Chapter 14 Teamwork LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1 Discuss how teams can contribute to an organization’s effectiveness. 2 Describe different types of teams. 3 Summarize how groups become teams. 4 Explain why groups sometimes fail. 5 Describe how to build an effective team. 6 List methods for managing a team’s relationships with other teams. 7 Identify ways to manage conflict. CHAPTER OUTLINE The Contributions of Teams Types of Teams Self-Managed Teams How Groups Become Real Teams Group Processes Critical Periods Teaming Challenges Why Groups Sometimes Fail Building Effective Teams Performance Focus Motivating Teamwork Member Contributions Norms Roles Cohesiveness Building Cohesiveness and High-Performance Norms Managing Lateral Relationships Managing Outward Lateral Role Relationships Managing Conflict Conflict Styles Being a Mediator Electronic and Virtual Conflict CHAPTER RESOURCES Experiential Exercises 1. Student Project Group Development 2. Which Style of Conflict Resolution Would You Use? Cases Excel Pro Drilling Systems Social Enterprise Co-working Reaches a New Level Lecturettes 1. Teamwork and Quality Circles 2. Team Roles KEY STUDENT QUESTIONS The questions students wrestle with about teamwork come from their own experiences as team members and team leaders. More and more, students are required to work on teams for school assignments — some with as few as three or four members, and some with as many as ten or twelve members. Students need to know: 1. “How can I make sure that everyone on the team carries their own weight? (How do I deal with social loafing?)” 2. “What should I do when one member of the team is dominating the rest of the group?” 3. “How can I get my ideas heard by the team?” Answers to Student Questions 1. Social loafing can be avoided by clarifying team goals in advance, establishing clear expectations for each team member’s contribution to the goal, giving people work they are interested in doing, holding people accountable for completing their work, and rewarding well-done work. Students are most often uncomfortable with establishing clear goals and holding people accountable for getting a job done — it helps to emphasize these two components in your discussion of social loafing. 2. Act as a facilitator to help other people express their ideas. Simply turning to a teammate and asking, “What do you think about what X has just said?” can jumpstart a more open conversation. 3. By speaking up, and being willing to accept that there is a difference between having ideas heard, and having ideas accepted. If you have stated your ideas, and people seem to be ignoring them, listen hard for different ideas that may be more acceptable to the group. Teaching Tip One of the most powerful exercises you can do in groups is to assign small groups a topic (perhaps “How can this class be improved?”) and ask them to discuss it for five minutes. At the end of the five-minute period, ask each team to share their ideas with the class, and then ask each team member to write down the name of the person in their group that talked the most during the meeting. Have teammates compare notes — it is generally fairly easy for the team to come to a consensus about who deserves the “most talkative” title. Then assign a second topic (perhaps asking students for specific ideas building on the first set of suggestions) and tell each group that their most talkative member will have to remain silent during the second discussion. At the end of the second discussion period, ask the groups to: 1) describe how the second discussion was different from the first; 2) what impact silencing the most talkative group member had on the outcome of the group discussion; 3) how the most talkative group members felt about being silenced; 4) what students learned from the exercise that they will take to their next group meeting. Most students report that they not only learn the importance of listening to others from this exercise but also the importance of speaking up to make their voices heard in group discussions. CLASS ROADMAP POWERPOINTS Slide 1 Team Work Slide 2 Chapter Introduction Quote Slide 3 Learning Objectives MANAGEMENT IN ACTION How Teams Work at Whole Foods Market The mission of Whole Foods Market to “contribute to the well-being of people and the planet” is about more than the products it sells; it also shapes the way the company treats its more than 80,000 employees. Management of employees is based on the key values of personal responsibility, valuing diversity, and commitment to the organization’s purpose. To sustain these values, the company operates as a set of teams. Every employee is part of a team of between six and a hundred members, with the large teams divided into subteams. In stores, each team leader also is a member of the store’s leadership team, and the head of each store’s leadership team is also a member of a regional team. At the top of the hierarchy is the Whole Foods executive team. Each employee is responsible for participating in decisions related to his or her team’s work. Team spirit and empowerment at Whole Foods has laid a strong