1. Chapter 10 Managing Teams
MGMT
Chuck Williams
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2. Why Work Teams? explain the good and bad of using teams.
After reading these sections, you should be able to:
explain the good and bad of using teams.
recognize and understand the different kinds of teams.
Work teams consist of a small number of people with complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for pursuing a common purpose, achieving performance goals, and improving interdependent work processes. By this definition, computer programmers working on separate projects in the same department of a company would not be considered a team. To be a team, the programmers would have to be interdependent and share responsibility and accountability for the quality and amount of computer code they produced.
Team-based structure is part of the reason for the resounding success of Whole Foods Market. Employee teams are responsible for all aspects of the store's operations. This Whole Foods team is in charge of preparing the seafood section for the opening of the New York store.

3. The Good and Bad of Using Teams
When to Use
And
Not Use Teams
Disadvantages of Teams
Advantages of Teams 1

4. The Advantages of Teams
Customer Satisfaction
Product and Service Quality
Speed and Efficiency in Product Development
Employee Job Satisfaction
Decision Making
Teams help businesses increase customer satisfaction in several ways. One way is to create work teams that are trained to meet the needs of specific customer groups. Businesses also create problem-solving teams and employee-involvement teams to study ways to improve overall customer satisfaction and make recommendations for improvements.
Teams also help firms improve product and service quality in several ways. Here, in contrast to traditional organizational structures where management is responsible for organizational outcomes and performance, one of the primary advantages is that teams take direct responsibility for the quality of the products and service they produce.
Therefore, a third reason that teams are increasingly popular is the need for speed and efficiency when designing and manufacturing products. Traditional product design proceeds sequentially, meaning that one department has to finish its work on the design of a product before the next department can start. Unfortunately, this is not only slow, but it also encourages departments to work in isolation from one another.
Another reason for using teams is that teamwork often leads to increased job satisfaction. One reason that teamwork can be more satisfying than traditional work is that it gives workers a chance to improve their skills. This is often accomplished through cross training, in which team members are taught how to do all or most of the jobs performed by the other team members. Participation in work teams also increases job satisfaction by providing team members unique opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them.
Teams share many of the advantages of group decision making, as discussed in Chapter 5.
More alternate solutions
Multiple perspectives
Commitment to decisions
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5. The Disadvantages of Teams
Initially High Employee Turnover
Social Loafing
Disadvantages of Group Decision Making
Groupthink
Inefficient meetings
Minority domination
Lack of accountability
The first disadvantage of work teams is initially high turnover. Teams aren't for everyone, and some workers will balk at the responsibility, effort, and learning required in team settings. Social loafing occurs when workers withhold their efforts and fail to perform their share of the work. Social loafers count on being able to blend into the background so that their lack of effort isn't easily spotted. Because of team-based class projects, most students already know about social loafers or "slackers," who contribute poor, little, or no work whatsoever.
Disadvantages of group decision making include groupthink, where members of cohesive groups feel pressure not to disagree with each other. Consequently, this leads to consideration of a limited number of alternative solutions and poor decisions. Additionally, team decision making takes considerable time and team members may be unproductive and inefficient. Another pitfall is that one or two people may dominate team discussions, restricting consideration of problems and solutions. Team members may feel accountable for the decisions taken by the team.
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6. The Disadvantages of Teams
Factors that Encourage People to Withhold Effort in Teams
The presence of someone with expertise
The presentation of a compelling argument
Lacking confidence in one’s ability to contribute
An unimportant or meaningless decision
A dysfunctional decision-making climate
Source: P.W. Mulvey, J.F. Veiga, and P.M. Elsass, “When Teammates Raise a White Flag,” Academy of Management Executive 10, no. 1 (1996):
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7. When to Use Teams There is a clear purpose
The job can’t be done unless people work together
Team-based rewards are possible
Ample resources exist
Teams have authority
USE TEAMS WHEN…
DON’T USE TEAMS WHEN…
There is no clear purpose
The job can be done independently
Only individual-based rewards exist
Resources are scarce
Management controls
Sources: R. Wageman, “Critical Success Factors for Creating Superb Self-Managing Teams,” Organizational Dynamics 26, no. 1 (1997):
First, teams should be used where there is a clear, engaging reason or purpose for using them. Too many companies use teams because they're popular or because they assume that teams can fix all problems. But teams are much more likely to succeed if they know why they exist and what they are supposed to accomplish. Second, teams should be used when the job can't be done unless people work together. This typically means that teams are required when tasks are complex, require multiple perspectives, or require repeated interaction with others to complete. However, if tasks are simple and don't require multiple perspectives or repeated interaction with others, teams should not be used. Third, teams should be used when rewards can be provided for teamwork and team performance. Team rewards that depend on team performance rather than individual performance are the key to rewarding team behaviors and efforts. Fourth, teams should be used when ample resources are available. The resources that teams need include training (discussed later in the chapter), sufficient time and a place or method to work together, job-specific tools, and consistent information and feedback concerning team work processes and job performance. Another key problem with resources is management resistance. Managers who have been in charge are often reluctant to help teams or turn over resources to them.
