Essentials of ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
- Chapter 8
- Understanding Work Teams
Learning Objectives
Chapter eight
- Explain the growing popularity of teams in organizations
- Contrast teams with groups
- Identify three types of teams
- Demonstrate the linkage between group concepts and high-performing teams
Why Teams?
- Outperform individuals when tasks require
- multiple skills
- Judgment
- Experience
- Better utilize employee talents
- More flexible and responsive
- Easier to assemble, deploy, refocus, disband
- Facilitate employee participation
- Increase employee motivation
What Is a Work Team?
Group
whose individual efforts
result in performance
greater than the sum
of individual inputs
Types of Teams
- Problem solving
- Self-managed
- Cross functional
Problem - Solving Team:
- May be temporary in nature
- Ad Hoc
- May be under time pressure
- May involve members of organization from many disciplines
Self-Managed Teams
- Some degree of "self direction"
- Film will illustrate both self-directed teams and cross-functional
Film on Self - Directed
Work teams
Each involves a different degree of transfer in authority,
responsibility, accountability from managers to working teams
(3) companies
- Northern Telecom
- General Motors ABS Line
- SCO software company
Questions about companies discussed in film:
- What are the BENEFITS of using these "self-directed" teams?
- What are the COSTS of using teams in these organizations?
- What are the complications involved in using teams at each of the (3)
locations we learn about?
Attributes of High Performance Teams
- Optimal size: less than 12 members
- Abilities:
- Technical expertise
- Problem solving skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Clearly allocated roles
Matching People to Team Roles
- Creator-Innovators
- Explorer-Promoters
- Assessor-Developers
- Thruster-Organizers
- Concluder-Producers
- Controller-Inspectors
- Upholder-Maintainers
- Reporter-Advisors
- Linkers
Features of High Performance Teams
- Commitment to common purpose
- Specific goals
- Leadership and structure
- Individual and joint accountability
- Appropriate evaluation and reward systems
- High mutual trust
Dimensions of Trust
Integrity
Consistency
Loyalty
Openness
Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity
Advantages
- Multiple Perspectives
- Greater openness to new ideas
- Multiple interpretations
- Increased creativity
- Increased problem-solving skills
Disadvantages
- Ambiguity
- Complexity
- Confusion
- Miscommunication
- Difficulty in reaching single agreement
- Difficulty in agreeing on specific solutions