Working in Teams

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Working in Teams
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What is a team/group?

• Consists of 3-15 people who share a common goal
  or purpose and who influence one another
• Must have at least 3 people to be a group, no
  more than 15 (ideal groups are 5-7)
• In order to be a group we must be united by a
  common goalwe arent a group if we do not have a
  goal and a plan to accomplish the goal
• We must realize we are members of a group and
  feel as if we belong to that group
• Group members are also interdependentwhat one
  says or does affects the entire group

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Types of Groups and Teams

• Face-to-face teamsmeet with each other in
  person.
• Advantages? Disadvantages?
• Virtual teamsinteract and function without being
  in the same place at the same time
• Teleconferencing, email, computerized discussion
  groups, etc.
• Advantages? Disadvantages?

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Group members have different roles

• Task rolesthese are roles that help the group to
  achieve its specific goals (information
  seeker/giver, initiator, note taker, elaborator)
• Social rolesthese roles affect the climate and
  group dynamic (harmonizer, gatekeeper,
  encourager)
• Individual rolesthese roles focus attention on
  individuals, rather than the group, these are not
  healthy roles (whiner, dominator, blocker)

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Power in Groups

• Power refers to our ability to influence another
  persons behavior. There are seven different
  types
• Legitimate power power because of your position
  or role
• Referent power power because people like you
• Expert power power because you have specific
  knowledge or expertise on relevant topic
• Reward power power by granting others rewards
• Coercive power power by inflicting punishment
• Information power power because you possess
  insider knowledge
• Connection power power because you have valuable
  connections in and outside the organization

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Centralized Leadership

• Trait Approachresearch based in 1930s showed
  leaders possessed common traits
• i.e. physical attractiveness, sociability, desire
  for leadership, originality, intelligence
• Traits found not to be predictive of leadership
• Style Approachemerged in 1940s and showed that
  leaders could choose a leadership style for
  optimal effectiveness
• Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez-faire
• Contingency Approach best leadership style
  changes from one situation to the next

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Self-directed Work Teams

• Groups who are responsible for managing their own
  behavior to get a task done.
• These teams fit well into the way organizations
  are operating as of late.
• Elimination of middle managers encourages teams
  to work more independently
• These work best for relatively complex jobs that
  require a variety of perspectives
• Skills necessary technical or functional
  expertise, problem-solving and decision-making
  skills, interpersonal skills

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Fishers 4 phases of development

• Orientation phase
• Testing the waters, getting to know one another,
  team members not likely to take strong stands,
  communication tentative
• Conflict phase
• Members begin to take a stand on issues,
  disagreement likely to occur, differing opinions
  presented, egos may be bruised

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Phases contd

• Emergence phase
• Disagreements ended, problems solved, compromises
  made, support for decisions
• Reinforcement phase
• Acceptance turns to endorsement, members who
  previously opposed decision are now supporting
  it, members truly unified as one