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8. Kinds of Teams
How Teams Differ in
Autonomy
Special Kinds of
Teams 2

9. Autonomy, the Key Dimension
Traditional
Work
Groups
Employee
Involvement
Teams
Semi-
autonomous
Self-
managing
designing
Exhibit 10.2 displays an autonomy continuum that shows how five kinds of teams differ in terms of autonomy. Note that the number of responsibilities given to each team increases directly with its autonomy.
The smallest amount of autonomy is found in traditional work groups, where two or more people work together to achieve a shared goal. In these groups, workers do not have direct responsibility or control over their work, but are responsible for doing the work or executing the task. Employee involvement teams, which have somewhat more autonomy, meet on company time on a weekly or monthly basis to provide advice or make suggestions to management concerning specific issues such as plant safety, customer relations, or product quality. And while they offer advice and suggestions, they do not have the authority to make decisions.
Semi-autonomous work groups not only provide advice and suggestions to management, but they also have the authority to make decisions and solve problems related to the major tasks required to produce a product or service. Semi-autonomous groups regularly receive information about budgets, work quality and performance, as well as competitors’ products. In short, semi-autonomous work groups give employees the autonomy to make decisions that are typically made by supervisors and managers. Self-managing teams are different from semi-autonomous work groups in that team members manage and control all of the majors tasks directly related to production of a product or service without first getting approval from management. This includes managing and controlling the acquisition of materials, making a product or providing a service, and ensuring timely delivery. Self-designing teams have all the characteristics of self-managing teams, but they can also control and change the design of the teams themselves, the tasks they do and how they do them, and who belongs to the teams.
Autonomy
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10. Cross-Functional Teams
Special Kinds of Teams
Cross-Functional Teams
Virtual Teams
Project Teams
Cross-functional teams are intentionally composed of employees from different functional areas of the organization. Because their members have different functional backgrounds, education, and experience, cross-functional teams usually attack problems from multiple perspectives and generate more ideas and alternative solutions, all of which are especially important when trying to innovate or do creative problem solving. Cross-functional teams can be used almost anywhere in an organization and are often used in conjunction with matrix and product organizational structures.
Virtual teams are groups of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed co-workers who use a combination of telecommunications and information technologies to accomplish an organizational task. In other words, members of virtual teams rarely meet face to face. The idea of virtual teams is relatively new and has been made possible by advances in communications and technology, such as , the World Wide Web, videoconferencing, and other products.
Project teams are created to complete specific, one-time projects or tasks within a limited time. Project teams are often used to develop new products, to significantly improve existing products, to roll out new information systems, or to build new factories or offices. The project team is typically led by a project manager, who has the overall responsibility for planning, staffing, and managing the team.
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11. Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from different functional areas
Attack problems from multiple perspectives
Generate more ideas and alternative solutions
Often used in conjunction with matrix and product organizational structures
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12. Tips for Managing Successful Virtual Teams
Select self-starters and strong communicators
Keep the team focused on clear, specific goals
Provide frequent feedback
Keep team upbeat and action-oriented
Periodically bring team members together
Improve communications
Ask team members for feedback on how well team is working
Empower virtual teams
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13. Project Teams
Created to complete specific, one-time projects within a limited time
Often used to develop new products, improve existing products, roll out new information systems, or build new factories/offices
Can reduce or eliminate communication barriers and speed up the design process
Promote flexibility
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14. Managing Work Teams
After reading these sections, you should be able to:
understand the general characteristics of work teams.
explain how to enhance work team effectiveness.

15. Work Team Characteristics
Size
Conflict
Development
Norms
Cohesiveness
Managers who are familiar with the stages of team development and with other important team characteristics will be better prepared to manage the predictable changes that occur when companies make the switch to team-based structures. 3

16. Team Norms Informally agreed-on standards that regulate team behavior
Powerful influence on work behavior
Regulate the everyday behaviors of teams
Over time, teams develop norms, informally agreed-on standards that regulate team behavior. Norms are valuable because they let team members know what is expected of them.
