Effecty team West

8/12/2019 Effecty team West

1/14

To Nikolaos Vlissides, for teaching me that emotional wisdom is at theheart of successful cooperation

EffectiveTeamworkPractical Lessonsfrom ri-nxrruli,lj*]i,iorsanizationar Research i"-"i';,'ff ''econd Edition I Llri*V IMichael A. West@rtP5 tacKwe


2/14

@ 1994 2004 by Michael A. wesrA BPS Backwel book350 Main SteeL Malden, M'4 02144-5020, USA108 cowley Road, Oxlord OX4 UF, UK550 Slvansto Seer, CarltorL victoria 3051, AustraliaThe right of Michael A. west to be identined as the Auorof this work has been asserted in accordance with rhe uI(CopyrighL Designs, and Parenls .ct 1988.All rights reserved. No pan ol this publication may bereproduced, stored in a etrieval sysrem, or fansmired,in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,phocopying, recording or otherwise, excepr as permittedby the t]l( Copynght, Designs, and Patents Act 1988,withour the prior permission of the publisher.First edidon published 1994 by BPS Books (The BritishPsychological Socety). St Andrews Hose, 48 Prncess Road Iasl Leicesler LEIReprinred 1999Fist rep nted as a BPS Blackwell book 2oo2Repdnred 20OlSecond edfior publhed 2004 by The British PsychologicalSociety and Blackwell Publishing Lrd

" Librury ol Congrcss Cataloging-in-Publication DataWesL Michae 4., l95l-Eflective teamwork I practical lessons from organizatioDal research /Michael A. west. - 2nd ed.p. cm.Includes bjbliographical references and index.ISBN r-4051-1058-9 (hbk : alk. paper) - ISBN r-405r-r057-0 (pbk :alk. paper)l Tems in the workpace. L Titl.

HD66-W47) 2004658.4'02-dc22 2003017272A catalogue record for this title is available ftom the British library-Ser in t0/12'l: Meridienby Graphicralt LtdPrinted rd bound in he United Ingdom by MPG Books Ltd, BodminFor frrther information onBlackwell Publishjng, visil our website:http://www.blackwelpublishing.com

1r. Contents

lntroductonTask and Social Elements o Team Functioning

1 Do Teams Work?Why work in Teams?Bariels to Effective TeamworkThe Paradox of Teamworkcondusions

2 Creating TeamsThe Stages of Team DevelopmentPersonality and AbiiityTeamwork SkilsDiversity of Team Memberslmplications of DiversityLeading eamsThe Three Team Leadeship TasksThe Three Elements of Leading TeamsTrip Wires for Team LeadersDeveloping Team Leadership SkillsSelf-managing ot Self-leading Work TeamsTeam BuildingTl?es of Team-building InterventionsRole Cladfication and NegotiafionConclusions

ltt72579

4949

272930364046

75778485

)I656872


3/14

e chapter twoCreating TeamsMany titfies a 4y I realize how ttuch a my own outer a4inner life is b ilt upon lhe labots of my fellow men b1thIivihg a d ead, and how earfiestly I tfiust exert myself inordet to give in retufi as much as I have feceiredlbet Einstein

key learning points: The sges oI leam develoPmentr Ability of team membes and team performancer Personality mixes and teamworkr Skills for working in teamsr Effects o1 divetsity in functional background onteamwokr The effects oI demographic (age, gender, tenure, andculture) diversity on teamwokWhen you play in a geat team, it doesn't matter how good the payersare individually, it's hou, well you play together and utderstand eachother's slyles and moves lt's realy about intuitive \/ays of playing offeach other.The talent in the team is amazing. Individually theY ae outstanding butfor some reason rhey just can't make it happen together' I think thereare maybe too many p ma donnas in the team.It's about finding the magic mb that bltd o1 skills and expeetce thatcombines matuity, energy, determination, and creativity lt's like aballet whe it happens. Beautiful to beholdl


