Problem- solving teams
5-12 employees from the same department meet on a weekly basis to discuss issues such as quality, efficiency, opportunities and working conditions. They share information on how things can be improved. They usually cannot make decisions.
Self-managed work teams
teams that can solve problems and implement solutions as well as take accountability for their results. Such teams count 10-15 employees who perform very similar/interdependent jobs. Team members take some duties, tasks from their supervisors. Nevertheless, there is not clear evidence of the effectiveness of self-managed teams. It happens that members of those teams are more absent at work and have higher turnover statistics. At the same time, they can be more satisfied with their job. Effectiveness depends on the teams’ norms, strength, task types and rewards system.
Cross-functional teams
teams composed of employees who are comparable in a hierarchy, but are from different departments and their common goal is to accomplish a task. It is a good method for information exchange between different work areas. They are effective in idea generation, problem solving and controlling complex assignments. However, they are time-consuming (to build trust and teamwork)
Virtual teams
teams that use ICT to have a contact with physically unreachable members in order to accomplish a common goal. To the main challenges of these teams belong: less direct interactions between members (least social method), face-to-face discussion advantages cannot be transferred; members report less satisfaction with group interactions. Those teams are more task-oriented. For virtual teams to work effectively a manager should make sure that there is trust between team members, progress on an assignment is monitored and outcomes of team work are publicized within organization.
What are the 4 characteristics of effective teams?
- context
- composition
- work design
- process
- Context Components (effective teams)
- Climate of Trust
- Performance Evaluation and Reward System
- Climate of trust > effective team is a team of people that trust each other and trust the leader. Trust in the leader makes team members follow the strategy and accept the chosen solutions. If there is trust between team members, the team is more inclined to take risks.
- Performance evaluation and reward system > rewards must be focused on both individual and team performance. Individual rewards should be reinforced by team rewards.
- Context Components (effective teams)
- Adequate Resources
- Leadership and Structure
- Adequate resources
> teams rely on resources the organisation is willing to give them. Not enough resources limit teams’ effectiveness. Resources can include information, equipment, staffing, assistance and support. - Leadership and structure
> team members must agree on who is doing what. It requires leadership and team structure to create a fit between individuals’ skills and work tasks. In self-managed teams, the manager is limited to outside management, while team members perform many inside management duties. Moreover, what is also important is the multi-team system, where various teams need coordination to achieve a goal. In multi-team system, leadership plays crucial role – leaders are to empower teams and facilitate inter-teams processes.
- Composition Components (effective teams)
- Abilities of Members
- Personlity of Members
- Abilities of members
> effective teams need members that have technical skills, problem-solving skills and decision-making skills, and/or lastly interpersonal skills. The balance between these three skill components must be kept. Skills can be learnt throughout the working process. There are a few relations between team members’ abilities and team performance. In case of thought-demanding tasks, high-ability teams perform better. They are also more flexible. In case of easier tasks, low-ability teams stay on track of the tasks, while high-ability teams are easily distracted. It needs to be remembered that matching team ability with task matters. Finally, the leader’s abilities matter. - Personality of members
> teams that have members who rate higher on conscientiousness and openness to experience, perform better. Moreover, there has to be a minimum degree of agreeableness among team members.
Allocation of roles > There are 9 major, team roles:
- Plant
- Resource investigator
- Coordinato
- Shaper
- Monitor evaluator
- Teamworker
- Implementer
- Completer finisher
- Specialist
Allocation of roles: explain the 9 team roles:
- Plant
- Resource investigator
- Coordinato
- Shaper
- Monitor evaluator
- Teamworker
- Implementer
- Completer finisher
- Specialist
- Plant - initiate creative ideas and solve difficult problems
- Resource investigator - being the communicator to the external, explore opportunities and contacts.
- Coordinator - chairperson, set goals, delegate and promote decision making.
- Shaper – putting pressure, push to overcome obstacles
- Monitor evaluator: judging carefully and accurately all options
- Teamworker: listener, build, avoid conflicts
- Implementer: turn ideas into practical actions efficiently
- Completer finisher: total check for errors/omissions, ensure on-time delivery
- Specialist: provide special knowledge, but only on one side of the problem, i.e. single minded)
Most effective team size
5-9 members
- Work Design Component (effective teams)
work-design dimension improve members’ motivation and teams’ effectiveness. They motivate because they increase degree of responsibility and make work more interesting.
- Team Processes Component (effective teams)
- Common plan and purpose
- Specific goals
- Team efficacy
- Mental models
- Common plan and purpose: showing reflexivity
- Specific goals > effective teams have SMART objectives/goals
- Team efficacy >effective teams believe in themselves, have high team-efficacy. However, managers should provide teams with training, because the higher team members’ abilities and belief in them, the higher team’s confidence.
- Mental models > effective teams have similar mental models, which are knowledge and beliefs about how tasks and work are accomplished successfully.
- Team Processes Component (effective teams)
- Conflict levels
- Social loafing
- Conflict levels > not every conflict is bad. The most dysfunctional conflict type is relationship conflict. On the contrary, positive conflict example may be task conflict. In general, teams without conflicts can suffer from lethargy; conflict reduces probability of groupthink. Conflicts (on the acceptable level) have the ability to improve team’s effectiveness.
- Social loafing > effective team is composed of people that avoid social loafing and feel accountable for the task outcome individually and as a team.
3 Ways to create team players:
- Selection: hiring team players > the best opinion is to hire already good team players to work areas that demand group working, instead of training them or transferring to a work field that does not require team spirit.
- Training: creating team players >hire specialists to train employees to become good team workers.
- Rewarding: encouraging team players >individual rewards should be balanced with rewards given to teams. In case of teams however, rewards should favor collective effort
Global consequences:
Extent of teamwork varies. For example, in the US (a particularly individualistic country) the extent of teamwork is not as big as in e.g. Canada or Asia.
When creating self-managed teams, managers need to be careful of the cultural norms and values. Workers from countries high in power distance are less willing to operate in a self-managed team (due to their respect from hierarchy, authority) and need more guidance.
Culturally diverse teams have difficulties in team’s functioning at the early stages. It takes time for people to learn how to overcome conflicts and effectively communicate with others.
