Managing Groups and Teams

Module 13
LIS 580: Spring 2006
Instructor- Michael Crandall
 Roadmap
• Groups and teams
• Characteristics of teams
• Reasons for team failure
• Leading teams
• Improving team performance

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 2

 Groups and Teams
• Group
– Two or more persons who are interacting in
such a way that each person influences
and is influenced by each other person.
• Team
– A group of people committed to a common
purpose, set of performance goals, and
approach for which the team members hold
themselves mutually accountable.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 3

 Comparing Work Teams and
Work Groups

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 4

 The Popularity of Teams
• Teams typically outperform individuals when
tasks require multiple skills, judgment, and
experience
• Teams are a better way to utilize individual
employee talents
• The flexibility and responsiveness of teams is
essential in a changing environment
• Empowered teams increase job satisfaction
and morale, enhance employee involvement,
and promote workforce diversity
Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 5

 Types of Work Teams

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 6

 Virtual Team
• Virtual Team
– Groups of geographically and/or organizationally
dispersed coworkers who interact using a
combination of telecommunications and
information technologies to accomplish an
organizational task.
– Virtual teams may be temporary, existing only to
accomplish a specific task. Or they may be
permanent and address ongoing matters.
– Membership is often fluid, evolving according to
changing task requirements.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 7

 Group Dynamics
• Group Norms
– The informal rules that groups adopt to
regulate and regularize group members’
behavior.
• Group Cohesiveness
– The degree of interpersonal attractiveness
within a group, dependent on factors like
proximity, similarities, attraction among the
individual group members, group size,
intergroup competition, and agreement
about goals.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 8

 What It Takes to Be a Team
Player
• Personality
– Individualism versus collectivism
• Interpersonal Skills
– Conflict management skills
– Collaborative problem solving skills
– Communication skills
• Management Skills
– Develop and establish goals
– Control, monitor, provide feedback
– Set work roles and assign tasks
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 9

 Team Member Roles

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 10

 Challenges to Creating Team
Players
• Managers attempting to introduce teams
into organization face the most difficulty:
– When individual employee resistance to
teams is strong
– Where the national culture is individualistic
rather than collectivist
– When an established organization places

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 11

 Workforce Diversity’s
Effects on Teams
• Fresh and multiple perspectives on issues
help the team identify creative or unique
solutions and avoid weak alternatives
• The difficulty of working together may make it
harder to unify a diverse team and reach
agreements
• Although diversity’s advantages dissipate with
time, the added-value of diverse teams
increases as the team becomes more
cohesive
Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 12

 Checklist 13.1
How to Build a Productive Team
 Have clear mission/purpose.
 Set specific performance goals.
 Compose the right team size and mix.
 Have an agreed-upon structure appropriate to
the task.
 Delegate the authority to make the decisions
needed, given their mission.
 Provide access to or control of the resources
needed to complete their mission.
 Offer a mix of group and individual rewards.
 Foster longevity and stability of membership.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 13

 Characteristics of High-
performing Work Teams

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 14
 Why Teams Fail: The Leadership, Focus,
and Capability Pyramid

Source: Adapted
from Steven
Rayner, “Team
Traps: What
They Are, How to
Avoid Them.”
National
Productivity
Review. Summer
1996, p. 107.
Reprinted by
permission of
John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.

FIGURE 13–3
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 15

 Checklist 13.2
Symptoms of Unproductive Teams

 Nonaccomplishment of goals.
 Cautious, guarded
communication.
 Lack of disagreement.
 Malfunctioning meetings.
 Conflict within the team.

G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 16

 The Challenge of Team
Leadership
• Becoming an effective team leader
requires:
– Learning to share information
– Developing the ability to trust others
– Learning to give up authority
– Knowing when to leave their teams alone
and when to intercede
• New roles that team leaders take on
– Managing the team’s external boundary
– Facilitating the team process
Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 17

 Leading Productive Teams
• Team Leader Skills • Team Leader Values
– Coaching, not – Respecting fellow
bossing team members
– Help define, analyze, – Trusting fellow team
and solve problems members
– Encourage – Putting the team first
participation by
others
– Serve as a facilitator

G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 18

 Team Leader Roles

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 19

 Team Leader Behaviors

Druskat, V.U. & J.V. Wheeler. (2004). How to Lead a Self-Managing Team

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 20

 Typical Leader Transition
Problems
• Perceived Loss of Power or Status
• Unclear Team Leader Roles
• Job Security Concerns
• The Double Standard Problem

