Team Dynamics

1. Team Dynamics

2. What are teams? • Groups of two or more people • Exist to fulfil a purpose • Interdependent - interact and influence each other • Mutually accountable for achieving common goals • Perceive themselves as a social entity

3. Groups versus teams • All teams are groups • Some groups are just people assembled together • Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not (e.g. group of employees enjoying lunch together)

4. Types of teams and groups Temporary Permanent Production team Management team Task force Formal teams Friendshipgroup Communitiesof practice Informal groups

5. Why informal groups exist • Innate drive to bond • fulfil need for social interaction • social identity • Goal accomplishment • Emotional support

6. Organisational and team environment Team design Team effectiveness • Reward systems • Communication systems • Physical space • Organisational environment • Organisational structure • Organisational leadership • Task characteristics • Team size • Team composition • Achieve organisational goals • Satisfy member needs • Maintain team survival Team processes • Team development • Team norms • Team roles • Team cohesiveness Team effectiveness model

7. Team design features • Task characteristics • better when tasks are clear, easy to implement • share common inputs, processes or outcomes • task interdependence • Team size • smaller teams are better • but large enough to accomplish task • Team composition • members motivated/competent to perform task in a team environment • team diversity

8. Resource A B C A B C A B C Levels of task interdependence High Reciprocal Sequential Pooled Low

9. Less conflict Faster team development Perform better on cooperative tasks Better coordination High satisfaction of team members More conflict Longer team development Perform better on complex problems More creative Better representation outside the team Homogeneous vs. heterogeneous teams Homogeneous teams Heterogeneous teams

10. Performing Norming Storming Existing teams might regress back to an earlier stage of development Adjourning Stages of team development Forming

11. Team norms • Team establishes informal rules and expectations to regulate member behaviours • Norms develop through: • explicit statements • critical events in team’s history • initial team experiences • beliefs/values members bring to the team

12. Day 12: Peer pressure begins Day 28: Employee has doubled performance Day 20: Employee begins working alone Day 1: Employee begins job with team 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 Conformity to team norms 100 75 Units pressed per hour 50 25 0 Production days

13. Changing team norms • Introduce norms when forming teams • Select members with preferred norms • Discuss counter-productive norms • Reward behaviours representing desired norms • Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

14. Influences on team cohesiveness Member similarity Team cohesiveness External challenges Team size Team success Member interaction Somewhat difficult entry

15. Team cohesiveness outcomes Members of cohesive teams: • want to remain members • willing to share information • strong interpersonal bonds • resolve conflict effectively • better interpersonal relationships

16. Cohesiveness and performance Moderately high task performance High taskperformance Team norms support company goals Moderately low task performance Low task performance Team norms oppose company goals Low team cohesiveness High team cohesiveness

17. The trouble with teams • Individuals better/faster on some tasks • Process losses - cost of developing and maintaining teams • Companies don’t support best work environment for team dynamics • Social loafing

18. How to minimise social loafing • Make individual performance more visible • form smaller teams • specialise tasks • measure individual performance • Increase employee motivation • increase job enrichment • select motivated employees