Work Teams Module

8/13/2019 Work Teams Module

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Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP

Industrial-Organizational PsychologyLearning Module

Work Teams


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Lesson Objectives

Know what constitutes a work team, and be

familiar with different types of work teams. Know why the use of work teams in organizations

is on the rise.

Understand the most common reasons for work

team failure. Understand how I/O psychologists are helping to

make work teamsmore effective.


At the end of this lecture, you should:


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Psychologists & Groups

There is a long history of psychologists

studying groups.

For example, topics studied include: Intimacy among group members.

Group composition.

Group compatibility.

Group motives & goals.

Group process & productivity.


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What is a Work Team?

Many different definitions, but most have

three elements:

1) An interdependent, intact social system.

2) One or more tasks to perform.

3) Operating within an organizational context.



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Examples of Work Teams

Work teams are pervasive in industry,

across all organizational levels.

Quality control circles.Task forces.

Safety committees.

Sales teams.

R&D groups.


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Work Team or Not?

Which of the following are work teams?

Students living on the same dorm floor.

Students taking the same psychology class.

Students working on a team research

paper.

Students on a committee charged with

making recommendations to curb binge

drinking.



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Why are Work Teams on the

Rise? During the past decade, the use of teams in

organizations has increased dramatically.

In todays hyper-competitive environment,old organizational structures can be too

slow, too unresponsive and too expensive to

be competitive.

Work teams can yield quality, productivityand cost improvements.

Workers can benefit from increased

autonomy and empowerment.



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Are Work Teams Always the

Answer?

The short answer - no!

Many organizations are jumping on the

teams bandwagon. Organizations should ask themselves:

Do people need to work together to get the

task done effectively?

Is expertise limited to a few people?



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What is a Successful Work

Team? A three-dimensional conception of work

team effectiveness:

1) Quality/Quantity/Timeliness

2) The ability to work together again.3) Personal growth & well-being.

The relative weights that should be applied

to these dimensions will vary according to

the teams circumstances.



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Why Do Work Teams Fail? Anecdotal evidence indicates that teams

work only about half the time. Why?

Inappropriate use of teams.

Lack of support from organizational leaders.

Lack of good information.

Lack of team member skills.

Work team effectiveness study.

A work teams success can be impacted as

much by what is happening outsidethe

team as it is by what is happening inside.



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How do I/O psychologists helporganizations to use work

teams? Personnel Selection

Training

Performance Appraisal

Compensation

Organizational Development



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The Future of Teams: Less

Physical, More Virtual In the wired, knowledge-based economy,

well see less neighborhood teams and

more virtual teams. Virtual teams can provide the organization

with the same benefits (as well as some

unique ones) as neighborhood teams, but

the challenges that they face aremagnified.


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Team Decision-Making Exercise

The importance of team decision-making.

Four team decision-making techniques:Majority Vote

Multivoting

Unanimous Vote

Consensus

Where should we go for Spring Break?



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Team Decision-Making Exercise

- Debrief Which decision-making method did you

use, and why?

What were some of the benefits of the

method that you chose?

What challenges did your team encounter,

and how did you overcome them? How effective was the decision that you

reached? (and how did your team define

effectiveness?)Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP


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Instructor Resources

The following books, book chapters and articles were used in preparation of the

Work Teams module - you may find them useful for your own preparation.

1) Fisher, K. (1994) Diagnostic issues for work teams. In A. Howard (Ed.),

Diagnosis for organizational change: Methods and models. (pp. 239-264).

New York: Guilford Press.2) Mohrman, S.A, Cohen, S.G. & Mohrman, Jr., A.M. (1995) Designing team-

based organizations: New forms for knowledge work. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

3) Hackman, J.R. (Ed.) (1990) Groups that work (and those that dont): Creating

effective conditions for teamwork. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

4) Shaw, M.E. & Costanzo, P.R. (1982) Theories of Social Psychology (2nded.). New York: McGraw-Hill. (Note: Chapter 13 on theories of group

processes is especially helpful)

5) Campion, M.A., Medsker, G.J. & Higgs, A.C. (1993). Relations between work

group characteristics and effectiveness: Implications for designing effective

work groups. Personnel Psychology, 46, 823-850.

Documents

Work Teams Module