foundation for business success. How can managers (team leaders) at Whole Foods ensure that the teams function as intended? I. THE CONTRIBUTION OF TEAMS POWERPOINTS Slide 4 The Contribution of Teams LO 1: Discuss how teams can contribute to your organization’s effectiveness. Teaching Tip Prior to starting your lecture about teamwork, distribute a difficult 10 item multiple-choice quiz about the concepts in this chapter. Have students take the quiz, then score it. Next, put the students in groups of three, distribute 10 more difficult multiple-choice items, and have the groups work together to take the quiz. Once the quiz is scored, ask groups whether they scored higher or lower than individuals (they should score higher.) Then ask the students why they think groups do better than individuals on this type of task. Teams can be powerfully effective as a: Building block for organization structure. Force for productivity. Force for quality. Force for cost reduction. Force for speed. Force for change. Force for innovation. Example 14.1 – Innovation teams: Manual Sosa, INSEAD professor of technology and operations management, offers the following recommendations for assembling a creative team: First, managers should map out the organization’s formal and informal social network. Second, managers should measure creative dyadic interactions. That is, determine where employees seek information and how easily it translates into creative ideas. Third, map the above information and use it to identify candidates for creative teams. Fourth, managers should visualize the potential of the new organizational structure. CONNECT Teams at One Smooth Stone SUMMARY Organizations have been using groups for a long time, but today's workplaces are different. Teams are used in many different ways, and to a far greater extent than in the past. Ideally, people are far more involved, they are better trained, cooperation is higher, and the culture is one of learning as well as producing. ACTIVITY This activity repeats the nine-minute video featured in Chapter 8; however, the questions now focus on the organization’s use of teams. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Ask the class what elements of the featured organization’s culture support the use of teams. Teams benefit their members: Members learn about the company and themselves. Team satisfies needs for affiliation and esteem. Other needs are met when teams receive tangible organizational rewards. Teams help individuals develop networks. II. TYPES OF TEAMS POWERPOINTS Slide 5 Types of Teams (1 of 2) Slide 6 Types of Teams (2 of 2) Slide 7 Best Practices of Virtual Team Leaders Slide 8 Self-Managed Teams LO 2: Distinguish the new team environment from that of traditional work groups. Work teams make or do things like manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide. Project and development teams work on long-term projects but disband once the work is completed. Parallel teams operate separately from the regular work structure and exist temporarily. Management teams coordinate and provide direction to the subunits under their jurisdiction and integrate work among subunits. Transnational teams are work groups composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries. Virtual teams are physically dispersed and communicate electronically more than face-to-face. Teaming is a strategy of teamwork on the fly, creating many temporary, changing teams. Example 14.2 – Virtual teams: Michelle LaBrosse, the founder of Cheetah learning, supervises over 20 full-time employees and over 50 contractors who work virtually. In some cases, these employees may never meet. According to LaBrosse, the best virtual workers are self-starters who don’t need to be micromanaged, and who love what they do. But virtual workers also have to be comfortable with the technology that makes their work possible — a Blackberry and a cell phone. Other tools that LaBrosse recommends are e-mail, instant messaging, conferencing (both video- and tele-), Webinars, and Wikis. Multiple Generations at Work Are You Ready for Global Virtual Teamwork? Approximately 1.3 million people worldwide soon will be engaged in virtual work. Cisco estimates that nearly half of its 700,000 employees and contractors already work remotely, many from dispersed locations. Companies are equipping their employees for virtual work with advanced video conferencing software as well as mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Employees all need to master the necessary skills to collaborate effectively with international stakeholders in virtual settings. The skills fall into two broad areas: 1) using online sharing tools like Google Docs, Slack, Yammer, DropBox, and communication technology like online chat text and 2) cross-cultural skills such as adapting to language and value differences, overcoming stereotypes, and coordinating across different time zones. Self-managed teams An autonomous work group, in which workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs in a unit, have no immediate supervisor and make decisions previously made by first-line supervisors. Autonomous work