist single-minded, dedicated, provides skills in rare supply

So what would be the challenges working on a team full of cerebral people?

It’s All about Balance

What each person brings to the team combined with how each person executes their role, gives effective, balanced team performance

Successful teams achieve results with a sense of collective pride in the process, in the team, and with themselves


How Teams Develop

o Teams develop in stageso The most widely accepted model of team

development is Tuckman’s Stage Model, which contains five parts:

1. Forming2. Storming3. Norming4. Performing5. Adjourning


Source: B.W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups”, Psychological Bulletin, 1965

How Teams Develop



•Conflict emerges

•Ideas are criticized

•Competition ensues

•Resentment, hostility, withdrawal can take place

Which Stage?

Source: B.W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups”, Psychological Bulletin, 1965.

How Teams Develop

1. Forming2. Storming3. Norming4. Performing

5. Adjourning



•Members work toward achieving goals

•Trust, interdependence develops

•Decisions are made

•Problems are solved

Which Stage?

How Teams Develop



Source: B.W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups”, Psychological Bulletin, 1965

•Politeness

•Attempt to define goals

•Leadership emerges

•Feelings of anxiety and excitement

Which Stage?

How Teams Develop




•Termination of duties

•Completion of tasks

•Increased emotions, farewell parties

Which Stage?

How Teams Develop




•Agreement on rules

•Compromise, collaboration, cooperation

•Information sharing

•Acceptance of differences

•A “we” feeling

Which Stage?

Highly Effective Teams

Highly effective teams have the following: Committed individuals A clear sense of purpose Effective communicators A commitment to ensuring everyone is

involved in decisions A process that is followed for planning,

deciding, and quality delivery Trust in one another


A Code of Conduct for an Effective Team

Define clear roles and goals Create and follow an agenda for

meetings Keep a positive attitude Agree on who will do what by when Focus on one issue at a time


DO

What else?

A Code of Conduct for an Effective Team

Assume things about others’ motives Criticize others’ ideas Come unprepared to meetings Withhold important or relevant

information from the team Fail to alert the team about the risk of a

missed deadline


DON’T

What else?

Collaborative Technologies

Calendar Systems, email, specially designed parts of a corporate intranet

Communication tools such as BlackBerry, Web conferencing MSN Messenger

ProjectSpaces and SharePoint Share documents, discussion boards, chat,

calendars, task lists


Let’s Discuss

What is your absolute worst team experience?

Describe it to the person next to you Be prepared to replay what you’ve heard

from the person next to you How could this bad experience be avoided

in your next team experience?


Copyright

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) is unlawful. Requests for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his or her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information contained herein.


Tech Guide E The Technology of Teams Introduction to Business Information Systems by James Norrie,...

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