CH-11 Building and Managing Effective Teams – Supervision: Concepts and Practices of Management : Book Guide

Chapter 11 Building and Managing Effective Teams Learning Objectives 1. Describe the form and function of the different types of work groups and the unique relevance of each to the supervisory role. Work groups are typically formed to provide companionship and identification, behavioral guidelines, problem-solving help, and protection. Various factors can contribute to the cohesiveness and functioning of the work group, including the group’s status, size, personal characteristics, location, and previous successes. Work groups can significantly influence employee attitudes and job performance, a reality supervisors must recognize and be prepared to address. At any time, an employee may be a member of a command group, a task group or cross-functional team, a friendship group, or a special-interest group. Command and task groups are based primarily on job-related factors. Friendship and special-interest groups mainly reflect personal relationships and interests. Employees who are dissatisfied with their jobs or working conditions, or fear losing their jobs due to outsourcing or economic downturn, may be attracted to form a special-interest group, for example, a labor union. As a supervisor, one needs to be aware of any hint of employee dissatisfaction that may lead to a unionizing effort. There is increasing use of customer-satisfaction teams, which may include customer and supplier representatives. Participation in each of these work groups can influence worker attitudes and productivity in different ways. Supervisors should be sensitive to all these groups and how they impact their employee members. 2. Explain the relevance research findings about work groups. The Hawthorne Studies demonstrated that work groups can positively or negatively influence employee performance. To influence work groups positively, supervisors should review the keys to effective team building. Teams should be relatively small, and members must have the necessary skills and be committed to specific and realistic objectives. Organized participative management programs primarily involve building effective teams to work on tasks that will improve work performance and customer service. While work teams are convened with the expectation that the group will take charge of accomplishing a specific task, the supervisor still plays an important role in providing direction, feedback, accountability measures, and coaching during the team development process of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Virtual or geographically dispersed work teams (GDTs) are a way for organizations to leverage the SKAs from workers located in all parts of the world. For such programs to be effective, top-level and other managers must give their full support and encouragement. Members of these teams communicate electronically, so they rarely or never meet face to face. Thus, the supervisor’s ability to communicate, build commitment, and encourage collaboration is fundamental to the success of these teams. 3. Distinguish the relationships between employee morale, engagement, teamwork and productivity, and identify factors that influence employee engagement. Employee engagement is the level of emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. Morale is a composite of feelings and attitudes of individuals and groups toward their work environment, supervision, and the organization as a whole. Morale can vary from very high to very low and can change considerably from day to day. Engagement is a more stable characteristic that is driven by the level of support, encouragement, and opportunity provided by supervisors and managers. Everyone in the organization should be concerned about engagement, although it is primarily the direct supervisor who is, and should be responsible for creating a climate that encourages engagement. Morale can be influenced by factors from outside the organization as well as by on-the-job factors. Morale, engagement, and teamwork are not synonymous, but high morale usually contributes to high productivity. The converse is also true; employees with low morale seldom put forth their best effort. Further, individuals with high levels of engagement who assume leadership positions on teams can positively influence the engagement level and productivity of the entire team. Workplace spirituality is an effort to improve employees’ personal lives and mental outlook. Downsizing and corporate restructuring during the past decade have created a legacy of fear among workers. Supervisors must be aware of employee needs, feelings, and perceptions because they impact morale. In general, a supervisor’s attitude and behaviors can significantly influence employee engagement and morale. 4. Discuss techniques for assessing employee morale, including observation and employee attitude surveys. Perceptive supervisors who regularly interact with employees can detect changes in engagement by monitoring employee behaviors and such key indicators as absenteeism and performance trends. The attitude survey is another method of assessing engagement and, when used over time, monitoring trends that reflect engagement changes in the workforce. When possible, supervisors and higher-level managers should correct problems that have been brought to their attention through the survey. A participative approach is desirable when considering attitude survey data, in which the supervisor discusses the results with supervisors and employee groups and encourages them to recommend changes and improvements. 5. Understand why counseling is an important part of the supervisor’s job. Supervisors adopt the counseling role when they deal directly with employee performance problems that are influenced by personal problems. If these problems are not addressed, employee morale, work quality, and productivity can be negatively affected. When a supervisor recognizes an employee performance problem, it is important to use empathetic listening, reflective questioning, and direct communication, and refer the employee to additional sources of assistance as directed in established employee support policies. Sound interviewing and communication practices are the foundation of counseling. 