groups or self-managing teams control decisions about and execution of a complete range of tasks. Self-designing teams have control over the design of the team, as well as the responsibilities of autonomous work groups. Management in Action– Progress Report Self-Managed Teams at Whole Foods Market Whole Foods empowers employees to participate in planning and decision-making with their teams. In stores, teams make decisions about product selection, merchandising, efficiency, hiring, and compensation. In hiring decisions, teams contribute to rather than control the process. HR employees screen candidates, and then teams are involved in the interview process. Each employee hired completes a probationary period, after which the team votes on whether to keep the employee. To give employees information for decision making, Whole Foods shares financial results as well as pay rates for team members. And incentive pay, such as bonuses, is tied to team performance. • What advantages does teamwork offer to Whole Foods Market? Whole Foods uses teamwork to push decision-making authority downward. This could make the jobs more motivating, so employees deliver higher quality and productivity. Sharing authority for decision-making also could result in more innovation at Whole Foods. For team members, teamwork provides an opportunity to learn about the company and acquire new skills while satisfying personal needs such as affiliation and esteem. Team members also can contribute to one another’s learning and development by providing feedback. • Why do you think human resources professionals conduct the initial screening process for new hires? • What might be the consequences of having the store teams carry out the entire process of hiring and rewarding team members? An HR professional has the specialized knowledge required to make screening and compensation decisions related to relevant qualifications and performance data. Besides working with greater efficiency in what can be a time-consuming process, this person also is more likely to be able to navigate the legal requirements and avoid discrimination. The team members then interview only people who are qualified and can focus on who is a good fit for the team. The consequences of having the team carry out the entire process would include the time away from serving customers and the risk of making decisions that could be viewed as discriminatory. CONNECT Click and Drag: How Do These Teams Perform? (Keyboard navigable alternate version available.) SUMMARY The goal of this activity is to consider different groups and identify their norms for performance and their cohesiveness in efforts to project their likely productivity. Cohesive groups are more effective than non-cohesive groups at norm enforcement. But do they have norms of high or low performance? The highest performance occurs when a cohesive team has high-performance norms. But if a highly cohesive group has low-performance norms, that group will have the worst performance. ACTIVITY Students read descriptions of four groups and identify their level of cohesiveness and organizational performance. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Ask students to place well-known sports teams on the matrix presented in this exercise. Alternatively, students could be asked to describe any school project teams they have experienced and place them on the matrix. III. HOW GROUPS BECOME REAL TEAMS POWERPOINTS Slide 9 Work Groups and Real Teams Slide 10 Stages of Team Development Slide 11 Teaming Challenges LO 3: Summarize how groups become teams. A. The words group and team are often used interchangeably, but a real team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. B. Group processes If groups are to develop successfully, they will engage in various processes, including (Exhibit 14.2): Forming – group members attempt to lay the ground rules for what types of behavior are acceptable. Storming – hostilities, and conflict arise, and people jockey for positions of power and status. Norming – group members agree on their shared goals, and norms and closer relationships develop. Performing – the group channels its energies into performing its task. Example 14.3 – Four stages of group development: The website www.rugbycoach.com discusses how rugby teams progress through the four stages of group development discussed in the text. For example, in the forming stage, the coach must figure out which player should play on which position, and match each player’s individual skills with a particular position. In the storming stage, the coach steps back and allows players to find their spot on the team. It is in the storming stage that team leaders typically emerge. In the norming stage, a team captain is formally appointed, and the coach needs to focus on things such as developing a code of conduct with the team and establishing the appropriate motivational climate for team practices and games. Finally, in the performing stage of the team development process, the coach focuses on feedback and control parameters — for example, outlining gameplans, evaluation, goal setting, etc. C. Critical periods 1. The forming stage is where rules, norms, and roles are established. 