Chapter
11
Developing High
Performance Teams
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Principles of Management
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
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Learning Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Define teams and discuss their benefits and limitations.
Discuss the success factors for self-directed teams.
Outline the model of team effectiveness.
Explain the influence on team effectiveness of a team’s task,
composition, and size.
Describe the five stages of team development.
Identify three factors that shape team norms
List six factors that influence team cohesiveness.
Summarize the three levels of trust in teams.
Analyze the causes of and structural solutions to conflict in
teams.
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Teams
• All teams exist to fill some purpose
• Team members are held together by
their interdependence and need for
collaboration to achieve common goals
• Team members influence each other,
although some members are more
influential than others regarding the
team’s goals and activities
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Why Rely on Teams?
• Teams are generally more successful
than individuals working alone at
identifying problems, developing
alternatives, and choosing from
those alternatives.
• Team members can quickly share
information and coordinate tasks.
• Teams typically provide superior
customer service.
Encouraging Teamwork
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Strongly
Agree
Source: Business Week, August 14, 2006
My company
encourages
teamwork
Disagree
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Why Belong to
Informal Groups
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• They fulfill the innate drive to bond
• We define ourselves by our group affiliation
• We are motivated to become members of groups that are
similar to ourselves
• They accomplish personal goals that cannot be achieved
working alone
• In stressful situations we are comforted by the mere
presence of other people and are therefore motivated to
be near them
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Why Join A Fraternity?
• Networking
• Professional connection
• Social connection
• Advice and mentoring
• Having fun
• Parties and Formals
• Other reasons
Source: Adapted from Business Week Online, May 24, 2006
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Trouble With Teams
• Process losses – resources expended toward team development
and maintenance rather than tasks
• Social loafing - occurs when people exert less effort when
working in groups then when working alone.
- Likely to occur in large groups where individual output is
difficult to identify
• Social loafing is less likely to occur when:
- Make member’s contributions more noticeable
- Make the task more interesting
- Members value group membership and believe in working
toward group objectives
Types of Teams
Self-directed
teams
Departmental
teams
Skunkworks
Advisory teams
Production/ service/
leadership teams
Virtual teams
Task force
(project) teams
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Self-directed Teams
The difference between self-directed teams and
traditional production/service teams are that selfdirected teams:
- Complete an entire piece of work, whether it’s a product or
service, or part of a larger product or service
- Assign tasks that individual team members perform
- Control most work inputs, flow, and outputs
- Are responsible for correcting workflow problems as they
occur
- Receive team level feedback and rewards
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Virtual Teams
Difference between traditional &
virtual teams:
1. They are not usually colocated (they do
not work in the same physical area)
2. Due to their lack of colocation,
members of virtual teams depend
primarily on information technologies
rather than face-to-face interaction
Team Effectiveness in
U.S. Manufacturing Firms
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15%
Not effective
No "team program" exists
51%
20%
Highly effective
Somewhat effective
14%
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Team Effectiveness Model
Team design
Organizational
and team
environment
Task characteristics
Team size
Team
composition Team
roles
Team
effectiveness
Team processes
Task development
Team norms
Team cohesiveness
Team trust
Team conflict
Team Design Features &
Team Processes
Team design
features
Task
characteristics
Team size
Team processes
Team
composition
Team roles
Team norms
Team
cohesiveness
Team trust
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Stages of Team
Development
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Performing
*Task oriented, committed.
*Efficient coordination.
*High cooperation and trust.
*Conflicts resolved quickly.
Norming
*Roles established.
*Team objectives agreed.
*Common mental models formed.
*Cohesion developed.
Storming
*Conflict with proactive behavior.
*Compete for team roles.
*Influence goals and means.
*Establish norms and standards.
Forming
*Roles established.
*Team
objectives agreed.
*Common mental
models formed.
*Cohesion developed.
Adjourning
Question
Think of a team that you
have been part of for a class
project. Identify the five
steps of its development and
explore whether the team
was effective. Why or why
not?
