work group
A group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility.
work team
A group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.
Four types of teams.
problem-solving teams, self-man aged work teams, cross-functional teams and virtual teams
problem-solving teams
Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment. (Rarely have the authority to implement the change)
self-managed work teams
Groups of 10 to 15 people who take on responsibilities of their former supervisors.
cross-functional teams
Employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.
virtual teams
teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.
Team Effectiveness Model
Context, composition and process
Four contextual factors
Adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions.
multiteam systems
Systems in which different teams need to coordinate their efforts to produce a desired outcome.
organizational demography
The degree to which members of a work unit share a common demographic attribute, such as age, sex, race, educational level, or length of service in an organization, and the impact of this attribute on turnover.
reflexivity
A team characteristic of reflecting on and adjusting the master plan when necessary.
team efficacy
Effective teams have confidence in themselves; they believe they can succeed.
mental models
Team members' knowledge and beliefs about how the work gets done by the team.
task conflicts
when teams are performing nonroutine activities, disagreements about task content
How do you know whether the work of your group would be better done in teams?
First, can the work be done better by more than one person?
Second, does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals?
The final test is to determine whether the members of the group are interdependent.
MULTITEAM SYSTEMS
systems in which different teams need to coordinate
their efforts to produce a desired outcome.