5 dysfunctions of a team ted talk

Understanding and Managing Work Teams

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

1

Welcome to Chapter 10 – Understanding and Managing Work Teams from our Organizational Behavior textbook

1

Learning Objectives

What is the benefit of working in teams, and what makes teams effective?

How do teams develop over time?

What are some key considerations in managing teams?

What are the benefits of conflict for a team?

How does team diversity enhance decision-making and problem-solving?

What are some challenges and best practices for managing and working with multicultural teams?

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

2

The six leaning objectives for this chapter are…

What is the benefit of working in teams, and what makes teams effective?

How do teams develop over time?

What are some key considerations in managing teams?

What are the benefits of conflict for a team?

How does team diversity enhance decision-making and problem-solving?

What are some challenges and best practices for managing and working with multicultural teams?

2

Contents

Teamwork in the Workplace

Team Development Over Time

Things to Consider When Managing Teams

Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building

Team Diversity

Multicultural Teams

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

3

The chapter is organized into six sections that align with the learning objectives…

Teamwork in the Workplace (discussing the elements that make teams function and practices in successful teams)

Team Development Over Time (expanding on the stages of group development)

Things to Consider When Managing Teams (examining paradoxes and boundaries of teams)

Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building (reviewing the TedTalk by Patrick Lencioni, on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team)

Team Diversity (discussing the impact of diversity on decision-making and problem solving)

Multicultural Teams (discussing the key cultural differences and potential interventions)

3

Teamwork in the Workplace

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

4

In Teamwork in the Workplace, we will discuss the elements that make teams function and practices in successful teams

4

Teamwork

Elements that make teams function:

Common commitment and purpose

Specific performance goals

Complementary skills

Commitment to how the work gets done

Mutual accountability

Practices in successful teams:

Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction

Select members for their skill and skill potential

Pay attention to first meetings and actions

Set some clear rules of behavior

Set and seize upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks and goals

Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information

Spend lots of time together

Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

5

Elements that make teams function well (and distinguish teams from groups) are…

Common commitment and purpose (is your team focused on getting an A, learning to apply & integrate course concepts using a real-world case, or doing the least amount of work possible to get a passing grade?);

Specific performance goals (such as a target score or timelines with assignment deliverables);

Complementary skills (for example instead of everyone on the team doing everything, leveraging those who research, those who write, those who can develop cases, and those who can apply concepts);

Commitment to how the work gets done (what are the norms of behavior, what are the expectation in terms of time and energy to invest); and finally

Mutual accountability (the hallmark of a true team, when members hold themselves accountable for their work, without the need for management intervention)

Practices in successful teams include…

Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction - without clear direction and a truly compelling reason to exist, the team will lose momentum;

Select members for their skill and skill potential - not for their personality;

Pay attention to first meetings and actions - first impressions mean a lot;

Set some clear rules of behavior – take the time up front to capture ground rules, or rules of the road, in order to keep the team in check;

Set and seize upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks and goals - have some quick wins that make the team feel that they’re really accomplishing something and working together well;

Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information - continue to research and gather information to confirm or challenge what you know about your project;

Spend lots of time together - people are so busy that they forget that an important part of the team process is to spend time together and bond; and finally…

Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward - positive reinforcement is a motivator that will help the members of the team feel more comfortable contributing.

5

Team Development Over Time

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

6

In Team Development Over Time, we will expand on the stages of group development

6

Stages of Group Development

Forming. The Forming stage begins with the introduction of team members

Storming. The Storming stage begins as team members begin vying for leadership and testing the group processes

Norming. During Norming, the team is starting to work well together, and buy-in to group goals occurs

Performing. During Performing, the team is completely self-directed and requires little management direction

Adjourning. Eventually, the team ends or membership changes significantly

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

7

Teams are dynamic, not static, and they develop over time, often going through established Stages of Group Development, starting with…

Forming. The Forming stage begins with the introduction of team members (when you first come together, join a new department, begin a new class…think about how your first team meeting went);

Storming. The Storming stage begins as team members challenge for leadership and group processes (it is the inevitable conflict as you work out the tasks, relationships, and authority of the group);

Norming. During Norming, the team is starting to work well together, and buy-in to group goals occurs (now that your team is established, who is the leader…what are the norms…who is doing what…and what is the agreed upon goal);

Performing. During Performing, the team is completely self-directed and requires little management intervention (which is the ideal stage for teams,, but it is often elusive and easy to break, as teams often oscillate between storming, norming, and performing…the LA Lakers are a good example of team that has been successful, but also has its share of drama); and finally there is…

Adjourning. Eventually, the team ends or membership changes significantly (going back to forming) or the project or department ends and team dissolves

The process is presented as linear, but teams can jump from stage to stage, especially the storming, norming and performing stages. At this point in the term, what stage is your team in the class?

7

Things to Consider When Managing Teams

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

8

In Things to Consider When Managing Teams, we examine paradoxes and boundaries of teams

8

The Triangle of Relationships

Paradox exists in the fact that teams have both individual and collective identities and goals

Fostering support AND confrontation among team members

Focusing on performance AND learning and development

Balancing managerial authority AND team member discretion and autonomy

Balancing the Triangle of Relationships—manager, team, and individual

Boundaries—or space between the team and its external forces, stakeholders, and pressures

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

9

A paradox (or seemingly contradictory outcomes) exists in the fact that teams have both individual and collective identities and goals, that often run contrary to one another, which include…

Fostering support AND confrontation among team members (how to pressures for conformity, while keeping creativity, critical thinking and the concept of devil’s advocate alive to prevent groupthink?);

Focusing on performance AND learning and development (think about grades in a class, do they really reflect effort or learning?);

Balancing managerial authority AND team member discretion and autonomy (from the Basic Incongruity Thesis, we know management’s preference for control and dependence; runs contrary to individual motivation which requires autonomy, development and purpose); and finally,

Balancing the Triangle of Relationships—the manager, team, and individual (that is the task, relation, and self-interest roles of the manager, the team, and the individual, which may be at odds with one another).

