Download Understanding Work Teams Chapter 9 Essentials of Organizational

Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 9/e
Stephen P. Robbins/Timothy A. Judge
Chapter 9
Understanding
Work Teams
9-1
After studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
1. Explain the growing popularity of teams in
organizations
2. Contrast teams with groups
3. Identify four types of teams
4. Specify the characteristics of effective teams
5. Explain how organizations can create team
players
6. Describe conditions when teams are preferred
over individuals
9-2
Why have teams become so
popular?
• Individuals perform better in a team on
tasks requiring multiple skills, judgment,
and experience
• Better utilization of employee talents
• More flexible and responsive to changing
events
• Effective way for management to
democratize the organization and increase
employee motivation
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Comparing Work Groups and
Work Teams
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Four Types of Teams
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Problem-Solving Teams
• Share ideas or offer
suggestions on how work
processes and methods
can be improved
• Rarely given authority to
implement any of their
suggested actions
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Self-Managed Work Teams
• Typically 10-15 employees
• Team takes on supervisory responsibilities
in addition to job tasks
• Select and evaluate
members
• Effectiveness is
situationally dependent
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Cross-Functional Teams
• Members from diverse areas within and
between organizations
• Exchange information
• Develop new ideas and solve problems
• Coordinate complex projects
• Development may be time-consuming due
to complexity and diversity
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Virtual Teams
• Computer technology ties physically
dispersed members together to achieve a
common goal
• Differentiating factors from other teams
 Absence of para-verbal and non-verbal cues
 Limited social context
 Ability to overcome time and space
constraints
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Key Components of
Effective Teams
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Context
Composition
Work Design
Process
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Context
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Presence of adequate resources
Effective leadership
Climate of trust
Performance evaluation and reward
system that reflects team contributions
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Composition
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Abilities of members
Personality
Allocating roles
Diversity
Size of teams
Member flexibility
Member preferences
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Work Design
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Freedom & Autonomy
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
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Process
• Member commitment to a common
purpose
• Establishment of specific team goals
• Team efficacy
• Managed level of conflict
• Minimizing social loafing
9-14
Shaping Team Players
• Selection – in addition to technical skills,
managers must select employees who have the
interpersonal skills to be team players
• Training – workshops on problem-solving,
communications, negotiation, conflictmanagement and coaching skills help build team
members
• Rewards – rework to encourage cooperative
efforts rather than competitive ones
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Teams and Quality
Management
• Teams provide the natural platform for
employees to share ideas and to
implement improvements
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Is a Team the Answer?
• Questions to consider when determining if
work is better done by a team:
 Can the work be done better by more than one
person?
 Does the work create a common purpose or
set of goals for the people in the group that is
more than the aggregate of individual goals?
 Are the members of the group interdependent?
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Implications for Managers
• Common characteristics of effective teams:
 Individuals with technical and interpersonal
skills
 Have 10 or fewer members with diverse
backgrounds
 Members fill roles but are flexible and prefer to
be part of a group
 Members are committed to a common purpose
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Summary
1. Explained the growing popularity of teams in
organizations
2. Contrasted teams with groups
3. Identified four types of teams
4. Specified the characteristics of effective teams
5. Explained how organizations can create team
players
6. Described conditions when teams are preferred
over individuals
9-19