CH-7-8 Decision Making and Creativity – Organisational Behaviour: Emerging Knowledge, Global Insights : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 7 to 8 7 Decision Makingand Creativity LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Describe the rational choice paradigm of decision making. 2. Explain why people differ from the rational choice paradigm when identifying problems/ opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes. 3. Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in decision making. 4. Describe employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. 5. Describe the benefits of employee involvement and identify four contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement. CHAPTER GLOSSARY anchoring and adjustment heuristic -- A natural tendency for people to be influenced by an initial anchor point, such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is provided. availability heuristic -- A natural tendency to assign higher probabilities to objects or events that are easier to recall from memory, even though ease of recall is also affected by nonprobability factors (e.g., emotional response, recent events). bounded rationality -- The view that people are bounded in their decision-making capabilities, including access to limited information, limited information processing, and tendency toward satisficing rather than maximizing when making choices. creativity -- The development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. decision making -- The conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. divergent thinking -- Reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue. employee involvement -- The degree to which employees influence how their work is organized and carried out. escalation of commitment -- The tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action. implicit favorite -- A preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices. intuition -- The ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. prospect theory effect -- A natural tendency to feel more dissatisfaction from losing a particular amount than satisfaction from gaining an equal amount. rational choice paradigm -- The view in decision making that people should—and typically do—use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value. representativeness heuristic -- A natural tendency to evaluate probabilities of events or objects by the degree to which they resemble (are representative of) other events or objects rather than on objective probability information. satisficing -- Selecting an alternative that is satisfactory or “good enough,” rather than the alternative with the highest value (maximization). scenario planning -- A systematic process of thinking about alternative futures and what the organization should do to anticipate and react to those environments. subjective expected utility -- The probability (expectancy) of satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision. CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 7-1 Describe the rational choice paradigm in decision making. Decision making is a conscious process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. The rational choice paradigm relies on subjective expected utility to identify the best choice. It also follows the logical process of identifying problems and opportunities, choosing the best decision style, developing alternative solutions, choosing the best solution, implementing the selected alternative, and evaluating decision outcomes. 7-2 Explain why people differ from the rational choice paradigm when identifying problems/opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes. Stakeholder framing, perceptual defense, mental models, decisive leadership, and solution-oriented focus affect our ability to objectively identify problems and opportunities. We can minimize these challenges by being aware of the human limitations and discussing the situation with colleagues. Evaluating and choosing alternatives is often challenging because organizational goals are ambiguous or in conflict, human information processing is incomplete and subjective, and people tend to satisfice rather than maximize. Decision makers also short-circuit the evaluation process when faced with an opportunity rather than a problem. People generally make better choices by systematically evaluating alternatives. Scenario planning can help make future decisions without the pressure and emotions that occur during real emergencies. Confirmation bias and escalation of commitment make it difficult to evaluate decision outcomes accurately. Escalation is mainly caused by the self-justification effect, self-enhancement effect, the prospect theory effect, and sunk costs effect. These problems are minimized by separating decision choosers from decision evaluators, establishing a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or re-evaluated, relying on more systematic and clear feedback about the project’s success, and involving several people in decision making. 7-3 Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in decision making. Emotions shape our preferences for alternatives and the process we follow to evaluate alternatives. We also listen in to our emotions for guidance when making decisions. This latter activity relates to intuition—the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. Intuition is both an emotional experience and a rapid, nonconscious, analytic process that involves pattern matching and action scripts. 7-4 Describe employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. Creativity is the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. The four creativity stages are preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Incubation assists divergent thinking, which involves reframing the problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue. Four of the main features of creative people are intelligence, persistence, expertise, and independent imagination. Creativity is also strengthened for everyone when the work environment supports a learning orientation, the job has high intrinsic motivation, the organization provides a reasonable level of job security, and project leaders provide appropriate goals, time pressure, and resources. Three types of activities that encourage creativity are redefining the problem, associative play, and cross-pollination. 