18. Understanding Work Teams

7/31/2019 18. Understanding Work Teams

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UNDERSTANDING

WORK TEAMS


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WORK TEAMS

A Small number of people with

complementary skills who are committed

to a common purpose, commonperformance goals, and an approach for

which they hold themselves mutually

accountable.


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TYPES OF WORK TEAMS

On the basis of their objectives, teams canbe classified into different types.

The three kinds of teams most commonly

found in organizations are: -1. Problem-solving teams.

2. Self-managed work teams.

3. Cross-functional teams.


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2005 Prentice Hall 94

Why Have Teams Become So

Popular

Teams typically outperform individuals.

Teams use employee talents better.

Teams are more flexible and responsiveto changes in the environment.

Teams facilitate employee involvement.

Teams are an effective way to

democratize and organization and

increase motivation.


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PROBLEM SOLVING TEAMS

Such teams generally consists of around 5

to 12 employees.

These employees meet for a specific

number of hours per week to discuss

various ways of improving quality,

efficiency and the work environment.

Problem solving teams are temporary

teams that deal with some specific

problems at the workplace.

A commonly used problem solving team

was the Quality Circle.


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QUALITY CIRCLE

A Quality Circle (QC) is defined as a

small group of employees in the same

work area or doing similar type ofwork that voluntarily meets regularly

for about an hour every week to

identify, analyze and resolve work-related problems.


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OBJECTIVES OF QUALITY CIRCLE

Bringing about a change in the attitude of employeesby improving the quality of work life.

Teaching additional skills to employees and bringing

out their latent potential.

Developing a team spirit in the organization and

reducing conflict between departments.

Involving people at different levels in finding a solution

to a problem. Improving the motivation level of employees.

Providing employees with a conducive work

environment


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SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS

Problem-solving teams allowed employees to make

suggestions and recommendations, but did not involve

them in taking work-related decisions.

To involve teams in organizational matters, fully

autonomous teams, called self-managed work teams,were developed.

Self-managed work teams consists around 10-15

employees.

Most of the decisions regarding maintenance, work

scheduling, and equipment purchases are made by

these teams.

The supervisor merely plays the role of a facilitator.


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STUDIES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OFSELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS

Some studies found that individuals whobelonged to such teams were generally

very satisfied with their jobs.

Other studies found that employees whobelonged to self-managed work teams had

a higher absenteeism and attrition rate

than employees who worked inconventional work groups.


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CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS

Cross-functional teams consists of employees from thesame hierarchical level, but from different functional areas

of the organization. These employees come together to

achieve a specific objective.

The Industrial Specialties Division of 3M is also a type ofcross-functional team. This division has been extremely

successful in sustaining innovation and quality in all the

companys products.

Cross-functional teams allow employees to handlecomplicated projects, share ideas, and solve various

problems pertaining to the organization.

It requires time and patience as the team members need

to learn to work with diversity and complexity.


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ESSENTIALS FOR BUILDINGEFFECTIVE TEAMS

Providing a supportive environment: - Team work buildsmutual trust and cooperation. And makes the employees

adaptable and flexible. In order to create these conditions,

managers need to develop an appropriate organizational

culture. Relevant Skills and Role Clarity: - The team members

should have the necessary skills to carry out the jobs they

have been entrusted with and should be willing to cooperate

with others n the team. They understand their roles andthose of other members in the team. Example: - Consider a

surgical team in the hospital. During an emergency, each

team member understand the need for sure that they will

perform their tasks well. Such a high degree of cooperation

and mutual trust is the hallmark of an effective team.


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CONTD.

Focus on super ordinate goals: - The supervisors ormanagers of teams should keep their team members

focused on accomplishing the overall task, not just on

accomplishing their individual tasks. Example: - If a sales

representative has reached his individual target, he may

delay the delivery of some products so that those sales

contribute to his target for the next month. He is not

bothered if all the other sales representatives in the

district have reached their target or if there is any deficit

in the achievement of the district target. Team reward: - An effective system of team rewards

encourages teamwork. The rewards could be either

financial or non-financial.

.


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SHAPING INDIVIDUALS INTOTEAM PLAYERS

Selection: - Interpersonal skills differ from personto person. Only those people who posses good

interpersonal skills should be selected for

teamwork.

Training: - It is possible to train individual workerswho have worked in conventional organizations

which emphasized individual performance and

make them effective team player. Example: - At

Bell Atlantic, trainers helped employees realize theimportance of patience in teamwork, because

teams take a longer time than individuals to arrive

at a decision.


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CONTD. Reward: - The system of rewards should be

based on team efforts rather than on individualefforts. An effective reward system tries to

balance individual contributions with those made

for the benefit of the team.

Examples of team oriented behaviors: -

1. Learning new skills required by the team.

2. Imparting training to new colleagues.

3. Exchanging ideas and information with other

members of the team.

4. Assisting in resolving team conflicts.

APPLYING GROUP CONCEPTS TO


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APPLYING GROUP CONCEPTS TOTEAMS:TOWARDS CREATING EFFECTIVE

TEAMS

Size of Work Teams: - In order to designeffective teams, managers must limit the number

of members in each teams to 10 to 12.

Abilities of Members: - Technical skills,

decision-making and problem-solving skills, andinterpersonal skills.

Allocation of Work Roles: - In order to design

effective teams, managers need to identify thosequalities which are necessary for performance,

select people with those strengths, and assign

work roles that are compatible with that persons

style.


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CONTD.

Strong commitment to a Common Purpose: - Teammembers of a successful teams put in a lot of hard work

in developing a purpose which reflects both their

individual and collective sentiments.

Specifying Clear and Realistic Performance Goals Good Leadership and Effective Structure: - In order to

provide focus and direction, a team needs a cleaiy

defined structure. The team members should also be

clear about the role each of them would be playing to

achieve the objective of the team. Team members

should set schedules, identify the skills that the team is

lacking, establish methods for resolving conflicts within

the team and the manner in which decisions will be

made and modified.


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CONTD.

Preventing Social Loafing and DeterminingAccountability.

Proper Evaluation and Reward Systems: -

the management should use group-basedappraisals, profit sharing, and small-group

incentives to strengthen team effort and

commitment.

Generating Mutual Trust among Team

Members

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18. Understanding Work Teams