B102 Organisational Behaviour :::::: OB10

AS ONE TEAM

6th Presentation
 Learning Outcomes
 Explain how team composition, work processes and
relationship between members impact the performance
and cohesiveness of a team.
 Discuss how organisational and external team environment
impact a team’s effectiveness.
 Carry out activities to address causes of poor team
behaviour/effectiveness.

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 Reason for this Problem
Working with People to Get Things Done
Managing team and organisational processes - Organisation &
Development

Team Development

For the Workplace:

Immediate Benefit:

• Discover ways to work better • Understand the importance of working

with your teammates
(cohesiveness) Develop
greater respect for your
teammates
together and how it could help turn
challenges into opportunities
• Understand and manage team conflicts
better so to achieve greater harmony at
work
• Appreciate teamwork and it’s role in
building a united, determined and well-
prepared future for ourselves and
together as a nation 3
 Building an Effective Team

Effective Team
Supportive
Team Design

Right Achieves
Organisational People organisational
and Team goals
Environment
Clear Satisfies needs of
Processes members
Stages of
Development Maintains team
Good
survival
Relationships

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Right Conscientiousness, openness to experience and
Personality agreeableness all relate to team performance
Right Technical expertise as well as problem-solving / decision-
Abilities making and interpersonal skills are needed
Right
Members want to be part of the team and value teamwork
Attitude
Large enough to supply needed competencies/manpower
Right Size but small enough for easy coordination and meaningful
involvement of all members (popular rule: 5 -7 people)
Homogeneity (members are alike - personality, experience,
Right Mix etc.) is good for bonding but heterogeneity is needed for
teams attempting unfamiliar / innovative tasks
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Common Every member agrees on the purpose of the team and
Purpose commits towards achieving the purpose
Clear Work procedures, goals and standards are jointly agreed
Expectations to by members
Members are aware of their roles and accept allocation of
Clear Roles
roles within the team (e.g. Belbin’s team roles)

Clear Rules What are acceptable/non-acceptable behaviours are clear

Clear Control Members actively manage unproductive behaviours (e.g.

Processes conflicts)

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Good
Members listen effectively and communicate openly
Communication
Members know and understand each other so well that
they are willing to allow another member to decide/act on
their behalf. The major factors that influence trust are:
Identification- • Familiarity  know each other through contact in the past
based Trust • Shared experience  experienced many of the same
things together (e.g. suffered through crises together)
• Reciprocal disclosure  have shared personal information
with each other  closer interpersonal relationship
Strong Members feel as part of the team and identify themselves
Cohesiveness with the team. See next slide on what influences cohesion
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 Team Cohesion
Factors that increases team cohesion:
 Frequent Interaction
 Homogeneity  similarity-attraction effect
 Smaller team size  easier to agree on goals and coordinate activities
 Somewhat difficult entry  more elite the team, the more prestige it
confers, the more people value their membership in the team
 Past successes  people like to identify themselves with successful
teams rather than one with a string of failures
 External competition and challenge  people value their membership if
it helps them overcome threats
Source: McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2009). Organizational behavior: [essentials]. Chapter 7, pp. 155-156. 8
 Supportive
Organisational and Team
Environment

Support from the organisation such as timely information,

Adequate
proper equipment, senior management support for work
Resources
activities and cooperation from other teams
Effective Facilitating decision-making and how team fits together to
Leadership integrate individual skills
Team-based Need to consider team-based appraisal and tying part of
Rewards an individual’s rewards to team’s overall achievements

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Most effective teams go through 5 stages of development:
Stage 1: Forming
This stage is characterised by:
uncertainty
Members attempt to:
• Discover team’s purpose, structure
and leadership as well as what they
are expected to do and how they are
expected to behave
• Get to know & assess each other
• Evaluate the benefit of being part of
the team
This stage is completed when:
Members think of themselves as part of
the team
Stage 2: Storming
conflict
Members:
• Resist the constraints imposed on
their individuality (e.g. rules, etc.)
• Compete for team roles & leadership
• Voice their dissatisfaction with others
• Try to influence team to accept their
goals / ideas
Major conflicts are resolved and there is a
relatively clear hierarchy of leadership 10
Most effective teams go through 5 stages of development:
Stage 3: Norming
This stage is characterised by:
agreements
• With structural disagreements
resolved, members now focus
on how they want to work and
function as a team
• Team becomes more cohesive
as feelings of camaraderie and
shared responsibility increase
This stage is completed when:
Members accept common set of
expectations on how to do things
Stage 4: Performing
achievements
• Since structure, leadership and
relationship issues have been
resolved, members now focus
on achieving their goals
• There is efficient coordination Team disbands
of work, clarity of roles as well when there is
as high levels of cooperation little value in
and trust keeping team
Goals have been completed
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STRATEGIES to facilitate effective team development at the early
stages:
Forming Storming Norming
To reduce uncertainty: To manage conflicts: • Facilitate discussions
• Clarify team’s purpose • Agree on process to among members to
and goal expectations resolve conflicts refine processes and
• Bring team together • Allow conflicts to be rules
to work on common raised for discussion • Develop capacity to
tasks - opportunities • Focus on solving the compensate for
for interaction among conflict, rather than individual weaknesses
members assigning blame • Create opportunities
Also: • Clarify members’ level for casual interaction
• Define team-based of authority and areas among members to
reward structure of responsibility strengthen cohesion

