Chapter 13
Teams in Organizations
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Module 13.1: Types of Teams
• Reasons for increased use of teams:
– Work can be performed concurrently rather
than sequentially
– Innovation & creativity promoted
– Enable quick, effective development/delivery
of products & services
– Organizations learn & retain learning more
effectively
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Groups & Teams: Definitions
• Groups include members who may work together
or may just share some resources
• Teams include members whose tasks are
interdependent; Work towards a common goal &
share responsibility for outcomes
• Groups & Teams have too much in common for
any grand distinctions
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Types of Teams
• Quality circles
– Typically involve 6-12 employees who meet
regularly to identify problems/generate ideas
– Positive outcomes in short term but gains
not sustained over time (honeymoon effect)
– Decreasingly popular in US
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Types of Teams (cont’d)
• Project teams
– Created to solve particular problem
– Disbanded after problem solved or project
completed
– Raise some organizational challenges –
multiple reporting relationships.
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Types of Teams (cont’d)
• Production teams
– Consist of front-line employees who
produce a tangible output
– Autonomous work group: Type of
production team with control over a
variety of functions
• Research findings unclear, more research is
necessary
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Virtual Teams
• Composed of widely dispersed members
working together toward a common goal;
linked through technology
• Pose several advantages to organizations
• Trust is a critical concern; Increase via:
– Virtual-collaboration, virtual-socialization, and
virtual-communication behaviors
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A Specialized Team:
Airline Cockpit Crew
• Benefit from an organizational context that
provides:
– Challenging objectives
– An education system
– An information system
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Module 13.2: A Model of
Team Effectiveness
• Input-Process-Output Model
– Enables understanding of how teams
perform & how to maximize performance
Figure 13.1
The Input-Process-Output
Model of Team Effectiveness
Source: Adapted from Gladstein (1984).
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Team Inputs
• Organizational context
– Provide necessary
resources
• Team composition
– Attributes of team
members
– Shared mental models
• Team task
– Task to be performed
• Team diversity
– Demographic &
psychological diversity
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Team Processes
• Norms
– Informal rules of a
team
• Communication &
coordination
• Cohesion
– Degree of desire to
remain in team
• Decision making
– Groupthink
– Social loafing
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Team Outputs
• Team performance
– Often reflected in objective measures
• Team innovation
• Team member well-being
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Module 13.3:
Special Issues in Teams
• Team appraisal & feedback
– Should provide team with information
needed to identify team problems & further
develop team capabilities
– Extent to which team behaviors & outputs
can be measured must be considered
– ProMES
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Team-role theory (Belbin, 1993)
– Effective teams contain a combination of
individuals capable of working in 9 team roles
• Plant
• Resource investigator
• Coordinator
• Shaper
• Monitor evaluator
• Team-Worker
• Implementer
• Completer
• Specialist
– Used predominantly in Europe & Australia
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Team Development
• Changes occur in teams as they develop
over time
• 5 stages of development
1. Orientation (forming)
2. Conflict (storming)
3. Structure (norming)
4. Work (performing)
5. Dissolution (adjourning)
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Team Training
• Involves coordinating performance of
individuals who work together to
achieve a common goal
• 3 Strategies
– Cross-training
– Team coordination training
– Team leader training
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Cultural Issues in Teams
• Applying Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
– Implications for teams
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Long-term vs. short-term orientation
• Effect of cultural & national
backgrounds of team members
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Teams and Culture
Teams tend to be wellreceived in
collectivistic cultures
Picture 13.4
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