Chapter 9: Teams and Teamwork
PSYC 352
Terminology
 Dyad: Two-person unit
 Group vs. Team
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No real distinction
Team: A social aggregation in which a limited number
of individuals interact on a regular basis to accomplish a
set of shared objectives for which they have mutual
responsibility.
Origins of Work Teams
 Factors that led to the use of teams:
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Information age
Educated and trained population
Rate of change in work activities
 Teams are not always better than individuals
Level of Analysis
Individual vs. Team vs. Organization
Micro vs. Meso vs. Macro
Organization
Work Groups
Individuals
Types of Teams
(Larson & LaFasto, 1989)
 Problem Solving Team: A type of team
created for the purpose of focusing on the
resolution of a particular problem or issue.
 Creative Team: A type of team created for
the purpose of developing innovative
possibilities or solutions.
Types of Teams
(Larson & LaFasto, 1989)
 Tactical Team: A type of team created for the
purpose of executing a well-defined plan or
objective.
 Ad Hoc Team: A type of team created for a
limited duration that is designed to address
itself to resolving one particular problem.
Types of Teams
(Larson & LaFasto, 1989)
Broad
Objective
Dominant
Feature
Problem
Trust
Resolution
Process Emphasis
Focus on Issues
Example
CDC
Creative
Autonomy Explore possibilities and
alternatives
IBM PC
Team
Tactical
Clarity
Cardiac
Surgery
Team
Directive, highly focused
tasks, role clarity, welldefined operational
standards, accuracy
Principles of Teamwork
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Feedback provided and accepted
Backing up team members
Collective group
Within-team interdependence
Leadership makes a difference
Team Structure
 Structure of a team includes:
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Number of members
Demographic composition
Experience of members
 Diversity in teams:
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Information diversity
Value diversity
Team Processes:
Stages of Development
Forming
Norming
Performing
Storming
Adjourning
Team Structure: Roles
Diversity within a team is
reflected in the members
filling different roles.
Effective teams are
composed of members
who serve different roles
on the team and their roles
are defined by possession
of selected mental abilities
and personality
characteristics.
Leader
Shaper
Worker
Resource
investigator
Team
Facilitator
CompleterFinisher
Monitorevaluator
Creator
Belbin, 1981
Team Processes: Socialization
 Socialization: process of mutual adjustment
that produces changes over time in the
relationship between a person and a team.
 How socialization works (Moreland & Levine, 2001):
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Evaluation
Commitment
Role transition and phases of membership
(investigation, socialization, maintenance,
resocialization, remembrance)
Team Processes:
Interpersonal Processes
 Communication
 Conflict
 Cohesion
 Trust
Team Processes:
Shared Mental Models
 Shared Mental Model:the cognitive
processes held in common by members of a
team regarding how they acquire
information, analyze it, and respond to it.
 What is shared (Cannon-Bowers & Salas, 2001)?
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Task-specific knowledge
Task-related knowledge
Knowledge of teammates
Shared attitudes and beliefs
Team Processes:
Shared Mental Models
 Groupthink:a phenomenon associated with
team decision making in which members feel
threatened by forces external to the team,
resulting in a deterioration in the cognitive
processing of information.
 3 Causes:

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High level of cohesion
Structural organizational flaw
Proactive situational context
Groupthink Example
A board of directors of an international air
freight service must decide whether the
company should enter a cost-cutting war with
their competitors. The board begins its
decision-making meeting with the
chairperson’s loaded questions: “Should we
enter into this foolish price war or just keep
rates the way they are?”
Team Processes:
Decision Making
 Multi-level theory of team decision
making (Hollenbeck, LePine, & Ilgen,
1996):
Team informity
 Staff validity
 Dyadic sensitivity

Improving Team Decision
Making
 Assign the devil’s advocate role
 Be open to dissenting points of view
 Seek outside opinions
 Break up into smaller groups
 Rethink issues before making final decision
 Use brainstorming
Virtual Teams
 Virtual teams: Task-focused teams that meet
without being physically present or working
at the same time.
 Defining Characteristics (Avolio et al., 2001):
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Communication takes place electronically
Team members are dispersed geographically
Members may interact synchronously or
asynchronously
Virtual Teams
 Challenges:
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Development of shared mental models
Evaluation of team results
Achievement of team cohesion
Problems with leadership
Intergroup Conflict
 Causes:
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Lack of resources
Goal incompatibility
Time compatibility
Influence tactics
Intergroup Conflict
 Consequences:
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Conflict changes group members’ perceptions of
each other
Group becomes more cohesive
Strained interaction between the two groups
Argumentative behavior
Attitudes passed on to new members
Goals focus inward, away from organization as a
whole
Overcoming Intergroup
Conflict
 Superordinate Goals: goals that both groups
endorse and that often require cooperative
intergroup behavior to be achieved

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Getting 2 conflicting groups together by itself
will not reduce conflict
Conflict can be reduced if members cooperate to
achieve superordinate goals.
Overcoming Intergroup
Conflict
 One problem occurs in conflicting groups is
that they do not communicate.
 One strategy to overcome the conflict is to
plan a negotiation between the 2 groups.
 Negotiation:facilitates communication and is
usually seen a a fair method of dispute
resolution.
Overcoming Intergroup
Conflict
 Member exchanges: members of conflicting
groups role play each other.
 Intergroup team development: team
activities to improve relationships between
groups.
Overcoming Intergroup
Conflict
 Reducing need for intergroup interaction:
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Create conditions in which two groups have little
or no need to interact
Reduce interdependence among groups
 The resource allocation process:
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Ensure groups have similar resources
Allocate resources fairly
Special Issues in Teams
 Personnel Selection
 Training
 Performance Appraisal
Personnel Selection in Teams
 Traditional individual personnel selection methods
may not take the social context of teams into
consideration.
 Selection of team members requires best mix of
personnel.
 Establishing team requirements involves
identifying and assessing the congruence among
members with regard to personality and values.
Personnel Selection in Teams
Prieto (1993) asserts that 5 social skills are
critical for an individual to enhance group
performance:
1. Gain group’s acceptance
2.Increase group solidarity
3.Be aware of group consciousness
4.Share group identification
5.Manage others’ impressions
Team Training
 Logic of team training is similar to individual
training, although mechanism is somewhat
different.
 Team task analysis provides information
about knowledge, skills, and attitudes the
team members must possess to be successful.
Team Training
Team
Performance
Cognition
Behaviors
Attitudes
Knowledge
Skills
Affect
Think
Do
Feel
Team Performance Appraisal
 Major issue: extent to which individuals will
slacken their performance within the team.
 Social loafing: a phenomenon identified in
groups or teams in which certain individuals
withhold effort or contributions to the collective
outcome.
Team Performance Appraisal:
Social Loafing
Three types of social loafing:
Share the same characteristics:
Free riding
Sucker effect
Felt dispensability
•
Concern with impact of
individual contributions on
team performance.
•
Expectation of return on effort
•
Teamwork can weaken
individual effort-team successindividual outcome link
Team Activity