7-5 Describe the benefits of employee involvement and identify four contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement. Employee involvement refers to the degree that employees influence how their work is organized and carried out. The level of participation may range from an employee providing specific information to management without knowing the problem or issue, to complete involvement in all phases of the decision process. Employee involvement may lead to higher decision quality and commitment, but several contingencies need to be considered, including the decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, and risk of conflict. ® Lecture Outline (with PowerPoint slides) Decision Making and Creativity Slide 1 Opening Vignette – Flawed Decision Making in the Lac Megantic Train Disaster According to the investigation by Transport Canada Safety Board of Canada (TSB), a series of poor decisions led to the ghastly Opening Vignette - Flawed Decision Making accident which killed 47 people and destroyed 30 buildings in in the Lac Megantic Lac Megantic Train Disaster Slide 2 • The disaster reveals the complexity, ambiguity, importance of decision making in organizations Rational Choice Paradigm Rational choice paradigm – the view in decision making that people should, and typically do, use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value Key elements: Rational Choice Paradigm • Subjective expected utility – the probability (expectancy) of Slide 3 satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision – used to determine choice that maximizes • Decision making process – follows the systematic process and application of stages of decision making Rational Choice Decision Making Process Slide 4 Opportunity – deviation between current expectations and potentially better situation(s) not previously expected • Choose the best decision process 3. Programmed decisions – follow standard operating procedures i.e. they have been resolved in the past 4. Nonprogrammed decisions – require all steps in the decision model because the problems are new, complex, or ill-defined • Develop possible choices – search for ready-made solutions first, then develop/modify custom-made solution • Select the choice with the highest subjective expected utility Rational Choice Decision Making Process • Identify problem or opportunity 1. Problem – gap between “what is” and “what ought to be” • Implement the selected alternative – assumed to occur without problems • Evaluate the selected choice – whether the gap between “what is” and “what ought to be” has narrowed Problem Identification Challenges Problems identification is not just the first step in decision making, it is arguably the most important step Problem Identification Challenges Five Problem Identification Challenges: Slide 5 • Stakeholder framing – stakeholders have vested interests and filter information going to corporate decision makers • Decisive leadership – problems or opportunities are announced too quickly before logically assessing the situation • Solution-focused problems – describing a problem as a veiled solution e.g. people who feel uncomfortable with ambiguity are particularly prone to this challenge • Perceptual defence – blocking out bad news as a coping mechanism (fail to see information that threatens selfconcept) • Mental models – frame the problem through preconceived mental models which may blind us from seeing unique problems or opportunities Missed Opportunity – Google Preconceived mental models of business success prevented Yahoo! Executives, from recognizing the potential of Google’s search engine. Missed Opportunity Slide 6 Identifying Problems & Opportunities More Effectively • Be aware of perceptual and diagnostic limitations • Resist temptation of looking decisive when more thoughtful examination of the situation should occur Identifying Problems & Opportunities More • Create a norm of divine discontent – avoid being satisfied with the Effectively status quo and adopt an aversion to complacency Slide 7 • Discuss the situation with colleagues to discover blind spots and see different perspectives Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views Bounded rationality – people process limited and imperfect information and rarely select the best choice Problems with goals Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views • Rational – goals are clear, compatible, and agreed-upon Slide 8 • OB – goals are ambiguous, conflicting, lack full support Problems with information processing • Rational – people can calculate all alternatives and their outcomes • OB – people have limited information processing abilities Problems with evaluation timing • Rational – choices evaluated simultaneously • OB – choices evaluated sequentially Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views (cont’d) Problems with evaluation standards ➡ Rational – people use absolute standards to evaluate alternatives ➡ OB – people evaluate against an implicit favourite Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views Problems with information quality (cont’d) ➡ Rational – choices are made using factual information Slide 9 ➡ OB – choices are made using distorted information Problems with maximization ➡ Rational – people maximize i.e. choose alternative with the highest payoff (highest utility) ➡ OB – people satisfice i.e. select “good enough” alternative Biased Decision Heuristics People have built-in decision heuristics that bias evaluation of alternatives •Anchoring and adjustment heuristic – we are influenced by an initial anchor point (e.g. initial offer price, initial opinion) and do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is Biased Decision provided Heuristics Slide 10 •Availability heuristic – the tendency to estimate the probability of something occurring by how easily we can recall those events i.e. we easily remember emotional events (e.g. shark attack) so we overestimate how often these traumatic events occur •Representative