1. Chapter 16: Teams and Teamwork Learning Goals
I can:
Define and explain terms related to teams and teamwork
Explain why teams are used in business
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of teams
Describe types of teams in businesses (formal/informal, committees, departments)
Explain and describe factors that contribute to success and failure of teams
Identify and describe the stages of team development
Describe the roles individuals take on in a team

2. What is a team?
A group of people with complementary skills required to complete a task, job or project
Teamwork is the process of people working together to accomplish these goals

3. Why do Organizations Use Teams/Groups?
When people are organized to work together they create synergy
Synergy  creation of a whole greater than the sum of its parts

4. Teamwork Exercise: Islands
Group of six
7 sheets of paper in a row
Team members line up on paper but leave middle sheet empty
Team members face each other
Task:
Get all team members to be directly opposite of where they are now
Can only move past one person at a time
Must step onto open sheet of paper
Must move past someone in front of you
Two people cannot be on same sheet
Describe the team experience

5. Teamwork Pros and Cons Social loafing Personality conflicts
Greater resources for problem solving
Greater creativity and innovation
Improved quality of decision making
Greater commitment to tasks
Higher motivation
Better control and discipline
More individual need satisfaction
Social loafing
Personality conflicts
Differences in work styles
Task ambiguity
Poor readiness to work

6. Using Teams Teams have many advantages
For teams to work well, members need training in group dynamics
Consider:
How much time to sports or performance teams spend practicing for the “big event”? (90%)
How much time to business group members spend learning and practicing working in a team (5%)
Group members often learn in front of clients and customers where mistakes are costly

7. Reflect
Think about group work you recently experienced. Do you think the ideas you generated as a group were more diverse and of better quality than if you came up with ideas on your own?

8. Types of Teams
most common use of group work in business is the meeting
Many people do not approach meetings enthusiastically
Survey showed 27% of respondents view meetings as biggest time waster
Why do meetings fail?

9. Seven sins of deadly meetings
People arrive late, leave early, and don’t take things seriously
The meeting is too long, sometimes twice as long as necessary
People don’t stay on topic; they digress and are easily distracted
The discussion lacks candour; people are unwilling to tell the truth
The right information isn’t available, so decisions are postponed
Nothing happens when the meeting is over; no one puts decisions into actions
Things never get better; the same mistakes are made meeting after meeting

10. Formal and Informal Teams
Formal groups
Informal groups
Teams officially recognized and supported by the organization for specific purposes
Created to perform tasks
Managers serve linking pin roles
E.g. work group consisting of manager and subordinates
Not recognized on organization chart
Not officially created for organizational purposes
Emerge as part of informal structure
From natural or spontaneous relationships among people
Can have positive performance impact
Can help satisfy social needs
Include interest, friendship and support groups

11. To What Groups do You Belong?
List all the formal and informal groups to which you belong. Do you belong to more formal or informal groups? Which groups have the biggest impact on your actions?

12. Temporary Teams Task force Product Design Team Committee
Assembled to investigate a specific issue or problem
Example: a drop in sales in one product
Product Design Team
Created to design a new product or service
Example: team assembled to create something brand new
Committee
Put together to act upon some matter
Example: health and safety committee to inform employees
Cross-Functional Team
Group of people with different skills put together to carry out all phases of a project from start to finish
Example: creating and launching a new product
Virtual Team
Electronic work group who interact and solve problems mostly electronically

13. Permanent Teams Work Team Quality Circle
Group of workers who share a common mission and collectively manager their own affairs within predetermined boundaries
Quality Circle
Group of workers from the same functional area who meet regularly to uncover and solve work-related problems and seek work improvement opportunities

14. Types of Teams Quiz
Types of Teams Quiz (elearning Ontario, Unit 3 Activity 3 Assignment)

15. How Teams Work Group Process:
The way the members of any team work together as they transform inputs into outputs
Also known as group dynamics
Includes communications, decision making, norms, cohesion and conflict, among others

16. Team Effectiveness
Effective teams achieve high levels of performance, member satisfaction and viability for future action
Factors affecting Effectiveness:
Nature of Task
Complex or simple
How well-defined
Affects how intense the process needs to be to get the job done
Organizational Setting
Amount of support provided, i.e., information, resources, technolgoy, rewards, space
Team Size
Larger than six or seven members can be difficult to manage
Odd numbers prevent ties in votes
Team Diversity
More homogeneous groups -- easier to manage relationships
More diversity – more ideas, perspectives and experiences
Group Process
How well the groups works together, handles conflicts, communicates, etc.