6. Identify programs that organizations use to help employees with personal and work-related problems. Supervisors should be aware of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the company’s related policies in case an employee requests a leave of absence due to personal sickness, childbirth, or other family medical concerns. To help employees with personal and work-related problems a supervisor would not be competent to handle, some organizations have employee assistance programs (EAPs) and wellness programs. EAP efforts typically help employees solve problems that detract from job performance, with the goal of restoring those employees to full capabilities that meet acceptable work standards. Wellness programs aim to promote and maintain proper physical condition and other personal or health habits that will tend to keep employees healthy and productive on the job. Paid time off (PTO) programs are increasing in popularity as employers recognize the need of employees to take time off for personal reasons rather than solely for illnesses and vacations. PowerPoint Presentation Slides 11-2, Learning Objectives Lecture Outline I. Understanding Work Groups and Their Importance A supervisor must be concerned not only with employees as individuals but also with how those employees relate to groups both inside and outside the supervisor’s department. An employee’s attitudes and morale can be shaped to a large degree by co-workers, at times even more than by the supervisor or other factors in the work environment. Therefore, a supervisor should be aware of work groups and how those groups function. A. Why Work Groups Form and Function Work groups form and function in work settings for many reasons. Among the most common reasons are the following: •Companionship and identification •Behavior guidelines •Problem solving •Protection (from outside forces, such as supervisors) A work group is usually most cohesive when it: •Has members who perceive themselves as having higher status than other employees, as in job classification or pay •Is small •Shares similar personal characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnic background, and off-the-job interests •Is relatively distant from other employees, as in geographically dispersed work groups and groups away from the home office •Has formed due to outside pressures or for self-protection, such as a layoff or disciplinary action taken by management •Has members who communicate relatively easily •Has succeeded in some group effort, which encourages members to seek new group objectives The most effective teams are those that have shared cognition, or a common level and depth of knowledge that allows all team members to anticipate and execute actions toward meeting the group’s goals. Groupthink is the tendency of members of a group to make faulty decisions because of group pressures, even in the face of red flags or better, more logical alternatives. What Have You Learned? Question 1 PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-3, Understanding Work Groups and Their Importance PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-4, Understanding Work Groups and Their Importance (cont’d) II. Classifications of Work Groups Four major types of employee work groups can be identified in most organizations: •Command •Task •Friendship •Special interest. The command group consists of employees classified according to authority relationships on the formal organization chart. Members of this group work together daily to accomplish regularly assigned work. A. Task Group or Cross-Functional Team A task group or cross-functional team consists of employees from different departments brought together to accomplish a particular task or project. A specialized subset of the task group is the customer-satisfaction team. Members of this team represent many different functions and may include customerand supplier representatives. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-5, Classifications of Work Groups The friendship group is an informal group of people who have similar personal characteristics and social interests. Many friendship groups are related primarily to such common factors as age, gender, ethnic background, outside interests, and marital status. The special-interest group accomplishes in a group things that individuals feel unable or unwilling to pursue individually. A temporary special-interest group might be a committee of employees who wish to protest an action taken by a supervisor or management, promote a charitable undertaking, or organize an employee picnic. A labor union is an example of a more permanent special-interest group because it is legally and formally organized. An employee may belong to a number of groups in the workplace, and the supervisor who understands these different groups is more likely to influence these groups. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-6, Classification of Work Groups (Cont’d) III. Research Insights for Managing Work Groups Numerous behavioral studies have been conducted on work groups and on how they function. While these approaches will not guarantee the desired results, they are consistent with behavioral research findings concerning work-group dynamics and group behavior. A. Findings from Group (Team) Research The work-group studies that have probably had the most lasting influence during the twentieth century and beyond were conducted in the late 1920s and early 1930s at Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne plant near Chicago, Illinois. Hawthorne Studies remain a comprehensive and definitive source on the subject of work-group dynamics as they relate to employee attitudes and productivity. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-7, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups Katzenbach and Smith, two management consultants, identified principles that are most closely associated with effective work teams, including the following: •Team members must be committed to the group and its performance. •Teams function better when they are small, usually consisting of ten or fewer members. •Teams should be composed of individuals with skills that are complementary and sufficient to deal with the problem. •Teams should be committed to objectives that are specific and realistic. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-8, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups (Cont’d) Steven Jones and Michael Beyerlein’s in Developing High Performance Work Teams describes Eastman Chemical Company’s decision to move to a team management approach at its Kingsport, Tennessee, facility, delivered the following findings: •Because supervisors must take on more responsibility and receive less recognition, they feel threatened by transitions to teams. Therefore, supervisors must be coached, supported, and encouraged in their new roles. •Team members must be held accountable for their actions to increase feelings of personal responsibility for the team’s success. •New team leadership roles for supervisors include coaching and facilitating. •Communication becomes more important. Team leaders must be process-oriented and have meetings to clarify team roles. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-9, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups (cont’d) B. Insights into the Group Development Process. Tuckman and Jensen’s classical research on the process of group development asserts that when new work groups are formed, the supervisor remains a key player. They describe five specific stages small groups go through: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. •Forming—when a group first convenes, individuals meet, agree on goals, and begin the task at hand. •Storming—as the work progresses, group members begin to share ideas and perspectives about the task and the group itself, some of which may be in competition or conflict. •Norming—once group members establish their roles and responsibilities and a shared understanding of the goal, they tend to move forward productively with the work. •Performing—groups at this stage run like clockwork. They can work independently, make decisions, and establish new goals with little or no supervision. •Adjourning—at some point, an existing group may no longer be necessary, particularly in the case of task or special-interest groups that have achieved the goals for which they were originally established. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-10, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups (cont’d) C. Examples of Highly Effective Teams Highly effective teams are hard to find, and they are inspiring. Good communication skills are needed to create trust and collaboration among the teammates. There is no “I” in the word team. Personal Skill Builder11-1: Is There A Way To Manage This Team? Team Skill Builder 11-2: Thinking Outside the Box—Advantages of Teamwork NOTE: Instructors may find that these two skills application give students an opportunity to access their personal experience as a member of a highly effective team. D. The Importance of Team Members A synergistic effect takes place when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. A team is made up of a group of individuals who must work together to meet their individual and team objectives. It is important to remember that people are more motivated to achieve goals they help set. Strong leadership and effective communication are key ingredients for successful teams. Not everyone is suited for team play, and hence, the key is to identify people who can work in teams and those who cannot. E. Collaborative Workplace Teamwork refers to people working cooperatively to solve problems and achieve goals important to the group. Collaborative workplace means that, throughout the organization, employees and management share authority for decision making. Teamwork processes promote trust, integrity, consensus, and shared ownership as team members strive to achieve common objectives. Collaboration recognizes that people want and need to be valued for their contributions and that improvements and changes are best achieved by those who are responsible for implementing changes and are committed to making those changes work. What Have You Learned? Question 2 PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-11, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups (cont’d) PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-12, Figure 11.2 F. Virtual Teams As many companies have expanded their operations domestically and internationally, they have found that virtual teams can help them focus on meeting customer requirements. A virtual team is one that has members who rarely, if ever, meet face to face, even though they work on a project or in an area of operations with a common goal. In a virtual team, also known as a geographically dispersed team (GDT), members share a common purpose, but are physically separated by time and/or space and primarily interact electronically. Virtual teams function primarily through technological tools that enable them to communicate and share documents. One advantage of virtual teams is that members can communicate quickly when needed to bring team members up to date on events and to keep each other informed. Technology, however, has been indicated as a significant challenge to productivity and the achievement of team goals. Virtual teams require strong management support, which typically means that managers and supervisors have less direct control over team members. The challenge for a manager or supervisor of a virtual team is to hold team members together and keep them motivated, even though they are separated geographically. What Have You Learned? Question 3 Personal Skill Builder 11-2: Team Assessment PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-13, Research Insights for Managing Work Groups (cont’d) PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-14, Figure 11.2 IV. Understanding and Maintaining Employee Morale and Engagement Morale is the attitudes and feelings of individuals and groups toward their work, their environment, their supervisors, their top-level management, and the organization. Morale can affect employee performance and willingness to work, which in turn can affect individual and organizational objectives. When employee morale is high, employees usually do what the company wants them to do; when it is low, the opposite tends to occur. Engagement is the level of emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. Morale is the general feeling toward the workplace, and engagement focuses on its goals. Highly engaged workers, are enthusiastic about their work, understand their jobs, and look for ways to improve. Workers who are not engaged and aren’t concerned about customers, productivity, safety, or the organization’s purpose, whereas actively disengaged workers are out to damage the company, waste managers’ time, are often absent, have more accidents, and quit more often than nonengaged workers. A. Factors Influencing Engagement and Morale Employees engage and thrive when their supervisors show that they care about them, encourage them to develop their strengths, value their opinions, and promote an organizational mission that makes workers feel important. Increasing engagement requires a great deal of concentrated, coordinated effort by an organization, starting with hiring managers who genuinely care for people and are committed to high performance and can balance the two by motivating and rewarding engaged behaviors. Virtually any factor can influence employee morale, positively or negatively. Some of these factors are within the supervisor’s control, while others are not. Influences outside the organization are generally beyond the supervisor’s control. Examples of such external factors are family relationships, care of children or elderly parents, financial difficulties, problems with friends, vehicle breakdowns, and sickness or death in the family. Company conditions can also influence morale. Examples of internal factors are compensation, relations with co-workers, and working conditions. These factors are partially or fully within the supervisor’s control. B. Morale, Engagement, Teamwork, and Productivity Relationships Teamwork is often associated with morale, but the two are not the same. Morale refers to the attitudes and feelings of employees, whereas teamwork relates primarily to the degree of cooperation among people who are solving problems and accomplishing objectives. Good morale and high engagement help achieve teamwork, but teamwork can be high when morale and engagement are low. Such a situation might exist when jobs are scarce and employees tolerate bad conditions and poor supervision for fear of losing their jobs. On the other hand, teamwork may be absent when morale is high and is accompanied by high engagement. High level of engagement tends to make work more pleasant for employees and their supervisors. C. The Impact of Downsizing and Outsourcing on Morale The magnitude of downsizing is nothing compared with the impact of outsourcing. According to recent studies, 75 percent of U.S. and European multinational companies now use outsourcing to support administration of their retirement