Team Dynamics – Chapter 8
Three characteristics to distinguish types of teams
teams
in organizations: groups of two or more people who interact
1. team permanence with and influence each other, are mutually
how long the type of team usually exists accountable for achieving common goals
2. skill diversity associated with organizational objectives,
high: members possess different skills, knowledge; and perceive themselves as a social entity
within an organization
low: members have similar abilities
3. authority dispersion
degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team (high dispersion)
or is vested in one or a few members of the team (low dispersion)
Advantages of Teams
- people are more motivated when working in teams
o drive to bond
o accountability to fellow team members
o co-workers become benchmarks of comparison
Disadvantages of Teams
- process losses social loafing
resources (including time and energy) expended toward when people exert less effort (and
team development and maintenance rather than the task usually perform at a lower level)
e.g. in order to resolve disagreements when working in teams than when
working alone
- process losses tend to increase with number of members; e.g. tug war (Tauziehen)
larger team requires more coordination, etc. (Brook’s law)
- teams also suffer from motivational process losses (social loafing)
Solutions for social loafing:
1. form smaller teams
→ each person’s performance becomes more noticeable and important
2. specialize tasks
→ easier to observe when each team member performs a different work activity
3. measure individual performance
4. increase job enrichment
→ implying higher motivational potential of member’s task
5. select motivated, team-oriented employees
→ selecting team members carefully who will form a bond or identity with the team
, Team Dynamics – Chapter 8
Team Effectiveness Model
Features or conditions that make some teams more effective than others
Team Design
- task characteristics
- team size
Organizational and Team - team composition Team Effectiveness
Environment - accomplish tasks
- rewards - satisfy member needs
- communication - maintain team survival
- organizational structure
- organizational leadership Team Processes
- physical space - team development
- team norms
- team cohesion
- team trust
Organizational and team environment
- all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence its effectiveness
e.g. rewards, information systems supporting team coordination, etc.
Team design elements
Task characteristics which make tasks ideal for teamwork task interdependence
- complex tasks divisible into specialized roles the extent to which team
- well-structured tasks members must share materials,
- low task variability & high task analysability information, or expertise in
- higher task interdependence order to perform their jobs
LEVELS OF TASK INTERDEPENDENCE
shared resource
Pooled interdependence low level of
employees or work units share interdependence
common resources, but each Employee Employee Employee
member works alone
Sequential interdependence
the output of one person Employee Employee Employee
becomes the direct input for
another person or unit
Reciprocal interdependence Employee
work output is exchanged bac
and forth among individuals Employee Employee high level of
interdependence
Employee
Team size
- large enough to provide the necessary abilities and viewpoints to perform the work,
yet small enough to maintain efficient coordination and meaningful involvement
Three characteristics to distinguish types of teams
teams
in organizations: groups of two or more people who interact
1. team permanence with and influence each other, are mutually
how long the type of team usually exists accountable for achieving common goals
2. skill diversity associated with organizational objectives,
high: members possess different skills, knowledge; and perceive themselves as a social entity
within an organization
low: members have similar abilities
3. authority dispersion
degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team (high dispersion)
or is vested in one or a few members of the team (low dispersion)
Advantages of Teams
- people are more motivated when working in teams
o drive to bond
o accountability to fellow team members
o co-workers become benchmarks of comparison
Disadvantages of Teams
- process losses social loafing
resources (including time and energy) expended toward when people exert less effort (and
team development and maintenance rather than the task usually perform at a lower level)
e.g. in order to resolve disagreements when working in teams than when
working alone
- process losses tend to increase with number of members; e.g. tug war (Tauziehen)
larger team requires more coordination, etc. (Brook’s law)
- teams also suffer from motivational process losses (social loafing)
Solutions for social loafing:
1. form smaller teams
→ each person’s performance becomes more noticeable and important
2. specialize tasks
→ easier to observe when each team member performs a different work activity
3. measure individual performance
4. increase job enrichment
→ implying higher motivational potential of member’s task
5. select motivated, team-oriented employees
→ selecting team members carefully who will form a bond or identity with the team
, Team Dynamics – Chapter 8
Team Effectiveness Model
Features or conditions that make some teams more effective than others
Team Design
- task characteristics
- team size
Organizational and Team - team composition Team Effectiveness
Environment - accomplish tasks
- rewards - satisfy member needs
- communication - maintain team survival
- organizational structure
- organizational leadership Team Processes
- physical space - team development
- team norms
- team cohesion
- team trust
Organizational and team environment
- all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence its effectiveness
e.g. rewards, information systems supporting team coordination, etc.
Team design elements
Task characteristics which make tasks ideal for teamwork task interdependence
- complex tasks divisible into specialized roles the extent to which team
- well-structured tasks members must share materials,
- low task variability & high task analysability information, or expertise in
- higher task interdependence order to perform their jobs
LEVELS OF TASK INTERDEPENDENCE
shared resource
Pooled interdependence low level of
employees or work units share interdependence
common resources, but each Employee Employee Employee
member works alone
Sequential interdependence
the output of one person Employee Employee Employee
becomes the direct input for
another person or unit
Reciprocal interdependence Employee
work output is exchanged bac
and forth among individuals Employee Employee high level of
interdependence
Employee
Team size
- large enough to provide the necessary abilities and viewpoints to perform the work,
yet small enough to maintain efficient coordination and meaningful involvement