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EXTENDED LEARNING A
When to Choose to Work in Teams?

• Work is complex and require

different perspectives
• Need to achieve something
bigger than just aggregate of
the goals for individuals
• Members will be involved in
interdependent tasks

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EXTENDED LEARNING B
 Belbin’s Team Roles
 All 9 roles are essential for a team to successfully achieve its goals.
 Every team should have a balance of individuals taking on these roles
(each can take more than 1 role).

Role Contribution Allowable Weaknesses

Plant • Creative & imaginative • Lacks practicality
• Generates ideas and solve • Too preoccupied to
problems communicate effectively
Resource • Enthusiastic & communicative • Short attention span (loses
Investigator • Explores opportunities and interest in things quickly)
develops contacts

Source: Belbin Team Roles. (2012). Retrieved February 27, 2012, from the Belbin website: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp 16
 Belbin’s Team Roles
Role Contribution Allowable Weaknesses
Coordinator • Mature & confident • Can be seen as manipulative
• Clarifies goals and delegates
effectively
Shaper • Dynamic & thrives on pressure • Prone to provoke others
• Helps team to overcome • Insensitive to others’ feelings
obstacles
Monitor • Strategic & analytical • Lacks ability to inspire others
Evaluator • Analyses options and judges • Can be overly critical
accurately
Teamworker • Cooperative & diplomatic • Indecisive under stress
• Listens and resolves conflicts • Avoids confrontation

Source: Belbin Team Roles. (2012). Retrieved February 27, 2012, from the Belbin website: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp 17
 Belbin’s Team Roles
Role Contribution Allowable Weaknesses
Implementer • Practical, reliable & efficient • Slow to respond to new
• Turns ideas into action and possibilities
organises work to be done
Completer / • Conscientious & anxious • Worries unnecessarily
Finisher • Searches out for errors and • Reluctant to delegate
polishes/perfects work
Specialist • Self-starting & dedicated • Contributes on a narrow
• Provides rare knowledge and front only
skills • Dwells on technicalities

Members should choose roles that they are naturally inclined to.

Source: Belbin Team Roles. (2012). Retrieved February 27, 2012, from the Belbin website: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp 18
 Pros and Cons of Working in Teams
Advantages
Compared with individuals working alone, teams tend to:
• Make better decisions
• Make better products/services due to more knowledge/expertise
• Increase employee engagement

Disadvantages
• Working individually might be better/faster for simple tasks
• Takes time and resources to coordinate work as well as manage
unproductive behaviours such as social loafing and conflicts
Source: McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2009). Organizational behavior: [essentials]. Chapter 7, pp. 147-148. 19
 Social Loafing
 Describes tendency of people to put in less effort when working in a
team than working alone
 Most likely to occur when individual output is difficult to identify or
team members are not evaluated individually
To minimise social loafing:
 Make each member’s contribution more noticeable by reducing the
size of team or evaluating individual performance too.
 Make jobs interesting  improve intrinsic motivation of people to
work
 Build team cohesion  less likely to ignore work and burden others
Source: McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2009). Organizational behavior: [essentials]. Chapter 7, pp. 148. 20
 References
Website
 Belbin Team Roles. (2012). Retrieved August 30, 2013, from the Belbin website:
http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp

Textbooks
 Greenberg, J. (2011). Behavior in organizations (10th ed.). Essex, England:
Pearson.
 McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2009). Organizational behavior: [essentials]
(2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
 Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T. A. (2008). Organisational behaviour (13th ed.). Pearson-
Prentice Hall.
 Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T. A. (2010). Essentials of organisational behaviour (10th
ed.). New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
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AFTER-CLASS WORK

Daily Activity (by 2359 hrs today)

• Submit the Activity Logbook
• Complete the quiz as well as peer and self-evaluations
• Complete your Reflection Journal

End-of-Week Activity
• Review the 6th Presentation slides
• Read the materials given in the Resources (compulsory reading)

Preparation for Next Week

• Do the pre-class work for Week 11 (compulsory)

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