Chapter 11

Effective Team Management

Groups, Teams, and Organizational Effectiveness

In the business world many corporations and companies work together in groups
or teams to accomplish certain goals and needs of the company. A team can be defined as a
group of two or more people who work intensely with one another to achieve a specific
common goal or objective. A group can be defined as two or more people who interact with
each other to accomplish certain goals or meet certain needs. The intensity is how hard the
team members work together. Specific is the goal the team is trying to achieve.

Groups and Teams
In Valentinas organization at CHX, they work in function oriented teams. These
teams are formed for their specific functions. For example, there is a legal department and
an analysis department. The legal department works together to develop legal standards
for the company while the analysis department works together to analyze information.
There is communication between these two functional groups.
Sometimes teams are difficult to form and work together. When the workers within
a team do not work well together, it may cause problems in achieving the companys goal.
Teams and groups are a preferred strategy for many reasons. These reasons help an
organization gain an advantage because they enhance its performance, increase its
responsiveness to customers, increase innovation, and increase employees motivation and
satisfaction.


Groups and Teams as Performance Enhancers
One of the main advantages of using groups is the opportunity to obtain higher
quality outputs that would have not been produced if each person had worked separately.
This can be defined as synergy. Synergy is good to have within a group because it
maximizes your resources while trying to produce the best quality product a company can
produce. Synergy promotes the ability of group members bouncing ideas off one another,
correct ones mistakes, problem solving, diversified thinking and opinions, synergy also
helps to accomplish the work that is too large for one individual to complete on his or her
own. To have synergy at its upmost potential, managers need to make sure that group
members complement one another with skills and knowledge. Managers also need to
empower their employees and act like coaches in order to promote effective synergy.


Valentina believes synergy in her organization benefits the group. She believes
synergy increases with every completed project and leads to a faster and smoother process
for the next project. In her organization individuals are forced to work with others. Some
jobs entitle others to build of other group members work. As this goes on one group
member would become synchronized with the person in terms of style and the synergy in
the group will continue to grow.

Groups, Teams, and Responsiveness to Customers

Customers always continue to desire new and improved products each year. Being
responsive to the customers demands are not always easy. From a manufacturing
organization perspective, there are some constraints that prevent the organization from
properly configuring a new product. Such constraints include: government regulations,
production costs, and engineering challenges that all make it difficult for organizations to
respond to the customers demands. In general, being responsive to customers comes from
the organization hierarchy as a whole. For example, sales representatives are the closest
connection from the company to the customer. These low-level sales representatives often
lack the technical expertise to effectively promote and configure a new product idea that
the customer demands. In an organization, bringing these sales representatives and
research development employees together promote a cross-functional team in order to
respond to its customers demands. These two groups bounce ideas off one another for new
future products that cater to the customers needs and desires.

At CHX, Valentina described how her organization works together to respond to
customer demands. At CHX, the various departments with in the company all complete
their own set goals and tasks in regards to attaining the request, and planning of a solution.
After planning this solution with in the various departments the company then decides
how to respond to the customers demands accordingly.


Teams and Innovation

Innovation is the idea of implementing creative and new ideas for future products.
Innovation is what drives the forces of the organization. The newest product on the street
is often the coolest product that everyone wants. In an organization, an individual working
alone does not posses the extensive skills, knowledge, and expertise to promote innovation
as compared to a team or a group. The managers of an organization can encourage
innovation by creating diverse teams that exchange ideas with one another. Diverse
thinking does indeed promote innovation because the more diverse thinking, the more
viewpoints and opinions the group has as compared to the similar thinking individuals
working in a team.
Using teams to innovate has multiple advantages. Advantages such as uncovering
one teammates mistakes promotes innovation because one working alone would not be
able to catch their own mistake. Also, team members can critique other team members
ideas. Critiquing ideas gets team members to build off one anothers ideas and these ideas
lead to a new innovative product.
Valentina believes working together in a group does promote innovativeness
compared to working alone. They work together in a group to come up with solutions.
Every group member has a separate component that is put together with other group
members components to produce a solution. This solution depends on group members
working together rather than working on their own. The separate components for each
individual also helps promote innovativeness because it promotes diverse individual
thinking that will then contribute to a larger solution.

