Self-Regulating Work Teams Autonomous Work Groups Lecture # 14

Self-Regulating Work Teams Self-Managed Teams Self-Regulating Work Groups Autonomous Work Groups Work Teams

Team

Changes due to Teams Teams take on traditional management functions: Planning Organizing Directing Controlling

Changes due to Teams Supervisors take on new roles: Coaches Facilitators

Coach Helping employees to work up to their potential Learning from athletic coaches

Facilitator Help the group work better as a group Help group members with process skills

For Teams to be Successful… Task differentiation “The extent to which the task of the group is autonomous and forms a relatively self- completing whole.” -- Cummings & Huse

For Teams to be Successful… Boundary Control “The extent to which employees can influence transactions with their task environment.” -- Cummings & Huse

For Teams to be Successful… Task Control The degree to which employees can regulate their own behavior in producing the product or providing the service. -- Cummings & Huse

High Involvement Plant (HIP)

High Involvement Plants (HIP) HIPs are designed around the ideas of task differentiation, boundary control, and task control. Other critical characteristics of HIPs include:

Organization Structure Flat Team Based

Information System Open Springfield Remanufacturing Company opens books to employees, and trains them to understand the company’s finances.

Training Conducted by Peers (for tasks) Interpersonal Skills Taught by supervisors or staff

Reward System Open Skill Based Gain Sharing (more comprehensive than profit sharing)

Selection Realistic Job Preview Team Based

Identifying Individual and Group Jobs

Social Needs Determine whether people are likely to be satisfied with individual jobs or work groups

Growth Needs Affect whether people will be satisfied by traditional work designs or by enriched, self-regulating forms of work

Technical Interdependence The extent to which employees must cooperate with each other in order to produce a product or provide a service

Technical Uncertainty The extent to which employees must process information and make decisions in order to produce a product or provide a service

Technical Interdependence/Uncertainty Low Interdependence Low Uncertainty Traditional Job High Interdependence Low Uncertainty Traditional Work Group Low Interdependence High Uncertainty Enriched Job High Interdependence High Uncertainty Self-Managed Team

Social Needs / Growth Needs Low Social Needs Low Growth Needs Traditional Job High Social Needs Low Growth Needs Traditional Work Group Low Social Needs High Growth Needs Enriched Job High Social Needs High Growth Needs Self-Managed Team

Lessons from REAL Teams Chicago Bulls 72 Wins – 10 Losses.878 winning percentage Best NBA record ever

Lessons from REAL Teams Killer Bees, high school team in New York 1980 – 1993 went winning percentage State Tournament 6 times Final Four 4 times State Champs 2 times

Lessons from REAL Teams School population varied from 41 to 67 total Never more than 19 boys Team never had more than 7 members

Lessons from REAL Teams Reading High (Mass.) boy’s track & field Hasn’t lost a league dual meet in 29 years Tied once in a 1973 meet

Lessons from REAL Teams Both the Killer Bees and the Reading High teams cross-train. The members can fill in a variety of tasks. What does this say about specialization?