Lecture 3
TEAM
It starts with the selection of right type of people, training them and linking the performance with
proper reward system.
“NONE OF US IS AS SMART AS ALL OF US”
o When teams operate effectively, they can solve more problems, make better decisions and be
more creative.
o “Team are unique; dynamic, complex and ever changing.” - Ken Blanchard, author of “the one
minute manager”.
Leadership success requires: An understanding of group behavior. The ability to tap the constructive
power of teams
Team Building
o
Get the right people.
o
Determine the Challenge.
o
Prepare the Team Leader.
o
Train.
o
Add value.
o
See the Big picture.
Build and Support the Team
o Leadership Skills
o Team Building Strategies
o Team Logistics
Team Building:-The Team Leader’s Responsibility
A good team leader
o Fosters communication among team members
o Seeks to build bonds among team members (work together, meet together, get to know each
other)
o Creates positive environment for collective problem solving and support; creates atmosphere
in which differing opinions are valued but in which clear decisions can be reached
o Is alert to cliques, bickering, etc. and acts to address them; maintains atmosphere in which
sexual, racial, ethnic, national or other harassment is not acceptable
o Monitors individual staff members for signs of stress and provides basic support
o Models good individual stress management practices
o Seeks to base expatriate/staff interactions on mutual respect, transparency, and partnership
Team Building:-The Organizational Responsibility
o The Organization identifies team-building skills as an essential qualification for prospective
managers
o The Organization trains staff and managers in team work skills (e.g., conflict management)
o The Organization helps build team cohesion (e.g., through common experiences such as
safety and security training)
o The Organization regularly reviews team functioning and has policies for addressing the
problems of dysfunctional teams and of staff members who have difficulty functioning in
their team
Strategies for Team Building
o Establish common goals
o Understand each others role in the Team
o Find occasions to celebrate
o Recognise effort
o Improve communication
Factors Affecting Teams
o Work Design
o Team Composition
o Context
o Process
Let’s discuss individual factor
Work Design:
o
p
q
Autonomy
Task
Feedback
Work design play important role in the performance of a team. Kind of autonomy, task itself and the
feedback system in organization related to the work design are essential ingredient of work design.
Team Composition
• Ability
• Personality
• Roles
• Size
• Flexibility
Selection of right team members is the starting point for the success of any team. Type of team member
personalities matching with the type of task they are going to perform, clear role identification, size of
team and role and flexibility with in the working relationship of the team members are the essential
components of team composition that play important role in the effectiveness of a team. Similarly other
factor like context and process affects the performance a team.
Context
• Resources
• Leadership
• Performance evaluation and rewards
Process
• Common purpose
• Specific goals
• Team worth
• Conflict management
• Avoid social loafing
Building the Team
o Get them together
o Keep them informed – vacuums tend to fill with negativity
o Keep them involved – the working groups – make it their project too
o Ensure everyone sees themselves, understands their role in the “new world”
o Don’t focus on differences, focus on similarities
o Add value to individuals and you multiply team effectiveness.
o Impart Spiritual life on a daily basis.
o Value added to cohesion stimulates synergism.
o Remove Ineffective Members
o Define Purpose
o Define Time Line
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Have regular review against goals
Begin with smaller assignments and test at higher levels
A Weak Link can destroy your team.
Stronger members identify the link.
Stronger members have to help.
Stronger members begin to resent.
Stronger members become less effective.
Stronger members begin to question the leader’s ability.
Facts you must accept.
o Not everyone will take the journey.
o Not everyone can take the journey.
o Will not work on personal weaknesses.
o Will not work with the rest of the team.
o Can not fulfill the expectations of their area.
o As a Leader you are a catalyst within the team to move it …
o Increase the value of every member.
o Increase individual commitment to shared values.
o Remind them of the Big Picture.
o Uplift other team members.
Leadership success requires:
An understanding of group behavior. The ability to tap the constructive power of teams. “Team are
unique; dynamic, complex and ever changing.” - Ken Blanchard, author of “the one minute manager”.
A TEAM-BASED ORGANIZATION
Team Based Organization
Implementing a team-based approach to organizational structure can empower employees and increase
cooperation among different skills and disciplines. Based on the belief that organizational goals will be
achieved not by individuals working together separately, but by groups of people who share responsibility
for outcomes and who work efficiently and effectively in team?
o These processes require highly developed communication competencies from all team members.
o Team skills usually are divided into two categories
ƒ Task roles
ƒ Maintenance roles
Characteristics of Traditional Vs Team-based Organizations
Traditional
Individual command structures
Manager controls
Vertical hierarchy
Stability and uniformity
One best way to organize
Managers manage
Team-based
Collective structures
Team monitors
Horizontal integration
Change and flexibility
Organization-specific
Self-managing team
Traditional vs. Best Place to Work Changes
To understand this we need to understand basic concept of organizational structure.
The Basics of Organizational Structure:
o Organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated.
o The organization chart is a visual representation of this division, grouping, and coordination.
Organizational Structure: Organizational structure is the formal setup of task and authority relationships.