Studies indicate that norms are one of the most powerful influences on work behavior. Team norms are often associated with positive outcomes such as stronger organizational commitment, more trust in management, and stronger job and organizational satisfaction. In general, effective work teams develop norms about the quality and timeliness of job performance, absenteeism, safety, and honest expression of ideas and opinions. The power of norms also comes from the fact that they regulate the everyday kinds of behaviors that allow teams to function effectively. Studies indicate that norms are one of the most powerful influences on work behavior. Team norms are often associated with positive outcomes, such as stronger organizational commitment, more trust in management, and stronger job and organizational satisfaction. In general, effective work teams develop norms about the quality and timeliness of job performance, absenteeism, safety, and honest expression of ideas and opinions. The power of norms also comes from the fact that they regulate the everyday kinds of behaviors that allow teams to function effectively. In fact, the longer they were a member of a team with negative norms, and the more frequently they interacted with their teammates, the more likely individual team members were to perform negative behaviors. Since team norms typically develop early in the life of a team, these results indicate how important it is for teams to establish positive norms from the outset.
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17. Team Cohesiveness
The extent to which members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain in it
Cohesive teams:
retain their members
promote cooperation
have high levels of performance
Cohesiveness is another important characteristic of work teams. Cohesiveness is the extent to which team members are attracted to a team and motivated to remain in it. The level of cohesiveness that exists in a group is important for several reasons. To start, cohesive groups have a better chance of retaining their members. As a result, cohesive groups typically experience lower turnover. In addition, team cohesiveness promotes cooperative behavior, generosity, and a willingness on the part of team members to assist each other. When team cohesiveness is high, team members are more motivated to contribute to the team, because they want to gain the approval of other team members. As a result of these reasons and others, studies have clearly established that cohesive teams are consistently better performing teams. Furthermore, cohesive teams quickly achieve high levels of performance. By contrast, it takes teams low in cohesion much longer to reach the same levels of performance.
What can be done to promote team cohesiveness? First, make sure that all team members are present at team meetings and activities. Team cohesiveness suffers when members are allowed to withdraw from the team and miss team meetings and events. Second, create additional opportunities for teammates to work together by rearranging work schedules and creating common workspaces. When task interdependence is high and team members have lots of chances to work together, team cohesiveness tends to increase. Third, engaging in nonwork activities as a team can help build cohesion.
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18. Promoting Team Cohesiveness
Make sure all team members are present at team meetings
Create additional opportunities for teammates to work together
Engage in nonwork activities as a team
Make employees feel that they are part of a “special” organization
Part of what makes teams successful is team cohesion. To create this strong bond between team members, companies frequently use activities that require team work to accomplish a common goal, like successfully exiting a maze created by corn stalks as pictured here.
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19. Team Size Performance Size 3.3
There appears to be a curvilinear relationship between team size and performance. In other words, very small or very large teams may not perform as well as moderately sized teams. For most teams, the right size is somewhere between six and nine members. This size is conducive to high team cohesion, which has a positive affect on team performance as discussed above. Teams of this size are small enough for the team members get to know each other and for each member to have an opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to the success of the team. However, they're also large enough to take advantage of team members' diverse skills, knowledge, and perspectives. It is also easier to instill a sense a responsibility and mutual accountability in teams of this size.
By contrast, when teams gets too large, team members find it difficult to get to know one another and may splinter into smaller subgroups. When this occurs, subgroups sometimes argue and disagree, weakening overall team cohesion. As teams grow, there is a greater chance of minority domination, where just a few team members dominate team discussions. Large teams also face logistical problems such as finding an appropriate time or place to meet. Finally, the incidence of social loafing, discussed earlier in the chapter, is much higher in large teams. All of these factors indicate how large teams can have a negative impact on team performance.
While teams should not be too large, it's also important that they not be too small. Teams with just a few people may lack the diversity of skills and knowledge found in larger teams. Also, teams that are too small are unlikely to gain the advantages of team decision making (i.e., multiple perspectives, generating more ideas and alternative solutions, and stronger commitment) found in larger teams.
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20. Team Conflict C-type Conflict A-type Conflict
cognitive conflict
focuses on problems and issues
associated with improvements in team performance
A-type Conflict
affective conflict
emotional, personal disagreements
associated with decreases in team performance
Both types often occur simultaneously
Conflict and disagreement are inevitable in most teams. But this shouldn't surprise anyone. From time to time, people who work together are going to disagree about what and how things get done. What causes conflict in teams? While almost anything can lead to conflict—casual remarks that unintentionally offend a team member or fighting over scarce resources—the primary cause of team conflict is disagreement over team goals and priorities. Other common causes of team conflict include disagreements over task-related issues, interpersonal incompatibilities, and simple fatigue.