2. Midway point between the initial meeting and a deadline. D. Teaming challenges 1. Emphasizing the team’s purpose 2. Building psychological safety 3. Embracing failure 4. Putting conflict to work LO 4: Explain why groups sometimes fail. E. Why groups sometimes fail 1. Teams are launched with little or no training or support system. 2. Managers from traditional systems have a difficult time giving up control. 3. Teams should be truly empowered. 4. Management must support teams by giving freedom and rewarding their contributions. Example 14.4 – Preventing team failure: Kathryn Kranen, the President, and CEO of Jaspar Design Automation found that her teams of managers and engineers often got into trouble because the managers didn’t see the need for engineers to spend a lot of time in training to improve their design abilities. Unfortunately, corporate productivity and innovation is based on these design abilities along with knowledge of the most modern tools and techniques. Kranen sponsored a luncheon at the 2007 Design Automation Conference entitled “Changing the Dialogue between Engineers and Managers.” IV. BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS POWERPOINTS Slide 12 Building Effective Teams Slide 13 Motivating Teamwork Slide 14 Norms and Roles Slide 15 Social Enterprise LO 5: Describe how to build an effective team. Team effectiveness defined by three criteria: Team Productivity: The output of the team meets or exceeds the standards of quantity and quality expected by the customers, inside and outside the organization, who receive the team's goods or services. Member satisfaction: Team members realize the satisfaction of personal needs. Member commitment: Team members remain committed to working together again. Example 14.5 – Effective teamwork: One example of effective teamwork involved four companies working together to design an effective way to produce drugs that contain highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs.) Such drugs require special handling to limit the exposure of the workers who have to deal with them and to maintain their potency from the time of manufacture to the time when a patient takes them. Working together, Merck Inc., SF Chem AG, Lonza Inc., and ILC Dover Inc. created a system for moving a potent compound from the laboratory to the pilot facility and finally to production batch processing. To do this, the team created special containment systems that would work with all of the equipment at all of their facilities. The team approach allowed operators to reduce their reactor charging time from 30-40 minutes per drum to 2-3 minutes per drum. It also enabled suppliers to continue to use existing processes, but still, meet the needs of their customer (Merck), and Merck minimized containment issues and maximized their production time. Performance Focus Commitment to a common purpose. The best teams work hard at developing a common understanding of how they will work together to achieve their purpose. The general purpose should be translated into specific, measurable performance goals. The best team-based measurement systems will inform top management of the team’s performance. Feedback from customers is critical. Motivating Teamwork Social loafing is working less hard and being less productive when in a group. Social facilitation effect is working harder when in a group than when working alone. Member Contributions Members should be selected and trained. Skills required by the team include technical or functional expertise, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and interpersonal skills. Norms are shared beliefs about how people should think and behave. Roles are different sets of expectations for how different individuals should behave. Task specialist is an individual who has a particular advanced job-related skills and abilities. Team maintenance role- role that develops and maintains team harmony A management representative or coach is to help the team understand its role in the organization, and acts as a resource for the team. CONNECT Self-Assessment: Team Role Preference Scale SUMMARY This self-assessment helps students discover their preferred group or team roles. The roles identified are encourager, gatekeeper, harmonizer, initiator, and recorder. ACTIVITY In this exercise, students answer 15 multiple-choice questions that are scored to classify their preferred style. Descriptions of the styles are provided in the exercise. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Students may volunteer to tell how they were classified and discuss the distribution of types in the room. Cohesiveness refers to the degree to which a group is attractive to its members, members are motivated to remain in the group, and members influence one another. The importance of cohesiveness: It contributes to member satisfaction Cohesiveness has a major impact on performance. The task – if it is to make a decision or solve a problem, cohesiveness can lead to poor performance. Performance norms – the highest performance occurs when a cohesive team has high-performance norms. But if a highly cohesive group has low-performance norms, that group will have the worst performance. (Exhibit 14.3) Building cohesiveness and High-Performance Norms: Recruit members with similar attitudes, values, and backgrounds. Maintain high entrance and socialization standards. Keep the team small (but large enough to get the job done). Help the team succeed, and publicize its successes. Be a participative leader. Present a challenge from outside the team. Tie rewards to team performance. V. MANAGING LATERAL RELATIONSHIPS POWERPOINTS Slide 16 Exhibit 14.3 Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and Group Performance Slide 17 Building Cohesiveness and High-Performance Norms Slide 18 Managing Outward Slide 19 Lateral Role Relationships Slide 20 Exhibit 14.5 Conflict Management Strategies Slide 21 Managing Conflict with Superordinate goals Slide 22 Being a Mediator Slide 23 Electronic and Virtual Conflict Slide 24 Management in Action Slide 25 Management in Action- Questions Slide 26 In Review LO 6: List methods for managing a team’s relationships with other teams. Managing Outward Teams do not operate in a vacuum; instead, they are boundary spanning and must interface with other teams. Gatekeepers keep abreast of current information in scientific and other fields and informs the group of important developments. Team strategies Informing strategy entails making decisions with the team and telling outsiders of the team’s intentions. Parading means the team’s strategy is to simultaneously emphasize internal team building and achieving external visibility. Probing involves a team strategy that requires team members to interact frequently with outsiders, diagnose their needs, and experiment with solutions. Lateral Role Relationships Workflow relationships emerge as materials are passed from one group to another. Service relationships exist when top management centralizes an activity to which a large number of other units must gain access. Advisory relationships are created when teams with problems call on centralized sources of expert knowledge. Audit relationships develop when people not directly in the chain of command evaluate the methods and performances of other teams. Stabilization relationships involve auditing before the fact. Liaison relationships involve intermediaries between teams. LO 7: Identify ways to manage conflict. Managing Conflict Causes of conflict among teams Number and variety of contracts. Ambiguities in jurisdiction and responsibility. Differences in goals. Intergroup competition for scarce resources. Different perspectives held by members of different units. Varying time horizons in which some units attend to long-term considerations and others focus on short-term needs. CONNECT Case Analysis: Team Leadership SUMMARY Groups are not always successful. They do not always engage in the developmental activities that turn them into effective, high-performing teams. A useful developmental sequence shows the various activities as the leadership of the group moves from traditional supervision, through a more participative approach, to true team leadership. The activity presents Ursula as the leader of a group of employees at an organization with a growing emphasis on team-based product development. Senior management is trying to determine whether or not Ursula is meeting their objectives with respect to building effective teams. In an effort to evaluate Ursula as a team builder, one top manager decided to observe Ursula in action over a three-day period. ACTIVITY After reading the short case, students answer a series of multiple-choice questions concerning Ursula’s interactions with her team. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Ask the class to describe the stage with they see Ursula’s team is at. Should Ursula modify her approach if she wishes her team to continue to develop? What if any training would be appropriate for Ursula? Example 14.6 – Managing conflict: Hostage situations present a special challenge to law enforcement officers — not only because of the potential danger of the situation, but because most hostage situations have an extremely high media profile — if they are resolved without harm to the hostage, the people involved become heroes, but if they are not managed well, they can turn into disasters, with both loss of life and loss of careers. Unfortunately, the teams that are most likely to deal with hostage situations have very different styles and cultures, and this can lead to internal conflict that makes difficult situations more difficult. SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams tend to be paramilitary, and their priority is to get the situation resolved as quickly as possible — if that means “neutralizing” a suspect, then they do it. On the other hand, negotiators want to talk with the suspect — they believe that the best results come from needs assessment and active listening. Since both teams report to an on-scene commander (OSC), both teams will try to influence the approach that person takes to the situation. Fortunately, all parties share the same goal — to resolve