Finally, Boundaries—or space between the team and its external forces, stakeholders, and pressures; is another relationship to manage…a sign of an effective manager is someone who can manage down, across, and up…navigating the broader politics while protecting her or his team from the outside pressures and distractions to focus on the task at hand and the relationships between the team members.

9

Manager

Individual

Team

The Triangle of Relationship

Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

10

In Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building we will consider the TedTalk by Patrick Lencioni on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team…

10

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Sources of conflict for a team, whether it is due to a communication breakdown, competing views or goals, power struggles, or conflicts between different personalities

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

Absence of Trust

Fear of Conflict

Lack of Commitment

Avoidance of Accountability

Inattention to Results

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

11

Patrick Lencioni, ‘Five Dysfunctions of a Team’, Feb 2013

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ted+talk+patrick+lencioni+five+dysfunctions+of+a+team&view=detail&mid=8D1587C26BC071661BBD8D1587C26BC071661BBD&FORM=VIRE

In the TedTalk by Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of a Team…Sources of conflict for a team, whether it is due to a communication breakdown, competing views or goals, power struggles, or conflicts between different personalities…can manifest in Five Dysfunctions

First and most important is the Absence of Trust – or the unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group (not predictive trust or knowing how someone will act, but rather vulnerability-based trust, such as the willingness to say, “I’m sorry” and “I screwed-up”);

Fear of Conflict - teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas (that is, engaging in functional conflict while leveraging critical thinking and the devil’s advocate and embracing dissent), instead they avoid conflict and promote the illusion of unanimity for group decisions;

Lack of Commitment - without functional conflict, team members rarely buy in and commit to decisions (passively committing, meaning publicly supporting the idea, but privately sabotaging) which then leads to…

Avoidance of Accountability – by passively committing to group decisions, team members avoid accountability, being hesitant to call out their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team, as they hope to avoid blame for failure; and finally…

Inattention to Results - occurs when team members put their individual needs (self-oriented roles), or even the needs of their departments or divisions above the collective goals of the team or organization…for without trust, functional conflict ,commitment, and accountability; how can we focus on results?

11

Team Diversity

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

12

In Team Diversity we discuss the impact of diversity on decision-making and problem solving

12

Team Diversity

Decision-making and problem-solving can be much more dynamic and successful when performed in a diverse team environment

When people are among homogeneous and like-minded (non-diverse) teammates, the team is susceptible to groupthink and may be reticent to think about opposing viewpoints since all team members are in alignment

Positive relationship between diversity, innovation, and performance

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

13

So why a focus on Team Diversity?

Because, In general, decision-making and problem-solving can be much more dynamic and successful when performed in a diverse team environment

When people are among homogeneous and like-minded (non-diverse) teammates, the team is susceptible to groupthink and may be reticent to think about opposing viewpoints since all team members are in alignment

Overall, there is a positive relationship between diversity, innovation, and performance in organizations.

13

Multicultural Teams

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

14

In Multicultural Teams we discuss the key cultural differences and potential interventions

14

Managing Multicultural Teams

Key cultural differences:

The first difference is direct versus indirect communication

The second difference that multicultural teams may face is trouble with accents and fluency

The next challenge is when there are differing attitudes toward hierarchy

The final difference that may challenge multicultural teams is conflicting decision-making norms

Potential interventions:

First is adaptation, which is working with or around differences

The next technique is structural intervention, or reorganizing to reduce friction on the team

Managerial intervention is the technique of making decisions by management and without team involvement

Finally, exit is an intervention of last resort, and is the voluntary or involuntary removal of a team member

Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019

15

Some key cultural differences that managers of diverse teams and leaders of diverse organizations need to consider are…

The first difference is direct versus indirect communication - as participants may have different languages and communication styles (I remember one team in particular, where one member came from a very direct, almost confrontational culture; whereas others on the team came from a conflict-avoidance background and preferred to talk behind and triangulate communication, rather than directly confront someone);

The second difference that multicultural teams may face is trouble with accents and fluency (as I mentioned, my wife is originally from Thailand, and although she has been in the US for a long time, we still have issues where she will use a word she knows, but not always recognizing the connotation the word has; and then I will sometimes respond, not realizing it was not really what she meant);

The next challenge is when there are differing attitudes toward hierarchy (we see this a lot in organizations, where managers must go out of their way to solicit feedback from everyone, and make sure everyone is comfortable sharing what she or he thinks, as some cultures are averse to disagree with a supervisor); and

The final difference that may challenge multicultural teams is conflicting decision-making norms (with cultures gravitating more toward either reflective or reactive decision-making systems)

A few potential interventions available to managers include…

First is adaptation, which is working with or around differences (recognizing there are differences, that they are not personal, and accommodating when possible and reasonable);

The next technique is structural intervention, or reorganizing to reduce friction on the team (this may mean changing roles, locations, or responsibilities to better facilitate positive relationships within the team);

The third Managerial intervention is the technique of making decisions by management and without team involvement (in the end, organizations are generally not democracies, and if the group is struggling with dysfunctional conflict, then it may be necessary to make the decision for them); and

Finally, exit is an intervention of last resort, and is the voluntary or involuntary removal of a team member.

And that concludes the presentation for Chapter 10 – Understanding and Managing Work Teams.