A team is a group with a common purpose, interdependent roles and complimentary skills. A growing trend in organisations is to give more responsibility for important activities to teams.
There are also different types of teams being formed in organisations: functional work teams, cross-functional teams and self-managed teams.
Lets examine how it has been learned about an effective leadership in those groups.
Team Performance
Empirical studies show that leaders can influence the performance determinants of a team. They depend, of course, in the type of the team and relevant situation. These are highlighted below:
Commitment to task objectives and strategy - this might be strengthened by articulating vision, explaining why new project is important, setting clear and challenging objectives, planning performance strategies and empowering others to participate in planning to develop creative solutions to problems.
Team members skills and roles clarity - group performance will be higher if team members have the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job. The performance will also depend on the way people's jobs are balanced and synchronised. People performing complex tasks under rapidly changing conditions will require more coordination. The coordination is set during the decisions made a planning. If the team members are explained the processes and possible obstacles there is a likelihood that the tasks will be performed better. Involving them in planning will higher the chances of success. Therefore, we need to plan on how to use resource and manage people, making contingency plans for possible challenging and crisis situations, involving members into planning, leading meetings to solve problems, schedule and sequence activities as accurately as possible to avoid wasting of time and delays, and, of course, actively monitoring and directing the work. It may also be necessary for members to share some responsibility, thus training together is particularly important.
External coordination - the performance also depends upon the extend to which teams activities are consistent with other parts of the organisation. It is essential for leaders to facilitate communication with other departments. Others decisions and actions may affect the group. We can maintain a network of contacts who can provide relevant information, encouraging members to develop their own networks, consulting with other divisions of relevant group plans and decisions, and negotiating agreements and workload.
Resources and political support - the group performance will also depend on getting required resources and political support from outside sources. These include tools, materials, equipment and facilities. We do it through the planning of resources required, influencing supervisors to make resources available, promoting and defending the reputation of a team, establish cooperative relationships with outsiders and negotiating favourable agreements with vendors and suppliers.
Cooperation and mutual trust - a high level of cooperation and mutual trust is more likely when members identify with the group and value the membership. With new teams and teams with often changes it can be more challenging to achieve. Leaders can articulate their vision what team can jointly achieve, use symbols and rituals to make the membership more desirable, conducting team-building activities and making the recognition and recognition contingent to contribution to performance. We have to be careful, however, not to create cohesive groups who always agree and do not take risks.
Collective Efficacy and Potency - teams performance will depend on their shared belief that the mission will be achieved. Those people with strong member skills have higher level of mutual trust and cooperation. The perception of the capabilities, however, should be realistic as overconfidence may lead to taking risks which are high and result in failure. To encourage collective efficacy leader can express optimism and confidence in the team, setting realistic goals, helping the team to overcome obstacles as well as celebrating progress and important achievements.
Accurate and Shared Mental Models - the term "Mental Model" is used to describe conscious beliefs and assumptions about the causes of performance and the best way to improve it. Problem solving is difficult if team members have different assumptions about the cause of the problem. But the model also needs to be accurate. Leaders can help the team to understand the causes of issues through implementing more accurate measures of performance determinants, examine relevant publications on the subject, hold meetings to discuss members assumptions and beliefs, analyse causes and effects and implement after-activity review to improve learning from experience.
Member Diversity - groups with diverse memberships are likely to be less cohesive and less accepting. Having members with different experiences, knowledge and perspectives result in more creative solutions.
Group Process Dichotomies - newly formed group will go through a transition process where roles and responsibilities are determined. Later on, the team goes through the performance phase where it is important to set strategies, maintain commitment and cooperation, monitoring of performance and resolving various problems. Groups typically alternate between the transition phase and the performance phase. The initial process involves relations building and decisions about the procedures and roles.
Subgroups in Work teams - subgroups emerge due to the nature of teams composition. These could be either identity-based, resource-based or knowledge-based. Identity-based subgroups emerge among team members who share the same identity that could be based on demographics, values or attributes. Those who share the same values will often protect the subgroup. Resource-based subgroups form when members achieve dominance over the control of resources and differences in authority, power and status. Team members create hierarchy. These will be often involving the unbalance in fairness and centralisation of power within the group. For example top management have more power thus they will promote their shared interests. Knowledge-based subgroups emerge because organisations create specialised units. For example human resource departments, accounting, quality and information systems. These teams often accept shared jargon, symbols and mental models.
