Casey Stengel, a late and famous baseball manager, once said: “Getting good play- ers is easy. Getting them to play together is the hard part.” His comment certainly rings true in respect to the discussion we just had on diversity and team perfor- mance. There is no doubt that the effectiveness of any team depends on more than having the right inputs. To achieve effectiveness, team members must have strong and positive team processes. Simply put, the members of a team must work well together if they are to turn the available inputs into high-performance outputs. And when it comes to analyzing how well people “work together” in teams, and whether or not process gains exceed process losses, the focus is on critical group or team dynamics. These are forces operating in teams that affect the way members relate to and work with one another.46 This aspect of team performance is so important that it is the subject of the next chapter on teams and teamwork.
• Group or team dynamics are the forces operating in teams that affect the ways members work together.
7 study guide
Key Questions
and Answers
What are teams and how are they used in organizations?• A team is a group of people working together to achieve a common purpose for which they hold themselves collectively accountable.
• Teams help organizations by improving task performance; teams help members experience satisfaction from their work.
• Teams in organizations serve different purposes—some teams run things, some teams recommend things, and some teams make or do things.
• Organizations consist of formal teams that are designated by the organization to serve an offi cial purpose, as well as informal groups that emerge from special relationships but are not part of the formal structure.
• Organizations can be viewed as interlocking networks of permanent teams such as project teams and cross-functional teams, as well as temporary teams such as committees and task forces.
• Members of self-managing teams typically plan, complete, and evaluate their own work, train and evaluate one another in job tasks, and share tasks and responsibilities.
• Virtual teams, whose members meet and work together through computer mediation, are increasingly common and pose special management challenges.
When is a team effective?
• An effective team achieves high levels of task accomplishment, member satisfaction, and viability to perform successfully over the long term.
• Teams help organizations through synergy in task performance, the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 164 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446
c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 164 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
Terms to Know 165
• Teams help satisfy important needs for their members by providing them with things like job support and social interactions.
• Team performance can suffer from social loafi ng when a member slacks off and lets others do the work.
• Social facilitation occurs when the behavior of individuals is infl uenced positively or negatively by the presence of others in a team.
What are the stages of team development?
• In the forming stage, team members come together and form initial impressions; it is a time of task orientation and interpersonal testing.
• In the storming stage, team members struggle to deal with expectations and status; it is a time when confl icts over tasks and how the team works are likely.
• In the norming or initial integration stage, team members start to come together around rules of behavior and what needs to be accomplished; it is a time of growing cooperation.
• In the performing or total integration stage, team members are well organized and well functioning; it is a time of team maturity when performance of even complex tasks becomes possible.
• In the adjourning stage, team members achieve closure on task performance and their personal relationships; it is a time of managing task completion and the process of disbanding.
How can we understand teams at work?
• Teams are open systems that interact with their environments to obtain resources that are transformed into outputs.
• The equation summarizing the open systems model for team performance is: Team Effectiveness ⫽ Quality of Inputs ⫻ (Process Gains ⫺ Process Losses).
• Input factors such as resources and setting, nature of the task, team size, and team composition, establish the core performance foundations of a team.
• Team processes include basic group or team dynamics that show up as the ways members work together to use inputs and complete tasks.
Terms to Know
Adjourning stage (p. 158) Collective intelligence (p. 163) Cross-functional team (p. 149) Diversity–consensus dilemma (p. 163) Effective team (p. 152)
Employee involvement team (p. 149) FIRO-B theory (p. 162)
Formal teams (p. 148) Forming stage (p. 156)
Functional silos problem (p. 149)
Group or team dynamics (p. 164) Heterogeneous teams (p. 162) Homogeneous teams (p. 162) Informal groups (p. 148) Multiskilling (p. 151) Norming stage (p. 157) Performing stage (p. 157) Problem-solving team (p. 149) Quality circle (p. 150) Self-managing team (p. 150)
Social facilitation (p. 153) Social loafi ng (p. 153)
Social network analysis (p. 148) Status congruence (p. 162) Storming stage (p. 156) Synergy (p. 153) Team (p. 147)
Team composition (p. 161) Teamwork (p. 147) Virtual team (p. 151) c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 165 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446
c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 165 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
166 7 Teams in Organizations
Self-Test 7
Multiple Choice
1. The FIRO-B theory deals with ____________ in teams. (a) membership compatibili- ties (b) social loafi ng (c) dominating members (d) conformity
2. It is during the ____________ stage of team development that members begin to come together as a coordinated unit. (a) storming (b) norming (c) performing (d) total integration
3. An effective team is defi ned as one that achieves high levels of task performance, member satisfaction, and ____________. (a) coordination (b) harmony (c) creativity (d) team viability
4. Task characteristics, reward systems, and team size are all ____________ that can make a difference in team effectiveness. (a) processes (b) dynamics (c) inputs (d) rewards 5. The best size for a problem-solving team is usually ____________ members. (a) no
more than 3 or 4 (b) 5 to 7 (c) 8 to 10 (d) around 12 to 13
6. When a new team member is anxious about questions such as “Will I be able to infl uence what takes place?” the underlying issue is one of ____________.
