Chapter 8 Understanding Work Teams
CHAPTER 8 - UNDERSTANDING WORK TEAMS
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Explain the growing popularity of teams in organizations.
2. Contrast teams with groups.
3. Identify three types of teams.
4. Describe the role of work design in making effective team.
5. Explain composition variables that determine team effectiveness.
6. Identify resources and other contextual influences that make teams effective.
7. Describe process variables that affect team performance.
8. Explain how organizations can create team players.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I.
WHY HAVE TEAMS BECOME SO POPULAR?
A. Introduction
1. Thirty years ago the introduction of teams into production processes made news because
no one was doing it. Now the organization that doesn’t use teams has become
newsworthy.
2. How do we explain the current popularity of teams?
a) Teams typically out-perform individuals when the tasks being done require multiple
skills, judgment, and experience.
b) Restructuring to compete more effectively and efficiently, companies have turned to
teams as a way to better utilize employee talents.
c) Teams have the capability to quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband.
d) Teams facilitate employee participation in operating decisions.
e) Teams are an effective means for management to democratize their organizations and
increase employee motivation.
II. TEAMS VERSUS GROUPS: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
A. Definitions
1. A work group is a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make
decisions to help one another perform within each member’s area of responsibility.
a) Work groups have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires
joint effort.
b) Their performance is merely the sum of all the group members’ individual
contributions.
2. A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort.
a) The individual efforts result in a level of performance that is greater than the sum of
those individual inputs.
3. See Exhibit 8-1.
4. Many organizations have recently restructured work processes around teams looking for
that positive synergy that will increase performance.
5. There is potential but nothing inherently magical in the creation of teams that assures the
achievement of this positive synergy.
III. TYPES OF TEAMS
A. Classified According to Their Objective
1. The four most common forms are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams,
cross-functional teams, and virtual teams.
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2. See Exhibit 8-2.
B. Problem-Solving Teams
1. Twenty years ago teams were typically were composed of five to twelve hourly
employees from the same department who met for a few hours each week to discuss ways
of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment.
a) These are problem-solving teams.
b) Members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work processes and methods can
be improved.
c) The teams weren’t given the authority to unilaterally implement their suggested
actions.
2. One of the most widely practiced applications of problem-solving teams during the 1980s
was the quality circle.
a) Work teams of eight to ten employees and supervisors who had a shared area of
responsibility and met regularly to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes
of the problems, and recommend solutions.
C. Self-Managed Work Teams
1. Problem-solving teams didn’t go far enough in getting employees involved in workrelated decisions and processes.
2. This led to experimentation with truly autonomous teams that could not only solve
problems but also could implement solutions and take full responsibility for outcomes:
self-managed work teams.
a) They are usually composed of ten to fifteen people who take on the responsibilities of
their former supervisors.
b) Responsibilities include collective control over the pace of work, determination of
work assignments, organization of breaks, and collective choice of inspection
procedures.
c) Fully self-managed work teams select their own members, and the members evaluate
each other’s performance.
3. Eaton-Aeroquip plant in Arkansas example.
4. Xerox, General Motors, Coors Brewing, PepsiCo, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell,
M&M/Mars, and Aetna Life have implemented self-managed teams.
5. About 30 percent of U.S. employers now use this form of team, and the among large
firms, the number is closer to 50 percent.
6. A caution
a) Research on the effectiveness of self-managed teams has not been uniformly positive.
(1) Employees on self-managed teams seem to have higher absenteeism and turnover
rates than do employees in traditional work structures.
D. Cross-Functional Teams
1. Custom Research’s reorganization illustrates the use of the team concept—crossfunctional teams made up of employees at about the same hierarchical level, but from
different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
2. Many organizations have used horizontal, boundary-spanning groups for decades.
a) A task force is really nothing other than a temporary cross-functional team.
b) Similarly, committees composed of members from across departmental lines are
another example of cross-functional teams.
3. The popularity of cross-discipline work teams exploded in the late 1980s.
a) All the major automobile companies went to using this form of team to coordinate
complex projects—Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler.