4/14

,r\ Effective TemworkThese quotations from playels in sports teams could come as easilyIrom membes oJ work teams and they show we must think carefullyabout how we create teams. TlTically, individuals are lecluited andselected to work as pafi of a group because they have the technicalskills and experience necessary for parcular aspects of the job For atop management team in a manufacturing organization. directors ookto appoint managers for poduction, human esoutce management,finance, R&D, and marketing, and to appoint people with outstandingskills in these areas. This is, of course, entirely reasonable. Aso reason-able, howeve, would be an examination of the degree to whichcandidates have the personal chaacteristics necessary to wok effect-ively as paft of a team. since it is unlikely that all are equaly wellsuited to team work, personal chatacteristics and preferences shouldbe considered i the recluitment of team membes. But it does notstop there, since there are specific skills of team working jus as thereare skills associated with any complex behavior; do candidates havethe skills to work in a team and are they good at using them? Thethird quotation indicates we also need to ponder on the mix of peoplein lhe eam. If we have a feam ol talented, creative, temperarnentalindividualists working together on a problem, the team will probablyfail. or, if the team is made up of dominant leaders, hostility is likelyto be the main team outcome.The context of work teams dictates consideration of diversity,including visible attbutes such as gender and age, as well as lessobvious aspects of diversity such as values, skill, social status, back-ground, education, and (hugely impottant in oul multicultural world)societal culture. How do we make judgments about the "magic mix"our interviewee above efeed to? And is diversity a good thingin teams or should we be looking to avoid the inevitable processIosses diversity produces? we explore these questions in this chapter.Before we do so, we will examine how teams develop over therlifespan, since this helps to provide the context or undetandinghow to build effective teams. The issues to consider at the outset oI ateam's liJe are very diffeent from lhose during the mature perform-ing stage.Understanding how to cleate teams requiles us to understand thatteam processes vary according to the stage of their development andthat theil beginnings require particular consideration. Like any ifeform they develop and change, and what is signicant at one point intheir ljves is replaced at other poits by new influences. whether itbe humans, plants, or planets, underslanding tllem requires an appre-ciation of thei develoDment.

Creatng Teams ,^.----------------


5/14

Effective Teamwork\--tPetfomingi team membels begin fo see successful outcomes asthei energies focus constnctively on the joit task They setde intoan effective team-working structure, withi which individualmembers feel comfortable, ad begin to work together more flexibly.The team leader can usually withdraw from day-to-day involve-ment, a change that is acknowledged atd accepted by team membes.At this stage. systerns of regular leview should be established toensue that the team continues to be effective and responsive to itsenvilonment.Adjoumingi not all teams go through the final adiouming stage asa team, but at vadous times of its life key members will leave ormajor projects will be completed o curtailed. It is important lhatthe elfects of such changes on the life of the team should be acknow-ledged: teams may levert to ealier stages of development depend-ing on the levels ol maturity, their stabitity, and the scale oI thechange.Not all teams will nl neatly into Tuckman's sequence o[ lemdevelopmenr. A lem mighl go back and fonh, revisiting stages to dealwith them gradually at different levels. Team leadels can encourageteams by introducing an effective team-development process andensuring that the team task is clear, that conflicts are processed withsatisfactory (and ideally creative) consequences, that team members'loles are dear, that positive norms ale established, that the teamperforms well, and that it disbands constuctively and in a timelyfashion when its task is completeBut the first issue to address is how to select the ght team membelsand with the dght mix. These two questions will occupy the rest ofthis chapter. we begin by explodng abiity and pe$onality, skills ofteamwork, skill divesity, and finally demographic divenity. Thisexplolation reveals some surpdsing discovedes.

a Personality and AbilityFor individual jobs, general mental ability is one of the best predictorsol job pedormance (schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Not surpdsingly, teammembers' overall ability predicts team pedormance. This was demon-strated in one study of military crews (Tziner a Eden, 1985) whichshowed that people of high ability contributed most to pedormancewhen all the orher crew membe$ were also high in ability. ln the lastchapter, we pointed to some esearch that suggests mixed abilty teams

Creating Teams,*ro.n**.-u.r-theless, overall the evidence is dea in suggestig that teams com-posed of members high in ability wil perform better than wouldbe predicted by the sum of thei abilities (Devine 6 Phiuips, 2000)particulary on unfamiliar tasks.what of peonality? The "Big Five" model of personality (Baick6 Mount, l99l) offers a robust pe$onaity model that we can use toanalyze mix of personality in teams and the effects on team pedorm-ance. The model descibes five dimensions of peonality:Openness to experience - fartasy, actions, and ideas;Conscientiousness - competence, oder, and self -discipline;Extloversion - positive emotions, gfegadousness, and warmth;Agreeableness - trust, straightforwardness, and tender-mindedness;Neuroticism -_anxiety, self-consciousness, and vulneraliility.

