Sub: Principles of Management

Chapter 10
Understanding Teams
Lecturer: Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim ( MPA)

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Chapter Check-In
Teamwork Defined
Types of Teams
Effectiveness of
Team Building
Stages of Team Development
Stage 1: Forming
Stage 2: Storming
Stage 3: Norming
Stage 4: Performing
Adjourning
Strategies for Managing Team Conflict
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Introduction
As part of a team, an employee is required to
give his or her all for the team,
professionally speaking. Ideally, working
toward a common goal should be the most
important reward for any employee. And
as a team member, an employee should be
proud and motivated to be a part of the
team’s effort toward organizational goals.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Teamwork Defined
The traditional workplace, with its emphasis on
internal competition and individual star
performers, is undergoing a transformation. In
U.S. businesses, a strong movement toward the
use of teams is occurring. Management experts
and researchers suggest that a successful
organization is characterized by effective
teamwork and leadership rather than management.
Interactions among employees can be characterized
in three ways:
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The major difference between groups and teams
centers around how work gets done. Work groups
emphasize individual work products, individual
accountability, and even individual-centered
leadership. In contrast, work teams share leadership
roles, have both individual and mutual account-
ability, and create collective work products. In other
words, a work group’s performance is a function of
what its members do as individuals, while a team’s
performance is based on collective results—what
two or more work- ers accomplish jointly.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Types of Teams
The development of teams and teamwork has grown
dramatically in all types of organizations for one
simple reason: No one person has the abil- ity to
deliver the kinds of products and services required in
today’s highly competitive marketplace. Organizations
must depend on the cooperative nature of many teams
to create successful ventures and outcomes. Teams can
be vertical (functional), horizontal (cross-functional),
or self- directed (self-managed) and can be used to
create new products, complete specific projects, ensure
quality, or replace operating departments.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Functional teams
Functional teams perform specific
organizational functions and include members
from several vertical levels of the hierarchy. In
other words, a functional team is composed of
a manager and his or her subordinates for a
particular functional area. Accounting,
personnel, and purchasing departments are
examples of functional teams.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Cross-functional teams
Cross-functional teams are made up of experts in
various specialties (or functions) working together on
various organizational tasks. Team members come
from such departments as research and development,
design, engineering, marketing, and distribution.
These teams are often empowered to make decisions
without the approval of management. Although
functional teams are usually permanent, cross-
functional teams are often temporary, lasting for as
little as a few months or as long as several years,
depending on the group tasks being performed.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Self-directed work teams
Self-directed work teams, or self-managed teams,
operate without managers and are responsible for
complete work processes or segments that deliver
products or services to external or internal
customers. Self-directed work teams (SDWTs) are
designed to give employees a feeling of
“ownership” of a whole job. With shared team
responsibilities for work out- comes, team members
often have broader job assignments and cross- train
to master other jobs.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Effectiveness of Teams
High-performance teams don’t just appear; they
are developed and nurtured (look after). By
themselves, leaders with vision cannot guarantee
the development of such high-performance
teams, nor can members who desire to be part of
such teams. The development of high-
performance teams takes the combined efforts of
visionary leaders and motivated team members.
In addition, facilitators with expertise in team
building are needed.
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The following lists the characteristics that
comprise high-performance teams:
The team has a common focus, including clear
and understandable goals, plans of action, and
ways to measure success.
Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined
for each team member.
Each member has clearly defined expectations
of other members.
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The team fully utilizes its resources—both internal
and external.
Members value each other’s differences in healthy
and productive ways.
Each member is able to give, receive, and elicit
(extract) necessary feedback.
The team members manage their meetings in a
productive way.
The team is able to reach goals by achieving the
necessary results.
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To build an effective team, a leader needs to
establish an organizational environment in
which individual team members can reflect
upon and analyze relationships with other
team members. A leader should encourage
the resolution of any conflicts through
healthy, professional confrontation
(argument), and willingly and openly
negotiate necessary changes.
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Several factors within an organization itself
influence team effectiveness, including its
organizational culture, level of autonomy,
and types of feed- back mechanisms. But
the factors that influence the effectiveness
of a team most directly stem from its
internal structure and processes.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Team Building
Team building requires managers to follow a
systematic planning and implementation process
to assess whether teams can improve the
organization’s goal attainment; to remove
barriers to team building; and to build effective
teams through training, empowerment, and
feedback. Managers must also decide on team
size and member roles to gain the maximum
contribution for all members.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Stages of Team Development
Generally, when organizations form teams, these
organizations have specific projects or goals in
mind.
A team is simply a tool that accomplishes a project or
goal. But no matter what the reason teams are
formed, they go through four stages, according to a
1965 research paper by Bruce Tuckman of the Naval
Medical Research Institute at Bethesda. The
following sections describe Tuckman’s four stages.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Stage 1: Forming
During the forming stage, team members not only get to
know each other but also familiarize themselves with
their task and with other individuals interested in the
project, such as supervisors.
Stage 2: Storming
Storming is characterized by competition and conflict
within the team as members learn to bend (corner) and
mold (shape) their feelings, ideas, attitudes, and
beliefs to suit the team organization. Although
conflicts may or may not surface as group issues, they
do exist.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Stage 3: Norming
During this stage of development, team
members begin to experience a sense of
group belonging and a feeling of relief as a
result of resolving inter- personal conflicts.
Stage 3 is characterized by the flow of data
between team members: They share feelings
and ideas, solicit and give feedback to one
another, and explore actions related to the
task. Creativity is high.
@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)
 Stage 4: Performing
Again, the performing stage is not reached by all
teams. Those teams that do reach this stage not
only enjoy team members who work independently
but also support those who can come back together
and work interdependently to solve problems.
A team is at its most productive during this stage.
Team members are both highly task-oriented and
highly people-oriented during this stage. The team
is unified: Team identity is complete, team morale is
high, and team loyalty is intense.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Adjourning
Teams assembled for specific project or for
a finite length of time go through a fifth
stage, called adjourning, when the team
breaks up. A planned conclusion usually
includes recognition for participation and
achievement and an opportunity for
members to say personal goodbyes.

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The termination of the team is a regressive
movement from giving up con- trol to the
team to giving up inclusion in the team.
This last stage focuses on wrapping up
activities rather than on task performance.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

 Strategies for Managing Team Conflict
Conflict isn’t always negative; conflict is
inevitable, natural, and even healthy whenever
people work together. Conflict can be an
effective means for everyone to grow, learn,
and become more productive and satisfied in
the workplace. What is unhealthy, however, is
unresolved conflict that is allowed to fester
(worsen) and become a hindrance (barrier) to
an otherwise productive team.
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Common causes of conflict include employee
competition; differences in objectives, values, or
perceptions; disagreements about roles, work
activities, or individual styles; and breakdowns in
communication.
As a result, conflict management is a big part of
managing individuals or teams. To manage
conflict, a manager must analyze the conflict
situation to determine the cause and severity, and
then develop a strategy for action.
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Strategy options include the following:
 Avoidance—withdrawing from or ignoring
conflict.
 Smoothing—playing down differences to ease
conflict.
 Compromise—giving up something to gain
something.
 Collaboration—mutual problem solving.
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 Confrontation (argument)—for verbalization
(articulation) of disagreements.
 Appeal to team objectives—highlighting the
mutual need to reach a higher goal.
 Third-party intervention—asking an
objective third party to mediate.

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

THE END

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)

Questions and Comments

@ 2021 Mr. Ali Mohamed Alim (Ali Yare)