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(1) Example, Harley-Davidson uses specific cross-functional teams to manage each
line of its motorcycles.
b) These teams include Harley employees from design, manufacturing, and purchasing,
as well as representatives from key outside suppliers.
4. Cross-functional teams are an effective means of allowing people from diverse areas
within an organization (or even between organizations) to exchange information, develop
new ideas and solve problems, and coordinate complex projects.
5. Cross-functional teams are difficult to manage.
a) It takes time to build trust and teamwork, especially among people from different
backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives.
E. Virtual Teams
1. Virtual teams use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in
order to achieve a common goal. They allow people to collaborate online, whether
they’re only a room apart or separated by continents.
a) Virtual teams can do all the things that other teams do—share information, make
decisions, and complete tasks.
b) They can include all members from the same organization or link an organization’s
members with employees from other organizations (i.e., suppliers and joint partners).
2. The three primary factors that differentiate virtual teams from face-to-face teams are:
a) the absence of paraverbal and nonverbal cues
b) limited social context
c) the ability to overcome time and space constraints
3. In face-to-face conversation people use paraverbal (tone of voice, inflection, voice
volume) and nonverbal (eye movement, facial expression, hand gestures, and other body
language) cues. These help clarify communication, but they aren’t available in online
interactions.
4. Virtual teams often suffer from less social rapport and less direct interaction among
members.
a) They aren’t able to duplicate the normal give-and-take of face-to-face discussion.
b) Virtual team members report less satisfaction with the group interaction process than
face-to-face teams.
c) But virtual teams allow people who might otherwise never be able to collaborate to
work together.
5. Companies like Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Ford, VeriFone, and Royal Dutch-Shell have
become heavy users of virtual teams.
IV. CREATING EFFECTIVE TEAMS
A. Four general categories of key components have been identified—See Exhibit 8-3.
1. Work design
2. Composition
3. Contextual
4. Process
B. Team effectiveness is the objective measures of the team’s productivity, managers’ ratings of
the team’s performance, and aggregate measure of member satisfaction.
C. Work Design
1. Freedom and autonomy, the opportunity to utilize different skills and talents, the ability
to complete a whole and identifiable task or product, and working on a task or project
that has a substantial impact on others.
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2. Evidence indicates that these characteristics enhance member motivation and increase
team effectiveness because they increase members’ sense of responsibility and ownership
over the work and because they make the work more interesting to perform.
D. Composition refers to how teams should be staffed.
E. Abilities of Members—to perform effectively, a team requires three different types of skills.
a) Technical expertise
b) Problem-solving and decision-making skills to be able to identify problems, generate
alternatives, evaluate those alternatives, and make competent choices
c) Good listening, feedback, conflict-resolution, and other interpersonal skills
d) The right mix is crucial.
(1) It’s not uncommon for one or more members to learn the skills in which the
group is deficient, thereby allowing the team to reach its full potential.
2. Personality
a) Many of the dimensions identified in the Big Five personality model have proved to
be relevant to team effectiveness—especially extroversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and emotional stability.
b) The evidence indicates that the variance in personality characteristics may be more
important than the mean.
c) Another interesting finding is that “one bad apple can spoil the barrel” in teams of
team performance.
3. Allocating Roles and Promoting Diversity
a) Teams have different needs, and people should be selected for a team to ensure that
there is diversity and that all various roles are filled.
b) Nine potential team roles can be identified.
(1) See Exhibit 8-4.
(a) Creator-Innovators initiate creative ideas.
(b) Explorer-Promoters champion ideas after they’re initiated.
(c) Assessor-Developers analyze decision options.
(d) Thruster-Organizers provide structure.
(e) Concluder-Producers provide direction and follow-through.
(f) Controller-Inspectors check for details.
(g) Upholders-Maintainers fight external battles.
(h) Reporter-Advisers seek full information.
(i) Linkers coordinate and integrate.
c) On many teams, individuals will play multiple roles.
d) By matching individual preferences with team role demands, managers increase the
likelihood that the team members will work well together.
