Teams

Hi, and welcome to Organisational Behaviour. I’m Dr Jennifer Spoor. In this video we will discuss teams in organisations, focusing on the team effectiveness model.

Model of Team Effectiveness

A simple model of team effectiveness is a variation of the open systems perspective, but at the group or team level.
The team effectiveness model assumes that teams transform inputs into outputs, via internal group processes. Like the open systems perspective, the team effectiveness model also notes that teams are embedded within the larger environment or context.
Let’s walk through this model in greater detail.

Organisation and Team Environment

For effective teams, the organisation and team environment should support the team. In particular,

Organisational structure should support team-based work. The organizational structure should allow sufficient autonomy for members to freely interact, as well as the ability to communicate effectively both within and outside the team. Organisational structure should also encourage and support the natural interdependencies that occur as team members work together.

The organizational culture and leadership should also support teamwork and interdependence. Organisational culture refers to the shared values, norms and assumptions in the organization, and it may differ from the explicitly stated values. Some organizational cultures support and encourage teamwork and collaboration, whereas other emphasise individual effort and competition. Leaders should also be supportive of teams and teamwork.

The reward structure should also have a good mix of team-based and individual rewards. Note that this may be closely related to organizational structure, culture and leadership. The organization may claim to value teamwork, but if all bonuses and recognition are based on individual effort, motivation to work as a team will be undermined.

Teams should also be provided with the necessary physical space and other supporting resources, as this can affect efficiency, coordination and perceptions. A lack of appropriate resources from the organization can undermine perceptions, both within and outside the team, of its value.

The team should also be able to engage in what is called team boundary spanning or team boundary management. This refers to team activities to establish and maintain linkages outside the team, both with other parts of the organisation but also with parties external to the organisation itself. Examples of boundary spanning includes activities that persuade others to support the team, as well as activities to secure resources or provide protection and cover to the team. Other boundary spanning activities include coordinating activities with other teams and individuals to accomplish shared or interdependent goals. Finally, boundary spanning activities might be used to obtain information and knowledge from outside the team altogether, such as seeking advice from a former mentor who is not directly associated with the current team. The complexity of tasks and flattening of organisational structures suggests that effective team boundary spanning will be crucial to a team’s success.

Team Inputs

When trying to design an effective team, it is important to think about who will be in the team, how big to make the team, and what the task will be.

When thinking about who to have in the team, personality and team-based competencies are important to consider. Teams do best when members are all reasonably conscientious, and when some, but not all, members are high in extraversion, agreeableness and openness to experience.

Surface-level diversity refers to diversity in visible or biographical characteristics such as ethnicity and gender, and these characteristics are not consistently related to work behaviours and performance. In teams, surface-level diversity can lead to conflict, especially early in the group development, when interactions are likely to be based on stereotypes and misperceptions.

Deep-level or functional diversity refers to diversity on dimensions that reflect true differences in perspectives, knowledge and experience. In functionally diverse teams, members may have different training or types of work experience, and this can lead to functional or positive conflict if the unique perspectives are valued.

Regardless of the type of diversity, diverse teams generally take longer to develop into a highly effective team compared to homogenous teams where group members are all similar. But in the long run, diverse teams can outperform homogenous teams.

There is no perfect group or team size, and how big the team should be depends on the nature of the task. However, in general, keep the team as small as possible, but large enough to accomplish the task. Some reasons that smaller teams are more effective include that communication is more efficient, and social loafing is reduced as it is easier to identify members’ contributions.

Regarding task types and task design, complex and ill-defined tasks benefit from functionally diverse teams, but as noted before, they need extra time to develop, become cohesive and communicate effectively. When the task is simple and well-defined, teams can still be useful and team members learn roles quickly and may become cohesive quickly.

Processes: Development

The most famous model of group development was developed by Tuckman and colleagues. The model was developed examining interactions in therapy groups and business task groups. Among the groups he studied, they tended to go through a series of fairly predictable stages before they began to work together effectively.

In the forming stage, group members are independent and wondering if it is worthwhile to join in the part of the group. Their interactions are more tentative, trying to figure out what the group can offer them, and what they can offer the group. The storming stage is marked by tensions and hostility as the group members are starting to get to know each other better. Conflict may emerge as members jockey for position and status, and members are likely to challenge and question the leader. As these conflicts subside and are resolved, the group is thought to move to the norming stage, where minority viewpoints and dissent begins to be suppressed and expectations for how to behave within this specific group begin to emerge. Group structure begins to develop and the group begins to become more goal-focussed. At norming, the group members begin to depend upon each more. This stage is also sometimes referred to as initial integration. In the performing stage or total integration stage, the group is mature, well-organised and able to complete complex tasks.

