Chapter 10
Understanding Work Teams
Why Are Teams So Popular?
• Increased competition forced companies to compete more efficiently
• Teams:
– Better utilize employee talents
– Are more flexible and responsive to change
– Democratize and motivate
Groups and Teams
• Work group: Interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help one another
perform within each member’s area of responsibility
• Work team: Generates positive synergy through coordinated effort; individual efforts result in a
level of performance that is greater than the sum of those individual inputs
Problem-Solving Teams
• Share ideas or suggest improvements
• Rarely given authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions
Self-Managed Work Teams
• 10-15 employees in highly related jobs
• Team takes on supervisory responsibilities:
– Work planning and scheduling
– Assigning tasks
– Operating decisions/actions
– Working with customers
• May select and evaluate members
• Effectiveness is dependent on the situation
Cross-Functional Teams
• Members from same level, but diverse areas within and between organizations
• Exchange information
Understanding Work Teams
Why Are Teams So Popular?
• Increased competition forced companies to compete more efficiently
• Teams:
– Better utilize employee talents
– Are more flexible and responsive to change
– Democratize and motivate
Groups and Teams
• Work group: Interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help one another
perform within each member’s area of responsibility
• Work team: Generates positive synergy through coordinated effort; individual efforts result in a
level of performance that is greater than the sum of those individual inputs
Problem-Solving Teams
• Share ideas or suggest improvements
• Rarely given authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions
Self-Managed Work Teams
• 10-15 employees in highly related jobs
• Team takes on supervisory responsibilities:
– Work planning and scheduling
– Assigning tasks
– Operating decisions/actions
– Working with customers
• May select and evaluate members
• Effectiveness is dependent on the situation
Cross-Functional Teams
• Members from same level, but diverse areas within and between organizations
• Exchange information
