How can we create high performance teams? How can team processes be improved? How can team communications be improved? How can team decisions be improved? 8-2 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Characteristics of High Performance Teams  Set clear goals and expectations.  Believe in the goals and commit to attaining them.  Transform goals into action, set standards and benchmarks, and obtain feedback.  Members have the right mix of technical and social skills. 8-3 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Team Building  Collaborative planned activities to gather and analyze data about the team’s work. The goal is improved teamwork and outcomes. 8-4 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

1. ID opportunity for team effectiveness 2. Gather data and analyze 3. Plan for team improvements 4. Actions to improve team functioning 5. Evaluation and results 8-5 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Teamwork

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-6 Formal retreat approach  Team building occurs during an offsite “retreat”. Outdoor experience approach  Members engage in physically challenging situations that require teamwork. Continuous improvement approach  The manager, team leader, or group members take responsibility for ongoing team building.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-7 New members may worry about:  Participation  Goals  Control  Relationships  Processes

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-8 Tough Battler Acts aggressive Seeks authority Friendly Helper Acts insecure Tries to be helpful Objective Thinker Acts reflective Wants clear goals

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-9 Distributed leadership  Sharing of responsibilities for contributions that move a group forward. Task activities  Various things members do that directly contribute to the performance of important group tasks. Maintenance activities  Support the social and interpersonal relationships among team members.

8-10 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Offering ideas Clarifying suggestions Giving information Seeking information Summarizing discussion Task Contributions Encouraging others Reconciling differences Expressing standards Offering agreement Inviting participation Maintenance Contributions

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Disruptive behaviors:  Being overly aggressive toward other members.  Withdrawing and refusing to cooperate.  Using the group as a forum for self-confession.  Talking too much about irrelevant matters.  Trying to compete for attention and recognition.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Role  Set of expectations associated with a job or position on a team.. Role ambiguity Occurs when a person is uncertain about his or her role and what is expected.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Role overload  Occurs when too much is expected and the person feels overwhelmed with work. Role underload  Occurs when too little is expected and the person feels underutilized.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Role conflict  Occurs when a person is unable to meet the expectations of others.  Forms of role conflict  Intra--sender, Inter- sender, Person, Inter- role.

Role negotiation  Team building activity that helps to manage role conflicts and ambiguity about expectations.  Team members discuss, clarify, and agree on their individual role expectations Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

8-16 Norms  Represent beliefs about how members are expected to behave.  Rules or standards of conduct that act as a compass to give members a common sense of direction and reinforce a team culture.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Key norms that can have positive or negative implications.  Performance norms.  Ethics norms.  Organizational and personal pride norms.  High-achievement norms.  Support and helpfulness norms.  Improvement and change norms.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Positive role model Allocate time to discuss goals Add members with correct skills Reward performance Leaders can Influence Norms

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Cohesiveness  The degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain a part of the team.  There is a strong relationship between cohesiveness, conformity to group norms, and performance.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-20

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8-21

Inter-team dynamics  The relationships between groups cooperating and competing with one another Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ways to achieve positive inter-team dynami cs  Refocusing members on a common enemy or goal.  Negotiating directly.  Training members to work cooperatively.  Refocusing rewards on contributions to the total organization and how much groups help each other Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

8-24 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

To assure high performance, team communication networks must be aligned with interaction patterns and team tasks.  Centralized  Decentralized  Restrictive 8-25 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Decentralized communication network  All group members communicate directly and share information with each other Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Centralized communication network  One person acts as a central control point.  Members work independently. Information flows among group members through the team leader.  Control person collects and redistributes information and task contributions Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Restricted communication network  Polarized subgroups contest each other’s positions.  Sometimes maintain antagonistic relations with one another Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

8-29 Proxemics  Study of the way space is utilized and how people use space to communicate.  Design of office space, and the size and availability of meeting rooms can positively impact the effectiveness of team communication.  Teams work and communicate in both physical and virtual space.

Virtual communication networks  Technology provide numerous resources for real time communication.  Empowers team members to be in constant electronic contact with one another or a central database.  Online team building activities are critically important to high quality results Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

What innovations in electronic communication do you predict in your working lifetime? 8-31 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Teams make decisions by choosing from alternative actions.  Decision by lack of response  One idea after another is suggested without any discussion-taking place.  Decision by authority rule  The chairperson, manager, or leader makes a decision for the group.  Decision by minority rule  Two or three people are able to dominate or “railroad” the group into making a decision to which they agree Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 Decision by majority rule  Formal voting may take place, or members may be polled to find the majority viewpoint.  Decision by consensus  Discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most members and the other members agree to support it.  Decision by unanimity  All group members agree totally on the course of action to be taken Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Assets and Liabilities of Consensus and Unanimity  Advantages:  More knowledge and expertise is applied to solve the problem.  The final decision is better understood and accepted by all team members.  Increases commitment to accomplish the necessary work.  Disadvantages:  Imperfect decision - may be result of pressure to conform to group, or undue influence of team leader.  Team decisions take more time than individual decisions Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Groupthink  The tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Avoiding groupthink Leader refrains from announcing any position. Every team member acts as critical evaluator. Different sub-groups explore same problems. Bring in outside experts to evaluate information, realism of goals, and plans for action. Rotate an appointed team "devil's advocate" so that no one particular person appears to dissent Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Brainstorming  A technique used in teams to actively generate as many ideas and alternatives as possible.  All criticism is ruled out  All ideas are welcomed  Quantity is key  Building on others’ ideas is encouraged 8-37 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Think about how team cohesiveness and groupthink might be related. Can cohesiveness ever reduce groupthink?  For example, when there is a cohesive team, and members are familiar with each other, they may be less likely to censor their opinions and more likely to disagree.  Agree or disagree? 8-38 Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nominal group technique  Small groups of six to seven members are asked to respond individually and in writing to a “nominal” question Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Delphi technique  Involves generating decision-making alternatives through a series of survey questionnaires. Computer-mediated decision making  Group decision-making results are distributed electronically Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.