heuristic – the tendency to pay more attention to whether something resembles (is representative of) something else than on more precise statistics about its probability E.g. You know that 20% of your students are in engineering and 80% are business majors, however, if one student looks like a stereotype of an engineering student we tend to believe the person is in engineering even though there is greater probability that he/she is a business major Problems with Maximization Studies have found that people like to have choices but when exposed to many alternatives they become cognitive misers by engaging in satisficing • When presented with many choices, people often choose the Problems with least cognitively challenging alternative – no decision at all Maximization Slide 11 • Occurs even when there are clear benefits of selecting any alternative (such as joining a company retirement plan) Emotions and Making Choices Emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives in 3 ways: •Emotions Form Early Preferences – emotional marker process shapes our preferences for each alternative before we Emotions and Making consciously evaluate those alternatives Choices Slide 12 •Emotions Change the Decision Evaluation Process – moods and emotions influence the process of evaluating alternatives e.g. we may pay more attention to details when in a negative mood •Emotions Serve as Information When We Evaluate Alternatives – we listen in on our emotions to gain guidance when making choices (similar to having a temporary improvement in emotional intelligence) Intuition and Making Decisions Intuition – ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning Intuition and Making Decisions Intuition is an emotional experience Slide 13 ➡ Gut feelings are emotional signals ➡ Not all emotional signals are intuition Intuition is a rapid unconscious analysis ➡ Relies on action scripts – programmed decision routines that shorten the decision making process Making Choices more Effectively • Systematically evaluate alternatives against relevant factors • Remember that decisions are influenced by both emotional and rational processes Making Choices more Effectively • Use scenario planning – a disciplined method for imagining Slide 14 possible futures Evaluating Decision Outcomes Slide 15 • Tendency to ignore or downplay the negative features of the selected alternative and overemphasize positive features • Inflates decision maker’s initial evaluation of the decision Escalation of Commitment • Tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action • Self-justification effect – deliberate attempt to maintain a favourable public image • Prospect theory effect – tendency to experience stronger negative emotions when losing something of value than the positive emotions when gaining something of equal value • Self-enhancement effect – nonconsciously distorting information so we do not recognize a problem sooner and biasing our probability of success • Sunk costs effect – people feel motivated to invest more resources in projects that have high sunk costs (e.g. time, financial) Evaluating Decision Outcomes Confirmation bias (also known as post-decisional justification) Evaluating Decision Outcomes • Separate decision choosers from decision evaluators – minimizes self-justification effect • Stop loss – publicly establish a preset level at which the decision Evaluating Decision is abandoned or re-evaluated Outcomes • Find sources of systematic and clear feedback Slide 16 Creativity in Decision Making – Tangible Creativity Creativity – development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution 1. At work when imagining opportunities, developing alternatives, choosing alternatives Creativity in Decision Making – Tangible Creativity Slide 17 The Creative Process 2. Incubation Slide 18 • Period of reflective thought i.e. put the problem aside but maintain low level of awareness • Assists divergent thinking – reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue • Contrasts with convergent thinking – calculating the conventionally accepted “right answer” to a logical problem 3. Illumination • The experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea i.e. bits of inspiration 4. Verification • Detailed, logical evaluation and experimentation Characteristics of Creative People Cognitive and practical intelligence • Above-average cognitive intelligence to synthesize information, analyze, and apply ideas Characteristics of Creative People Slide 19 • Practical intelligence – capacity to evaluate the potential usefulness of ideas Persistence • Higher need for achievement, strong motivation from the task itself, and moderate or high degree of self-esteem Knowledge and experience • Foundation of knowledge and experience – caution is that mental models may become more rigid Independent imagination (cluster of personality traits and values) • High openness to experience, moderately low need for affiliation, strong values around self-direction and stimulation • See mistakes as part of the creative process Creative Work Environments Slide 20 Intrinsically motivating jobs • Motivation from the job itself e.g. task significance, autonomy, aligned with the employee’s competencies Open communication and sufficient resources • Includes degree of job security • Providing nontraditional workspaces e.g. unique building design Note: It isn’t clear how much pressure should be exerted on employees to produce creative ideas or the effect of co-worker support/co-worker competition Activities That Encourage Creativity Redefining the problem • Look at abandoned projects—might be seen in new ways • Ask people unfamiliar with issue to explore the problem Creative Activities Associative play Slide 21 • Engaging in playful activities • Morphological analysis – listing different dimensions of a system and the elements of each dimension and then looking at each combination Cross-Pollination • People from different parts of the organization exchange ideas or bringing new people into the team • Social interaction Brasilata, The Ideas Company Brasilata has become one of the most innovative and productive manufacturing businesses in Brazil by involving employees