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Team Norms
Three factors that influence the norm
formation:
- Subtle events during team’s formation can initiate
norms
- Norms form as team members discover behaviors
that help them function more effectively
- Past experiences and values that members bring
with them
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Team Cohesiveness
• Member Similarity
• Team Size
• Member Interaction
• Somewhat Difficult Entry
• Team Success
• External Competition and Challenges
• Consequences of Team Cohesiveness
Do You Need Corporate Retreat
for Building Cohesiveness?
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• Get clear on what you want to accomplish
• Tackle the tough stuff
• Invite a crowd
• Get outside help
Source: Business Week Online, January 18, 2006
Question
Highly cohesive teams are
always effective,
productive, and good for the
organization. Do you agree?
Why or why not?
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Three Foundations of
Trust in Teams
Type of Trust
High
Potential
level of
trust
Identificationbased trust
Knowledgebased trust
Calculusbased trust
Low
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Description
*Based on common mental models and values.
*Increases with person’s social identity with team.
*Based on predictability and competence.
*Fairly robust.
*Based on deterrence.
*Fragile and limited potential because dependent on
punishment.
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Managing Team Conflict
• Conflict – a process in which one party
perceives that its interests are being
opposed or negatively affected by another
party
• Since conflict is a perception, which
means that it begins long before
observable disagreements
- Managers need to look for subtle signs of
conflict perceptions to prevent dysfunctional
behaviors that may follow
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Employees’ New Year’s
Resolution for Their Managers
• Deal with workplace conflict faster – 18%
• Be less of a micromanager – 14%
• Recognize work well done – 12%
Source: Business Week, January 8, 2007
Task vs. Relationship
Conflict
• Task-related conflict – (aka
Constructive conflict) occurs when
team members perceive that the
conflict is in the task or problem
rather than in each other
• Relationship conflict – occurs when
team members view differences as
personal attacks that threatens their
self-esteem and resources
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Minimizing Relationship
Conflict
• Emotional intelligence – conflict is less likely to occur
when this is high
• Cohesive team – conflict is suppressed when the team is
highly cohesive
• Supportive team norms – this can hold relationship
conflict at bay during constructive debates
• Problem-solving conflict management style – team
members that take this approach are less likely to trigger
strong emotions
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Interpersonal Conflict
Management Styles
High
Forcing
Assertiveness
(motivation to
satisfy one’s
own interests)
Low
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Problem
solving
Compromising
Avoiding
Low
Yielding
Cooperativeness
(motivation to satisfy
other party’s interests)
High
Interpersonal Conflict
Management Styles (cont)
• Problem solving – tries to find a mutually beneficial solution
for both parties
• Avoiding – Tries to smooth over or avoid conflict situations
altogether
• Forcing – tries to win the conflict situation altogether
• Yielding – involves giving in completely to the other side’s
wishes, or at least cooperating with little or no attention to your
own interests
• Compromising – involves actively searching for a middle
ground between the interests of the two parties
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Conflict at Siemens
• Klaus Kleinfeld brought American-style management to
Germany’s Siemens:
- Sold money losing mobile phone unit to Taiwan’s BenQ for
$1.4 billion [Public pressure required Siemens to pay $46
million to retrain workers after BenQ closed the business]
- Put troubled communications-equipment unit into joint venture
with Finland’s Nokia [Workers felt betrayed and now the
transaction is on hold due to a scandal]
- Invited workers to comment on his blog to get closer to
employees [Received dozens of scathing posts accusing him of
destroying the company’s culture]
Source: Business Week, January 29, 2007
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Question
Which interpersonal conflict management
style is preferred because it minimizes the risk
of relationship conflict?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Problem solving
Yielding
Compromising
Avoiding
Structural Solutions to
Team Conflict
• Emphasize Superordinate goals –
common objectives held by conflicting
parties that are more important than the
departmental or individual goals on
which the conflict is based
• Find ways for employees to understand
each other’s differences
• Look into ways to reduce the intensity
of interdependence
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