Functional Work Teams
In functional teams the members have jobs that are somewhat specialised but still part of the same basic function. Usually, they have an appointed leader who has responsibility for the operations of the team and management of external relationships. Many of the required leaders behaviour for functional groups will require both task-oriented and relations- oriented behaviours. It will vary depending on the groups characteristics, resources available and relevant situations.
The main leadership behaviours could be:
Visioning, expressing confidence and celebrating progress - that will influence the task commitment and collective efficacy,
Recruiting and selecting competent team members - that will influence the member skills and collective efficacy,
Coaching, training and clarifying the role expectations and priorities - that will influence the member skills and role clarity as well as individual and collective efficacy,
Planning and organising the team's activities and projects - that will influence efficacy and internal coordination,
Facilitating collective learning by the team - that will influence the adaptation to change and performance quality,
Team building and conflict resolution - that will influence the mutual trust and cooperation as well as the member identification with the team,
Networking and external monitoring - that will influence the adaptation to change, external coordination as well as the quality of performance strategies,
Representing and negotiating - that will influence the resources availability and political support as well as the external coordination.
Cross-Functional Work Teams
Cross-Functional teams are being used increasingly to improve coordination and cooperation among different divisions and departments. It generally includes representatives from different subgroups involved in a projects. These may also include representatives of suppliers, customers or other external people. The team is given a responsibility for managing complex activities, for example developing new products, implementing new information systems, improving product quality, advertising, consulting projects or developing new programs and systems for organisations. Some cross-functional teams may be permanent and part of the formal structure of the organisation.
These teams offer many potential benefits as they allow flexible and sufficient deployment of people to solve problems. May problems is fixed when people come together from different units. There is an element of diversity that allows for creativity and innovation. It helps members to view problem from different perspectives rather then from a narrow view point. However, cross-functional teams are not always successful and an effective leadership is required to meet challenges. The members usually have conflicts due to the loyalty to their home department. They may be more concerned about achieving their departments objectives, rather then the team's objectives. Therefore, decisions can be difficult and approvals are needed from the authority to progress with a project or task.
Most cross-functional teams have a formal leader with a substantial position of power and interpersonal skills. The leaders provides a clear mission, resources and political support.
The leaders also need the technical expertise, cognitive skills, political skills and administrative skills for project management.
The leader must be able to communicate about technical matters. They must be able to plan and organise project activities and handle budgetary activities. They need to understand the needs and values of individual team members and resolve conflicts. They must also be able to solve complex problems that require system thinking. The leader must be able to gain resources and approvals to provide them.
The leader needs to be able to explain and provide clear objectives but also allow for autonomy.
The role generally involves: (1) envisioning, (2) organising, (3) social integrating, (4) external spanning.
The role is so complex that often requires another leader to support. Some of the leadership roles may be shared within individual members of the team who have particular knowledge in relation to project management.
Virtual teams
In virtual teams the members are geographically separated and they seldom meet face-to-face. There has been a rapid increase of using virtual teams in the organisation. Most commonly these are also cross-functional teams. They may be a temporary arrangement or more durable arrangements to carry our specific responsibilities. For example, solving technical problems, planning events, maintaining external coordination with suppliers or clients.
The benefits of such teams are the possibility of involving the most qualified person who are able to work on projects and are qualified for it. These teams are more likely to have members from different cultures, zones and organisations. However, having the diverse team members also creates problems. It might be difficult to monitor their performance, influence them and create mutual trust and cooperation.
Here, therefore the skills and activities of both functional team leader and cross-functional team leader is important.
Self-managed work teams
In self-managed teams the responsibility from the manager is turned to individual team members. Most self-managed teams are responsible for producing a product or service. They generally complete similar tasks repeatedly. The members also have the same functional backgrounds. These teams are used most often in manufacturing organisations but recently applied more widely in the service work. The organisation ( or parent organisation) delivers the mission, objectives, scope and budget to self-managed work teams. Each team member is given the authority and responsibility for setting performance and quality standards, assigning and scheduling work, defining procedures and making purchases. Sometimes they are able to make expenditure decisions upon approval and responsibility for staffing, such as hiring, firing and determining pay.
These teams generally provide strong commitment, job satisfaction, efficacy and less absenteeism. Having team members cross-trained in different roles makes the work more interesting and provides flexibility. Their extensive knowledge allows them to solve problems.
