Teams: Processes and Communication

1. Teams: Processes and Communication 12

2. Learning Goals • What are taskwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category? • What are teamwork processes, and what are some examples of team activities that fall into this process category? • What factors influence the communication process in teams? • What are team states, and what are some examples of the states that fall into this process category? • How do team processes affect team performance and team commitment? • What steps can organizations take to improve team processes?

3. Team Processes • Team process • The different types of activities and interactions • That occur within teams • And contribute to their end goals • Team characteristics (e.g., member diversity, team size) affect team processes • Team processes, in turn, have a strong impact on team effectiveness

4. Team Value • Process gain– getting more from the team than you would expect from the capabilities of its individual members • Process loss– getting less from the team than you would expect from the capabilities of its individual members

5. Process Loss • Coordination loss • Production blocking • Motivational loss • Social loafing

6. Taskwork Processes Taskwork processes– activities of team members that relate directly to the accomplishment of team tasks • Creative behavior – activities focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions • Brainstorming • Nominal group technique

7. Table 12-1 IDEO’s Secrets for Brainstorming

8. Taskwork Processes, cont’d Decision Making • Decision informity – whether members possess adequate information about their own task responsibilities • Staff validity– degree to which members make good recommendations to the leader • Hierarchical sensitivity– degree to which the leader effectively weighs the members’ recommendations

9. Taskwork Processes, cont’d Boundary Spanning – activities with individuals and groups outside the team • Ambassador activities • Protect the team • Persuade others to support the team • Obtain important resources for the team • Task coordinator activities • Coordinate task-related issues with people or groups in other functional areas • Scout activities • Obtain information about technology, competitors, or the broader marketplace

10. Teamwork Processes Teamwork processes – interpersonal activities that facilitate the accomplishment of the team’s work but don’t directly involve task accomplishment • Behaviors creating the context in which taskwork can be carried out • Transition processes • Action processes • Interpersonal processes

11. Teamwork Processes, cont’d Transition processes–teamwork activities focusing on preparation for future work • Mission analysis – analysis of the team’s task, challenges that face the team, and resources available for completing the team’s work • Strategy formulation – development of courses of action and contingency plans, and adapting those plans in light of changes that occur • Goal specification - development and prioritization of goals related to the team’s mission and strategy

12. Teamwork Processes, cont’d Action processes • Monitoring progress toward goals • Systems monitoring – keeping track of things the team needs to accomplish its work • Helping behavior – members going out of their way to help or back up other team members • Coordination - synchronizing team members’ activities to mess them effectively and seamlessly

13. Teamwork Processes, cont’d Interpersonal processes • Motivating and confidence building • Affect management – activities that foster a sense of emotional balance and unity • Conflict management – activities the team uses to manage conflicts that arise • Relationship conflict • Task conflict

14. Figure 12-3 Communication Communication – the process by which information and meaning get transferred from a sender to a receiver

15. Communication, cont’d Factors that influence the communication process • Communication issues • Participants may lack communication competence, receiver may not be skilled in listening • Noise • Information richness • Face-to-face channels provide the greatest information richness • Network structure

16. Communication, cont’d Network structure • The pattern of communication that occurs regularly among each member of the team • All channel – highly decentralized • Circle • Y • Wheel – highly centralized • Members tend to prefer decentralized network structures

17. Figure 12-4 Communication Network Structures

18. Team States Team states– specific types of feelings and thoughts that coalesce in the minds of team members as a consequence of their experience working together • Cohesion • Potency • Mental models • Transactive memory

19. Team States, cont’d Cohesion – members of teams develop strong emotional bonds to other members and to the team itself • Groupthink • Happens in highly cohesive teams • Members try to maintain harmony by striving toward consensus on issues • Neglect to offer, seek, or seriously consider alternative viewpoints and perspectives • Avoid too much cohesion by assessing the team’s cohesion and appointing a devil’s advocate

20. Team States, cont’d Potency– degree to which members believe the team can be effective across a variety of situations and tasks • High potency • Members are confident their team can perform • As a consequence, focus more of their energy on achieving team goals • Influences on development of high potency • Team members’ confidence in their own capabilities • Trust in other members’ capabilities • Feedback about past performance

21. Team States, cont’d Mental models • Level of common understanding among team members regarding important aspects of the team and its task Transactive memory • How specialized knowledge is distributed among members to result in an effective system of memory for the team

22. Importance of Team Processes • Teamwork processes have a moderate positive relationship with team performance • Teamwork processes have a strong positive relationship with team commitment • Teams that engage in effective teamwork processes tend to continue to exist together into the future • People tend to be satisfied in teams in which there are effective interpersonal interactions

23. Application: Training Teams Knowledge, skills, and abilities, together, are referred to as transportable teamwork competences • Trainees can transport what they learn about teamwork from one team context and apply it in another

24. Table 12-2 Examples of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Teamwork

25. Training Teams, cont’d Cross-training involves training members in the duties and responsibilities of their teammates • Personal clarification – members receive information regarding the roles of other team members • Positional modeling– team members observe how other members perform their roles • Positional rotation– members get actual experience carrying out the responsibilities of their teammates

26. Training Teams, cont’d Team process training • Occurs in the context of a team experience • Facilitates the team’s ability to function and perform more effectively as an intact unit • Action learning • Team is given a real problem that is relevant to the organization • Held accountable for analyzing the problem, developing an action plan, and carrying out the plan • Other training involves experience in a team context when task demands highlight the importance of effective teamwork processes

27. Training Teams, cont’d • Team building– training intended to facilitate the development of team processes related to: • Goal setting • Interpersonal relations • Problem solving • Role clarification • Examples • Ropes course, laser tag, paintball, scavenger hunts • Most effective for smaller teams and when the exercise emphasizes the importance of clarifying role responsibilities