Deck 17: Teams and Teamwork

Question 1

KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG
The student complained that free riders were making it hard for her team to perform well.
Social Loafing Is Hurting Team Performance

1. Psychology study: A German researcher asked people to pull on a rope as hard as they could. First, individuals pulled alone. Second, they pulled as part of a group. The results from this study showed that people pull harder when working alone than when working as part of a team. Such "social loafing" is the tendency for individuals to reduce their level of effort when working with others.
2. Faculty office: A student wants to speak with the instructor about his team's performance on the last project. There were four members, but two did almost all of the work. The other two largely disappeared, showing up only at the last minute to be part of the formal presentation. His point is that the team was disadvantaged because two free-riders were responsible for reduced performance capacity.
3. Telephone call from the boss: "John, I really need you to serve on this committee. Will you do it Let me know tomorrow." In thinking about this, John ponders: I'm overloaded, but I don't want to turn down the boss. I'll accept but let the committee members know about my situation. I'll be active in discussions and try to offer viewpoints and perspectives that are helpful. However, I'll let them know up front that I can't be a leader or volunteer for any extra work.
WHAT DO YOU THINK
What are the ethical issues involved in team situations when some members sit back and let others do more of the work the entire team is responsible for doing When you join a team, do all of the team's members have an ethical obligation to do a similar amount of work-why or why not When it comes to John, does the fact that he intends to be honest with the other committee members make any difference Isn't he still going to be a social loafer while earning credit from his boss for serving on the committee Is his approach ethical-or should he simply decline to participate on the committee What factors would make you more/less comfortable with another member not pulling their weight on the team

Answer 1

In the present case it is given that team members put in less effort while working in the team. When working alone, the effort put in by individuals is much more as when they work in a team. Such tendency is generally known as "social loafing".
There could be some ethical issues in cases when some team members hold themselves back and allow other team members to the work for all the team members.
Ethically it will not be correct on the part of the team members who do not put in required efforts in the completion of the tasks. When part of a team, it becomes the responsibility of an individual to put in required efforts for the completion of the team goal.
It becomes ethically inappropriate when people do not put in the required efforts and become free riders and make use of the efforts put in by other people for their own benefit.
When part of a team it becomes an obligation of an individual to perform in the best possible manner and put in the same amount of efforts as put in by other team members. It is unethical for a team member to make use of efforts put in by other team members.
It becomes unethical because when a person becomes a part of the team, then some responsibilities are conferred on the individual. And by not putting in efforts and by not fulfilling the responsibilities the individual engages in unethical practices.
In the given case J has been asked by his boss to be a part of a committee but at the same time J has been overloaded with various responsibilities. J does not want to turn down the proposal of the boss and intends to let his position known to the member of the committee.
The intention of J in being honest with the committee members does make a difference. He exhibits high ethical standards as by letting others know of his position would make people aware about the contribution that he will be making.
He thinks of putting in efforts and giving his views and perspectives that might prove helpful for the committee members. Thus, by contributing in the committee meeting J would not be social loafing and would be playing his part as a part of the meeting.
The approach adopted by J is ethical as he accepted the proposal despite having other priorities and he is also thinking about making contribution in the team meeting.
Declining from participating in team meeting could amount to dereliction of duties and it could be presumed that J is running away from his job responsibilities. Thus, J did absolutely right by agreeing to attend the meeting and explaining his position and at the same time making contribution into the meeting by giving his view and suggestions.
It would make me less comfortable when a team member does not put in required amount of effort in the team. As in that case it would make the team members less motivated. This would eventually result in less productivity in the team.
Thus, it should be ensured that all the team members put in the required amount of efforts in the team and there should not be the case when a team member does not put any effort at all in the team.

Question 2

To increase the cohesiveness of a group, a manager would be best off ____________. (a) starting competition with other groups
(b) increasing the group size
(c) acting as a positive role model
(d) introducing a new member

Answer 2

The correct answer is
.
Option (b) is a wrong answer as the size of the group will be decreased when cohesiveness is increased.
Option (c) is not a correct answer because the given factor is not true in this regard.
Option (d) is an incorrect answer as the new member's introduction will not be happened in the given situation but competition between their team and other team will be introduced.
When level cohesive of a team is high it leads to satisfaction of team members. It leads to competition between their team and other team. Therefore, option (a) is correct answer and remaining options are incorrect.