The advantages can only be realised if the teams are appropriately implemented in an organisation. Studies found favourable outcomes for self-managed teams, but there also can be bad results if appropriate leadership is not involved. Conflicts may arise between members that need careful handling to increase trust and cooperation. The teams need to have clearly define objectives, complex and meaningful tasks with a small size membership. Members can determine the work progress and need to have relevant skills, access needed information. There also needs to be appropriate recognition and reward and string support from the top management.
It is typical for self-managed teams to have an internal team leader and responsibilities are shared among the members. The leader would need to coordinate and facilitate the process of making decisions. Routine administrative tasks may be assigned to individual team members.
There is also the role of an external leader to coach and encourage others. They may help the members learn on how to plan and advise on better procedures for their tasks. The external leader builds the self-confidence of the individual team members. They also may provide necessary resources, resolve conflicts and gradually assign more responsibilities to the individual team members. The external leader communicates clear expectation, facilitate collective learning and helps the team to deal with unusual and complex events.
Leading the behaviour
To summarise a variety of different behaviours and activities can be identified in a leader to improve members cooperation, trust and coordinate tasks.
They could:
Emphasise common interests and values - if members agree on values, objectives and mission there is a stringer cooperation. the leader should emphasise the mutual interest and explain why the cooperation is necessary.
Use ceremonies, rituals and symbols to develop collective identification - it makes members to appear special. Ceremonies are organised to celebrate special achievements and they are most effective when they reflect the groups values and traditions. There may be symbols such as flags, banners or slogans. Symbols may be effective to create special identity, especially if they agree to wear and display the symbols.
Encourage and facilitate the social interaction - cooperation is more likely when the team members know each other on a personal basis. Leaders can hold periodic social activities such as dinners, lunches and parties. Even lunch rooms can be organised to socialise with symbols, achievements and statements of its values.
Inform people about the group activities and achievements - people do not feel appreciated when they receive little information about achievements, plans and activities of the group.
Conduct process analysis sessions - these involve a frank and open discussion of interpersonal relationships of the group and how to improve them. We may ask team members on how to make the group more effective. This should focus on how members communicate, work together, make decisions and resolve disagreements. The results should include the list of concrete suggestions on improving working relationships. Often an external facilitator may be better to coordinate such meetings as it may be difficult to talk about difficult topics in front of the leader.
Increase incentives for mutual cooperation - incentives based on individual performance encourage team members to complete but incentives based on group performance encourage cooperation. For example giving the team extra day off for completing team tasks successfully and achieving targets. We also may be holding a special celebrations for members and families if they achieve special objectives.
Hold practice sessions under realistic conditions - unless teams regularly practice on how to respond to unusual events such as crisis and emergencies the performance may be poor when such events eventually occur. Its good to have people practice complex procedures together, for example dealing with emergencies due to equipment failure.
Use after-activity reviews to facilitate collective learning by the team - collective learning is more likely when systematic analysis is made after an important activity to discover the reasons for success of failure. Leaders can encourage feedback, ask members to identify the effective or ineffective aspects of the situation, keep the discussion focused on behaviour, recognise improvements, ask for suggestions and propose own improvements. The members can review the initial plans and objectives, procedures for carrying out the objectives, problems and obstacles encountered and the key decisions that were made.
Decision groups
Groups are formed frequently to solve problems and make decisions. Groups will have more knowledge and ideas as opposed to individual leaders. But the decisions usually take longer, the members may be unable to reach agreement and the problems may affect the quality of decision. The quality of the group decision depends on the quality of the information, communication, ideas and the manner in which disagreements are resolved.
Appropriate leadership can facilitate effective decisions. The leader can guide the decision process. The leader will guide to sequence decision, increase information exchange, check understanding and check on agreement. It is also useful for a leader to encourage participation and regulate behaviour to discover and resolve problems.
The job of conducting a meeting is a difficult one and considerable amount of skill is needed to achieve balance.
Task-oriented behaviour will facilitate systematic communication, evaluation and analysis of information and ideas to solve problems and make a decision. Agenda for a meeting would need to be developed and asking members to explain their statements. Suggestions for procedures can also be made by the leader. The leader must be skilled in summarising, keep the key points in focus and encourage contributions in a meaningful way.