While most people view conflict negatively, the key to dealing with team conflict is not avoiding conflict but making sure that teams experience the right kind of conflict. In Chapter 5, you learned about c-type conflict, or cognitive conflict, which focuses on problem- and issue-related differences of opinion; and a-type conflict, or affective conflict, which refers to the emotional reactions that can occur when disagreements become personal rather than professional. Cognitive conflict is strongly associated with improvements in team performance, while affective conflict is strongly associated with decreases in team performance.
So, what can managers do to manage team conflict? First, managers need to realize that emphasizing cognitive conflict alone won't be enough. Studies show that cognitive and affective conflicts often occur together in the same teams! Therefore, sincere attempts to reach agreement on a difficult issue can quickly deteriorate from cognitive to affective conflict if the discussion turns personal and tempers and emotions flare. So while cognitive conflict is clearly the better approach to take, efforts to engage in cognitive conflict should be approached with caution.
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21. How Teams Can Have a Good Fight
Work with more, rather than less, information
Develop multiple alternatives to enrich debate
Establish common goals
Inject humor into the workplace
Maintain a balance of power
Resolve issues without forcing a consensus
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22. Stages of Team Development
Team Performance
Time
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
As teams develop and grow, they pass through four stages of development, as shown in Exhibit 10.3.
Forming is the initial stage of team development. This is the getting-acquainted stage, where team members first meet each other, form initial impressions, and try to get a sense of what it will be like to be part of the team. Conflicts and disagreements often characterize the second stage of team development, storming. As team members begin working together, different personalities and work styles may clash. Team members become more assertive at this stage and more willing to state opinions. During norming, the third stage of team development, team members begin to settle into their roles as team members. Positive team norms will have developed by this stage, and teammates should know what to expect from each other. Petty differences should also have been resolved, friendships will have developed, and group cohesion will be relatively strong. In the last stage of team development, performing, performance improves because the team has finally matured into an effective, fully functioning team. At this point, members should be fully committed to the team and think of themselves as members of a team and not just employees.
However, after a period of time, if not managed well, performance may begin to decline, as teams progress through the stages of de-norming, de-storming, and de-forming. In de-norming, which is a reversal of the norming stage, team performance begins to decline as the size, scope, goal, or members of the team change. In de-storming, which is a reversal of the storming phase, the team's comfort level decreases. In de-forming, which is a reversal of the forming stage, team members position themselves to gain control of pieces of the team. Team members begin to avoid each other and isolate themselves from team leaders. Team performance rapidly declines as the team quits caring about even minimal requirements of team performance.
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23. Enhancing Work Team Effectiveness
Training
Compensation
Selecting
Team Members
Setting
Team Goals and
Priorities
Making teams work is a challenging and difficult process. Companies can increase the likelihood of team success by carefully managing the setting of team goals and priorities and how work team members are selected, trained, and compensated. 4

24. Setting Team Goals and Priorities
Team goals enhance team performance
Goals clarify team priorities
Challenging team goals help team members regulate effort
In Chapter 5, you learned that specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (i.e., S.M.A.R.T.) goals are one of the most effective means for improving individual job performance. Fortunately, team goals also improve team performance. In fact, team goals lead to much higher team performance 93 percent of the time. Why is the setting of specific, challenging team goals so critical to team success? One reason is that increasing a team's performance is inherently more complex than just increasing one individual's job performance. For instance, consider that for any team there are likely to be at least four different kinds of goals: each member's goal for the team, each member's goal for himself or herself on the team, the team's goal for each member, and the team's goal for itself. In other words, without a specific, challenging goal for the team itself (the last of the four goals listed), these other goals may encourage team members to head off in twelve different directions at once. Consequently, setting a specific, challenging goal for the team clarifies team priorities by providing a clear focus and purpose.
Specific, challenging team goals also regulate how hard team members work. In particular, challenging team goals greatly reduce the incidence of social loafing. When faced with difficult goals, team members simply expect everyone to contribute. Consequently, they are much more likely to notice and complain if a teammate isn't doing his or her share. In fact, when teammates know each other well, when team goals are specific, when team communication is good, and when teams are rewarded for team performance, there is only a 1 in 16 chance that teammates will be social loafers.
