Teamwork

Team: A small group of people with complementary skills, who work together to accomplish shared goals while holding themselves mutually accountable for performance results.

Teamwork: The process of people working together to accomplish these goals.

Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts; in teams, it is seen when members’ individual talents and efforts are used to achieve/create.

Teams can be good for both organisations and their members:

•  More resources for problem-solving.
•  Improved creativity and innovation.
• Improved quality of decision-making.
• Greater commitments to tasks.
• Higher motivation through collective action.
• Better control and work discipline.
• More individual need satisfaction.

• Formal groups are officially recognised and supported by the organisation.
• eg. A work group. These groups may be called departments, units or teams.

• Informal groups are unofficial and emerge from relationships and shared interests among members.
• eg interest groups, friendship groups or support groups.

• Committee: Brings people together outside of daily job assignments to work in a small team for a specific purpose.
• Project teams and task forces: Formal teams convened for a specific purpose and expected to disband when that purpose is achieved. Any committee, project team or task force must be carefully established and then well run.

Cross-functional teams: Bring together members from different functional departments to work on a specific problem/task. The teams are expected not to be limited by narrow functional concerns and demands. Rather they are to think and act cross-functionally and with the needs of the whole organisation in mind.

Employee involvement teams: Meet on a regular basis to use their talents to help solve problems and achieve continuous improvement. One popular form is the quality circle, a team who meets regularly to plan ways to improve work quality.

Virtual team: Team who work together to solve problems through computer-based interactions. Can save time and travel expenses, and allow members to work collectively in a time-efficient way but can be difficult for team to establish good working relationships due to lack of face-to-face time.

• Forming: Initial orientation, interpersonal testing. Begin to identify w/ other members & with the team itself.
• Storming: Conflict over tasks and teamwork. Tasks become clarified, members begin to understand interpersonal styles. Find ways to meet team goals
• Norming: Consolidation around task and operating agendas. Begin to operate with shared rules and conducts. Harmony is emphasised but minority may be discouraged.
• Performing: Teamwork and focused task performance. Team operates with a clear and stable structure, motivated by team goals
• Adjourning: Task completion and disengagement. Members are acknowledged for their contributions and the group's overall success.

Decentralised communication network:

• Effective when teams are interacting intensively and members are working closely together as close coordination of activities is needed
• Allows all members to communicate directly with one another
• Also called the all-channel or star communication network
• Interacting group - high interdependency around a common task

Centralised communication network:

• Appropriate when team members work on tasks independently, with the required work being divided among them
• Activities are coordinated and results pooled by the central point of control
• Communication flows back and forth between individuals and a hub or centre point
• Coacting group – independent individual efforts on behalf of common tasks

Groupthink: a tendency for highly cohesive teams to lose their evaluative capabilities.

Symptoms include:

•  Illusions of invulnerability and unanimity (assume team is too good for criticism, members accept consensus prematurely without testing its completeness)
• Applying direct pressure to conform to group wishes (refuse to tolerate anyone who suggests the team may be wrong)
• Rationalising disconfirming data (members refuse to accept contradictory data to to thoroughly consider alternatives)
• Stereotyping competitors as weak (refuse to look realistically at other groups)
• Self-censorship by members (refuse to communicate personal concerns)

Actions a manager can take to avoid or overcome groupthink:

• Assign the role of critical evaluator, encourage a sharing of viewpoints
• Do not appear partial to one course of action, allow free discussion
• Create sub-teams to work on the same problems and then share their solutions
• Hold a “second-chance” meeting after consensus seems apparent to review the decision
• Have team members discuss issues with outsiders and report back
• Invite outside experts to observe team activities and offer input
• Assign a “devil’s advocate” role at each team meeting

• Conformity to norms is largely determined by the strength of cohesiveness (the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to remain part of a team). 
• Therefore it is vital that the performance norms are positive.