Understanding Work Teams

I. Introduction to Teams: Work Groups vs. Work Teams

Work Group: A group that interacts primarily to share information and

make decisions, where individual members perform within their area of
responsibility.

Work Team: A group whose individual efforts result in performance that

is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.

Key Differences:

Goal: Work group's goal is to share information; work team's goal is

collective performance.

Synergy: Work group has neutral (sometimes negative) synergy; work

team has positive synergy.

Accountability: Work group has individual accountability; work team has

individual and mutual accountability.

Skills: Work group has varied skills; work team has complementary skills.

Performance: A work group is a collection of individuals doing their work,

often with some interaction and/or dependency. A work team is a
collection of individuals doing work, with positive synergy from
coordination.

Examples:

The Rescue Team (Thailand cave rescue): Displayed characteristics of

a work team, needing to collaborate, share information, and combine
efforts to achieve a single goal. They applied unusual and unconventional
methods.

Soccer Team: An effective team with members committed to common

purpose, mutual accountability, and complementary skills.

II. Types of Teams * Common Types of Teams

 Problem-Solving Teams:
Definition: A team of employees from the same department or
functional area involved in efforts to improve quality,
efficiency, and the work environment.
 Characteristics: Members share ideas or suggest
improvements, but usually lack authority to implement their
suggestions.
Example: Manufacturing companies using teams to resolve
quality issues.
 Self-Managed Work Teams:
Definition: A group of employees who perform highly related
or interdependent jobs and take on responsibilities previously
held by supervisors.
Responsibilities: Planning, scheduling, assigning tasks, making
operating decisions, taking action to solve problems, and
working with suppliers and customers.
Effectiveness: Research indicates they perform better and
have higher absenteeism rates. Self-managed teams often
outperform traditional teams.
Caveats: Can be effective but not a universal solution; often
require more leadership skills from members.
 Cross-Functional Teams:
Definition: Employees from different work areas who come
together to accomplish a task.
Purpose: Solve problems requiring diverse input, develop new
ideas, or coordinate complex projects.
Challenges: Difficult to manage due to diversity, complexity,
and power dynamics. Require high levels of coordination and
cooperation.
Effectiveness: Strongest predictor of team success is the
extent to which a team is truly cross-functional.
Leadership: Shared leadership is often effective.
 Virtual Teams:
Definition: Teams that use technology to unite physically
dispersed members to achieve a common goal.
Characteristics: Collaborate online, may rarely or never meet
face-to-face.
Effectiveness: Require clear goals, established tasks,
resources, and deadlines. Success depends on trust among
members, effective communication, and publicizing
information widely.
Challenges: Absence of face-to-face interaction can hinder
trust and communication.
 Multiteam Systems (MTS):
 Definition: A collection of two or more interdependent teams
that share a common higher-level goal.
Characteristics: Teams are distinct but interdependently work
towards an overarching mission.
Example: NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission.
Effectiveness: Perform better when leadership and support
are focused on the system as a whole rather than individual
teams.
III. Creating Effective Teams / Team Effectiveness Model
Context factors:
 Adequate Resources: Teams need sufficient resources (e.g.,
equipment, staff, promotion, rewards) to perform effectively.
 Leadership and Structure: Teams need leadership to
provide direction, and a structure that clarifies roles and
responsibilities. Self-managed teams require members to
perform leadership roles.
 Climate of Trust: Members must trust each other and their
leader. Research shows that a high degree of trust leads to
better performance.
 Performance Evaluation and Reward Systems: Systems
should support team effort and commitment, rewarding team
members for both individual and group contributions.

Composition factors:

 Abilities of Members: Team performance depends on the

knowledge, skills, and abilities of its members. Technical
expertise, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills are
crucial.
 Personality: Conscientiousness and openness to
experience are often positively related to team
performance.
 Allocating Roles and Diversity: Diverse teams can
perform better if members are willing to adapt and work
together.
 Cultural Differences: Can lead to miscommunication and
conflict, but also offer diverse perspectives for problem-
solving.
 Size of Teams: Generally, teams of 5-9 members are
optimal. Larger teams can lead to social loafing and
communication issues.
  Member Preferences: Not everyone prefers to work in
teams.

Process factors:

 Common Plan and Purpose: Effective teams have a

clear sense of how to achieve their goals.
 Specific Goals: Successful teams translate their
purpose into specific, measurable, and realistic goals.
 Team Efficacy: Teams believe in their ability to
succeed, which contributes to higher performance.
 Mental Models: Organized ways of thinking shared by
team members about how the team will do its work.
Effective teams have accurate shared mental models.
 Conflict Levels: Task conflicts can be beneficial if
managed well; relationship conflicts are generally
dysfunctional.
 Social Loafing: The tendency for individuals to exert
less effort when working in a group. Teams should
minimize this.
IV. Key Concepts for Team Effectiveness
 Psychological Safety: An environment where members feel
comfortable speaking up with ideas or concerns without fear of
negative consequences.
 Transactive Memory Systems: Shared knowledge among team
members about who knows what. This facilitates knowing who to go
to for specific information.
 Reflexivity: A team's ability to reflect on and adjust its master plan
when necessary.
 Team Identity: A member's feeling of belonging to and
commitment to their team. Strong team identity leads to better
performance and reduced turnover.
 Team Cohesion: The degree to which members are attracted to
each other and motivated to stay in the group. High cohesion is
linked to higher performance, especially with high task
commitment.
V. Implications for Managers
 When to Use Teams: Teams are not always the best
solution. Work is sometimes better accomplished by
individuals.
 Effective Team Management:
  Managers should begin with the mission, goals, and nature
of the work to be accomplished.
 Select individuals with the right skills and preferences.
 Establish clear leadership and structure.
 Provide adequate resources and support.
 Foster trust and a psychologically safe environment.
 Develop complementary skills among members.
 Balance individual and team recognition.
 Training and Development:
 Training for Team Skills: Focus on problem-solving,
communication, negotiation, conflict management, and
coaching skills.
 Team Building Exercises: Can be a waste of time if not
properly designed or if objectives are unclear. Effective
team building focuses on specific issues and integrates
activities into the work context.
 Hiring: Focus on interpersonal skills in addition to
technical skills when selecting team members.