in company decisions. Brasilata, The Ideas Company Slide 22 Employee Involvement Defined The degree to which employees influence how their work is organized and carried out (also called participative management) Levels of involvement (lowest to highest) Employee Defined Involvement • Low – employees are individually asked for specific information Slide 23 but the problem is not described to them • Somewhat higher involvement – the problem is described to employees and employees are asked for information related to that problem • Moving higher – the problem is described to employees who are collectively given responsibility for developing recommendations • Highest level – entire decision making process is handed over to employees Employee Involvement Model Employee involvement potentially improves decision making quality and commitment 1. Improves identification of problems and opportunities Employee Involvement • Provides a conduit for organizational leaders Model 2. Synergy produces more/better solutions Slide 24 • Team members create synergy by pooling their knowledge to form new alternatives 3. Improves the evaluation of alternatives • Decision is reviewed by people with diverse perspectives and a broader representation of values 4. Strengthens decision commitment • Increases sense of personal responsibility for decision’s success Contingencies of Employee Involvement Optimal level of employee involvement depends on the situation. Higher employee involvement is better when: 1. Decision structure Contingencies of Employee Involvement Slide 25 • Problem is new and/or complex i.e. nonprogrammed decision 2. Source of decision knowledge The leader lacks knowledge and employees have information • 3. Decision commitment • Employees are unlikely to accept a decision made without their involvement 4. Risk of conflict • Employee norms support the organization’s goals • Employees are likely to agree on the solution Decision Making and Creativity Slide 26 Team Dynamics LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams, and explain why employees join informal groups. 2. Outline the team effectiveness model and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness. 3. Discuss how the four team processes—team development, norms, cohesion, and trust— influence team effectiveness. 4. Discuss the characteristics and factors required for the success of self-directed teams and virtual teams. 5. Identify four constraints on team decision making and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four structures aimed at improving team decision making. CHAPTER GLOSSARY brainstorming -- A freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where team members aren’t allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely, generate as many ideas as possible, and build on the ideas of others. brainwriting -- A variation of brainstorming whereby participants write (rather than speak about) and share their ideas. Brooks’s law -- The principle that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later. electronic brainstorming -- A form of brainwriting that relies on networked computers for submitting and sharing creative ideas. evaluation apprehension -- A decision-making problem that occurs when individuals are reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that other team members are silently evaluating them nominal group technique -- A variation of brainwriting consisting of three stages: Participants (1) silently and independently document their ideas, (2) collectively describe these ideas to the other team members without critique, and then (3) silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented. norms -- The informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members. process losses -- Resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task. production blocking -- A time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time. role -- A set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization. self-directed teams (SDTs) -- Cross-functional work groups that are organized around work processes, complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks. social loafing -- The problem that occurs when people exert less effort (and usually perform at a lower level) when working in teams than when working alone. task interdependence -- The extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs. team building -- A process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. team cohesion -- The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members. team efficacy -- The collective belief among team members of the team’s capability to successfully complete a task. teams -- Groups of two or more people who interact and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization. virtual teams -- Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 8-1 Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams, and explain why employees join informal groups. Teams are groups of two or more people who interact and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization. All teams are groups, because they consist of people with a unifying relationship; not all groups are teams, because some groups do not exist to serve organizational objectives. People join informal groups (and are motivated to be on formal teams) for four reasons: (1) They have an innate drive to bond, (2) group membership is an inherent ingredient in a person’s self-concept, (3) some personal goals are accomplished better in groups, and (4) individuals are comforted in stressful situations by the mere presence of other people. Teams have become popular because they tend to make better decisions, support the knowledge management process, and provide superior customer service. Teams are not always as effective as individuals working alone. Process losses and social loafing drag down team performance. 