Some maintenance of this type of team may include encouraging participation, preventing dominant members from monopolising the discussion, smoothing over conflict, suggesting compromises, use humour to reduce tension, asking members for their perception and pointing our process problems. Group maintenance should be an ongoing activity designed to built teamwork and prevent conflicts.
Both task-oriented behaviour and group maintenance behaviour are both important for the success of decision groups. The leader is to direct and control the activities of the group. The discussion should focus on the task, discourage expression of feelings and leader is to retail control over the final decision.
The leader also need to serve as the consultant, advisor, teacher and administrator. Within the relations-centred function and behaviour the leader should encourage expression of feelings, encourage members to learn and encouraging sharing responsibilities. Relations-centred behaviours require considerate amounts of skills, maturity and trust in the leader. Some leaders are afraid of risk-sharing or that a new approach will make them weak.
Leading meetings
There are some specific procedures for improving group effectiveness in solving problems and making decisions.
There are some specific guidelines for leading meetings:
Inform people about necessary preparations for meeting - people need to prepare for a meeting. They should also be advised in advance about the time, place and agenda. Some may need to present some technical information that should be provided in advance.
Share essential information with the group members - when there is a problem, essential facts should be presented to the leader. For example, how long the problem existed, the nature of it, the symptoms, and what if anything has been done about it. The amount of information should depend on the nature of the problem and the groups prior information. The leader should be careful in presenting facts with as little interpretation as possible.
Describe the problem without implying the solution - the problem should be presented objectively without blame as it will make the members defensive and reduce the willingness to solve the issue. The problem statement should not suggest the reasons for the problem or possible solutions. It should encourage exploration of variety of causes and variety of different solutions.
Allow ample time for idea generation and evaluation - the decision should not be hasty and without thorough consideration. If the decision is being considered but there is no time for it, the leader should postpone the decision to the next meeting. Often more information is needed and members may require time to think. Often many decisions do not require to be made immediately.
Separate idea generation from idea evaluation - with brainstorming, members are encouraged to come up with ideas and no positive or negative evaluations are permitted. Often group members are asked to generate their ideas anonymously and allowing the other members to built on the ideas already generated. Sometimes the evaluation of the ideas is postponed to another meeting and participants are encouraged to continue thinking about the problem and the ideas. This way, the members have adequate time to reflect.
Encourage and facilitate participation - the leader can use an appropriate gatekeeping to facilitate participation and encourage serious discussion among all members. Members should be discouraged from dominating the discussions or intimidate people who disagree with them. And again, anonymous ideas can be very helpful here.
Encourage positive restatement and idea building - one of the most useful techniques for nurturing new ideas is to ask team members to restate another member's idea. any member who points out deficiency is encouraged to suggest correction.
Use systematic systematic procedures for solution evaluation - this can be done, for example with exploring the advantages and disadvantages of a solution. The overall ranking then can be evaluated. There are also cost-benefits analysis and there is a possibility to make reasonable estimates of benefits and costs in monetary terms. Care should be taken to avoid biases of costs and benefits to reach best solution. After all the alternative solutions have been analysed, the group selects the best based on the economic situation.
Encourage members to look for integrative solution - when a group is divided in the competing alternatives it is always a good idea to develop integrative solution and integrate best features of the other member's solutions. Both alternatives can be examined closely to identify what features they have in common. It develops a better understanding for the opposite alternative. The leader should encourage participation, keep the discussion analytical rather then critical and provide a visual summary of the similarities and differences. It might be also useful to list the essential qualities and relative priorities and objectives of each solution. Sometimes an entire new solution may be developed through the process.
Encourage efforts to reach consensus where feasible - voting is a common procedure for making decision, but leader should encourage consensus because it generally involves more commitment. Sometimes it is more appropriate to prolong the decision then leaving to the majority agreeing to a solution.
Clarify the responsibilities for implementation - before the meeting ends the leader needs to make some provisions for implementing the decision. Action steps should be specified and responsibility for each action assigned. After the meeting the leader should distribute a summary on what was discussed and decided with all relevant points and not omissing any important facts.
Summary
Organisations continuously rely on teams to improve quality, efficacy and adaptive change. Functional teams, cross-functional teams, self-managed teams and virtual teams are used in organisations. Generally use of teams encourage more employee satisfaction, quality of products and productivity. The success, however depends on the leadership skills and the way those are facilitated.
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