It is not surpdsing that certain personality dimensions are linkedto effective team work, but what is enlightening is the discovery thatthe pafiiculal dimensions that emelge as important depend on thetlpe of task. In interdependent teams where individual contributionsto team success ale easily recognized and ewaded. hardworking anddependable team members are most successful (Moun, Barrick, &Stewart, 1998). Other team members see these conscientious indi-viduals as valued team membes because they can be lelied uponto perform their pat of the wok. conscientiousness is valuablein team settings because hierarchical control is reduced, so thee isa need Io self-discipline (Mount et al., 1998|. Barick, Stewart,Neuberg, 6 Mount, 1998). Such self-discipline is paicularly import-ant if team-based rewatds are used in the organizations (i.e., com-pensation is based on performance oT the ente team) because teammember pay is dependent on the successful peformance of each andevery team member, Teams composed of conscientious team mem-bers perform at a high level, particularly on productivity and planningtasks.Holvever, teams with high levels of extrovelsion are bettel atdecision making than at planning and performance tasks, probablybecause thea warmth alld optimism helps them in persuading others toaccept theil decisions. For teams requing seative decisions o innova-tion, openness athe than conscienfiousness or extove$ion aemost important. In effect, the research evidence suggests that teamscomposed of conscientious people with hiSh levels of extrovesionare likely to be most effective. Having high levels of agreeableness in


6/14

Effectve Teamwork\u-/teams does not appeal to be related to fearn performance ln teamsrequiring eative oufput, openness is also an important charactedstic.Iligh levels and homogeneity of these extovesion ad conscientious-ness chalacteristics ale therefole desilable in teams.There are a number of models of personality mix for team workthat are popular in business and it is appropriate to subject them toscrutiny and see how they stand this test. For example, some ofgan-izations try to achieve compatibility within teams based on thecognitive styles of members by using the Myers-Bdggs Type Indicatorassessment instrument (a questionnaire measure of cognitive style;Myers & Bdggs, 92). This descibes four dimensions: extroversion-inrroversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling' andjudging-perceiving. The fiIst criterion defines the source and direction of energyexplession for a pe$on. The extlovert has a source and direction oJenelgy expression mainly in the extemal wold while the introverthas a source of energy mainlY in the intelnal world. The secondcdtedon defines the method oi information perception by a personSensing people believe mainly inTormafion they receive directly fromthe extenal world. Intuitive people believe mainly inJomation theyreceive from the internal or imaginative world. The third criteriondefines how people pocess information. Thinking people make decisions mainly based on logic; feeling people make decisions based onemotion. The fourth cdterion defines how people implement theinformation they have processed. Judging people organize theft lileevents and act strictly according to their plans; perceiving people aleinclined to improvise and seek altelnatives The different combina-tions of the dimensions describe each pe$on as bei8 of one of l6 ti?es.Much is made oJ the value of combinations oJ these types in teams.Howevel, there is little rigorous research evidence presently availableshowing a relationship between compatibility oI Myels-Biggs typesand team performance.Schutz's (1967) theory of fundamental interpersonal relationsodentations (FIRO) seeks to expain how personal attributes of teammembes alect team pedormance. Schutz sees three basic humanneeds expressed in goup interaction: needs for inclusion, control,and affection. The theory proposes that groups composed of people withcompatible needs (e.g., high initialos of contol and high receive$of control) will be moe effective than groups composed of thosewith incompatible needs. Cornpatible groups have a balance ol initiatorsand receivers of contol, inclusion, and affection. In an incompatiblegroup, for example, some members may want mole affection thanothers ae able to provide. Although some research has shown that