Temporary groups, such as project teams, committees and task forces, may disband. For these kinds of groups, the ability to proceed through these stages efficiently and effectively is important.

However, many groups will continue to work together for a long period of time. Groups may revert to earlier stages if there are substantial changes to the group membership, leadership or context.

Processes: Development

Bales presented one of the earliest models of group development, and the basic elements have remained important in a variety of OB theories and models.

Bales suggested that group activities and development fluctuates to balance two chief concerns: instrumental or task-oriented concerns and socioemotional or interpersonal concerns. Instrumental or task-oriented activities are those that achieve the central group task or work toward achieving the goal. This can include orienting to the task, directing activities, and evaluating ideas. These instrumental activities achieve the group’s main goal but can strain relationships.

Thus, to maintain balance or equilibrium, activities shift to expressive or socioemotional activities, particularly the positive ones. These can help to support each other and agree with each other. Overall, interpersonal acts are less frequent than task acts within groups, but they do tend to increase over time.

Contemporary models of group development suggest that most of the time, groups and teams change very little. Punctuated equilibrium models suggest that important time points and shock events produce rapid change and development. For example, for groups with a defined task and timeline might experience a flurry of activity when the group first forms, around halfway to the deadline, and as the deadline approaches.

Team Processes: Norms and Roles

Norms and roles help create the structure that allows teams to perform and manage conflict. Norms refer to emergent and consensual standards that regulate behaviours.

Norms are hihgly functional. They help to organise interaction, increase predictability and enhance solidarity. Norms help members to know what to expect from each other and how to behave in ambiguous situations. Norms also help to enhance solidarity and cohesion in the group. For example, because norms emerge over time as the group develops, norms reflect the unique history of the group, so knowledge and adherence to norms helps to reinforce the ties and bonds to the group.

Norms can develop and be transmitted via formal channels, such as manuals and charters. However, the most powerful norms are often those that develop informally and implicitly as group members interact with each other, observe each other, and adjust their own attitudes and behaviours so that eventually the attitudes and behaviours of the group as a whole are aligned.

Once established, norms tend to be quite stable, and difficult to change and are typically passed on to new members. This is a good thing if the norms are positive and productive. 

Team Effectiveness – Cohesion

Cohesion refers to attraction to the group or task and desire to remain a member. It is the result of both cognitive and emotional processes that might reflect interpersonal attraction or liking among group members, commitment to the group’s task, or group pride and a sense of unity.
Some cohesion is generally beneficial, as cohesion is linked to increased motivation, more willingness to share information and knowledge, improved quality of interpersonal relationships within the team and greater desire to resolve conflict effectively. Increased cohesion is also linked to lower turnover and increased task productivity, when the performance norms in the team are positive and aligned with the organisation goals.
But the effects of cohesion largely depend on the norms within the team. For example, cohesion is also linked to more conformity and dependence on the group. This can be ok for the organisation if the team norms are consistent with organisation norms and expectations.
However, cohesion can be harmful when the team norms are inconsistent with the organization norms. Further, very highly cohesive groups can also be problematic because team members may become motivated to ‘protect’ the cohesiveness of the group, thus they may try to avoid anything that appears to threaten or undermine the group itself. Thus, differences of opinion or constructive criticisms might be ignored or undermined in an attempt to eliminate any forms of conflict.
Thus, managers may want to consider ways to increase or decrease cohesion.

Cohesiveness and Team Performance

Managers can influence team performance norms and cohesiveness through making changes in team goals, membership, interactions, size, rewards, competition, location and duration.

When revision of team performance norms is necessary to achieve alignment with organisational goals, the management of group cohesion would focus on actions that would lessen cohesiveness and increase acceptance of change.

Where performance norms are aligned appropriately, the focus would be on actions designed to increase cohesion.

Model of Team Effectiveness

Understanding the basic elements of the model of team effectiveness can help managers to identify levers and ways to improve motivation and performance within their teams.

Teams

This is the end of the video. I’m Dr Jennifer Spoor, and thanks for listening.

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