Chapter 10
Leading Teams
1
Team
A unit of two or more
people who interact and
coordinate their work to
accomplish a shared
goal or purpose
2
Groups & Teams
Group - two or more people with common
interests, objectives, and continuing
interaction
Work Team - a group of people with
complementary skills who are
committed to a common mission,
performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually
accountable
3
Ex. 10.1 Differences Between
Groups and Teams
Group

Has a designated, strong
leader

Individual accountability

Identical purpose for group
and organization

Performance goals set by
others

Works within organizational
boundaries

Individual work products

Organized meetings;
delegation
Team

Shares or rotates leadership
roles

Mutual/ind. accountability

Specific team vision or
purpose

Performance goals set by
team

Not inhibited by organizational
boundaries

Collective work products

Mutual feedback, open-ended
discussion, active problemsolving
4
Ex. 10.2 Stages of Team Development
Forming:
Orientation, break the ice
Leader: Facilitate social interchanges
Storming:
Conflict, disagreement
Leader: Encourage participation,
surface differences
Norming:
Establishment of order and cohesion
Leader: help clarify team roles, norms,
values
Performing:
Cooperation, problem solving
Leader: Facilitate task accomplishment
5
Ex. 10.3 Evolution of Teams and Team
Leadership
Functional Team
•Grouping individuals
by activity
•Leader centered
•Vertical or command
team
Cross-Functional
Team
•Coordinates
across organization
boundaries for
change projects
•Leader gives up
some power
•Special purpose
team, problemsolving team
Need for traditional leadership
Self-Directed Team
•Autonomous, defines
own boundaries
•Member-centered
•Self-managed team
Need for team leadership
6
Interdependence
Interdependence

The extent to which team members depend on
each other for information, resources, or ideas to
accomplish their tasks
Pooled Interdependence

The lowest form of team interdependence;
members are relatively independent of one
another in completing their work
7
Interdependence (contd.)
Sequential Interdependence

Serial form of interdependence in which the
output of one team member becomes the input
to another team member
Reciprocal Interdependence

Highest form of interdependence; members
influence and affect one another in reciprocal
fashion
8
Leading Effective Teams
Team effectiveness: the extent
to which a team achieves four
performance outcomes:
innovation/adaptation, efficiency,
quality, and employee
satisfaction
Team cohesiveness: the
extent to which members
stick together and remain
united in the pursuit of a
common goal
9
Cohesion

Factors influencing cohesion
Time
 Size
 Prestige
 External pressure
 Internal competition


Problems with: groupthink
10
Team Leadership Roles
Task-Specialist Role

Team leadership role associated with initiating new ideas,
evaluating the team’s effectiveness, seeking to clarify
tasks and responsibilities, summarizing facts and ideas for
others, and stimulating others to action
Socio-Emotional Role

Team leadership role associated with facilitating others’
participation, smoothing conflicts, showing concern for
team members’ needs and feelings, serving as a role
model, and reminding others of standards for team
interaction
11
Ex. 10.4 Two Types of Team
Leadership Roles
Task-Specialist Behavior
Socio-Emotional Behavior
Propose solutions and initiate new
ideas
Encourage contributions by others;
draw out others’ ideas by showing
warmth and acceptance
Evaluate effectiveness of task
solutions; offer feedback on others’
suggestions
Smooth over conflicts between
members; reduce tension and help
resolve differences
Seek information to clarify tasks,
responsibilities, and suggestions
Be friendly and supportive of others;
show concern for members’ needs and
feelings
Summarize ideas and facts related to
the problem at hand
Maintain standards of behavior and
remind others of agreed-upon norms
and standards for interaction
Energize others and stimulate the
team to action
Seek to identify problems with team
interactions or dysfunctional member
behavior; ask for others’ perceptions
12
Virtual Team
A team made up of geographically or
organizationally dispersed members
who share a common purpose and
are linked primarily through advanced
information technologies
13
Ex. 10.5 Differences Between Conventional,
Virtual, and Global Teams
Type of
Team
Spatial
Distance
Communications
Member
Cultures
Leader
Challenge
Conventional
Colocated
Face to face
Same
High
Virtual
Scattered
Mediated
Same
Higher
Global
Widely
scattered
Mediated
Different
Very high
14
Global Teams
Teams made up of culturally diverse
members who live and work in
different countries and coordinate
some part of their activities on a global
basis
15
Ex. 10.6 A Model of Styles to Handle
Conflict
Assertive
.Competing
.
Assertiveness
Compromising
(Attempting to
satisfy one’s own
concerns)
Unassertive
.
Collaborating
.
Avoiding
Accommodating
Uncooperative
.
Cooperative
Cooperativeness
(Attempting to satisfy
the other party’s
concerns)
16
Team leadership



Effective team leaders understand 1) they do not
have all the answers, 2) they do not need to make all
key decisions, and 3) they cannot succeed without
the other team members
The essence of the team leader’s job – striking the
right balance between providing guidance and giving
up control, between making tough decisions and
letting others make them, and between doing difficult
things alone and letting others learn how to do them
 Effective team leaders allow their people to grow
The key to the leader’s role is understanding what the
team needs and does not need from the leader to
help it perform
Extra: Six things necessary for good team leadership






Maintain perspective. Keep the purpose (why we are doing
what we are doing), goals, and approach relevant and
meaningful
 The team leader must do this for him/herself as well as for
the team. If the leader looses perspective, the team
members have a responsibility to keep the team on course
and to reestablish leadership perspective
Build commitment and confidence with positive and constructive
reinforcement
Strengthen the mix and level of skills of team members
Manage relationships with outsiders, including removing
obstacles
Create opportunities for others
Do real work.
 Demonstrates credibility and provides a role model