Welcome to MT140 Introduction to Management

Unit 7 Seminar – Effective Teams

Agenda

• General Questions and Announcements• Introduction• Why Some Groups Fail/ Q & A• Contribution of Teams to an Organization/ Q & A• Types of Teams / Q & A• Recap• Unit Assignment Clarification• Conclusion of Seminar

Introduction• If you have ever led or been a participant in teams, you

are likely aware that sometimes teams yield successful results and sometimes they do not.

• If you haven’t yet been called upon to work on a team or to lead one, chances are that you will be in the future.

• In the modern workplace, there has been a trend toward conducting business with the use of teams. Today’s managers have the goal of ensuring that their work teams are successful.

The New Team Environment

Why Groups Sometimes Fail:

• Ineffective communication• Lack of effective chartering, visioning, and goal setting• Lack of clarity about roles• Inability to keep morale and momentum high• Decrease in productivity• Lack of trust

As a manager, what is your role in increasing the likelihood that your team will be successful?

Manager’s Role: Successful Team

• Empower team • Team building activities/outside coaching • Commitment to common purpose• Measurable performance goals• Feedback on performance• Training: technical, functional, problem-solving, decision

making and interpersonal skills• Motivation/Rewards based on performance• Publicize team successes

The Contribution of Teams to an Organization

-How can teamwork approach to work help the organization?

The Contributions of TeamsBenefiting of the organization

directly…• A team of individuals

addressing an issue can experience breakthroughs and develop fresh ideas that may not have been possible with a single individual.

• Teams can increase production, improve quality, and reduce costs.

• Teams can enhance speed and be powerful forces for innovation and change.

Contribution of Teams, (cont’d)

For the benefit of the team members directly and organization indirectly….

• The team can be a useful learning mechanism, thereby benefiting the members.

• Team members can give each other feedback; identify opportunities for growth and development; and train, coach, and mentor.

- Source: Bateman and Snell text; page. 244

Types of Teams

-Can you name some types of teams that are commonly present in the workplace?

Different Types of Organizational Teams

• Work Teams – make or do things such as manufacture, assemble, sell or provide service; part of organizational structure

• Project and Development Teams – work on long-terms projects; member have expert knowledge and judgment; disband after project completed

• Parallel Teams – operate separate from regular work structure; solutions to specific problems; i.e. task force

Different Types of Organizational Teams

• Management Teams – coordinate and give direction to subunits; integrate work among units

• Transnational Teams - work groups composed of multinational members whose activities span multiple countries

• Virtual Teams - teams that are physically dispersed and communicate electronically more than face-to-face

Different Types of Organizational Teams

• Self-Managed Teams• Empowers employees• Workers trained to do all or most of jobs in unit• No immediate supervisor• Make decisions previously made by first-line manager

Resistance: People don’t want so much responsibility, change is difficult, don’t like to evaluate performance of teammates or to fire people

Recap

• In this seminar, we’ve discussed:

-Why some groups fail-How teams contribute to organizations

-Various types of teams

Unit 7 Coursework

• Reading: Chapter 11 in the Bateman and Snell text pp. 244-256

• Discussion: Focus on traditional environment vs. team environment; What is your experience in the workplace?

• Assignment: Focus on self-managed teams; How could team approach help Sandwich Blitz?

• Quiz: 5 multiple choice questions

Thank You for Attending!