(a) relationships (b) goals (c) processes (d) control
7. Self-managing teams ____________. (a) reduce the number of different job tasks members need to master (b) largely eliminate the need for a traditional supervisor (c) rely heavily on outside training to maintain job skills (d) add another manage- ment layer to overhead costs
8. Which statement about self-managing teams is most accurate? (a) They always improve performance but not satisfaction. (b) They should have limited decision- making authority. (c) They operate with elected team leaders. (d) They should let members plan and control their own work.
9. When a team of people is able to achieve more than what its members could by working individually, this is called ____________. (a) distributed leadership (b) consensus (c) team viability (d) synergy
10. Members of a team tend to become more motivated and better able to deal with confl ict during the ____________ stage of team development. (a) forming (b) norming (c) performing (d) adjourning
11. The Ringlemann effect describes ____________. (a) the tendency of groups to make risky decisions (b) social loafi ng (c) social facilitation (d) the satisfaction of mem- bers’ social needs
12. Members of a multinational task force in a large international business should probably be aware that ____________ might initially slow the progress of the team.
(a) synergy (b) groupthink (c) the diversity–consensus dilemma (d) intergroup dynamics 13. When a team member engages in social loafi ng, one of the recommended strategies for dealing with this situation is to ____________. (a) forget about it (b) ask another member to force this person to work harder (c) give the person extra rewards and hope he or she will feel guilty (d) better defi ne member roles to improve individual accountability
14. When a person holds a prestigious position as a vice president in a top management team, but is considered just another member of an employee involvement team that c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 166 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446
c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 166 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
Next Steps 167
a lower-level supervisor heads, the person might experience ____________. (a) role underload (b) role overload (c) status incongruence (d) the diversity–consensus dilemma
15. The team effectiveness equation states: Team effectiveness ⫽ ____________ ⫹ (Process gains ⫺ Process losses). (a) Nature of setting (b) Nature of task (c) Quality of inputs (d) Available rewards
Short Response
16. In what ways are teams good for organizations?
17. What types of formal teams are found in organizations today?
18. What are members of self-managing teams typically expected to do?
19. What is the diversity–consensus dilemma?
Applications Essay
20. One of your Facebook friends has posted this note. “Help! I have just been assigned to head a new product design team at my company. The division manager has high expectations for the team and me, but I have been a technical design engineer for four years since graduating from college. I have never ‘managed’ anyone, let alone led a team. The manager keeps talking about her confi dence that I will be very good at creating lots of teamwork. Does anyone out there have any tips to help me master this challenge?” You smile while reading the message and start immediately to formulate your recommendations. Exactly what message will you send?
Next Steps
Top Choices from The OB Skills Workbook
Case for Critical Thinking
Team and Experiential Exercises
Self-Assessment Portfolio
• The Forgotten Team Member
• Sweet Tooth
• Interrogatories
• Teamwork and Motivation
• Serving on the Boundary
• Eggsperiential Exercise
• Team Effectiveness
• Decision-Making Biases c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 167 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446
c07TeamsInOrganizations.indd Page 167 7/21/11 7:46 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
168
Virtual Teams: Here, There, Everywhere
In an average workday, Sarah strategizes with her teammates, consults with vendors, and advises clients in several time zones. And most workdays, she’s still in her pajamas.
That’s one of the perks of working for a virtual team—a group whose members collaborate across time, geo- graphic, or organizational boundaries.a Once favored mostly by creative agencies, call centers, and multinational businesses, a growing number of organizations trade the security of managing employees in house for managing them in virtual space. The hope is for increased performance, improved employee satisfaction, and ultimately, a wider selection of potential collaborators.