the situation with as little loss of life as possible. Conflict styles (Exhibit 14.5) Avoidance is a reaction to conflict that involves either ignoring the problem by doing nothing at all, or by de-emphasizing the disagreement. Accommodation is a style of dealing with conflict involving cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one’s own interests. Compromise is a style of dealing with conflict involving moderate attention to both parties’ concerns. Competing is a style of dealing with conflict involving competitiveness, strong focus on one’s own goals and little or no concern for the other person’s goals. Collaboration is a style of dealing with conflict involving emphasizing both cooperation and assertiveness in order to maximize both parties’ satisfaction. CONNECT Click and Drag: How Do We Manage Conflict? (Keyboard navigable alternative version available.) SUMMARY The goal of this activity is to learn about the five conflict management strategies—accommodation, compromise, competing, collaboration, and avoidance. ACTIVITY In this exercise, students match employee statements with the corresponding conflict management strategy. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS The instructor may wish to extend the conversation on conflict management styles by asking students which one is typically best and why. Are there any approaches that should be generally avoided? Superordinate goals are higher-level goals taking priority over specific individual or group goals. Being a Mediator Mediators are “third party” individuals who intervene to help settle a conflict between other people. Four stage mediation strategy Investigate Decide Take action Follow-up Recommendations for effective conflict management Don’t allow dysfunctional conflict to build Don’t assume that conflict will go away Address conflict before it escalates Try to resolve conflict, and if the first efforts don’t work, try others Treat all parties in conflict fairly If necessary, enlist the help of HR specialists in resolving difficult conflicts Electronic and Virtual Conflict Avoidance hurts performance Accommodation has no effect on performance Collaboration has a positive effect on performance Compromise hurts performance Competitive behavior may be useful because virtual teams are temporary and under time pressure. CONNECT Manager’s Hot Seat: Working in Teams: Cross-Functional Dysfunction SUMMARY This activity intends to demonstrate student understanding of the role of team leader. In the video, the executive director of operations has assigned Joe Tanney the role of team leader for a high-priority project. The task is to generate a proposal for streamlining the antiquated blueprint generation process. Each office is at different stages of computerization, with different teams preferring different technologies for particular tasks. This makes everything more complex—from collaboration to revisions, to cost and time management, and is having a serious impact on the company’s bottom line.” ACTIVITY Students watch a nine-minute video and answer three multiple-choice questions dealing with team type, conflict management, and leadership. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Was Joe an effective leader in the meeting? How would you debrief the meeting with Joe? How can unity of purpose be created in organization? Management Connection – Onward Cohesiveness and Conflict at Whole Foods Market Employees at Whole Foods Market are unified by the company’s sense of mission and shared values. However, in its appreciation of diversity, Whole Foods also creates an environment in which cohesiveness requires some extra effort. Shoppers at Whole Foods may notice that its employees represent many different backgrounds and have wide latitude for dressing in self-expressive ways. Though appearances differ, employees focus on achieving team goals (sometimes in competition with other teams). In spite of this, conflicts do erupt, such as an episode over two employees’ use of Spanish during a team meeting in Albuquerque. • How does Whole Foods promote team cohesiveness? What else should it do? Whole Foods recruits team members who share its corporate values, despite coming from different backgrounds. Its hiring process, which includes team interviews and a probationary period followed by a vote, establishes fairly high entrance and socialization standards. It encourages team member participation in decisions and sets up competitions among teams. It also ties incentive pay to team performance. Whole Foods could consider using other measures associated with cohesiveness: keeping teams small, facilitating team success, publicizing team successes, and competing against threats outside the company. At the same time managers are promoting cohesiveness, they should be sure to allow room for team members to disagree over issues without personal conflict and animosity. • How should Whole Foods manage the conflict in its Albuquerque store? • What should it do to minimize similar conflicts in the future? Answers will vary depending on students’ opinions about the situation. It is important to note that only