HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
It is almost certain in today’s workplace that at some point you will find yourself in a team, whether you like it or not. Sometimes being in a team is simply better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L8Em5vU0FU
Group – two or more people with common interests, objectives, and continuing interaction. Work Team – an interdependent group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common mission, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
It is th e synergy which makes team work attractive in corporate organization despite the possible problems (and time spent) in team formation. Synergy = the whole is greater than the individual parts • What reasons do people have to join groups? • What other reasons do you see to organize work in teams?
• Group Effectiveness: – Generally groups are more effective as they progress but reasons for this are complex • Group Conflict not always same effect: – Some groups need conflict, then most productive in Stage II • Blurred Stages: – Stages not always sequential – Multiple stages may be taken simultaneously – Groups may regress a stage or go back and forth
Different tasks: problem solving, innovation, building, service …. Many different characteristics and dynamics play a role in building innovative and well-performing groups and teams, for example, a model of team innovation described in the readings (West, 2002) is:
Size: – Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks, members tend to perform better – Large groups are better at problem solving • Status: – High-status members often have more freedom to deviate from norms and tend to be better able to resist conformity pressures – High status people are more assertive, Low status members may not participate, group creativity may suffer • Diversity – Skills, expertise, culture, age, gender … –The impact of diversity can be positive or negative depending on several conditions. Important: developing diversity mindsets (see van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007).
= degree to which members of the group are attracted and attached to each other and motivated to stay in the group Good or Bad ? Performance-related norms are the moderating variable for productivity and cohesiveness. e.g. High cohesiveness with high performance norms gives higher productivity… How would you encourage group cohesiveness?
1. Make the group smaller 2. Encourage agreement with group goals 3. Increase the time spent together 4. Increase the status and perceived difficulty of group membership 5. Stimulate competition with other groups 6. Give rewards to the group rather than to individual members 7. Physically isolate the group
= acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members • Powerful means of influencing behavior • Performance Norms, Behavioral Norms, Dress Codes, Ethical Standards Group standards can (also) be set and enforced by the group itself What are potential problems in groups?
Asch Study: Conformity
– Members desire to avoid being visibly different – Members with differing opinions feel extensive pressure to align with others – Level of conformity has declined since 1950s but can still affect people in groups (think of teenage issues with ‘peer pressure’)
Causes: • Equity theory – unequal distribution of work • Dispersion of responsibility – clouds the relationship between individual inputs and group output Prevention: • Set group goals • Increase inter-group competition • Engage in peer evaluation • Distribute group rewards based on members’ individual contributions Social loafing = tendency (for some) to expend less effort working in a group than as an individual
Effectiveness: – Accuracy: a group is generally better than an average individual, but worse than the most accurate group member – Speed: individuals are generally faster – Creativity: groups are generally better – Degree of Acceptance: groups are generally better Efficiency: – Groups are generally less efficient Decision Effectiveness & Efficiency
= a deterioration of individual’s mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgments as a result of group pressures Occurs when members: – Rationalize away resistance to assumptions – Pressure doubters to support the majority – Doubters keep silent/minimize their misgivings – Interprets silence as a “yes” vote Can minimize it by: • Limiting group size (≤10) • Encouraging group leaders to actively seek input from all members and avoid expressing their own opinions • Appoint a “devil’s advocate”
Implications for Managers • Composition is important, the right skills mix for the task is needed. Status inequities tend to adversely impact productivity and performance. Consider group size, as this too can impacts effectiveness. • Group norms have powerful effects on individual behavior and performance and can affect these either positively or negatively! • Cohesiveness can enhance productivity, however…. • Conformity can be a problem: have leaders minimize their initial inputs and actively seek out different opinions • Group decision making is not always better than individual decision making
• Cultural differences affect the importance, display, and derivation of status. • Social loafing occurs more in individualistic cultures with people motivated more by self-interest. • Diversity often leads to greater conflict but can also have beneficial effects. Developing positive diversity mindsets may be the key way to get to the positive (see Van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007)
Leading a team? Teams Aren’t Always the Answer • Complexity of Work: Can the work be done better by more than one person? • Can there be a Common Purpose: Does the work allow the creation of a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals? • Interdependence: Are the members of the group truly interdependent?
Hackman and Wageman (2005) posit that team performance effectiveness is a joint function of: (a) the level of effort group members collectively expend on work tasks; (b) the appropriateness of the performance strategies the group uses; and (c) the amount of relevant knowledge and skills members have.
Team leaders are important but… They can often have wrong and misleading assumptions. For example: – Homogeneity of membership always causes more harmonious group interaction which fosters group productivity. – A team as large as possible, as large teams have more resources to draw upon to help performance. – Team membership should be changed frequently because otherwise members get careless and too forgiving of one another’s mistakes.
The team leader’s response to three questions strongly shapes team performance outcomes: what kind of team to create; (2) how to structure the team; (3) how and when to actively coach the team, as it proceeds with its work.
Types of Teams Problem-solving (Functional) team = composed of a manager and his subordinates Self-managed team = operates without a manager and is responsible for a complete work process Virtual team = uses computer technology to link physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal. Cross-functional team = a hybrid grouping of individuals who are experts in various specialties and who work together on various tasks.
Types of Teams
• Members often from the same department • Share ideas or suggest Improvements • Rarely given authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions
• 10 or so employees in highly-related jobs • Team takes on supervisory responsibilities: – Work planning and scheduling – Assigning tasks – Operating decisions/actions – Working with customers • May select and evaluate members • Effectiveness is situationally dependent
• Computer technology ties dispersed team together • Special challenges: – Less social rapport and exchange – More task-oriented – Members often less satisfied
• Members from same level, but diverse areas within and between organizations • Exchange information • Develop new ideas and solve problems • Coordinate complex projects • Development may be time-consuming due to complexity and diversity
Today and in the future…… • Organizations are becoming increasingly flexible and many companies aim for innovation as their primary source of competitive advantage – Teams are important in the increasingly flexible, knowledge-driven, and creative work of organizations (West, 2002) • Technology enables companies to organize their activities through complex projects with dispersed specialists often spanning boundaries of time and culture. Work and innovation takes place more often in networks of companies. – Teams becomes teaming
Implications for Managers Common characteristics of effective teams: – Have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and suitable reward system – Composed of individuals with appropriate technical and good interpersonal skills with work that provides freedom, autonomy, and opportunity to use skills. – Members are committed to a common purpose and realize they are interdependent – Team should be constructed based on ability, skill, and applicable member traits given the situation the task and proper selection of members increases likelihood of effective teams – When managed well, task related but non-personal conflicts can improve creativity and lead to better team decisions
• Teamwork is not equally pervasive around the world. • Self-managed teams may be difficult to introduce globally – for example, power distance problems. • Many HR and leadership practices relating to teams need sensitivity to cultural norms and values. • Team cultural diversity can create difficulties in the short run.
Questions?
