Our Past, Present, and Future in Teams - Center for Effective ...

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19continues to increase, we predict that temporary team structures will supplant the permanent work teams that arefound today. As the forces outside organizations continue to change, the structures inside organizations will take ona more fluid character. Rather than having people permanently assigned to work teams, team composition will shift asprojects, problems, or customers demand. Ad-hoc teams or project teams will be more prevalent, placingextraordinary demands on employees to be flexible and to demonstrate their value to organizations consistentlythrough their team efforts. Perhaps such structures will signal the end of the job as we have known it and usher inthe age of the skill set (a combination of skills and talents) as the predominant unit of work. The challenge for humanresources managers will certainly involve compensation and evaluation issues for employees who may be constantlymoving from one project team to another without a constant supervisor or team members with whom the employeehas any long-term contact.Second, the use of multicultural teams (teams composed of members from different cultures) and globalizedteams (teams composed of same-culture members in a variety of countries) is likely to rise as trade barriers continueto fall (for example, NAFTA and the European Union). National culture plays a strong role in determining employeeattitudes and behavior (Adler, 1997). If a significant rise in these more culturally diverse teams occurs (and we feelstrongly that it will), then human resources managers must familiarize themselves with the cultures in which theirorganization operates. For example, if peer evaluations are used as part of the performance appraisal process on amulticultural team, human resources managers must identify the key cultural characteristics that may serve asstumbling blocks to these evaluations. If globalized teams are used, it is likely that entirely different compensationsystems will be needed depending on the dominant cultural values of the areas in which an organization hasbusiness.Finally, with more telecommuting and flex time schedules, there will be less face-to-face time in work teams.We predict that traditional work teams will be replaced by virtual teams whose members may seldom or never meettogether in person. Also referred to as “mobile,” these teams have no geographic center. Team members work out oftheir homes, automobiles, and clients’ facilities and communicate via email, fax, telephone, and video-conferencing.Team meetings may take place only once per quarter. The challenge for HR professionals is to assist managers inintegrating team members, building cohesive teams, and facilitating communication and information exchange withouthaving team members together in one place.
20ConclusionTeams are a powerful design option for organizations that hope to meet the challenges of increased globalcompetition, improve quality of outputs, and address the social needs of the ever changing global work force.However, the success or failure of work teams in multinational organizations will depend largely on the role of thehuman resources professional. Effective implementation of teams requires that human resource practitioners adaptkey assumptions regarding motivation, structure, and accountability. Adapted assumptions must support lateralthinking, collaboration, interdependence, a focus on process, permeable boundaries, and mutual responsibility,Coinciding with adaptations in assumptions, human resource practices must also evolve to support teambasedsystems. Modifications in recruitment and selection, task design, training, evaluation and compensation are allkey to the effective utilization of teams in multinational organizations. Key to effective selection and recruitment forteams is the identification of teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities. Critical for task design is the development ofteams around task processes and the integration of functional areas. Developing interpersonal, managerial, andlearning skills are important training needs in team-based organizations. Finally, effective evaluation andcompensation for teams requires a multi-level perspective and a balance between individual and team-based systems.Numerous impediments will challenge the effective implementation of teams across national contexts. Theseinclude the inherent time lag between implementation and results, the often tenuous relationships between teams,cultural differences which require adaptations in practices to fit the context, and increasing domestic demographicdiversity within nations. To address these potential impediments, human resource practitioners can encourage thesharing of practices within and between organizations, observe and adapt to organizational environmental trends,and maintain awareness of cultural convergence.Human resource professionals who are able to adapt assumptions and who are adept at modifying basichuman resource practices will be better poised to face future trends in the use of teams that lay just on the horizon.As temporary team structures, multicultural teams, and virtual teams proliferate, these team savvy human resourcepractitioners can lead their organizations through successful implementation and utilization of teams in multinationalcontexts.
Page 3 and 4: 2The majority of Fortune 1000 emplo
Page 5 and 6: 4satisfaction (Wellins and others,
Page 7 and 8: 6The first set of assumptions that
Page 9 and 10: 8vertical and a command-and-control
Page 11 and 12: 10Second, the team should be respon
Page 13 and 14: 12system not only reward good team
Page 15 and 16: 14of these levels is recognized and
Page 17 and 18: 16Resistance. Third, regarding resi
Page 19: 18environmental characteristics (Cu
Page 23 and 24: 22Earley, P.C. & Erez, M. The Trans
Page 25 and 26: 24Ralston, D.A., Gustafson, D.J., E
Page 27 and 28: 26Table 2. Adapting AssumptionsDoma

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