Building Effective Teams Week 7

Question Which adage would you agree with more: – “Many hands make light work!” or – “Too many cooks spoil the broth?” Teams are popular, but does a team mean “Together Everyone Achieves More”?

Stages of Team Development (Tuckman, 1965) Five-Stage Model – Forming Everyone tests the waters, tries out their roles – Storming Power struggles between people asserting their dominance – Norming Close relationships are formed (camaraderie) Unspoken assumptions now dictate behavior – Performing All energies are directed to completion of tasks – Adjourning Team prepares for disbanding 3

Punctuated Equilibrium (Gersick, 1988) Phase 1 – First meeting sets the team’s direction – Little progress is made Phase 2 – Turning point at the half-way mark – A new direction is set – Higher performance Criticisms taken seriously, views discussed openly – Some additional revolutions will occur towards the end 4

Marketing Plan Form your “book project group” and pair up with one other group. Each mega-team will have half of its members outside the classroom: you can only communicate with the technology that you have with you. 30 minutes to prepare. Your mega-team will have to come up with a marketing plan for a new product: something that would appeal to Pet Owners (e.g., “Uni-cat”) Your team will make a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to the rest of the class. 5

Marketing Plan The 4 Ps of marketing plans are: – Product (e.g., features, details), – Price, – Placement (i.e., where/how it can be purchased), and – Promotion (e.g., advertising campaigns). Ten minutes (max) to present your ideas, everyone presents.

Marketing Plan How was the coordination among team members? – and across “offices”, specifically? How did you make decisions? What did you do well / not so well? 8

Building Effective Teams Composition – Personality Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience Agreeableness (in moderation) – Knowledge, Skills, Abilities Technical expertise, problem-solving, and social skills – Size Depends on task, but no bigger than necessary 9

Building Effective Teams Context – Adequate resources Technology, staffing, information – Leadership From a team member, or from many team members, or an outsider – Performance evaluation and rewards Team-based rather than individual-based Low pay dispersion Distributive, procedural, interpersonal, informational justice 10

Building Effective Teams Process – Common Purpose: specific goals From “goal setting theory” – Team efficacy From “self efficacy” – Conflict Too much is bad, too little is also bad, some is ok Relationship vs. Task Conflict – Social Loafing Why do some people not do their share? 11

Social Loafing Members exert less effort when working in teams than working alone Factors that affect: – Team size (+) – Team produces single output (e.g., report) (+) – Interestingness of the task (-) – Importance of objective (-) – Value team membership and objectives (-) 12

How to Manage Social Loafing Discuss expectations Make individual performance more visible – Specialize tasks – Feeling that inputs are necessary for team success Increase performance feedback – Might not be aware of poor performance Make tasks more interesting and important – Divide tasks based on expertise and preference Punishment warnings in advance (deter) 13

Group Activity Develop a list of all the tasks that will be necessary for your project. Divide the work up. Who will do what? Everyone must agree to the plan. What are your timelines? What will be the biggest challenges that your team is likely to face, based on your prior experiences with group work? Discuss how such challenges might best be handled. What are your contingency plans? Be prepared to report at least THREE recommendations to the class.

The Romance of Teams What is the main argument of the article? What did you agree with? What did you disagree with? What else should the authors have included? What is your overall assessment?