Groups and Teams as Motivators

Organizing your organization into teams often promote additional benefits.
Members of groups and teams often find themselves more satisfied than they would have
been if they were working alone on a project. Working alongside with other highly charged
individuals can be stimulating and motivating. Team members feel personally responsible
for their work, and when working in teams they can see how their efforts and work
contribution directly contribute to the teams goal.
Working in groups also promotes social interaction. Workers who have highly
stressful jobs find that working with group members is important because of the social and
moral support. Working in a team can also help relieve the burden of working a highly
stressful job. Workers cope better with the stress of the job in teams when they can share
the stress with others in the group. This stress idea also creates diverse techniques to
relieve that stress, such as talking about the outside world and, or cracking a joke once in a
while.
Overall, managers promote teamwork in an organization because the teams can
help managers achieve their desired company goals. Teams promote high performance,
responsiveness to customers, and employee motivation.

Types of Groups and Teams

Top Management Team- A group composed of the CEO, the president, and the heads of
the most important departments.
*Top management teams are responsible for developing the strategies in an
organization. Members of this team are composed of managers from different departments
to promote more diverse ideas.

Research and Development Teams- A team whose members have the expertise and
experience needed to develop new products
*Research and development teams are common in the technology industries. Their
goal is to develop new products. Top managers select research and development teams on
the basis of the individuals specialties. Some research and development teams consult with
managers of other departments in order to achieve company goals and get ideas for new
products.

Command Groups- A group composed of subordinates who report to the same supervisor;
also called department or unit groups.
*Command groups establish reporting based on a chain of command. Top managers
establish reporting relationships in a hierarchy to solve company goals.

Task Forces- A committee of managers or non-managerial employees from various
departments or divisions who meet to solve for a specific, mutual problem; also called the
H.O.C. committee.
*Task force teams accomplish specific goals based on mutual problems. The task
force indentifies a mutual problem and then prepares a report summarizing the pros and
cons of the change. They then submit this report to their manager for further problem
solving. Task force teams can be a valuable tool for managers because they do not have to
personally focus on one issue in-depth, which frees up more of their time to focus on other
organizational goals.

Self-Managed Work Teams- A group of employees who supervise their own activities and
monitor the quality of the goods and services they provide
*Self-Managed work teams work on a day-to-day basis where team members decide
what the team will try to accomplish, how will they do it, and how the work is divided
among each member. Managers decide the team goals and then let the team figure out how
to meet those goals. Each member is assigned a task that best fits the members set of skills.
Managers usually use self-managed work teams to improve quality while increasing
motivation and lowering the cost.

Virtual Teams- A team whose members rarely or never meet face-to-fact but, rather,
interact by using various forms of information technology such as e-mail, computer
networks, telephone, fax, and video conferences.
*As organizations become increasingly global due to international expansion, and
with the help of technology, managers may create virtual groups to solve problems and
explore opportunities while not being limited to other members from the same location.
Virtual teams provide different ideas from different people around the world. Companies
who have operations in multiple countries may find virtual teams more appealing for their
organization.

Friendship Groups- An informal group composed of employees who enjoy one anothers
company and socialize with each other.
* These members may have lunch together and take their breaks together. They may
also do outside activities together such as playing sports or sharing meals. Friendship
groups help satisfy the need for social support in stressful times.

Interest Groups- An informal group composed of employees seeking to achieve a common
goal related to their membership in an organization.
* These groups are formed to encourage managers to institute flexible working
hours. It also promotes improving working conditions and environmental protections.
These groups can give managers valuable opinions on issues regarding companies.




At CHX, Valentina did recall working with other group managers to respond to the
customers demands. There have been instances where they have worked together with the
research and development to develop a new product but in her organization they do not do
that so often. They often do rely on other departments for projects that they do conduct
within her own group. At CHX they work in top management and task force teams. They
tend to be the most effective at CHX. The managers from different departments meet
together and respond to problems that arise in an organization. Top management is used at
CHX to establish strategies and roles in the organization. At CHX, there isnt a hierarchy of
labor, but instead there are different but equally important jobs that each project depends
on. As long as everyone contributes their specific task then the group will effectively
achieve its target goal.

Group Size

The number of members in a group can determine how successful the group can be.
Small groups are between two and nine members while larger groups have more than nine
members. Some organizations prefer smaller groups rather than larger groups. Smaller
groups are preferred because they interact more, can be more motivated, find it easier to
share information, and are easier to identify group contribution. One disadvantage of small
groups is the limited resources they have due to size.
Large groups provide more resources to achieve company goals. More knowledge,
opinions, skills, and experience are found in larger groups as compared to smaller groups.
Managers who manage larger groups may want to incorporate a division of labor. A
division of labor splits the work up into specific tasks which are assigned to specific
individuals. It is best to assign the tasks to workers who are skilled at those tasks. Some
disadvantages to large groups are the lack of communication. Since there are so many
people in the group it is hard to communicate with one another. It is much more difficult to
plan for 20 members rather than 10.
When deciding on group size, managers should have no more members in a group
than necessary tasks. In determining whether a group is too large, managers should
analyze individual performance. If individual performance is declining then worker
productivity is declining because there is not enough work.
At CHX, groups work together in teams of 6. In this team there is a division of labor
where each member accomplishes an individual task which is then combined with other
members individual tasks to achieve a company goal. Each person in the group has
different specialties that allow them to handle special jobs and tasks they are assigned.