Question 3

LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF
Sports teams whose members play together the longest win more because the players get to know each other's moves and playing tendencies.
Don't Short Your Team Contributions
P ositive team contributions are things that members do to help their team succeed at their tasks and help one another enjoy the experience of being on the team.
Scene-Hospital operating room: Scholars notice that heart surgeons have lower death rates for similar procedures performed in hospitals where they do more operations than in hospitals where they do fewer operations.
Why Researchers say the operations are more likely to be successful because the doctors in the better hospitals spend more time working together with members of their surgical teams. It's not only the surgeon's skills that count, they say "The skills of the team, and of the organization, matter." The ability to practice together increases how effectively the skills of the members of the surgical team can be integrated with one another. Practice increases the potency of team contributions.
Scene-NBA basketball court: Scholars find that basketball teams win more games the longer the players have been together.
Why Researchers claim it's a "teamwork effect." Sports teams whose members have played together the longest tend to win more games because the players get to know each other's moves and playing tendencies. Players develop a sense, over time, of what their teammates are thinking and where they will be on the court before they get there. Knowledge of other team members increases the benefits of team contributions.
A large part of your career success will depend on how well you work in and lead teams. Take a look at the list of "must-have" team skills presented here. Do you have the skills portfolio and personal commitment to make truly valuable team contributions

GET TO KNOW YOURSELF BETTER
Have a serious conversation with others who know and work with you about your performance as a team member and team leader. What do you expect that they'll say Ask for suggestions on how you could improve your team contributions. Prepare a short presentation to a potential employer describing your team skills. Write a set of notes on how you will describe yourself and what examples you will give to support your potential as a team leader and member.

Answer 3

In a conversation with team members it was told that performance as a team member was good and interaction with the team members was also good. The team members asked to have more interaction with them.
They also want me to contribute more by providing my views and feedbacks about the team. This could be done by more day-to-day interaction.
The possible points that could be included in presentation related with team skills could be as follows:
• Making continuous contribution in team meetings by providing suggestions and feedbacks and ideas and views related with the projects that the team is working on.
• Motivating and encouraging the team members to work on the tasks assigned.
• Helping newcomers in the organization to adjust in the new working environment.
• Listening queries of the newcomers and resolving their issues.
• Communicating with fellow team members and outside the team in order to gain perspectives on the ongoing projects and tasks.
The following points could be given in order to describe one as a team leader and as a team member:
• Listening to queries of the team members and providing them feedback.
• Accepting suggestion and implementing relevant suggestion in the work.
• Building consensus among the team members in order to carry out assigned work.
• Completing the allocated work in the prescribed time limit.
Thus, above given points could be used in order to work as a team leader.

Question 4

Groupthink is most likely to occur in teams that are ____________. (a) large in size
(b) diverse in membership
(c) high-performing
(d) highly cohesive

Question 5

When a group of people is able to achieve more than what its members could by working individually, this is called ____________. (a) social loafing
(b) consensus
(c) viability
(d) synergy

Question 6

A team member who does a good job at summarizing discussion, offering new ideas, and clarifying points made by others is providing leadership by contributing __________ activities to the group process. (a) required
(b) task
(c) disruptive
(d) maintenance

Question 7

What are teams and how do they fit in organizations

Question 8

A ____________ decision is one in which all members agree on the course of action to be taken. (a) consensus
(b) unanimous
(c) majority
(d) nominal

Question 9

LEARN FROM ROLE MODELS
If two pizzas aren't enough to feed a team, it's too big.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos Feeds Innovation with Two-Pizza Teams

A mazon.com's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is one of America's top businesspersons and a technology visionary. He's also a great fan of teams. Bezos coined a simple rule when it comes to sizing the firm's product development teams: If two pizzas aren't enough to feed a team, it's too big.
Don't expect to spot a stereotyped corporate CEO in Jeff Bezos. His standard office attire is still blue jeans and a blue-collared shirt. But, this attire comes with a unique personality and a great business mind. If you go to Amazon.com and click on the "Gold Box" at the top, you'll be tuning in to Bezos's vision. It's a place for special deals, lasting only an hour and offering everything from a power tool to a new pair of shoes. If you join Amazon Prime and "One-Click" your way to free shipping and a hassle-free checkout, you're benefiting from his vision as well. And, of course, there's also the Kindle. Not only has it become Amazon's best-selling product ever, but it also made electronic books an everyday reality-one that competitors have been racing to take advantage of.
Amazon's innovations don't just come out of the blue. They're part and parcel of the management philosophy Bezos has instilled at the firm. And teams are a central ingredient in the innovation process. Bezos calls Amazon's small two-pizza teams "innovation engines," betting that they'll help fight creeping bureaucracy as the company grows larger and more complex.
FIND THE INSPIRATION
Is Bezos on to a great management lesson with his notion of the two-pizza team What difference does team size make in your experience Can you come up with an example of a team with over a dozen members that performed really well If so, how can you explain its success On the other hand, can a team be too small What example can you give of a team that would have done better if it was just a little bigger

Question 10

A team performing very creative and unstructured tasks is most likely to succeed using ___________. (a) a decentralized communication network
(b) decisions by majority rule
(c) decisions by minority rule
(d) more task than maintenance activities