But when teamwork goes virtual, the potential risks as well as gains are real. Any defi ciencies in employee performance or management oversight will be magnifi ed through the lens of team-member separation. Given the extra effort needed for every communication, virtual team members may experience loneliness or perceive social isolation. And teams may suffer if all members don’t have a high degree of trust and regard for each other.b Companies wouldn’t accept the risks of virtual teams if the poten- tial payoff wasn’t worth it. When teams straddle time zones, companies benefi t from longer work hours, more uptime, and greater access by both fellow employees and customers. As for virtual employees, who wouldn’t be happy with a fl exible work schedule and a 0-minute commute?c
These days, virtual employees have an impressive suite of tools that keep them tethered to their teammates. Webcams, chat, and VoIP services like Skype are de facto in most remote offi ces. As the quote suggests, with the right technology distant strangers become real teammates and friends. Execs who insist that it
feel like virtual team members are right there (and who have deep pockets) invest in HD-quality videoconference systems.
“My deadlines now no longer affect a voice on Skype or a person writing email—they affect my friends and col- leagues.”
—Angela Sasso, on meeting her virtual teammates for the fi rst time.d
FYI: The virtual world of workplace learning is the subject of the bestseller, The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media, by Tony Bingham, Marcia Conner, and Daniel H. Pink.e
Quick Summary
• Facilitated by the emergence of new networking technologies and ubiquitous broadband Internet, more organizations are making frequent use of virtual teams.
• Virtual teams can reduce employee travel costs, help companies approach 24/7 uptime, and give workers more fl exible work schedules.
• To succeed, virtual teams require good technology, constant communication, shared priorities and deadlines, and a high degree of trust among all members.
c08TeamworkandTeamPerformance.indd Page 168 6/24/11 6:08 PM ff-446
c08TeamworkandTeamPerformance.indd Page 168 6/24/11 6:08 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
➠
1698 Teamwork and Team Performance
the key point
In order for any team—virtual or face-to-face—to work well and do great things, its members must get things right. This means paying attention to things like team building and team processes. Team performance can’t be left to chance. Yes, teams can be hard work. But it’s also worth the effort.
The opportunities of teams and teamwork are simply too great to miss.
chapter at a glance
What Are High-Performance Teams and How Do We Build Them?
How Can Team Processes Be Improved?
How Can Team Communications Be Improved?
How Can Team Decisions Be Improved?
what’s inside?
ETHICS IN OB
SOCIAL LOAFING MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
FINDING THE LEADER IN YOU
AMAZON’S JEFF BEZOS WINS WITH TWO-PIZZA TEAMS
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
GROUPTHINK AND MADAGASCAR
RESEARCH INSIGHT
DEMOGRAPHIC FAULTLINES POSE IMPLICATIONS FOR LEADING TEAMS
teams are hard work, but worth it
c08TeamworkandTeamPerformance.indd Page 169 6/24/11 6:09 PM ff-446
c08TeamworkandTeamPerformance.indd Page 169 6/24/11 6:09 PM ff-446 Schermerhorn_OBSchermerhorn_OB
170 8 Teamwork and Team Performance
Are you an iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or iMac user? Have you ever won- dered why Apple, Inc. keeps giving us a stream of innovative and trend-setting products?
In many ways today’s Apple story started years ago with its co-founder Steve Jobs, the fi rst Macintosh computer, and a very special team. The “Mac” was Jobs’s brainchild. To create it he put together a team of high-achievers who were excited and motivated by a highly challenging task. They worked all hours and at an unre- lenting pace, while housed in a separate building fl ying the Jolly Roger to display their independence from Apple’s normal bureaucracy. The Macintosh team com- bined youthful enthusiasm with great expertise and commitment to an exciting goal. In the process they set a new benchmark for product innovation as well as new standards for what makes for a high-performance team.1
Apple remains today a hotbed of high-performing teams that harness great talents to achieve innovation. But let’s not forget that there are a lot of solid con- tributions made by good, old-fashioned, everyday teams in all organizations—the cross-functional, problem-solving, virtual, and self-managing teams introduced in the last chapter. We also need to remember, as scholar J. Richard Hackman points out, that many teams underperform and fail to live up to their potential. They simply, as Hackman says, “don’t work.”2 The question for us is: What differentiates high-performing teams from the also-rans?