4. Size of Teams
a) Teams should be neither very small (fewer than four or five) or very large (more than
twelve).
b) Very small teams are likely to lack a diversity of views.
c) Large teams become difficult to get much done because member have trouble
interacting constructively and agreeing on much, or can’t develop the cohesiveness,
commitment, and mutual accountability necessary.
5. Member Flexibility
a) Individuals can complete each other’s tasks, an obvious plus to a team.
b) Cross-training should lead to higher team performance over time.
6. Member Preferences
a) Not every employee is a team player.
b) When selecting team members, individual preferences should be considered as well
as abilities, personalities, and skills.
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c) High-performing teams are likely to be composed of people who prefer working as
part of a group.
F. Context
1. Three contextual factors appear to be most significant to team performance are the
presence of adequate resources, effective leadership, and a performance evaluation and
reward system that reflects team contributions.
2. Adequate Resources
a) A scarcity of resources directly reduces the ability of the team to perform its job
effectively.
b) Resources include support such as timely information, technology, adequate staffing,
encouragement, and administrative assistance.
3. Leadership and Structure
a) Team members must agree on who is to do what and ensure that all members
contribute equally in sharing the workload.
b) Agreeing on the specifics of work and how they fit together to integrate individual
skills requires team leadership and structure.
c) Evidence does indicate that self-managed work teams often perform better than teams
with formally appointed leaders who can obstruct high performance whey they
interfere.
4. Performance
a) Individual performance evaluations, fixed hourly wages, and individual incentives
are not consistent with the development of high-performance teams.
b) Group-based appraisals, profit sharing, gainsharing, small-group incentives, and
other system modifications that reinforce team effort and commitment should be
considered.
G. Process
1. The process variables include member commitment to a common purpose, establishment
of specific team goals, team efficacy, a managed level of conflict, and the reduction of
social loafing.
2. A Common Purpose
a) Effective teams have a common and meaningful purpose that provides direction,
momentum, and commitment for members—a vision.
b) Members of successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into
discussing, shaping, and agreeing upon a purpose that belongs to them both
collectively and individually.
c) This common purpose, when accepted by the team, becomes the equivalent of what
celestial navigation is to a ship captain—it provides direction and guidance under any
and all conditions.
3. Specific Goals
a) Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and
realistic performance goals.
b) These specific goals facilitate clear communication.
c) They also help teams maintain their focus on results.
d) Teams goals should be challenging; difficult goals have been found to raise team
performance on those criteria for which they are set.
4. Team Efficacy—the belief by team members that the team can succeed.
a) Success breeds success.
b) Management options
(1) Help teams achieve small successes that build confidence.
(2) Provide training to improve members’ technical and interpersonal skills.
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5. Conflict
a) Conflict on a team isn’t necessarily bad. Teams that are completely void of conflict
are likely to become apathetic and stagnant.
b) Types of conflict
(1) Relationship conflicts are based on interpersonal incompatibilities, tension, and
animosity toward others—are almost always dysfunctional.
(2) Task conflicts—based on task content—are often beneficial because they lessen
the likelihood of groupthink, stimulate discussion, promote critical assessment of
problems options, and can lead to better team decisions.
6. Social Loafing
a) Coast on the group’s effort because their individual contributions can’t be identified.
b) Effective teams undermine this tendency by holding themselves accountable at both
the individual and team level.
c) Successful teams’ members are clear on both their individual and joint
responsibilities.
V. TURNING INDIVIDUALS INTO TEAM PLAYERS
A. The Challenge
1. One substantial barrier to using work teams is individual resistance.
2. To perform well as team members, individuals must be able to communicate openly and
honestly, confront differences and resolve conflicts, and sublimate personal goals for the
good of the team.
3. The challenge is greatest where:
a) the national culture is highly individualistic.
b) the teams are being introduced into an established organization that has historically
valued individual achievement.
c) Examples: AT&T, Ford, Motorola, and other large U.S.-based companies.
