Teams Flashcards
Definition
• We tend to think it’s different from a group
• Kozlowski & Illgen (2006):
o 2+ people who interact socially on at least one common goal
o Brought together to perform tasks and are interdependent to that end
o Have different roles and are embedded in a broader system
Importance
- Teams are a fundamental part of all human endeavors and huge part of organizations
- Trends such as globalization have increased need for effective teams and created new challenges (e.g., handling virtual teams and increased diversity)
Trends
- Team diversity (Jackson et al., 2011)
- International teams
- Virtual teams
- Other unique situations (space; see “teams in the wild” chapter by Salas)
Antecedents
Five determinants of team effectiveness
- Team composition
- E.g., personality, KSAOs- Cog ability = most robust
- Task design
- E.g., interdependence
- Resources
- E.g., training, time/space, leadership - Rewards
- E.g., team and individual don’t compete (same for goals)
- Goals
*Consider inputs and processes (processes more proximal to effectiveness variables)
Predictors of conflict
Predictors of conflict (De Dreu)
• Interdependence (better w/ cooperative goals)
• Justice and fairness
• Diversity (e.g., faultlines)
Team effectiveness outcomes
Hackman, 1987: output, viability, satisfaction
Outcomes of conflict
- Health and well-being (-)
- Attitudes (job sat, commit absenteeism, TO, etc) (-)
- Learning and creativity (some conflict may be beneficial, more research)
- Group decision making/perf. (-)
- Can benefit creativity/innovation and perf. under certain conditions; typically does more harm than good.
Outcomes of team diversity
• Communication patterns: work team diversity may be detrimental to internal dynamics, yet beneficial to a team’s external performance
• Conflict: team diversity is only marginally related
• Social cohesion, decreased commitment, and turnover likely as diversity increases
• Creativity and innovation can be increased with diversity; but not with faultlines
• Performance: Mixed impact (team tasks different by study)
• Concluding remarks
o Relations-oriented often of little consequence (depends on degree of diver.)
o Task-oriented is often beneficial
Other big issues to consider?
• Overarching themes for the models
o Each follows the IPO framework (w/ exception of Ilgen’s added M and feedback loop)
o Focus on aspects like team composition, task design, rewards, resources, and goals
o We need to stop creating new models and study what we have.
o Tuckman’s adds time/stage component (e.g., norming, storming)
• Be sure to start from team task analysis
o Selection: What makes a good team member; which factors should be considered when selecting team members; what is the best composition of team member knowledge and skills; how does diversity play into effective teamwork?
- Consider role of time and what stage the team is in
- Conflict is typically bad but can be good for things like creativity in some situations (e.g., when team members trust one another)
- The type of diversity matters! (e.g., functional (deep) vs. demographic (surface))
- We seem to have moved away from process emergent state
Future team research
• Team diversity; multicultural issues (Jackson et al., 2011 handbook chapter)
o Overcoming diversity by having meaningful shared experiences
o Understanding types of diversity - We should focus on variations in individual attitudes, values, beliefs, and work-related knowledge and move away from “shortcuts” like gender and race
o Understanding the structure of diversity - Multidimensional approach to studying diversity
o Understanding leadership in diverse teams
o Understanding international diversity
- Need to build on what we already have as well… use what we know and move forward with it
- Virtual teams and their processes
a. Communication, conflict, sharing information, technology, etc
b. Formation of fault lines
- Understanding the role of social status and dominance
- Org politics: generational issues
- How to facilitate good conflict among teams and how can we prevent escalation of bad conflict
- Need to consider teams “in the wild” (Salas); lab teams are much diff. from field teams
How to conduct team research
Set up a theoretical model
Specify the type of team and the team task
Describe process of interest and any situational factors that may have impact
Describe how you are defining and measuring perf and effectiveness including effect sizes
Describe competencies addressed as well as type of training so it can be replicated
Types of conflict
• Task conflict
• Relationship conflict
o High relationship between task and relationship conflict
• Process conflict
o Disagreement about how a task should proceed, who is responsible for what, and how things should be done
Types of diversity
• Relations-oriented—typically no apparent direct implications for performance
o Example: age, gender, and personality
• Task-oriented—potentially relevant to the teams literature
o Examples: tenure, formal credits, titles
• Readily-detected diversity— easily discerned
o Examples: age, gender nationality
• Underlying diversity—generally become known only through interactions
o Personality, attitudes, and skills