G.Dessler, 2003

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 Stages of Team Development

Prentice Hall, 2002

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 22

 The Leader’s Role in Creating a
Self-Managing Team
• Forming
– The teams and their leaders begin working out
their specific responsibilities.
– Training is the leader’s main task.
• Storming
– Questions typically arise regarding who is leading
the team and what its structure and purpose
should be.
– The leader ensures that team members continue to
learn and eventually exercise leadership skills.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 23

 The Leader’s Role in Creating a
Self-Managing Team (cont’d)
• Norming
– Team members agree on purpose, structure, and
leadership and are prepared to start performing.
– The leader’s job is to emphasize the need for the
team to temper cooperation with the responsibility
to supervise its own members.
• Performing
– A period of productivity, achievement, and pride as
the team members work together to get the job
done.
• Adjourning
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 24

 How to Improve Team
Performance
• Select members for skill
and teamwork.
• Establish challenging
performance standards.
• Emphasize the task’s
importance.
• Assign whole tasks.
• Send the right signals.
• Encourage social
support.
• Make sure there are
unambiguous team
rules.
• Challenge the group
regularly with fresh facts
and information.
• Train and cross-train.
• Provide the necessary
tools and material
support.
• Encourage “emotionally
intelligent” team
behavior.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 25

 Providing an Organizational Context
That Supports Teams
Organizational
Organizational
Structure
Structure

Organizational
Organizational
Systems
Systems Team
TeamWork
Work
Approach
Approach
Organizational
Organizational
Policies
Policies

Employee
Employee
Skills
Skills
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 26

 Designing Organizations to
Manage Teams

Source: Adapted from James H. Shonk, Team-Based FIGURE 13–5

Organizations (Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1997), p. 36. G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 27

Pros and Cons of Group Decision
Making
Pros
• More points of view
• More ways to define the
problem
• More possible
solutions/alternatives
• More creative decisions
• Stronger commitment to
decisions
Cons
• More disagreement and
less problem solving
• Desire for consensus
(groupthink)
• Domination by a single
individual
• Less of commitment to
the group decision

G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 28

 Signs That Groupthink May Be a
Problem

Source: Adapted from information provided in Irving James, Group Think: Psychological
Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascos, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982). FIGURE 13–7
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 29

 Improving Group Decision
Making
• Devil’s-Advocate Approach
– The group appoints a person to prepare
a detailed counterargument that lists
what is wrong with the group’s favored
solution and why the group should not
adopt it.
– The aim is to ensure
a full and objective
consideration of the
solution proposal.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 30

 Improving Group Decision
Making (cont’d)
• Brainstorming
– A creativity-stimulating technique in which prior
judgments and criticisms are specifically forbidden
from being expressed and thus inhibiting the free
flow of ideas, which are encouraged.
– Brainstorming rules:
• Avoid criticizing others’ ideas until all suggestions are out
on the table.
• Share even wild suggestions.
• Offer many suggestions and comments as possible.
• Build on others’ suggestions to create your own.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 31

 Improving Group Decision
Making (cont’d)
• The Delphi Technique
– A multistage group decision-making process aimed
at eliminating inhibitions or groupthink through
obtaining the written opinions of experts working
independently.
– Process steps
• Identify the problem.
• Solicit the experts’ individual opinions on the problem.
• Analyze, distill, and then resubmit these opinions to other
experts.
• Continue this process for several more rounds until the
experts reach a consensus.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 32

 Improving Group Decision
Making (cont’d)
• The Nominal Group Technique
1. Each group member writes down his or her ideas
for solving the problem at hand.
2. Each member then presents his or her ideas orally,
and the person writes the ideas on a board for
other participants to see.
3. After all ideas are presented, the entire group
discusses all ideas simultaneously.
4. Group members individually and secretly vote on
each proposed solution.
5. The solution with the most individual votes wins.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 33

 Improving Group Decision
Making (cont’d)
• The Stepladder Technique
1. Individuals A and B are given a problem to solve,
and each produces an independent solution.
2. A and B develop a joint decision, and meet with C,
who has analyzed the problem and arrived at a
decision.
3. A, B, and C discuss the problem and arrive at a
consensus decision, and are joined by D, who has
analyzed the problem and arrived at a decision.
4. A, B, C, and D jointly develop a final group
decision.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 34

 Improving Group Decision
Making (cont’d)
• How to Lead a Group Decision-Making
Discussion
1. See that all group members participate and
contribute.
2. Distinguish between idea getting and idea
evaluation.
3. Do not respond to each participant or dominate the
discussion.
4. Direct the group’s effort toward overcoming
surmountable obstacles.
5. Don’t sit down.
G.Dessler, 2003

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 35

 Next Time
• Guest Lecturer:
– Martha Choe, Director of Global Libraries
Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
– Read the articles, and come prepared to
discuss library leadership issues

May 9, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 36