plans. Many downsized and/or outsourced employees feel they might never again find jobs like those they had. The survivors—those who remain in the downsized workplace—worry about being laid off and are concerned about the future of their firms. Downsizings and outsourcings force employees to sever workplace friendships. Those who remain suffer from what has been termed survivors’ syndrome. However, some firms have developed training programs and have provided counseling services to plan for and implement job reductions and to help surviving employees cope with the aftereffects of downsizing. What Have You Learned? Question 4 D. Engagement Should Be Everyone’s Concern Every manager, from the chief executive down to the supervisor, should be concerned with the engagement level of the workforce. Bringing engagement to a high level and maintaining it is a continuous process Morale is contagious in both directions because both favorable and unfavorable attitudes spread rapidly among employees. The supervisor is not alone in desiring high engagement and positive morale. Employees are just as concerned with engagement because it is paramount to their work satisfaction and achievement. Positive morale and high engagement are also important to an organization’s customers. Because of widespread concern about deteriorating employee morale and the disengagement of many workers, many firms have launched programs and efforts that collectively have been called workplace spirituality. This term essentially covers organizational efforts that designed to make the work environment more meaningful and creative by recognizing and tapping into people’s deeply held values and spiritual beliefs. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-15, Understanding and Maintaining Employee Morale and Engagement PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-16, Figure 11.3 PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-17 and 11-18, Understanding and Maintaining Employee Morale and Engagement (Cont’d) V. Assessing Employee Engagement Supervisors are advised to approach engagement measurement systematically to assess prevailing levels and trends. The two most frequently used techniques—(1) observation and study and (2) engagement surveys—warrant a closer look. A. Observation and Study By observing, monitoring, and studying patterns of employee behavior, a supervisor often can discover evidence of employee engagement. The supervisor should closely monitor such key indicators as job performance levels, tardiness and absenteeism, the amount of waste or scrap, employee complaints, and accident and safety records. Specific behaviors in the workplace also provide insight into employee engagement. A combination of data can provide a rich, timely perspective of employee engagement, which can be combined with engagement survey data to be used for organizational planning and development. What Have You Learned? Question 5 Daily working relationships offer numerous opportunities for a supervisor to observe and analyze changes in employee engagement and morale. However, many supervisors do not take time to observe; others do not analyze what they observe. Many companies conduct exit interviews with individuals leaving their employ. Exit interviews are usually conducted by a HR staff person. The interviewer asks why the person is leaving and about the person’s perceptions of the firm’s conditions. Results of exit interviews are used to assess morale in the firm as a whole or in certain departments of the firm, as well as to identify reasons for employee turnover. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-19, Assessing Employee Engagement B. Attitude Surveys Another technique to assess employee engagement is an attitude survey, also called an engagement survey or morale survey. All employees, or a sample of the employees, are asked to express their opinions about major aspects of organizational life, usually in the form of answers to questions or rating scales printed on a survey form or presented in electronic format to be completed online using a computer or mobile device. Usually, they are undertaken by top-level management and are prepared with the help of the HR department or an outside consulting firm. Attitude surveys, like any other surveys, are limited by their ability to report workforce engagement and summarize employee sentiments at a specific moment in time. C. Follow-Up of Survey Results Survey results are first presented to top-level and middle-level managers and eventually to departmental supervisors. Survey results should be used as a tool, a baseline for problem solving and action planning efforts that will increase engagement and morale across the organization. Attitude surveys may reveal deficiencies the supervisor can eliminate. If the attitude survey reveals that the problem can be corrected at the departmental level—perhaps with a supervisor—the solution should be developed and implemented by the involved supervisor. A broader problem, however, that requires the attention of higher-level managers should be reported to the appropriate manager for action. At a minimum, employees should be informed that management is aware of the dissatisfactions and will work to change things by some future date. D. Organizational Development Many companies follow up their attitude surveys with feedback meetings and conference sessions with groups of employees and supervisors. In these meetings, the results of attitude surveys are discussed and debated openly. The groups are expected to recommend improvements, which are forwarded anonymously to higher-level management for consideration and possible implementation. Known as organizational development (OD) or process consultation, this concept usually involves group meetings under the guidance of a neutral conference leader. For the most part, these meetings focus on solving problems that may be hindering work performance. Supervisors may be involved in OD efforts because these programs can improve morale andorganizational effectiveness. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-20, Assessing Employee Engagement (cont’d) VI. The Supervisor’s Counseling Role In counseling, the supervisor tries to address on-the-job performance problems that result from an employee’s personal problems. A counseling interview is essentially nondirective, the supervisor serves primarily as an empathetic listener, and the employee is encouraged to discuss the problem frankly and to develop solutions. By being a good listener, the supervisor can find out what happened and may help the employee develop alternatives. The supervisor’s main role is to help get the employee’s performance back to an acceptable level. Figure 11.4 (page 431) presents a roadmap to guide one’s steps when dealing with employee problems. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-21, The Supervisor’s Counseling Role PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-22, Figure 11.4 VII. Supporting and Helping Employees with Personal and Work-Related Problems The supervisor may refer an employee to the HR department or to a designated manager who will conduct the counseling interview and make helpful suggestions. A. Family and Medical Leave Provisions Many employers, in connection with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), have developed policies for handling specific requests. Passed in 1993, the FMLA generally requires employers with fifty or more employees to grant up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to workers for various reasons, particularly serious medical problems experienced by employees or their families, and the births or adoptions of children. Because major changes to FLMA came into effect on January 16, 2009, supervisors should rely on the advice of HR or the company’s legal counsel for interpretation of the regulations. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-23, Supporting and Helping Employees with Personal and Work-Related Problems B. Employee Assistance Programs Many organizations, especially large corporations and major government agencies, have adopted employee assistance programs (EAPs) typically involve a special department or outside resources retained by the firm to whom supervisors may refer employees with certain types of problems. Most EAPs provide help for alcoholism and substance abuse; marriage, childcare, and family problems; financial questions; and other personal, emotional, or psychological problems that may be interfering with job performance. The supervisor’s role in an EAP is essential to the program’s effectiveness. The supervisor must be alert to signs that an employee may be troubled, even though the supervisor may have tried to respond to the employee’s work performance using normal supervisory procedures. When talking with the employee, the supervisor should focus primarily on the person’s poor or deteriorating job performance and then suggest the EAP services that might be of help. Personal Skill Builder 11-2: The Law is the Law! PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-24, Supporting and Helping Employees with Personal and Work-Related Problems (cont’d) C. Wellness Programs Another approach used by some firms, often where EAPs are in place, is the wellness program. A wellness program is essentially a firm’s organized effort to help employees stay healthy physically and mentally so that they can stay productive and engaged, and to reduce employer health costs. Wellness programs vary, but they often focus on areas of recovery and prevention of chronic, preventable health problems. Wellness programs can include exercise facilities, counseling, and other resources, both on company premises and elsewhere. What Have You Learned? Question 6 D. Paid Time Off (PTO) Companies are developing paid time off (PTO) program where employees can use their accrued time-off for personal reasons rather than solely for illness or vacations. Under the PTO plan, employees can take time off with pay as needed without the restrictions imposed by traditional time-off policies. PTO plans should be coordinated with FMLA, and employees have more control over how they use their time-off days. PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-25, Supporting and Helping Employees with Personal and Work-Related Problems (cont’d) E. Good Supervision is the Foundation for High Engagement All aspects of good supervision impact employee engagement as it relates to job conditions. However, perhaps the most significant day-to-day influence on employee engagement is the supervisor’s general attitude and behavior in departmental relationships. When a supervisor’s behavior indicates he or she is suspicious of employees’ motives and actions, low morale will likely result.Supervisors who show confidence in their employees’ work and commend employees for good performance reinforce their positive outlook. This does not mean that a supervisor should overlook difficulties that are present from time to time. The supervisor should demonstrate the attitude that the employees will be relied on to correct the situation and do what is necessary to prevent similar situations. Team Skill Builder 11-1: Dealing with People Who Make Your Life Difficult—“The Dead Weight” PowerPoint Presentation Slide 11-26, Key Terms Answers to What have you Learned? 1. What are some of the most common reasons for forming work groups? What are some factors that make a work group cohesive? Is work-group cohesiveness always desirable? Discuss. Among the most commonly identified reasons for forming work groups are to provide companionship, to have a sense of identification, to have guidelines for behavior, and to obtain an avenue for problem solving and protection. Work groups tend to be more cohesive where the groups perceive themselves to be of higher status, are small in size, have similar personal characteristics, are located apart from others, are subjected to outside pressures, find it easy to communicate, and have achieved previous success. Cohesiveness of a work group can be either a positive or a negative factor depending on whether or not the group is acting in a manner that is supportive of the supervisor’s and/or the department’s objectives. 2. Consider a team (work group) of which you are presently a member. a. Describe the group dynamics of this team. Use Tuckman and Jensen’s stages of group development to identify the current stage of the group. b. Is your team successful? Why? c. What are some reasons that your team might not be achieving to its full potential? d. What steps should you be taking to make the team more successful, that is, a high-performance team? A team is a group of individuals who must work together to meet their individual and team objectives. One of the most important ingredients to success of a team is the leader’s ability to build an environment of mutual trust and respect. Refer to Figure 11-1 (page 416) for a listing of the keys to effective teams. According to Katzenbach and Smith, there are four principles to effective work teams: teams are relatively small in size, committed to specific and realistic tasks, the members are committed to working together to solve issues and problems of mutual concern, and team members are well trained and get an opportunity to use those skills. With these principles in mind, any team can improve its performance. 3. Imagine that you are located in El Paso, Texas, with responsibility for managing a customer-service call center. Your team members are located in El Paso; Calcutta, India; and Teresopolis, Brazil. What are the strengths and shortcomings of using GDTs to provide customer service? Suggest specific leadership and team-building strategies you will use to facilitate the development and performance of your team. GDTs can be advantageous in focusing on meeting customer requirements. One primary advantage is that they can communicate quickly when needed, using the special communications technology they employ. However, GDTs pose unique supervisory challenges. They require employees to receive specialized training in the various technologies used, and they require careful planning and scheduling to ensure the group can meet at regular times to interact and communicate. Supervisors have less direct control over team members who are geographically dispersed. As such, they will need to work hard to keep the team a cohesive unit and motivated. Some suggestions are giving the project team a name or logo, rotating the hosting of conference calls, and recognizing personal dates such as birthdays. There are numerous techniques that can be used, and students may come up with several creative ideas in a class discussion. 