8-2 Outline the team effectiveness model and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness. Team effectiveness includes the team’s ability to achieve its objectives, fulfill the needs of its members, and maintain its survival. The model of team effectiveness considers the team and organizational environment, team design, and team processes. Three team design elements are task characteristics, team size, and team composition. Teams tend to be better suited for situations in which the work is complex yet tasks are well-structured and have high task interdependence. Teams should be large enough to perform the work yet small enough for efficient coordination and meaningful involvement. Effective teams are composed of people with the competencies and motivation to perform tasks in a team environment. Team member diversity has advantages and disadvantages for team performance. 8-3 Discuss how the shared perceptions among team members, called team states, emerge and influence team effectiveness. Team states represent motivational or cognitive characteristics of the team that continuously evolve and which tend to be shared between team members. Examples include team norms, cohesion, team efficacy, and trust. Each of these elements influences team performance, but can also be changed by feedback about team performance. For example, a team that receives negative performance feedback might experience a drop in both cohesion and team efficacy. 8-4 Discuss how team processes, such as taskwork, teamwork, team boundary spanning and team development determine team effectiveness. As teams work together they can focus on elements of the task (referred to as taskwork) or elements of the team’s internal dynamics or relationships (called teamwork behaviour). Together, these processes determine how well the team manages its internal environment. On the other hand, teams also face opportunities to interact and build relationships with people or groups in the external environment. These processes are called boundary spanning. In addition, teams develop through the stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and eventually adjourning. Within these stages are two distinct team development processes: developing team identity and developing team mental models and coordinating routines. Team development can be accelerated through team building—any formal activity intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. 8-5 Discuss the characteristics and factors required for the success of self-directed teams and virtual teams. Self-directed teams (SDTs) complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and they have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks. Members of virtual teams operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. Virtual teams are more effective when the team members have certain competencies, the team has the freedom to choose the preferred communication channels, and the members meet face-to-face fairly early in the team development process. 8-6 Identify four constraints on team decision making and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four structures aimed at improving team decision making. Team decisions are impeded by time constraints, evaluation apprehension, conformity to peer pressure, and overconfidence. Four structures potentially improve decision making in team settings: brainstorming, brainwriting, electronic brainstorming, and nominal group technique. ® Lecture Outline (with PowerPoint slides) Team Dynamics Slide 1 Opening Vignette – Vancouver Olympics Gold Medal Performances To many Canadians, the gold medal performances of the Opening Vignette - Vancouver Olympics Gold Medal Performances Slide 2 Women’s and Men’s hockey teams at the Vancouver Olympics was a source of immense national pride. Two years before the Olympics, Team Canada executives decided that a new strategy was needed. The team selection process matched the strategy and resulted in some controversial decisions about who made and team as well as which players were left out. What are Teams? Groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals What are Teams? associated with organizational objectives, and perceive Slide 3 themselves as a social entity within an organization • Exist to fulfill some purpose • Held together by their interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals – require some form of communication to coordinate • Team members influence each other • Members perceive themselves to be a team Many Types of Teams • Permanence How long that type of team usually exists • Skill differentiation Degree of skill/knowledge diversity in the team Many Types of Teams Slide 4 • Authority differentiation Degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team or centralized Informal Groups • All teams are groups, but many groups are not teams • Groups include people assembled together, whether or not they have any interdependence or organizationally-focused objective • Exist primarily for the benefit of their members Informal Groups Reasons why informal groups exist: Slide 5 • Drive to bond • Social identity theory – define themselves by group affiliations • Goal accomplishment – achieve things individuals working alone could not accomplish • Emotional support – comforted by presence of others Advantages/Challenges of Teams Advantages • Under the right conditions, make better decisions; develop better products/services; create a more engaged workforce Advantages/ Disadvantages of Teams Slide 6 • Can quickly share information and coordinate tasks • Typically provide superior customer service • People are potentially more motivated when working in teams Challenges • Process losses – resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task • Brooks’ Law – adding more people to a late software project only makes it later • Social loafing – motivational process loss which occurs when people exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone • It benefits the organization and members • Survives long enough to accomplish its mandate Team Effectiveness Model Slide 7 Elements of team effectiveness model • Organizational and Team Environment • Team design • Team states • Team process • Team effectiveness Chapter 8: Team Dynamics PSA Peugeot Citroën’s Team Space PSA Peugeot Citroën set up an “obeya room” (shown here) to speed up team decision-making. Plastered with charts and notes on key issues, the space encourages face-to-face interaction to PSA Peugeot Citroën’s quickly