2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione

C H A P T E R
8
Team
Dynamics

By: Analyn A. Arienda
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What are teams?
Groups of two or more
people who interact and
influence each other are
mutually accountable for
achieving common
objectives and perceive
themselves as a social
entity within an
organisation
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Types of teams
Permanent teams
team-based departments
team-based organisation
quality circles
Temporary teams
task forces
temporary teams that investigate a problem
skunkworks
formed spontaneously, using borrowed resources, to
develop products or solve problems
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Groups versus teams
All teams are groups
Some groups are just
people assembled
together
Teams have task
interdependence
whereas some groups
do not (eg group of
employees enjoying
lunch together)
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Advantages of Teams
Make better decisions
Make better products and services due to more
knowledge and expertise
Increase employee engagement
Compared with individuals working
alone, teams tend to:
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The trouble with teams
Individuals better/faster on some tasks
Process losses cost of developing and maintaining
teams
Brooks Law - more delays when adding members to a
team already behind schedule
Companies dont support best work environment for
team dynamics
Social loafing - occurs when individuals exert less
effort when working in groups than alone

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Team design elements
Task characteristics
better when tasks are clear, easy to implement
task interdependence
share common inputs, processes or outcomes
Team size
smaller teams are better
but large enough to accomplish task
Team composition
members motivated/competent to perform task in a team environment
team diversity
Effective team members are good at the 5 Cs:
Cooperating
Coordinating
Communicating
Comforting (psych support)
Conflict resolving

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Levels of Task Interdependence
Sequential
Pooled
Reciprocal
Resource
A B C
A B C
A
B C
High
Low
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Homogeneous vs heterogeneous teams
Higher satisfaction
Less conflict
Faster team development
More efficient coordination
Performs better on simple
tasks
More conflict
Slower team development
takes longer to agree on
norms and goals
Better knowledge and
resources for complex tasks
Tend to be more creative
Higher potential for support
outside the team
Homogeneous teams Heterogeneous teams
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Team norms
Informal rules and expectations a team establishes
to regulate member behaviours
Norms develop through
explicit statements
critical events in teams history
initial team experiences
beliefs/values members bring to the team
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Changing team norms
Introduce norms when forming teams
Select members with preferred norms
Discuss counterproductive norms
Reward behaviours representing desired norms
Disband teams with dysfunctional norms
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Team Cohesion
The degree of attraction people feel toward the team
and their motivation to remain members
Calculative -- members believe the team will fulfill
goals and needs
Emotional -- team is part of persons social identity
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How to Minimize Social Loafing
Make individual performance more visible
Form smaller teams
Specialize tasks
Measure individual performance
Increase employee motivation
Increase job enrichment
Select motivated employees
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Conditions for social loafing
Low task interdependence
Individual output not visible
Routine, uninteresting tasks
Low task significance
Low collectivist values
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Virtual Teams
Teams whose members operate across space, time, and
organizational boundaries and are linked through
information technologies to achieve organizational tasks
Increasingly possible because of:
Information technologies
Knowledge-based work
Increasingly necessary because of:
Knowledge management
Globalization
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Virtual Team Success Factors
Member characteristics
Technology savvy
Self-leadership skills
Emotional intelligence
Flexible use of communication technologies
Opportunities to meet face-to-face
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Team Decision Making Constraints
Time constraints
Time to organize/coordinate
Production blocking
Evaluation apprehension
Belief that other team members are silently evaluating you
Conformity to peer pressure
Suppressing opinions that oppose team norms
Groupthink
Tendency in highly cohesive teams to value consensus at the
price of decision quality
Concept is losing favor -- need to consider specific features
instead (e.g. overconfidence)
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General Guidelines for Team
Decisions
Team norms should encourage critical thinking
Sufficient team diversity
Ensure neither leader nor any member dominates
Maintain optimal team size
Introduce effective team structures
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Constructive Conflict
Occurs when team members debate their different
perceptions about an issue in a way that keeps the conflict
focused on the task rather than people.
Problem: constructive conflict easily slides into personal
attacks
2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim by McShane and Travaglione 20
Rules of Brainstorming
1. Speak freely
2. Dont criticize
3. Provide as many ideas as possible
4. Build on others ideas
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Evaluating Brainstorming
Strengths
Produces more innovative ideas
Strengthens decision acceptance and team cohesiveness
Sharing positive emotions encourages creativity
Higher customer satisfaction if clients participate
Weaknesses
Production blocking still exists
Evaluation apprehension exists in many groups
Fewer ideas generated than when people work alone
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Electronic Brainstorming
Participants share ideas using software
Usually in the same room, but may be dispersed
Question posted, then participants submit their ideas
or comments on computer
Comments/ideas appear anonymously on computer
screens or at front of room
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Evaluating Electronic Brainstorming
Strengths
Less production blocking
Less evaluation apprehension
More creative synergy
More satisfaction with process
Weaknesses
Too structured
Technology-bound
Candid feedback is threatening
Not applicable to all decisions
Thank you!!!
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