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25. Requirements for Stretch Goals to Motivate Team Performance
Teams have a high degree of autonomy
Teams are empowered with control resources
Teams need for structural accommodation
Teams need bureaucratic immunity
First, teams must have a high degree of autonomy or control over how they achieve their goals.
Second, teams must be empowered with control resources such as budgets, workspaces, computers, or whatever they need to do their jobs.
Third, teams need structural accommodation. Structural accommodation means giving teams the ability to change organizational structures, policies, and practices if it helps them meet their stretch goals.
Finally, teams need bureaucratic immunity. Bureaucratic immunity means that teams no longer have to go through the frustratingly slow process of multilevel reviews and signoffs to get management approval before making changes. Once granted bureaucratic immunity, teams are immune from the influence of various organizational groups and are only accountable to top management. Therefore teams can act quickly and even experiment with little fear of failure.
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26. Selecting People for Teamwork
Individualism-
Collectivism
Team
Level
Team
Diversity
An indirect way to measure someone's preference for teamwork is to assess the person’s degree of individualism or collectivism. Individualism-collectivism is the degree to which a person believes that people should be self-sufficient and that loyalty to one's self is more important than loyalty to one's team or company. Individualists, who put their welfare and interests first, generally prefer independent tasks in which they work alone. On the other hand, collectivists, who put group or team interests ahead of self-interests, generally prefer interdependent tasks in which they work with others. Collectivists would also rather cooperate than compete and are fearful of disappointing team members or of being ostracized from teams. Given these differences, it makes sense to select team members who are collectivists rather than individualists.
Team level is the average level of ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team. For example, a high level of team experience means that a team has particularly experienced team members. Team level is used to guide selection of teammates when teams need a particular set of skills or capabilities to do their jobs well.
While team level represents the average level or capability on a team, team diversity represents the variances or differences in ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team. For example, teams with strong team diversity on job experience would have a mix of team members, ranging from seasoned veterans to people with three or four years of experience to rookies with little or no experience. Team diversity is used to guide selection of teammates when teams are asked to complete a wide range of different tasks or when tasks are particularly complex.
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27. Decision Making and Problem Solving Training for Team Leaders
Team Training
Conflict
Interpersonal Skills
Decision Making and Problem Solving
Technical Training
Training for Team Leaders
For teams to be successful, they need significant training, particularly in the areas listed on this slide.
Organizations that create work teams often underestimate the amount of training required to make teams effective. This mistake occurs frequently in successful organizations, where managers assume that if employees can work effectively on their own, they can work effectively in teams. However, companies that successfully use teams provide thousands of hours of training to make sure that teams work.
The most common type of training provided to members of work teams is training in interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills, such as listening, communicating, questioning, and providing feedback, enable people to have effective working relationships with others.
Because of their autonomy and responsibility, many companies give teams training in decision-making and problem-solving skills to help them do a better job of cutting costs and improving quality and customer service.
Firms must also provide team members the technical training they need to do their jobs, particularly if they are expected to perform all of the different jobs on the team (i.e., cross training).
Finally, companies need to provide training for team leaders, who often feel unprepared for their new duties.
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28. Team Compensation and Recognition
The level of reward must match the level of performance
Three methods of compensating team participants:
skill-based pay
gainsharing
nonfinancial rewards
Companies need to carefully choose a team compensation plan and then fully explain how teams will be rewarded. One basic requirement is that the level of rewards (individual vs. team) must match the level of performance (individual vs. team) for team compensation to work.
There are three methods of compensating employees for team participation and accomplishments. The first is called skill-based pay. Skill-based pay programs pay employees for learning additional skills or knowledge. These programs encourage employees to acquire the additional skills they will need to perform multiple jobs within a team.
The second approach to compensating employees for team participation is through gainsharing programs in which companies share the financial value of performance gains such as productivity, cost savings, or quality, with their workers.
Nonfinancial rewards are another way to reward teams for their performance. These awards, which can range from vacation trips to T-shirts, plaques, and coffee mugs, are especially effective when coupled with management recognition.
Which team plan should your company use? In general, skill-based pay is most effective for self-managing and self-directing teams performing complex tasks. In these situations, the more each team member knows and can do, the better the whole team performs. By contrast, gainsharing works best in relatively stable environments where employees can focus on improving the productivity, cost savings, or quality of their current work system.
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29. Team Compensation and Recognition
Evidence of the challenge presented by developing team-based compensation:
According to one survey, only 37% of companies are satisfied with their team compensation plans.
Only 10% are extremely positive about their team compensation plans.
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