4. Define and differentiate between employee morale and employee engagement. What are the factors that influence employee engagement? Morale? a. What is the direct supervisor’s role in building and maintaining employee engagement? b. What should a supervisor do to minimize the influence of external factors on an employee’s work? c. Discuss the impact of downsizing on employee engagement and supervisory responses to the effects of downsizing. Employee morale is essentially the state of mind of employees. It is a composite of feelings and attitudes of individuals and groups toward their work, their environment, their supervisors, and the organization. Morale affects everyone in an organization, and it is contagious whether it is good or bad. Employee morale unquestionably has a major impact upon work performance; it also is related to company loyalty and turnover. External factors that typically influence morale are family relationships, associations with friends, car trouble, and financial crisis, sickness in the family, hobbies, and the like. Internal influences that affect morale include monetary compensation, job security, the work itself, working conditions, appreciation of work performed, and recognition. Obviously, the supervisor has more direct control over the internal factors. Building employee engagement increases trust, loyalty, and, ultimately organizational performance more so than just creating a feel-good environment. Research shows that employee engagement links its levels to nine performance outcomes: customer ratings, profitability, productivity, turnover, safety incidents, theft, absenteeism, patient safety, and product quality. Factors influencing engagement shows that employees feel the need to know what is expected of them; have the appropriate materials and equipment to do their jobs and opportunities to do things they are good at; and they need to be recognized for their achievements. When developmental interactions focus on the positives or strengths, a person’s morale is much higher and engagement and performance increase. As workers become more engaged, they become more productive, and the organization also reaps benefits. If managers just focus on what employees do wrong, they tend to get more of the same or even worse performance. In regard to the external factors, a suggestion put forth is that the primary thing a supervisor can do is to be an empathic listener in helping the employee to cope with those external factors that influence morale. A supervisor must be careful not to pry deeply into an employee’s life. The supervisor should not tell an employee what to do, but instead should help the employee to seek or develop alternative solutions to his or her personal problems. Widespread employee job security fears brought on by past or projected downsizing and outsourcing also should be recognized and understood empathically by supervisors. Here, too, keeping open lines of relevant communication between supervisors and employees can be helpful in reducing some of these tensions and concerns. For employee survivors of a downsizing, a recommended supervisory approach is to assist employees in developing and refocusing upon new and achievable short-term objectives. 5. Picture yourself as a newly hired X-ray department manager in a regional health care system. During your first few weeks of conversations with employees, you notice an undertone of fatigue and frustration and you notice productivity dropping. What steps can you take to identify the causes of this low engagement, and how might you go about improving the climate of your workplace? This would undoubtedly be troubling for a new hire. Most newly hired managers come into the work place with enthusiasm and energy. To realize that one’s workforce is fatigued and frustrated could lead to personal stress and frustration. Open communication with one’s employees is key in this instance. With new management comes a new leadership style. It would be important to let one’s staff know about the management style and how one intends to lead the team. If a person is replacing a department manager who was “employee friendly,” it will take time for the team to accept that person. When one notices an undertone it would be important to investigate the root causes. 6. Discuss the use of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and wellness programs. What should a supervisor do when an employee requests a family or medical leave? Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have been established in many large companies. Most EAPs have the kinds of purpose and procedures illustrated in Figure 11-4. Instructors might have a representative from a corporate EAP program make a class presentation. Another suggestion is that students identify those local corporations that have on-site wellness and/or fitness programs. Many colleges have EAPs, health and wellness programs and fitness centers for faculty, staff, and students. To date, few small firms have found it cost-effective to implement such programs. They may be willing to help an employee obtain professional counseling or other assistance, but they usually do this on an ad hoc, occasional basis, rather than have an elaborate or formal program like a large organization with thousands of employees. In general, when an employee requests an extended family or medical leave of absence, such a request should be referred to the human resource department. In smaller companies, it may be advisable to refer the request to upper management for determination. Answers to Personal Skill Building Personal Skill Builder 11-1: Is this the best way to get people on board your team? On the job, an employee’s attitudes and morale can be shaped to a large degree by co-workers, at times even more than by the supervisor or other factors in the work environment. The sentiments (morale) of workers are usually determined more by conditions existing in their work situations and the need to fulfill unmet needs. When employee morale is high, employees usually do what the company wants them to do; when it is low, the opposite tends to occur. Company conditions can also influence morale. Also internal factors like compensation, relations with co-workers, and working conditions influence morale. The most effective teams are those that have shared cognition, or a common level and depth of knowledge that allows all team members to anticipate and execute actions toward meeting the group’s goals. However, sometimes having all team members stuck on the same page can be detrimental to team performance and organizational outcomes if the team engages in groupthink, the tendency of members of a group to make faulty decisions because of group pressures which seems to be the case in the HR department. The highly effective team is the one whose members are always supporting and encouraging one