Group Roles

A group role is a set of behaviors and tasks that a member of a group is expected to
perform because of his or her position in the group. Members of a cross-functional team
focus on their expected specialty. For example in a cross-functional team you would not see
a marketing manager focusing on research and development. Rather, youd see a research
and development manager focusing on research and development and a marketing
manager focusing on marketing strategies. In order to effectively promote a group role,
managers need to express the expectations for each member of the group. Role making is
the idea that managers should encourage group members to take initiative on certain
responsibilities as they arise over time.
At CHX, Valentina stated that the groups implement a self-regulatory compliance
system for the entire company. Groups establish roles for individuals who then complete
those tasks and check their work accordingly. They also check their work with other group
members. Working cross functionally is also promoted at CHX. Managers will work with
managers from different functional departments to strategize to meet company goals.

Group Leadership

It is important for all groups to develop leadership. An effective leader is important
to a groups success. In some cases a group leader is appointed at random while other times
the group leader is voted by team members. Sometimes when no one wants to be a group
leader one person steps up and naturally leads the group. In some instances group
leadership is transferred among group members. When problems arise in a group and they
fail to achieve their goal it can be due to lack of team leadership. Team leadership is a
crucial part of a team because a leader sets the standards and guidelines in order for the
team to succeed.

Group Leadership
At CHX group leadership is very important. Valentina believes a good group leader is
one who develops a system of checks and balances in order to get things done. One person
will check on the work of another to get approval, once approval is received, the individual
can then proceed to the next task. Checks and balances is one of the most effective ways to
lead a group and should be promoted by every group leader.


Group Norms

Group norms are shared guidelines or rules for behavior that most group members
follow. All groups have group norms. Whether it is top management, self-managed work
teams, or command groups, all of these groups set up group norms in order to effectively
work and succeed. Assigning roles to each member of a group is one way to control group
behavior. Once a person has an assigned role they focus on achieving that goal. Group
norms include working hours, sharing information, and communication. Group members
either choose to conform to the rules or fail to conform to the rules. Failure to conform to
the rules is called deviance. Deviance usually results in punishment such as expulsion from
the group.

One rule Valentina likes to enforce is separating business from personal life. When
at work one should be working not gossiping about their social life. Also, when someone
makes a mistake Valentina likes to talk about that with in a group. Talking about a mistake
with a group lets the group know what they are doing wrong and what they can do to fix
their problem. If someone makes a mistake never criticize that person. Valentina believes
everyone makes mistakes even managers so criticizing someone for their mistakes makes
the problem worse.

Group Cohesiveness

Another important performance measure in group work is group cohesiveness.
Group cohesiveness is defined as the degree to which members are attached to or loyal to
their group. When working in a group, you want group cohesiveness to be high because the
members of the group are more loyal to the group and value their group members. They
also find the group more appealing and desire to remain in the group. Teams who have low
group cohesiveness find their members uninterested and have little desire to be apart of
the group. There are three consequences to group cohesiveness: level of participation, level
of conformity to group norms, and emphasis on group accomplishment.



Reducing Social Loafing in Groups

Sometimes when individuals are put into groups do not or end up not working as
hard as they would have individually. This is called social loafing. People who social loaf
would rather distribute the burden of work upon their team members rather than taking
control of the work for themselves. Managers need to be aware of this downside to working
in groups. Managers can take certain steps to reduce social loafing like making sure that
there is enough work for each member of the group to stay busy. Each team should be at
the appropriate size level compared to the task that is being accomplished. Managers can
assign certain tasks to individuals and then make routine checkups with that individual to
make sure they are completing the task assigned.

At CHX, social loafing is kept to a minimum. Valentina said social loafing does not
happen at CHX. Everyone has their unique role and responsibility so if someone decides to
slack and not do their work it will become clear to the project manager that their part is
missing or not working correctly. This goes along with the idea of checks and balances
because once someone completes their work it is then checked. If their work is not
completed then they have no work to be checked by their other group members.

Image Citations
Group Leadership:
http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/93232-guidelines-for-picking-
small-group-leaders/

Groups and Teams:
http://www.staffresources.org/groups-%E2%80%93-organize-for-how-people-think/