Essentials of

Organizational Behavior
13e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 5

Personality and Values

5-1
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Chapter 10

Understanding
Work Teams

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After studying this chapter
you should be able to:
1. Analyze the growing popularity of teams in
organizations.
2. Contrast groups and teams.
3. Contrast the five types of teams.
4. Identify the characteristics of effective
teams.
5. Show how organizations can create team
players.
6. Decide when to use individuals instead of
teams.
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Why Are Teams So Popular?

Increased competition has forced

companies to restructure to compete
more efficiently
Teams:
Better utilize employee talents
Are more flexible and responsive to change
Democratize and motivate

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 Groups and Teams

Work group: Interacts primarily to share

information and to make decisions to help
one another perform within each members
area of responsibility
Work team: Generates positive synergy
through coordinated effort; individual efforts
result in a level of performance that is greater
than the sum of those individual inputs

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Comparing Work Groups
and Work Teams

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Four Types of Teams

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Problem-Solving Teams

Members often from the same

department
Share ideas or suggest improvements
Rarely given authority to unilaterally
implement any of their suggested
actions

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 Self-Managed Work Teams

10-15 employees in highly related jobs

Team takes on supervisory responsibilities:
Work planning and scheduling
Assigning tasks
Operating decisions/actions
Working with customers
May select and evaluate members
Effectiveness is dependent on the situation
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 Cross-Functional Teams

Members from same level, but diverse

areas within and between organizations
Exchange information
Develop new ideas and solve problems
Coordinate complex projects
Development may be time consuming
due to complexity and diversity

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 Virtual Teams

Computer technology ties dispersed

team together
Special challenges
Less social rapport and direct
interaction
Difficulty dispersing information
Determining communication level

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 Multiteam Systems

Collections of two or more

interdependent teams that share a
superordinate goal
A team of teams
Can be the best choice

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Creating Effective Teams

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Context Factors in Team Success

Presence of adequate resources

Effective leadership and structure
Climate of trust in the team
Performance evaluation and
reward system that reflects team
contributions

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Team Composition and Success

Abilities of Allocation of
members roles
Technical Diversity of
expertise members
Problem-solving Organizational
Interpersonal demography
Personality of Size of teams
members Member
Conscientious and preferences
open-minded
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Team Process and Success

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Team Process and Success

Common plan and purpose

Specific goals
Team efficacy
Common mental models
Low levels of conflict
Minimized social loafing

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 Turning Individuals
into Team Players
Selection: Need employees who have
the interpersonal as well as technical
skills
Training: Workshops on problem-
solving, communications, negotiation,
conflict-management, and coaching
skills
Rewards: Encourage cooperative
efforts rather than individual ones
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Teams Arent Always the Answer

Complexity of Work: Can the work

be done better by more than one
person?
Common Purpose: 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?
Interdependence: Are the members
of the group interdependent?
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Implications for Managers

Effective teams have common characteristics.

Effective teams tend to be small.
Effective teams have members who believe in
the teams capabilities and are committed to a
common plan and purpose.
Select individuals who have the interpersonal
skills to be effective team players, provide
training to develop teamwork skills, and reward
individuals for cooperative efforts.
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 Keep in Mind

Proper selection of members increases

likelihood of effective teams
Teams should be constructed based on ability,
skill, and applicable member traits given the
situation
Non-personal conflicts can lead to better team
decisions

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 Summary

1. Analyzed the growing popularity of teams in

organizations.
2. Contrasted groups and teams.
3. Contrasted the five types of teams.
4. Identified the characteristics of effective
teams.
5. Showed how organizations can create team
players.
6. Decided when to use individuals instead of
teams.

10-22
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 10-23
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