resolve issues. Team Space Slide 8 Organizational and Team Environment • Rewards – at least partly rewarded for team performance • Communication systems – need right amount of information and feedback • Organizational structure – teams flourish when organized Organization and Team around work processes because this increases interaction and Environment interdependence Slide 9 • Organizational leadership – provide support and strategic direction • Physical space – physical layout makes a difference Best tasks for Teams • Complex tasks divisible into specialized roles • Well-structured tasks – easier to coordinate • Higher task interdependence o Team members must share materials, information, Best tasks for Teams or expertise to perform their jobs Slide 10 o Teams are usually better because high interdependence  requires better communication/coordination and  motivates team membership o But teams less effective if task goals differ (e.g. serving different clients) – use other coordinating mechanisms Levels of Task Interdependence Pooled interdependence (lowest level) • Employee or work unit shares a common resource with other employees or work units e.g. machinery, administrative Levels of Task Interdependence Slide 11 support, budget Sequential interdependence • The output of one person becomes the direct input for another person e.g. assembly line Reciprocal interdependence (highest level) • Work output is exchanged back and forth among individuals – e.g. people who design a new product or service Team Size Smaller teams are better because: • Less process loss • Tend to feel more engaged Team Size Slide 12 • Get to know each other better—improves mutual trust as well as perceived support, help, and assistance Team Composition Effective team members must be willing and able to perform their work in a team environment Competencies of effective team members (5 Cs): Team Composition Slide 13 • Cooperating – willing and able to work together i.e. sharing resources and being flexible to accommodate others • Coordinating – actively manage the team’s work i.e. keep the team on track and align work with others • Communicating – transmit information freely (vs. hoarding), efficiently, and respectfully; listen actively to co-workers • Comforting – help co-workers maintain a positive and healthy psychological state i.e. show empathy, provide psychological comfort, and build co-worker feelings of confidence and selfworth • Conflict resolving – have skills and motivation to resolve dysfunctional disagreements i.e. effective diagnostic skills and use various conflict-handling skills effectively Team Composition: Team Diversity Advantages: • Make better decisions Team Composition: Team Diversity Slide 14 departments Challenges: • People from diverse backgrounds take longer to become a high-performing team • Provide a better representation of constituents e.g. other • Diverse teams are susceptible to “fault lines” that may split a team into subgroups e.g. gender, professional Team Roles & Transactive Memory • Role: A set of behaviors that people expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization. Team Roles & • Formal Team Roles and Informal Team Roles Transactive Memory Slide 15 • Transactive Memory system describes how task- relevant knowledge is distributed within a team and the collective awareness of who knows what. •Clearly defined and complementary strengths make for a stronger team but unless team members know who has what skill those skills might get wasted and lead to processes. •Teams with more well-developed transactive memory systems outperform teams with less well-developed systems. Team Norms • Informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behaviour of their members • Norms only apply to behaviour – not to private thoughts or feelings • Reinforced in various ways e.g. praise from high-status Team Norms Slide 16 members Norms develop through: • Initial team experiences • Critical events in team’s history • Experience/values members bring to the team Preventing/Changing Dysfunctional Team Norms • State/establish desired norms when forming teams • Select members with appropriate values • Discuss/coach counter-productive norms while developing useful norms • Introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunctional norms • Disband teams with dysfunctional norms Team Cohesion • Team cohesion o The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members Team Cohesion Slide 17 • Team cohesion is stronger/occurs faster with: o Higher member similarity o Smaller team size o Regular/frequent member interaction o Somewhat difficult team entry (membership) o Higher team success o More external competition/challenges Team Cohesion and Performance  High cohesion teams usually perform better because: Motivated to maintain membership and achieve team objectives Team Cohesion and Performance Slide 18 Share information more frequently Higher coworker satisfaction Better social support (minimizes stress) Resolve conflict more swiftly and effectively Contingencies of cohesion and performance 1. Task interdependence Cohesion motivates cooperation; less important with low interdependence 2. Team norms consistent with organizational objectives Cohesion motivates conformity to team norms Cohesion motivates LOWER performance if norms oppose company objectives Team Efficacy • The collective belief among team members if the team’s capability to successfully completing a task is team efficacy. • Teams with high level of efficacy outperform teams with lower level of efficacy. Team Efficacy Slide 19 •High efficacy leads to team members setting ambitious goals, put forth greater effort, persist longer when faced with a challenge and view negative feedback as an opportunity. •Low team efficacy leads to team members feeling apathy, uncertainty and a lack of direction. • In teams with high efficacy, individual team members are more likely to display coordination and cooperative type behavior. Team Trust Calculus-based trust Slide 20 • Logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because of sanctions • Lowest potential trust and is easily broken Knowledge-based trust • Based on the predictability of team member’s