Teams
unified, structured groups that pursue consensual goals through coordinated,
interdependent interaction. Possess the basic qualities of a group: (1) Coordinated interaction, (2)
Compelling purpose, (3) Interlocking interdependence, (4) Adaptive structures, (5) Cohesive alliance.
Devine: taxonomy of teams
distinguishes between teams that focus on intellective, informational
tasks and those that perform action tasks:
- Executive and command teams: focused on identifying and solving problems, taking
decisions, and establishing goals. - Negotiation teams: often paired to another group to persuade the group.
- Commission teams: do research and create a judgment about a certain problem.
- Design teams: focus on badly defined problems where creativity and development are
needed. - Advisory teams: focus on structure and functioning of an organization.
- Service teams and production teams: responsible for the output of an organization. Deliver
services and products.
Hackman: model of team autonomy
distinguish between four different kinds of teams on the basis of the control over their processes/goals:
1. Manager-led team: members provide a service or generate a product, but that is their only
responsibility; manager makes the decisions.
2. Self-managing team: member have more autonomy, they are charged with both executing
the task and managing the team’s work. An authority external can only adjust its procedures
and structures.
3. Self-designing teams: team’s leader sets the direction, but the members have full
responsibility for doing what needs to be done to get the work accomplished.
4. Self-governing teams: have responsibility over the execution of tasks, monitoring and
managing work processes, designing the team and its context, and setting overall direction.
Input-process-output (I-P-O) systems model
inputs (= factors of individuals/environment) >
Processes (= actions and activities that influence the relation between input and output) > Outputs
(= effects of actions and influences).
Advantages and disadvantages associated with team diversity:
- Advantage: diversity increases team’s resources, providing more perspectives and sources of
information. - Disadvantage: diverse groups may lack cohesion, because their members may perceive each
other as less similar
Woods: meta-analysis of sex differences
men and women do not differ in their effectiveness as
team members.
Marks, Mathieu & Zaccaro: analysis of coordination in teams
have identified three processes that
high-functioning teams display as they work:
- Transition processes
- Action processes
- Interpersonal processes
Transition processes
when tasks are really complex, three possible processes can occur:
- Mission analysis = interpreting and evaluating the mission of the team, whereby
attention is paid to tasks, subtasks, the resources of the team, and any
environmental conditions that may influence the team’s work. - Goal specification = establish goals and priorities to tasks/subtasks in order to
accomplish the mission. - Strategy formulation = when team is unable to reach the goals it has set for itself,
they will review the causes of failure, which may result in team members finding
ways to improve their efficiency and outcomes.
Action processes
processes that focus on executing actions to accomplish the tasks:
- Monitoring progress toward its goals = check improvement of tasks-fulfilling by
checking own actions as well as those performed by others.
- System monitoring = involves keeping track of the resources the team needs, where they look at (1) internal systems monitoring (e.g., personnel, tools), and (2) environmental monitoring (determine which environmental factors influence the team).
- Team monitoring and backup behavior = when one member of the team delivers
assistance to another member. - Coordination = change in the behaviors of the team members so that each one’s
actions mesh with other’s actions, resulting in synchrony.
Interpersonal processes
relational processes inside a team.
- Conflict management = reducing threat of a conflict to the group’s cohesion.
- Motivation and confidence building = stimulating a feeling of trust, motivation, and
task related cohesion. - Affect management = regulating the emotions of team members during work by
paying attention to social cohesion, frustration, and enthusiasm.
Hackman: three factors that define the success of a team:
(1)task performance, (2) adaptive growth
of the team, and (3) individual development of the members.