Structure controls the coordination of activities and employee motivation to attain goals. Structure must
be continually evaluated. Formal structure shows the intended configuration of positions, job duties, and
the lines of authority among different parts of the enterprise.
Designing an Organization Structure: Organization design is the process by which leaders/managers
select and manage aspects of organizational structure so that an organization can achieve its goals.
Basic Steps
o Leaders/Managers must decide how to divide the overall tasks of the organization into successively
smaller jobs.
o Leaders/Managers must decide the basis by which to group the individual jobs.
o Leaders/Managers must decide the appropriate size of the group reporting to each supervisor
o Leaders/Managers must distribute authority among the jobs.
Departmentalization:
Departmentalization is the bedrock of horizontal differentiation, which begins when one person assumes
a functional task. As others assume specialized roles, a functional structure emerges, with people placed
in groups based on common skills or common use of resources.
Span of Control
To avoid becoming too tall, an organization can increase the span of control, the number of subordinates
a manager directly oversees. Different companies have different spans of control.
A manager’s span of control is limited to the number of subordinates that can be adequately supervised.
An increase in subordinates exponentially increases the subordinate relationships to be managed. A
manager with two subordinates manages three relationships, but a manager with three subordinates
manages six. If the span of control becomes too wide, a manager loses control over subordinates.
Formalization:
The use of written rules and procedures to standardize operations is known as formalization. If
formalization and standardization are extensive, there is no room for mutual adjustment. Employees are
held accountable for following rules.
Centralization:
When top managers make decisions, authority is centralized. When lower-level managers make decisions,
authority is decentralized.
ST PAUL’S UNIVERSITY
4
Organizational Design Decisions:
Mechanistic Organization
o
Rigid and tightly controlled structure
o
o High specialization
o Rigid departmentalization
o Narrow spans of control
o High formalization
o Limited
information
network
(downward)
Organic Organization
Highly flexible and adaptable structure
o Non-standardized jobs
o Fluid team-based structure
o Little direct supervision
o Minimal formal rules
o Open communication network
Mechanistic vs. Organic Models
Mechanistic structures influence people to behave in a predictable manner. Decision making is highly
centralized and roles clearly defined.
Organic structures encourage flexibility and decentralize decision making. Roles are loosely defined.
Employees perform many tasks and work with people from various functions.
Strategic planning assumes that the old structure may not work in the new realities. It demands the
organization think in terms of new approaches to solving existing and potential issues.
Benefits of Teams in Organizations:
„
„
Enhanced Performance: Teams may take many forms, i.e. including improved productivity,
quality, and customer service such the enhancements result from pooling individual efforts in
new ways and continuously striving to improve for the benefit of the team.
„
Employee Benefits: Teams always provide the sense of self-control, human dignity,
identification with work, and sense of self-worth and self-fulfillment for which current workers
seem to strive.
„
Reduced Costs: Through empowered teams, an organization can reduce scrap, make fewer
errors, file fewer worker compensation claims, and reduce absenteeism and turnover. They
resulting in significant cost reductions.
Organizational Enhancements: Teams improvements in team results a move from a
hierarchically based, directive culture to a team-based culture include increased innovation,
creativity, and flexibility in the organization.
Research indicates team-based organizations generally outperform more hierarchically organized
structures in terms of product and service output, less absenteeism, fewer industrial accidents, more worker
flexibility, quality improvements, and overall employee job satisfaction.
Benefits of Team-based Organization:
Profitability and long term viability organization is increased due to its working as team based
organization. Other benefits of team based organizations are listed bellow.
o Efficient Process
o Flexible Response to change
o Improve Effectiveness
o Reduce Cost
o Increase Innovation
o Customer Involvement
o Employee commitment
ST PAUL’S UNIVERSITY
5
o Skill utilization
Checklist for Team Based Working/ Organization Implementation Plan:
o To what extent does the senior management team agree with the team based working
philosophy?
o To what extent does the organization need team based working to achieve its goals?
o Are team based working practices already in place in some parts of the organization? If so,
where?
o Where should we start? (Whole organization, one area, with well functioning teams?)
o How do we move on from where we are now?
o What major changes need to take place?
o What resources do we need?
Possible Pitfalls in the Introduction of Team Based Organization (TBO)
o Introducing teams regardless of need
o Introducing teams without changing systems
o Failing to train for TBO
o Not providing expert support
o Failure of communication within, with and between teams
o Failure to establish and support TBO objectives
Roles of a Leader in the Team-Based Organization
o Defining the team’s mission
o Building trust and inspiring teamwork
o Coaching team members and group members toward higher levels of performance
o Serving as a model of teamwork, including power sharing
o Facilitating and supporting team’s decisions
o Expanding the team’s capabilities
o Creating a team identity
o Emphasizing pride in being outstanding
o Anticipating and influencing change
o Inspiring the team toward higher levels of performance
o Enabling and empowering group members to accomplish their work
o Selecting team-oriented members
o Using technology that facilitates teamwork
Fostering Teamwork Through Organization Structure or Policy:
o Designing physical structures that facilitate communication
o Emphasizing Team recognition and rewards
 Initiating ritual and ceremony
ST PAUL’S UNIVERSITY
6