Creatng Teams

'tt"oime to task completion in feams of manage$ working in a laboratorysetting, there is a good deal of research showing no relationships be-tween compatibility and group perlormance (e.g., Hil, 1982) Indeed,Hill (19S2) found that icompatibty on FIRO-B was associatedwith higher productivity in teams of systems analysts. Perhaps whatthis research reveals is that the imperatives of doing the job in teamsat work override issues of personal compatibility, and that whenwe need to get a job done (working in the emergency oom of achildren's hospitat) we adapt to each othe's differences and don't letissues of comparibility influence our effectiveness. one message ofthis book is that if we ceate the ight conditions for team working,good relationships will follow, while the everse is not necessadly thecase (Mullen & Copper, 1994).Another popular approach to team personaliry issues is Belbin'sTeam Roles Model (Belbin, 1993). Belbin suggests that there are nineteam personality types and that a balance of these team personalityqpes is required within teams (see Box 2.I). Belbin argues that abalance of all nine team oles is lequired for a team to perfolmeffectively. Individuals usually incolporate sevelal oJ these teamrole types in their penonality profiles and so, within teams of onlythree or four individuals, there may nevertheless be primary andsecondary team ole types which cover the nine afeas of team olefunctioning. However, there is little evidence to support these pre-dictio$ and the insuments developed to measure the team roletypes (Belbin, t98f, f993) do not appear to have good psychometricproperties (Anderson 6 Sleap, in press; Furnham. Steele, 6 Pendleton,1993). Scales have low intemal consistences and very high inter-correlations. It is likely that the Team Roles Inventory taps the "Bi8Five" measures of pe$onality and thus reflects some of the findingsabout pe$onality types and.team functioning descdbed above. Themodel, howeve, is one that many manage$ and consultants findimmensely practical in helping them to think through the dynamicsof thei teams. Again though, notions ol compatibility ae not wellsupported; when we need to catch a wildebeest on the savannah toeat and survive, the issue is probably not how compatible we ale buthow well we work as a team to deploy our individual hunting skillscollectively.


7/14

Cretng lems .^.---------------- 3 s2vBox 2.1: Belbin's team roletqL]t-rUrr'.

73rrF

theoryBased on reseach with over 200 teams conducting man-agement business games at the Administrative Staff College,Henley, in the UI Belbin identified nine team tlpes. Amostalways people have a mix of loles and will have dominant andsubdominant roles.CoordinatrThe coordinator is a petson-odented leader. This person istrusting, accepting, dominant, and comnitted to team goasand objectives. The coodinator is a positive thinker whoapproves of goal attainment, stuggle, and effort in othe$. Thecoodinator is "someone tolerant enough aways to listen toolhers, but strong enough to reject their advice." The coordin-ator may not stand out in a team and usually does not have asharp intellect.shaperThe shaper is a task-focused leader, who abounds in nervousenergy, has high motivation to achieve, and for whom win-ning is the name of the game. The shaper is committed toachieving ends and will "shape" others into achieving rhe aimsof the team. He or she will challenge, argue, or disagree andwill display aggression in the pursuit of goal achievement. Tlvoor three shapers in a team, according to Belbi, can lead toconflict, aggmvation, and in-fighting.PlantThe plant is a specialist idea make chaactedzed by high IQand introveBion while also being dominant and original. Theplant takes radical approaches to tearn functioning and prob-Iems. Plants are more concemed with major issues than withdetails. Weaknesses are argumentativeness and a tendency todisregard practical details.

E]UF-


8/14

,^. Effective TeamworkBox 2.1: (cont'd)

Team workelTeam workers make helpful interyentions to avet potentialfriction and enable dilficult characters vithin the team to usethei skills to positive ends, They keep tean spirit up and allowother membes o contribute effectivelv. Their diDlomatic skillstogethr with their sense of humor ur "rr.t,,o u team. Theyhave skills in listening, coping with awkward people, and beingsociable, sensiive, and people-oriented. They are indecisivein moments of crisis and reluctant o do things that miShthurt others.Completer finishersThe completer finishes dot the i's and cross the t's, Theygive attention to detail, aim to complete, and to do so thor-oughly. They make steady effort and are consistent in theirwork, and are not so inteested in the glamor of spectacularsuccess. weaknesses, according to Belbin, are tha they areoveanxious and have difficulty letting go and delegating work.SpecialistThe specialst provides knowledge and technical skills thatae i rare supply within the team. They are olten highlyintoveted and anxious and are self-stating, dedicated, andcommitted. Their weaknesses are single-mindedness and a lacko[ inleresr in other peoples' subjecs.

tIlU-r(,l-.lzV3EtqF

Effecty team West

Documents

Transcript of Effecty team West