another. To influence work groups positively, Charlie should review the keys to effective team building. Teams should be relatively small, and members must have the necessary skills and be committed to specific and realistic objectives. Team members must be held accountable for their actions to increase feelings of personal responsibility for the team’s success. Communication becomes more important. In Seward’s case she had no one to guide her through the process and had to learn everything on her own. Also one wouldn’t want to work under a manager who wants to only hear what he likes than the truth. Accepting decisions without questioning, and not taking credit for one’s own idea is not a healthy environment to work in. Ask students to go to this link to see Alan Cavaiola’s study www.shrm.org/1013-Cavaiola-personal-problems-at-work. Individual answers may vary, however factors like fear of losing one’s job or working conditions, pay, not receiving proper feedback or appraisal are potential impacts of dissatisfied team members. At a minimum, employees should be informed that management is aware of the dissatisfactions and will work to change things by some future date. As a leader, one needs to be aware of any hint of employee dissatisfaction that may lead to a unionizing effort. There is increasing use of customer-satisfaction teams, which may include customer and supplier representatives. Participation in each of these work groups can influence worker attitudes and productivity in different ways. Leaders should be sensitive to all these groups and how they impact their employee members. Personal Skill Builder 11-2: The Law Is the Law! This research activity will help students understand an organization and how critical it is to read its handbook or policy manual. Most people would like to work for an organization that is “family-friendly” and has policies and procedures for handling employee personal and work-related problems. An EAP is often the tool that a company has to assist employees with issues that are not job-related such as mental health, financial, addictions, etc. The EEOC provides fact sheets to help supervisors and employees understand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), ADA, and workers’ compensation compliance. Managing leaves of absence is complicated enough for the supervisor without having to consider state law. See Joanne Deschenaux, “Managing Leave of Absence in California Is Complicated,” HR Magazine (June 2011), p. 23. Food for Thought Questions: Sometimes the instructor may ask students to do the Food For Thought Questions to enhance their knowledge; other times they may use it as an opportunity for an extra credit assignment. If the instructor is using the text in California, then he or she will definitely want to have students reference these questions. Personal Skill Builder 11-3: Technology Tools—Virtual Team Collaboration Virtual teams function primarily through technological tools that enable them to communicate and share documents. Most prominent are audio and video web conferencing, instant messaging, online collaboration software, document storage and file sharing applications, co-creation tools, social networking applications, scheduling applications, and project management software. Instructors may ask students to visit the list of tools at http://www.thecouchmanager.com/2013/05/ or use the Internet browser to find a list of ten reviews of “virtual team technology tools.” Individual answers may vary according to the list of tools browsed on the internet. “Enterprise Wiki”, a collaboration tool, includes a feature that allows online collaborative editing of documents which makes it easy for a virtual team to communicate. “Resource Virtualization” a technology wherein virtual teams can use parallel computing features in a secure network. “Dropbox” helps view documents added to the folders. “Basecamp”, another online collaboration tool, helps manage task assignments, project management, communication with the team, and manage tasks lists. In this skills application, it may be beneficial to divide the class into small groups for discussion. Have them address questions 1-3 together as a group, and then use question 4 as an individual exercise so they can reflect on the lessons they can take back into the workplace to apply in their personal situations. Answers to Team Skill Building Team Skill Builder 11-1: Dealing with People Who Make Your Life Difficult—“The Deadweight” (Note: See Appendix to the Chapter 6 Instructors Manual for the IM Table 2: Guide Sheet for Dealing with People Who Make Life Difficult”. This table can be distributed to students so they can develop their own portfolio of strategies for dealing with difficult people.) Chandra Morris’s first instinct might be to run away to another organization where the management more closely monitors the behavior of all employees. As stated previously, do not label people as difficult (no matter how difficult they are). Unconsciously, Chandra sees herself as the “Lone Ranger” without Tonto. That is a very lonely place to be. Unfortunately, the owner, Aaron Minnick, is of no help. He tells Chandra to figure out a way to get the job done and work with Jay. It should have been obvious to the owner that Chandra is stressed, frustrated, and feels oppressed. There are many ways in which Chandra can make important contributions to the organization. But Minnick has pulled the switch on her “motivation button.” Students could be asked to assess Chandra’s morale and its potential impact on teamwork. In Minnick’s defense, as an owner the instructor may say that he or she likes to see “capable” employees work on any problems among themselves. But Minnick must set the stage—make certain that the proper antecedents are in place for good behavior. The consequences of good and not-so-good performance must be known by all. It should be pointed out that what the student sees in each of these skills applications is what is painted for them through the eyes of the painter, in this case, Chandra. Unsympathetic students will say that Chandra needs to stop playing the “blame game.” In part, Jay’s behavior is reinforced because Chandra picks up the unfinished work. If Chandra and others would quit doing Jay’s job, then perhaps Jay would see that the store needs to be ready before his personal business. Maybe the owner should become more involved in managing the store. At the least, Chandra should know what role she and Jay are expected to play in the opening of the store. Was Jay informed that he was supposed to be doing certain jobs or wait for directives or just be there as the second person for security purposes. Do the employees know what is expected in the way of performance? Sidebar: It is likely that Chandra and Jay are paid approximately the same. In that case, equity theory comes into play. “It’s not fair!” Feelings of inequity lead to low morale and feelings of dissatisfaction. Morale refers to attitudes of employees, while teamwork implies coordinated and purposeful activities achieved by a cooperative group of employees—Chandra and Jay. Good morale is helpful in achieving teamwork, but it is possible to have high