Work Groups and Teams

Work Groups and Teams

Work teams and groups:
a) are composed of two or more individuals,
b) who exist to perform organizationally relevant tasks,
c) share one or more common goals,
d) interact socially,
e) exhibit task interdependencies (i.e., workflow, goals,
outcomes),
f) maintain and manage boundaries, and
g) are embedded in an organizational context that sets
boundaries, constrains the team, and influences
exchanges with other units in the broader entity.
 Groups and Teams
• Groups are usually formed around common
interests or purposes with the goal of sharing
information, but there is no collective
accountability.
• Teams’ focus is collective performance, where
the members have both individual and mutual
accountability. 
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams

Advantages Disadvantages
• Different people with • Members can become
diverse skills are brought discouraged and leave the
together. company if there is no
• Higher communication level support from the managers.
• Can discover new • Can be ineffective if they
approaches and improve lack leadership, expertise
product and services and necessary skills.
• The efficiency in product • Also ineffective if there are
development within the no defined purpose and
traditional hierarchy resources required.
 Types of Work Teams
1. Functional Work Team
2. Cross-functional Team
3. Matrix Team
4. Troubleshooting Team
5. Self-managed Teams
6. Project Team
7. Task Force Team
8. Virtual Team
 Functional Work Team
• All the members belong to the same
functional area and respond to a single
manager.
• Responsible for the management of the whole
group
• For example, Finance or HR department or
Maintenance team
 Functional Work Team
Advantages Disadvantages
• Handles routine work • Difficult communication
• Line management has across areas
control of projects • Pushing the decision-
• Pools technical and making process
professional expertise upwards
• Inflexible
 Cross-functional Team
• Made up of members from different
departments
• Members have the same hierarchical level
• Purpose is to bring more creative and
comprehensive results by brining different
inputs and expertise
• Committees and councils
 Cross-functional Team
Advantages Disadvantages
• Greater speed of task • Takes long to develop
completion cohesion
• Can handle a wide array • Management can prove
of projects to be challenging
• Source of • Diversity can cause
unconventional ideas conflict
 Matrix Team

• Two-boss system, where employees have to

report to two different managers
• Employees have to face with challenges of
dual command which can cause confusion and
frustration.
 Matrix Team
Advantages Disadvantages
• Acceptable to • Dual reporting
traditional managers • The team leader is
• Flexibility for assigned usually unable to
personnel choose who will be on
• Top management the project
controls projects, stays • Difficult performance
out of daily activities appraisal
 Troubleshooting team
• For Improving processes to find out how to
solve the problems that are harming them
• Sent to the departments that the issue arise

Self-managed team
• Groups of employees who work in an
extremely integrated and collaborative way
• Defines roles and responsibilities and
supervise themselves.
 Self-managed team
Advantages Disadvantages
• Autonomy improves • The lack of hierarchical
employee motivation. authority can put
• Team members can personal relationships
manage their own time over good judgment
and handle tasks when • Can lead to conformity
it suits them that suppresses
• Shared responsibility creativity and critical
instills pride in team thinking
accomplishments • High training time and
costs
 Project Team
• For implementation of a specific project until
completion.
• Dissolves as it achieved its objectives.
• Members come from different areas of the
company and perform the tasks concerned
with their original department
 Task Force Team
• Form only when emergency situations
emerge within the organization needs to
solve
• Dedicate themselves exclusively to the specific
task during the emergency period
• Do the tasks in the best way and in the
shortest possible time
 Virtual Team
• Involves employees who work in different
locations and rely on the communication and
collaboration tools to get things done together
• Provides people with better life-work balance
and allow business owners to hire the best
experts
 Types of Virtual Teams
Teams are characterized by
• Time (different working hours, different shifts,
or in different time-zones)
• Space (can work closely or away from each
others)
• Culture (How and whom people work for)