limited information about the situation is available, and without speaking directly to everyone involved, it is impossible to assess fairly whether the workers’ anger was justified and whether they expressed their anger appropriately. Students should recognize this as a situation in which employees have different perceptions of how languages are used in their workplace, so if management avoids the source of the conflict (the perceptions and behavior), future conflict is likely. • If you were in this situation, would your conflict management styles involve avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competition, or collaboration? Why? Answers will vary depending on students’ responses to the previous question. However, they should reflect a correct understanding of the five conflict styles, including the appropriateness of each in different situations. Note that collaboration is the ideal approach when the conflict concerns important issues, when both sets of concerns are valid and important, when a creative solution is needed, and when commitment is vital to successful implementation. Students should consider whether those conditions apply. In any case, this question provides practice in seeing how a variety of ways of responding are available in any conflict. Students may be used to reacting to conflict with just one of the styles. BOTTOM LINE What do you think makes a team more powerful than a set of individuals? Answers will vary. As they study the chapter, students will see that teamwork ideally brings together members’ diverse strengths and talents to collaborate on a goal the whole team cares about. This combination of aligned efforts can be more powerful than a set of individuals focused on individual goals. What qualities should a team's goal have? A team’s goal should be specific and measurable. It should be aimed at a collective end product, rather than a set of individual products of individual employees. What happens if a team leader builds a cohesive team but fails to set the right goals? The team will be highly committed to achieving the wrong goals, with the likely result that the group will attain those goals, rather than achieving what is actually important to the organization. SOCIAL ENTERPRISES Co-Working Reaches a New Level Freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers who prefer not to work at home may turn to nontraditional work locations to get their work done. Co-working offers space on a temporary basis in which to work and connect with other people. Such interactions can lead to the exchange of business or project ideas, providing strategic advice, or acquiring new projects. Do you think co-working can help entrepreneurs or remote workers feel like part of a team? The model may work in the United States, but it is important to keep in mind that Americans like to have more personal space when working on projects, as compared to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Overall, there is nothing really stopping this model form working in the US. There is also UberOffices that is exhibiting this concept in the United States. What do you think the owners of co-working spaces can do to promote collaboration and information sharing among their clients? Student answers will vary, but in general, are expected to focus on facilitating the exchange of information or project ideas through collaboration and networking. These activities can lead to great strategic advice and the ability to network and acquire new projects. LECTURETTES LECTURETTE 14.1: Teamwork and Quality Circles QUALITY CIRCLES DEFINED A Quality Circle (QC) is a small group of workers that meet voluntarily, once every week or two, to identify, study, and resolve problems in its area of work. QCs should be kept small, ranging in size from 4 to 15 members. Usually, a QC has 7 to 10 members. QCs are composed of workers from the same work area. Sometimes, the work area supervisor is a member of the QC – but not always. Participation in the QC is strictly voluntary. The QC meets on company time – usually once a week for 30 minutes to an hour. QC members receive training in such problem-solving techniques as brainstorming, nominal groupings, synectics, fishboning, cause-and-effect analysis, flowcharts, Gantt charts, statistical analysis, sampling, and so on. The QC chooses the problems it wants to resolve. QCs remain intact as long as members wish to keep the QC active. QCs utilize a people-building philosophy. QC members help each other develop. Creativity and innovation is encouraged and nurtured. QCs focus on quality and productivity. THE QC PROCESS Most QCs follow a prescribed process, such as the following: Stage 1. Identify problems and formulate solutions. Stage 2. Obtain a managerial review of the proposed solution and a decision on whether or not to implement action on it. Stage 3. Implementation of the proposed solution by the formal organization. Stage 4. Follow-up and evaluation of the new process. TIPS ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE QC MEETING Conduct QC meetings only when needed. Be sure all QC members understand the overall