1. Teamwork: Emphasizing Powerful Meetings3
Teamwork: Emphasizing Powerful Meetings
Teamwork means focusing on the team’s success, realizing that ultimately the team’s success is your success. It also means that you succeed by helping other members of the team to succeed.
—Intuit’s list of 10 core values

2. Reasons for Joining Groups
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3. Groups in the Workplace
Functional groups
Fulfill ongoing needs in the organization by carrying out a particular function
Task groups
Set up to carry out a specific activity and then disband when the activity is completed
Formal groups
Set up by management to meet organizational objectives
Informal groups
Formed when individuals in the organization develop relationships to meet personal needs
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4. Getting the Group to Work With You
Make sure all members of a formal group know what they can and should be doing.
Keep groups informed about what is happening in the organization and what changes are planned for the future.
Support the group when it wants to bring legitimate concerns to higher management.
Make good choices about whom to assign to the group.
Encourage the group to participate in solving problems.
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5. Characteristics of Groups
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6. Roles Source of a person’s role
Formal position in an organization
Combination of the person’s beliefs about how he or she ought to behave and other people’s expectations about how a person will act
The kind of roles people select serve different purposes
Supervisors must be aware of the roles assigned in each group
Roles
Patterns of behavior related to employees’ positions in a group.
Role conflicts
Situations in which a person has two different roles that call for conflicting types of behavior.
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7. Norms
Some work settings may have a norm of doing only what is expected of them and no more.
Some norms may be stated rather than implied.
When a member of the group violates a norm, the group responds by pressuring the person to perform.
Formal groups have procedures for handling violations of norms.
Norms
Group standards for appropriate or acceptable behavior.
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8. Status Status depends on:
The person’s role in the group
Title
Pay
Education level
Age
Race
Sex
Group members with the highest status have the most effect on the development of group norms.
Status
A group member’s position in relation to others in the group.
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9. Cohesiveness
Groups that are cohesive work harder than others and are more likely to accomplish their objectives.
Why groups stick together:
Equal participation by all
Shared goals or characteristics
History of successes
Comfortable group size
Competition with other groups
Cohesiveness
The degree to which group members stick together.
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10. Size Beyond 20 members, informal subgroups tend to form.
Big groups typically operate differently from small ones.
Quiet group members are more likely to participate in a small group.
Big groups make sense when a lot of work needs to get done and the individual members can work independently most of the time.
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11. Homogeneity and Effectiveness
People feel most comfortable being around others who are like themselves; therefore, homogenous groups offer:
Better cooperation among members
Greater satisfaction
Higher productivity
For complex, creative tasks a heterogeneous group can perform better than a homogenous one.
Formal groups should be as effective as possible. Informal groups should be effective only to the extent that this supports organizational goals.
Homogeneity
The degree to which the members of a group are the same.
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12. The Development of Groups
Orientation
Dissatisfaction
Resolution
Production
Termination
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13. Benefits of Teamwork
Teamwork enables the organization to increase its usage of the insights and expertise of all its employees.
Teams can serve as motivators.
Employees who participate in planning and decision making are more likely to:
Take responsibility for the quality of what they do
Be enthusiastic about their work
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14. Leading the Team
The goal of a team leader is to develop a productive team.
To build an effective team:
Set goals
Build the team well
Hold an initial meeting or two
Hold frequent or regular status meetings
Monitor the progress of individuals and the team as a whole
Make yourself available
Remember that communication is two-way
Step in when you sense a conflict
Update your manager
Be a good team player yourself
Give credit where credit is due
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15. Coaching the Team Enable team member to do their best
Provide employees with the resources they need to do their job
Remove obstacles that interfere with their work
Express a vision for the team
Be sure the team recognizes their boundaries
Coaching enables the supervisor to build on the strengths and expertise of the whole group
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16. Selection of Team Members and Team Building
When selecting team members, a supervisor should look for people who work well with others.
Team building includes:
Setting goals
Analyzing what needs to be done
Allocating work
Examining how well the group is working
Examining the relationships among team members
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17. Communication in Teams
The way the team leader communicates with the other team members influences team success.
Team leaders should create a climate of:
Trust
Openness
Collaboration
Team leaders should acknowledge disagreement
Teamwork requires open and positive communication among team members
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18. Rewards
Members must be rewarded appropriately for teams to remain productive.
The entire team should be rewarded for its accomplishments instead of emphasizing individual rewards.
Rewards should be varied enough so that everyone will feel motivated.
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19. Labor Law and Teamwork
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 forbids employers to dominate or interfere with the formation of any “labor organization.”
The National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling in 2001, concluding that teams are not considered labor organizations if they have the authority to plan and implement decisions (supervisory authority).
The teams considered in the ruling were set up to solve problems, not for members to represent employees in bargaining with management.
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20. Reasons for Meetings To convey news to a group of people
To allow a group to participate in decision making
To prepare group members for a change and build support for the change
To prevent misunderstandings
Meetings should be scheduled at a time that is convenient for all participants.
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21. Preparing for a Meeting
Decide who should attend
Decide where to meet
Draw up an agenda
Distribute the agenda to all participants in time for participants to review it before the meeting
Make sure participants have received any other documents they might need
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22. Conducting a Meeting Begin promptly at the scheduled starting time
Facilitate the discussion
Rephrase ideas that participants express
Summarize key points often enough to make sure everyone is following the discussion
Do not dominate the discussion
Encourage everyone to contribute
Do not allow one participant to monopolize a discussion
End the meeting on time
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23. Overcoming Problems with Meetings
Keep the discussion linked to agenda items
Avoid ridiculing participants and respect their efforts to contribute
Be prepared
Be sure participants are prepared; if they are not, consider rescheduling the meeting
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24. Summary There are many reasons why people join groups.
There are four basic types of groups that exist in the workgroup: functional, task, formal, and informal.
Supervisors are responsible for getting groups to cooperate with them.
Supervisors who understand what is happening in a group situation can decide whether the group is effectively supporting the achievement of organizational objectives or whether they need to step in and make changes.
There are five stages of group development: orientation, dissatisfaction, resolution, production, termination.
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25. Summary (continued)
Teams bring employees together to collaborate on solving problems and making decisions.
The goal of a team leader is to develop a productive team.
Planning is crucial for effective meetings.
Supervisors should maintain control of the meeting without dominating the discussion or ridiculing participants.
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