4. On the other hand, the challenge for management is less demanding when teams are
introduced:
a) Where employees have strong collectivist values such as in Japan or Mexico.
b) Or in new organizations that use teams as their initial form for structuring work.
B. Shaping Team Players
1. The primary options for turning individuals into team players are selection, training, and
teamwork.
2. Selection
a) Some people already possess the interpersonal skills to be effective team players.
b) When faced with candidates lacking team skills/orientation there are three options.
(1) Train the candidate.
(2) Place the candidate in a unit within the organization that doesn’t have teams.
(3) Don’t hire the candidate.
3. Training
a) People raised on the importance of individual accomplishment can be trained to
become team players.
b) Training improves problem-solving, communication, negotiation, conflictmanagement, coaching, and group-development skills.
4. Teamwork
a) The reward system needs to be reworked to encourage cooperative efforts rather than
competitive ones.
b) Promotions, pay raises, and other forms of recognition should be given to individuals
for how effective they are as a collaborative team member.
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c) Behaviors that should be rewarded include training new colleagues, sharing
information with teammates, helping resolve team conflicts, and mastering new skills
that your team needs.
d) Don’t forget the intrinsic rewards that employees can receive from teamwork. Teams
provide camaraderie. It’s exciting and satisfying to be an integral part of a successful
team.
VI. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
1. Few trends have influenced jobs as much as the introduction of teams into the workplace.
Teams require employees to cooperate with others, share information, confront
differences, and sublimate personal interests for the greater good of the team.
2. Effective teams have common characteristics. The work should provide freedom and
autonomy, the opportunity to utilize different skills and talents, the ability to complete a
whole and identifiable task or product, and doing work that has a substantial impact on
others. The teams require people with different types of skills: technical, problemsolving and decision-making, and interpersonal skills, and high scores on the personality
characteristics of extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.
Effective teams are neither too large nor too small—typically five to twelve people.
They have members who fill role demands, are flexible, and who prefer to be a part of a
group. They have adequate resources, effective leadership, and a performance evaluation
and reward system that reflects team contributions. They have members committed to a
common purpose, specific goals, and members who believe in the team’s capabilities, a
manageable level of conflict, and a minimal degree of social loafing.
3. Because individualistic organizations and societies attract and reward individual
accomplishment, it is more difficult to create team players in these environments. To
change, management should select individuals with effective interpersonal skills, provide
training to develop teamwork skills, and reward individuals for cooperative efforts.
SUMMARY
1. Teams are growing in popularity because they typically outperform individuals when the tasks being
done require multiple skills, judgment, and experience. When restructuring to compete more
effectively and efficiently, companies have turned to teams as a way to better utilize employee talents.
Teams also facilitate employee participation in operating decisions and help managers democratize
their organizations and increase employee motivation.
2. A work group is a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help
one another perform within each member’s area of responsibility. Work groups have no need or
opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort. A work team generates positive
synergy through coordinated effort. The individual efforts result in a level of performance that is
greater than the sum of those individual inputs.
3. The four most common forms are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional
teams, and virtual teams.
4. There are a number of group concepts that link directly to high performance in teams. The best work
teams tend to be not too small nor too large—five to twelve persons. The key components making
up effective teams can be subsumed into four general categories: work design, composition,
contextual influences, process variables. Composition includes variables that related to how teams
should be staffed. To perform effectively, a team requires three different types of skills: technical
expertise, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and good interpersonal skills. Teams have
different needs, and people should be selected for a team on the basis of their personalities and
preferences. Effective teams include people selected to ensure that there is diversity and that all
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various roles are filled. Effective teams require adequate resources, effective leadership, and a
performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions. Effective teams have a
common vision that provides direction, momentum, and commitment for members. Successful teams
translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and realistic performance goals. Effective
teams have confidence in themselves and believe they can succeed—team efficacy. Effective teams
undermine the tendency toward social loafing by holding themselves accountable at both the
individual and team level.
5. Organizations have a number of options when creating team players; selection, training, and through
rewarding cooperative effort.
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