purpose of the QC. Before each QC meeting distribute a meeting agenda and stick to it as much as practical. Be sure meeting accommodations are appropriate and reserved in advance. Start and end each meeting on time. ADVANTAGES OF THE QC FOR THE ORGANISATION Improved work performance, which facilitates the attainment of overall corporate goals. Workers are more satisfied with their jobs and become more productive. Workers have more pride in their work. Workers and work groups function better together. Workers devote more attention to work detail and quality. There are cost savings. ADVANTAGES OF THE QC FOR THE WORK TEAM Workers enjoy a sense of belonging to a QC team, which increases personal motivation. Workers develop a personal interest and pride in their work. Workers enjoy a certain pride and dignity from knowing that their contributions are important. Workers can help build their own job security. Workers can contribute to their own quality of work life. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EFFECTIVE QC The QC facilitator never attempts to dominate the group, but still, provides appropriate direction to keep the QC on course. Each QC meeting should be informal and relaxed, but always task-oriented. QC discussions are open, thorough, and to the point. QC members listen to each other, and all ideas are considered. QC members feel free to express their opinions and concerns. QC members accept disagreement, as part of the process required to achieve a final decision. QC decisions are achieved through consensus. QC decisions include clear assignments for all concerned. Each QC member remains committed to group success. Each QC member is dedicated to good performance and continuing growth and development. LECTURETTE 14.2: Team Roles TEAM ROLES DEFINED Team roles are different sets of expectations as to how different team members should act. Team norms are those behaviors expected of all team members, whereas team roles prescribe different behaviors for different team members. TYPES OF TEAM LEADERSHIP ROLES There are two basic types of team leadership roles: TASK SPECIALIST ROLES – those team members that have the most tasks related skills fill roles. They offer advice, instructions, and assistance to all members of the group. They help keep the group moving toward goal achievement. GROUP MAINTENANCE SPECIALIST ROLES – roles that maintain harmony and cohesiveness within the team. These members provide morale support, boost morale, inject humor, resolve disputes, smooth hurt feelings, and show genuine concern for the well-being of each team member. Overall, there are many identifiable team roles that deal with both group-achievement and group maintenance. WORK-TEAM ROLES Work-team roles can be categorized three ways: ACHIEVEMENT-ORIENTED ROLES Chairperson controls and manipulates group resources. This person may or may not be the appointed leader. The Shaper is task oriented and helps the group cut through peripheral issues in order to get at problems and decisions. Information Seeker searches for and obtains information for the solution of problems. Information Giver is the source of accurate and applicable information. The Initiator is a continuous source of ideas, alternatives, and methodologies. The Innovator introduces new, creative suggestions for group consideration. The Energizer stimulates group actions and keeps the group moving. Company worker applies common sense to get the job done. Coordinator integrates and assimilates ideas and opinions. MAINTENANCE-ORIENTED ROLES Team Worker a people-person who is concerned with the personal feelings and needs of fellow team members. The Harmonizer helps the team overcome conflict and tries to relieve any sort of team tension. Gatekeeper tries to involve others in discussion, problem-solving, and other team interactions. The Expediter provides ideas on how the team can function better as a team. Compromiser tries to negotiate compromise and maintain the team spirit. Resource Investigator uses a wide range of contacts to locate sources of resources needed by the team. The Completer keeps the team alert and on its toes for any eventual problem or threat. SELF-ORIENTED ROLES Dominator manipulates power in order to achieve personal ends. The Blocker has a negative attitude and is stubbornly opposed to team discussion. The Avoider remains detached and isolated from the team. Recognition Seeker is egocentric and tries to bring attention to him or herself. ROLE CLARITY AND ROLE AMBIGUITY Role clarity is the degree to which team members feel that the organization communicates adequate job information. Role ambiguity is the degree to which team members are not clear with respect to their role(s), responsibilities, and performance. ROLE CONFLICT Role conflict is the degree to which team members’ experience perceived conflict between/among the various roles they are required to fill, both on the job and off the job. Instructor Manual for Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World Thomas S. Bateman, Scott A. Snell, Robert Konopaske 9781259927645, 9781259546945
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