behaviour • More stable because it develops over time Identification-based trust • Based on mutual understanding and an emotional bond • Potentially the strongest and most robust Note: Swift trust—new team members have a moderate or high level—not a low level of trust in their new co-workers Team Processes The interactions and activities that occur within a team as it works toward its goals Internal team processes: • Teamwork behaviour – activities devoted to enhancing Team Processes the quality of the interactions, interdependencies, Slide 21 cooperation, and coordination of teams • Taskwork behaviour – efforts devoted to understanding the task requirements, discovering the “rules”, establishing the patterns of interaction, exchanging taskrelated information, developing team solutions External team processes • Team boundary spanning – team actions that establish or enhance linkages and manage interactions with parties in the external environment e.g. ambassador activities, task coordination, and scouting activity 5 Stage Model of Team Development Slide 22 Stages of Team Development 2. Storming Stages of Team Development Slide 23 • More conflict as members compete for roles • Members try to establish norms 3. Norming • Cohesion develops—roles established and consensus forms 4. Performing • Team members have learned to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts • Highly cooperative, high trust, committed to goals, identify with the team 5. Adjourning • Team is about to disband • Members shift from task to relationship focus 1. Forming • Period of testing/orientation—members defer to authority • Expectations learned Team Development: Forming Identities and Mental Models 1. Developing team identity Viewing team as “us” rather than “them” Team Development: Forming Identities and Mental Models Slide 24 Team becomes part of the person’s social identity 2. Developing team mental models and coordinating routines Forming habitual routines with team members Forming shared/complementary mental models Team Building Formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team • More common for existing teams that have regressed to earlier stages of team development due to turnover or loss of focus Team Building Types of Team Building: Slide 25 • Task-focused—clarifying team’s performance goals increases motivation to achieve goals • Improve the team’s problem-solving skills • Role definition – helps team develop shared mental models • Helping team members learn more about each other, build trust, and develop ways to manage conflict within the team Self-Directed Teams Defined Slide 26 Complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, Have substantial autonomy over task decisions  Success factors Responsible for entire work process High interdependence within the team Low interdependence with other teams Autonomy to organize and coordinate work Work site/technology support team communication/coordination Virtual Teams Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks Virtual Teams Slide 27 Teams have degrees of virtuality – increases with geographic dispersion, percentage of members who work apart, and percentage of time that members work apart Virtual teams are increasingly feasible because of: • Information technologies • Knowledge-based work Virtual teams are necessary because of: • Organizational learning – encourage employees to share and use knowledge where geography limits direct collaboration • Globalization – employees are spread around the planet rather than in one building or city Virtual Team Success Factors • Virtual team member characteristics • Toolkit of communication channels and freedom to choose channels that work best for them • Fairly high task structure • Opportunities to meet face-to-face Team Decision Making Constraints  Time constraints Time to organize/coordinate Production blocking Team Decision Making Constraints Slide 28  Evaluation apprehension Reluctance to mention ideas that seem silly because of belief of evaluation by other team members  Peer pressure to conform Suppressing opinions that oppose team norms  Overconfidence (inflated team efficacy) Team efficacy usually beneficial (motivates performance) Inflated team efficacy Outcomes: false sense of invulnerability, less vigilant decisions, less task conflict Caused by: collective self-enhancement, high cohesion, external threats General Guidelines for Team Decisions 1. Team norms should encourage critical thinking 2. Sufficient team diversity 3. Ensure one or two people do not dominate discussion General Guidelines for Team Decisions Slide 29 4. Maintain optimal team size 5. Introduce effective team structures Brainstorming Team event where participants try to think up as many ideas as possible Brainstorming Four specific rules: Slide 30 • Speak freely – describe even the craziest ideas • Don’t criticize others or their ideas • Provide as many ideas as possible – quality increases with quantity • Build on others’ ideas • Note: Despite its popularity, numerous lab studies have concluded that brainstorming doesn’t produce as many ideas as individuals working alone   Other Team Structures for Creative Decision Making  Brainwriting -- brainstorming without conversation Individuals write down/distribute their ideas to others, who develop further ideas Evaluating Brainstorming Slide 31 Less production blocking than brainstorming Electronic Brainstorming – variation of brainwriting  Relies on computer technology Document/distribute ideas anonymously to other participants Anonymously vote on ideas, followed by discussion Strengths: less production blocking, evaluation apprehension, conformity Limitations: considered too structured and technologybound  Nominal Group Technique – variation of brainwriting Problem is described, then participants privately write down solutions Participants describe their solutions – no criticism or debate Participants privately rank-order or vote on solutions Problems of production blocking and evaluation apprehension Team Dynamics Slide 32 Instructor Manual for Organisational Behaviour: Emerging Knowledge, Global Insights Steven McShane, Mara Olekalns, Alex Newman, Angela Martin 9781760421649, 9780071016261