morale and low teamwork, or vice versa. Instructors may want to engage the class through a role play be selecting one student to play the role of Chandra, another role of Jay, and another to be Aaron Minnick. Chandra’s primary role is to get Jay to be a team player. After the role-play exercise, have the class members identify what else Chandra could have done to get Jay on board. A variation would have Chandra approaching Minnick to enlist his support. Students will generally see Minnick as a “wimp”—unwilling to be an enabler. He does not do the things that are necessary to help his employees be the best they can be, particularly when one does not have the formal authority to get the job done. Minnick gives Chandra responsibility and holds her accountable but does not give her authority. Assuming that Minnick does not delegate appropriate authority to Chandra, her options may include: •Flight—quit and work for an organization that provides her positive consequences for her efforts. •Make a list of the specific behaviors that Jay exhibits that she dislikes. •Enlist the support of others who have had the same experience with Jay or who can testify as to the inappropriateness of Jay’s behavior. •Fight—be straightforward and bring the issue to Minnick’s attention again and again. (See Chapter 9 on managing meetings with the boss). •Deal with it—find out why Jay behaves the way he does •Make sure that Jay understands what needs to be done. •Sit down with Jay and make a time-table of his duties and responsibilities. •Be assertive—explain that Jay needs to do his part of the job and that she will not cover for him. •Ask for a change of hours so that she is not scheduled at the same time as Jay. At the time of writing, relevant Web sites included: http://www.work911.com/articles/roles.htm http://www.employer-employee.com/march2001tips.html Team Skill Builder 11-2: Thinking Outside the Box—Advantages Of Teamwork Select four students and have them work on this project individually. Divide the remainder of the class into groups of 3, 4, or 5 students and let them figure out how to arrange the pieces so that they form a triangle. The instructor might wish to make this a competitive exercise and award a prize—a package of Hershey’s miniatures to the winner! When an individual or group has arrived at the correct response, the instructor writes their completion time on the board. Some individuals will complete the project before the groups but generally the groups will arrive at the correct response quicker. Some students will prefer to work on projects by themselves and the instructor is able to use this skills application to show that occasionally an individual effort is more effective than teams. This skills application asks students to think about the elements that cause a team (group project) experience to be negative or positive. Some students will prefer to work in groups and have someone else take a leadership role. If the students are typical, some group members will sit by and let others do the work for them. Discussion should center around the team dynamics issues found in question # 5. The answer is: Remember that one’s goal was to arrange three identical pieces into one figure that forms a triangle. Step 1—use the bottom piece as the foundation piece (piece # 1). Step 2—on the bottom right and on the right side of piece # 1, place piece # 2 at a 45 degree angle facing to the left. Step 3: Fit piece # 3 on the left top side of piece # 1 and tie it to the left side of piece # 2. The innovative student will cut three pieces and use a trial and error method to fit the pieces into a triangle while others with sit and try to visualize how it should work. What innovative methods did the instructor’s students use to solve the problem? Source: Adapted from QCI International, from QCI International’s Timely Tips for Teams, a monthly Internet newsletter (November 2004). Answers to Supervision in Action Questions Video Clip: Tough Mudder—Teamwork 1. How are work groups formed at Tough Mudder and how do they function? Tough Mudder has a team-oriented workplace. It is a cross-departmental process in terms of the operations team that coordinates the event, the creative team works on the ground sourcing content from the teams, and also works with the merchandising partnership team to make sure they can integrate partnerships. They do not work on a very individualistic basis but collaborate with each other to achieve goals of great significance. Their collaborative business approach helps them overcome obstacles through teamwork, makes sure that no one is left behind, and makes sure that everyone is having a good time while they are at work. Employees at Tough Mudder are encouraged to be good at their own work as well as support other employees perform better at their work and not fail, and to accomplish goals that have not been met before. 2. Does Tough Mudder indulge in group think? What is the effect of group thinking? Yes, since Tough Mudder makes decisions on a collaborative basis since they are involved in group thinking. The effects of group think is the tendency of members of a group to make faulty decisions because of group pressures, even if they encounter red flags or more logical alternatives. 3. Tough Mudder can be classified under which work group? Explain. Tough Mudder can be broadly classified under task group or cross-functional team because they consist of employees from different departments brought together to accomplish a particular task or project. 4. Does teamwork and collaboration ensure that the organization will be successful? Explain. Yes. Teamwork ensures that employees work cooperatively to solve problems and achieve goals important to the group. A collaborative workplace means that throughout the organization, employees and management share authority for decision making. Teamwork promotes trust, integrity, consensus, and shared ownership as team members strive to achieve common objectives. Collaboration recognizes that people want and need to be valued for their contributions and that improvements and changes are best achieved by those who are responsible for implementing changes and are committed to making those changes work. 5. Explain how Tough Mudder places importance on employee engagement. Tough Mudder’s events are all about team work and hence they try to bring that into the workplace.as well. There are rooms, cubbies, and conference rooms where employees can get their work done individually, but most of the office is open and has collaborative working spaces. At Tough Mudder, they try to create a business where employees and management reach goals by working together. Their philosophy is to overcome obstacles through teamwork, having a good time and not leaving anyone behind. When new employees are hired, it is explained to them that being a team member means doing a good job individually as well as helping other people and not letting them fail. Also, managers at Tough Mudder don’t mind learning from the employees and listening to what they have to say. Solution Manual for Supervision: Concepts and Practices of Management Edwin C. Leonard , Kelly A. Trusty 9781285866376, 9781111969790