17. Stages of Group Development
Five Stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning
Forming:
Orientation an getting to know you stage
Group members should:
Define goals
Determine how to approach the task
Figure out what skills will be required
In this stage the group builds relationships and clarifies the group mission

18. Stages of Group Development: Storming
Group is in conflict because of differing opinions on what it is supposed to do and how it will do it
Members beginning to see differences in personalities and values
Members feel angry or frustrated with other members
Sometimes groups get stuck in this stage and performance drops

19. Stages of Group Development: Norming
Stage of resolution
Group resolves issues
Group learns more about one another
Figures out how they are going to work together
Group makes progress toward their goals

20. Stages of Group Development: Performing
Groups gets the work done and begins accomplishing goals
Energized by positive progress and communicate openly
High energy
Conflicts resolved without issue
Work accomplished most effectively

21. Stages of Group Development: Adjourning
Task is complete
Group is disbanded
Members feel a sense of loss
Members should spend time recognizing the team’s accomplishments

22. Creating Successful Teams
As teams work through the stages of team development, they must develop shared norms and cohesiveness
Norms
Rules that the group develops for appropriate and inappropriate behaviours and attitudes
Often unwritten rules of behaviour
Conflict will result if these rules are not developed in the first few stages
Violation of norms usually results in reprimands or expulsion from the team
Performance Norms
Rules regarding the work effort and performance expected from team members
Examples of norms: helpfulness, participation, timeliness, quality of work

23. Creating Successful Teams
Group Cohesiveness
Degree to which the team develops a bond
Productive teams develop:
strong levels of participation, cooperation and collaboration
because members
trust, share sense of group identify and have confidence in their effectiveness

24. Norms and Cohesiveness

25. For Best Results… Increase Team Cohesion
Establish Positive Performance Norms

26. Group Decision-Making
Lack of Response
Ideas are presented without discussion; decision made by by-passing all other ideas without evaluation
Authority Rule
Team leader makes the decision for the team
Minority Rule
Two or three members “railroad” the team or pressure the team into accepting an idea
Often done by forcing quick decisions, “Does anyone object?” “Let’s go ahead then”
Majority Rule
Formal voting takes place; majority wins

27. Group Decision Making Consensus Unanimity
Discussion leads to one idea being supported by most and others agree to support it
Ideas are fully discussed and evaluated
Unanimity
All team members agree on the idea to be accepted and implemented

28. Group Decision Making Advantages Disadvantages
Greater amounts of information, knowledge and expertise
Increased number of alternatives considered
Increases understanding and acceptance
Increases commitment to follow through
Social pressure to conform
Individual or minority group domination
Time requirements

29. Problems in Groups Social Loafing Groupthink
Free riders think they won’t be noticed
People who do not contribute to the group
Groupthink
Group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas
Symptoms of Groupthink:
Believing the group is invincible
Rationalizing unpleasant and disconfirming data
Belief in inherent group morality
Negative stereotypes of competitors
Pressure to conform
Self-censorship of members
Illusions of unanimity
Mind guards – those who protect the group from contrary viewpoints

30. Groupthink Case Study Space shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986
Launch had been delayed previously due to weather
NASA did not want to delay again
Engineers expressed concern about the O-rings on the shuttle, fearing that they may fail due to cool weather
NASA launch group accepted positive comments for the launch but rejected any negative comments
NASA launched, O-rings failed, shuttle exploded shortly after lift off
All crew members, including the first civilian in space, a school teacher and mother, were killed