BUS272 TB

Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 223
EXHIBIT 6-6 Teamwork Skills
Orients team to
problem-solving situation
Organizes and manages
team performance
Promotes a positive
team environment
Facilitates and manages
task conflict
Appropriately promotes
perspective
Assists the team in arriving at a common understanding of the situation or
problem. Determines the important elements of a problem situation. Seeks out
relevant data related to the situation or problem.
Helps team establish specific, challenging, and accepted team goals. Monitors,
evaluates, and provides feedback on team performance. Identifies alternative
strategies or reallocates resources to address feedback on team performance.
Assists in creating and reinforcing norms of tolerance, respect, and excellence.
Recognizes and praises other team members’ efforts. Helps and supports other
team members. Models desirable team member behaviour.
Encourages desirable and discourages undesirable team conflict. Recognizes the
type and source of conflict confronting the team and implements an appropriate
resolution strategy. Employs “win-win” negotiation strategies to resolve team
conflicts.
Defends stated preferences, argues for a particular point of view, and withstands
pressure to change position for another that is not supported by logical or
knowledge-based arguments. Changes or modifies position if a defensible argument
is made by another team member. Projects courtesy and friendliness to
others while arguing position.
Source: G. Chen, L. M. Donahue, and R. J. Klimoski, “Training Undergraduates to Work in Organizational Teams,” Academy of
Management Learning & Education 3, no. 1 (March 2004), p. 40 .
and they are also good at sensing when their support is truly needed. One study found
that specific behavioural tendencies such as personal organization, cognitive structuring,
achievement orientation, and endurance were all related to higher levels of team performance.
77 Open team members communicate better with one another and throw out more
ideas, which leads teams composed of open people to be more creative and innovative. 78
Suppose an organization needs to create 20 teams of 4 people each and has 40 highly
conscientious people and 40 who score low on conscientiousness. Would the organization
be better off (a) putting all the conscientious people together (forming 10 teams with
the highly conscientious people and 10 teams of members low on conscientiousness)
or (b) “seeding” each team with 2 people who scored high and 2 who scored low on
conscientiousness?
Perhaps surprisingly, the evidence tends to suggest that option (a) is the best choice;
performance across the teams will be higher if the organization forms 10 highly conscientious
teams and 10 teams low in conscientiousness. The reason is that a team with
varying conscientiousness levels will not work to the peak performance of the highly
conscientious members. Instead, a group normalization dynamic (or simple resentment)
will complicate interactions and force the highly conscientious members to lower
their expectations, reducing the group’s performance. In such cases, it does appear to
make sense to “put all of one’s eggs [conscientious team members] into one basket
[into teams with other conscientious members].” 79
Allocation of Roles
Teams have different needs, and members should be selected to ensure all the various roles
are filled. A study of 778 major league baseball teams over a 21-year period highlights the
importance of assigning roles appropriately. 80 As you might expect, teams with more experienced
and skilled members performed better. However, the experience and skill of those
in core roles who handle more of the workflow of the team, and who are central to all work
processes (in this case, pitchers and catchers), were especially vital. In other words, put your
most able, experienced, and conscientious employees in the most central roles in a team.