Chapter Effective Groups and Teams

15-2 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin But First….. The historical phrase of the day

15-3 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Historical Phrase of the Day Apologies for the language… Like some of you, I come from a relatively poor family. My mother sometimes used a colorful phrase to describe our economic status and I grew curious enough to excavate its origin. In the 13 th and 14 th century, animal skins were tanned with human urine. Poor families pissed in a pot and once a day sold the contents to the tannery for food money.

15-4 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Phrase of the Day… Descriptions of three levels of poverty evolved from this practice: 1. If your family had to do this to survive, you were “piss poor.” The was the richest level. 2. If you couldn’t afford a pot to collect the family product, you were one level down because you “Didn’t have a pot to piss in.” 3. If you didn’t even have a roof over your head, you “Didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.” This roofless category was my Mom’s favorite description of poverty.

15-5 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Phrase of the day… As many of you are doing, my brothers and I stood on our parents shoulders, worked hard, and gained much more than a pot and a roof. We are fortunate to live in a capitalist republic where hard work can create economic success.

15-6 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Poverty Can be Temporary Here, poverty can be a snapshot, not a life sentence

15-7 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Overview Why groups and teams are effective How group dynamics influence the way they function Why conformity, deviance and cohesiveness must be balanced within them

15-8 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Overview  How to motivate team members to achieve organizational goals  How to reduce social loafing

15-9 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Word of the Day SYNERGY: the whole (the team) is greater than the sum of the parts

15-10 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Groups, Teams and Organizational Effectiveness Team: All teams are groups but all groups are not teams Team more cohesive, intense and driven Teams can be difficult to form; it usually takes time to learn to work together

15-11 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Teams Why can a team be more effective at creating and managing innovation than a single person?

15-12 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Groups and Teams as Performance Enhancers MORE… Brains, viewpoints, ideas, energy, time, resources and brainstorming capability SYNERGY: a group can produce more or better output than employees working separately DIVERSITY: complement each other’s backgrounds and correct each other’s errors; that’s why teams should be formed from people with complementary skills and knowledge.

15-13 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Responsiveness to Customers Difficult to fully achieve because of constraints (cost, time, etc.) so every product is a compromise Cross-functional teams have the collective skills to overcome internal restraints and meet customer demands Team members from different departments – each the tip of an organizational iceberg (Toyota product team – chief engineer, executive engineer, manufacturing engineer, product planner, key supplier representatives)

15-14 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Teams and Innovation Innovation  The creative development of new products, new technologies, new services, or new organizational structures Individuals rarely possess the wide variety of skills needed for innovation. Team members can balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses and inspire one another. Managers should empower and hold the team accountable; tell them generally what you want and step back; provide resources, coaching, and validation of results.

15-15 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Groups and Teams as Motivators Members of teams often are more motivated and satisfied than individuals Team members can see the effect of their contribution to organizational goals Teams provide needed social interaction and help employees cope with work-related stress Make people feel part of something bigger

15-16 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Self-Managed Work Teams Keys to effective self-managed teams:  Select members for diversity, skills, energy and enthusiasm -- urgent people who get things done  Give responsibility and autonomy to self-manage  Determine and meet training needs  Pay attention to personal chemistry  Emphasize need for mutual respect and tolerance  Guide and coach; be a “pushing” leader; don’t directly supervise

15-17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Group Dynamics >The characteristics and processes that affect how a group or team functions. >Size affects group performance Small groups (3 to 9 members) interact more efficiently and effectively and tend to be more motivated Flex group size when more resources are needed; division of labor also is possible (sub-teams) >Group tasks impact how a group interacts Task interdependence shows how the work of one member impacts others; as interdependence rises, members must work more closely together

15-18 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Group Roles Role: the set of behaviors and tasks a group member is expected to perform because of position in the group In cross-functional teams, members are expected to perform roles in their specialty Managers should clearly describe expected roles to group members when assigning them Additional role-making occurs as workers take on more responsibility; have a team role as well as an expert role Self-managed teams may assign roles to members What role will you take? Leader, translator, organizer, conflict-resolver?

15-19 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Group Leadership Effective leadership is a key ingredient in high performing teams Formal groups have a leader appointed by the organization Groups that evolve independently have an informal leader recognized by the group What characteristics should your team leader have?

15-20 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Managing Groups and Teams for High Performance Motivating group members to achieve organizational goals:  Members should benefit when the team performs well; rewards can be monetary, special recognition special offices, etc. (sometimes co-location)  Individual compensation is a combination of both individual and group performance (Toyota’s two- check bonus)  YOU GET WHAT YOU REWARD!

15-21 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Managing Groups and Teams for High Performance Social loafing  The tendency to put forth less effort in a group than individually (free riding) Could cause group to perform at a lower level and fail to meet its goals  Reducing social loafing: Make individual efforts identifiable and accountable. Emphasize the valuable contributions of individual members. Keep group size appropriate – nowhere to hide. What will you do within your team to assure that each member helps carry the load?

15-22 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Toyota Team Tips Check your ego/rank at the door: Practice the three C’s: Cooperation, Communication, Consideration (mutual R-E-S-P- E-C-T!) Pick a role: Example, interpreter/facilitator – the role I filled on Toyota’s North American Executive Committee Listen more than you talk: But be prepared to jump in and refocus the team toward the goal. “I might approach the situation this way; what do you think?” “Let me see if I thoroughly understood what you just suggested.” Keep discussions on track: Best to have someone act as the leader who s out questions and an agenda ahead of “brainstorming” meetings and asks people to come prepared with well-thought ideas. Follows up meetings with a written record defining what was decided or achieved.

15-23 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Teams Team #1: Team #2: Team #3: Team #4: Team #5:

15-24 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Project According to the management principles and processes of this course:  How did GM go wrong?  Can GM fully recover?  How would you assure full recovery if you were in charge?  Was the government bail out wise?

15-25 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Getting Started Have first team meeting immediately Complete a team contract Pick team roles Set your time table and milestones Scan the background package