Question 11

One of the recommended strategies for dealing with a group member who engages in social loafing is to __________. (a) redefine tasks to make individual contributions more visible
(b) ask another member to encourage this person to work harder
(c) give the person extra rewards and hope he or she will feel guilty
(d) just forget about it

Question 12

Which of the following approaches can help groups achieve creativity in situations where lots of interpersonal conflicts are likely to occur (a) nominal group technique
(b) minority rule
(c) consensus
(d) brainstorming

Question 13

What are current trends in the use of teams

Question 14

How can a manager improve team effectiveness by modifying inputs

Question 15

In an organization operating with self-managing teams, the traditional role of ____________ is replaced by the role of team leader. (a) chief executive officer
(b) first-line supervisor
(c) middle manager
(d) general manager

Question 16

What is the relationship among a team's cohesiveness, performance norms, and performance results

Question 17

How do teams work

Question 18

How would a manager know that a team is suffering from groupthink (give two symptoms), and what could the manager do about it (give two responses)

Question 19

An effective team is defined as one that achieves high levels of task performance, member satisfaction, and ____________. (a) resource efficiency
(b) future viability
(c) consensus
(d) creativity

Question 20

What makes a self-managing team different from a traditional work group

Question 21

How do teams make decisions

Question 22

Marcos Martinez has just been appointed manager of a production team operating the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in a large manufacturing firm. An experienced manager, Marcos is pleased that the team members really like and get along well with one another, but they also appear to be restricting their task outputs to the minimum acceptable levels. What could Marcos do to improve things in this situation, and why should he do them

Question 23

In the open-systems model of teams, the ____________ is an important input factor. (a) communication network
(b) decision-making method
(c) performance norm
(d) set of membership characteristics

Question 24

The team effectiveness equation states the following: Team effectiveness = Quality of inputs + (____________ - Process losses). (a) Process gains
(b) Leadership impact
(c) Membership ability
(d) Problem complexity

Question 25

A basic rule of team dynamics states that the greater the ____________ in a team, the greater the conformity to norms. (a) membership diversity
(b) cohesiveness
(c) task structure
(d) competition among members

Question 26

MAKE DATA YOUR FRIEND
Meetings are frequent, but many say the ones they attend are ineffective.
Unproductive Meetings Are Major Time Wasters

A survey of some 38,000 workers around the world links low productivity with bad meetings, poor communication, and unclear goals.
69% of meetings attended are considered ineffective.
32% of workers complain about team communication.
31% complain about unclear objectives and priorities.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do the results from this survey match your own experiences with team meetings Given the common complaints about meetings, what can a team leader do to improve them Think about recent meetings you have attended. In what ways were the best meetings different from the worst meetings Did your own behavior play a significant role in both of these cases How do the interactions of team members influence the quality of these meetings Why

Question 27

Members of a team tend to start to get coordinated and comfortable with one another in the ____________ stage of team development. (a) forming
(b) norming
(c) performing
(d) adjourning

Question 28

THINK BEFORE YOU ACT
"There is no 'I' in team!" is a common cry. But basketball superstar Michael Jordan once responded: "There is an 'I' in win."
Creating Disharmony to Build a Better Team

"T here is no 'I' in team!" is a common cry. But basketball superstar Michael Jordan once responded: "There is an 'I' in win." What's the point here Jordan is suggesting that someone as expert in task direction as himself shouldn't always be subordinated to the team. Rather, the team's job may be to support his or her talents so that they shine to their brightest potential.
In his book, There Is an I in Team: What Elite Athletes and Coaches Really Know about High Performance (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), Cambridge scholar Mark de Rond notes that sports metaphors abound in the workplace. We talk about "heavy hitters" and ask teammates to "step up to the plate." The real world of teamwork is dominated by the quest for cooperation, perhaps at the cost of needed friction. And that, according to du Rond, is a potential performance problem. "When teams work well," du Rond says, "it is because, not in spite, of individual differences."
Those in favor of du Rond's views are likely to argue that even if superstars bring a bit of conflict to the team, the result may well be added creativity and a performance boost. Instead of trying to make everyone happy, perhaps it's time for managers and team leaders to accept that disharmony can be functional, adding a needed edge. A bit of team tension may be a price worth paying for high performance. Those worried about du Rond's views might say there's a fine line between a superstar's real performance contribution and the collateral damage or negative impact caused by personality and temperament clashes. That line is a hard one to spot and to manage.
YOUR TAKE
Given what we know about teams and your personal experiences with them, should we be finding ways to accommodate superstars on a team... or avoid them

Question 29

One way for a manager to build positive norms within a team is to ____________. (a) act as a positive role model
(b) increase group size
(c) introduce groupthink
(d) isolate the team