Top Performance through Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communication Chapter 9.
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Transcript of Top Performance through Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communication Chapter 9.
LO 9.1 Describe why and how organizations empower employees.
LO 9.2 Distinguish among the five types of teams in the workplace.
LO 9.3 Identify the characteristics of an effective team and summarize the stages of team development.
LO 9.4 Relate cohesiveness and norms to effective team performance.
Learning Objectives
LO 9.5 Describe the factors that cause conflict in teams and ways to manage conflict.
LO 9.6 Explain the importance and process of effective communication.
LO 9.7 Compare the different types of communication.
LO 9.8 Explain external communication and methods of managing a public crisis.
Empowerment: Giving employees shared authority, responsibility and decision-making with their managers
Sharing information and decision-making authority Keeping them informed about company’s financial
performance
Giving them broad authority to make workplace decisions
Empowering Employees
Employee stock ownership plans Gives employees stock ownership, leading to
potential profits as the value of the firm increases.
Motivates employees to work smarter and harder so can share in firm’s financial success.
Stock options Right to buy a specified amount of company
stock at a given price within a given time period. Being offered more frequently to employees at all
levels. Approximately one-third of all options go to the
top five executives at a firm.
Linking Rewards to Company Performance
Team: A group of people with certain skills who share a common purpose, approach, and performance goals Mutually responsible and accountable for
accomplishing objectives. Ability to work on teams often emphasized
during the hiring process. Work teams: Relatively permanent groups
of employees with complementary skills who perform the day-to-day work of organizations Two-thirds of firms use work teams.
Teams
Team size Can range widely, but most have fewer than 12
members. Ideal size is usually six or seven members.
Team level and team diversity Team level: The team’s average level of
ability, experience, personality, or any other factor
Team diversity: The team’s differences in ability, experience, personality, or any other factor
Team Characteristics
Consensus about the leader’s role develops during the ________ stage.
a. forming b. storming c. norming d. adjourning
Test Your Knowledge
Consensus about the leader’s role develops during the ________ stage.
a. forming b. storming c. norming d. adjourning Answer: C
Test Your Knowledge
Team cohesiveness: The extent to which team members feel attracted to the team and motivated to remain part of it
Increases when members interact frequently, share common attitudes and goals, and enjoy being together.
Cohesive teams quickly achieve high levels of performance and consistently perform better.
Team-building retreats are sometimes used to encourage cohesiveness and improve member satisfaction and retention.
Team norm: A standard of conduct shared by team members that guides their behaviour. Can be positive (contributing to accomplishment of goals)
or negative (contributing to reduced work effort/quality, poor job attendance).
Team Cohesiveness and Norms
Which situation is most likely to undermine team cohesiveness?
a. Team members genuinely like each other. b. Team members share common goals. c. Team members are unsure of the team’s mission. d. Team members have similar attitudes toward work.
Test Your Knowledge
Which situation is most likely to undermine team cohesiveness? a. Team members genuinely like each other. b. Team members share common goals. c. Team members are unsure of the team’s mission. d. Team members have similar attitudes toward work.
Answer: C
Test Your Knowledge
Conflict: The outcome when one person’s, or one group’s, needs do not match those of another, and one side may try to block the other side’s intentions or goals
Cognitive conflict: A disagreement that focuses on problem- and issue-related differences of opinion Reconciling these differences strongly improves team
performance
Affective conflict: a disagreement that focuses on individuals or personal issues
Team leaders should facilitate good communication so that teammates respect each other and work cooperatively.
Team Conflict
Communication: A meaningful exchange of information through messages
Managers spend 80 percent of their time in direct communication with others.
Company recruiters rate effective communication as the most important skill they’re looking for in hiring new employees.
The Importance of Effective Communication
Encoding a message includes
a. providing a feedback loop. b. translating meaning into
understandable terms.c. choosing a context.d. processing interference.
Test Your Knowledge
Encoding a message includes
a. providing a feedback loop. b. translating meaning into
understandable terms.c. choosing a contextd. processing interference. Answer: B
Test Your Knowledge
Communication in low-context cultures tends to rely on explicit written and verbal messages. Canada, United States, Switzerland, Germany, Austria
Communication in high-context cultures depends not only on the message itself but also on the conditions that surround it, including nonverbal cues, past and present experiences, and personal relationships between the parties. Japan, Latin America, India
The Process of Communication
An important part of oral communication is listening
Cynical (defensive) listening: Receiver of a message feels that the sender is trying to gain some advantage from the communication.
Offensive listening: Receiver tries to catch the speaker in a mistake or contradiction.
Polite listening: Receiver listens mechanically to be polite rather than to communicate.
Active listening: Requires involvement with the information and empathy with the speaker’s situation
the basis for effective communication
Oral Communication
Channels include reports, letters, memos, online discussion boards, social media, e-mails, and text messages
Effective written communication reflects its audience, the channel carrying the message, and a suitable degree of formality
E-mail is a very effective communication channel Volume Security Retention
Written Communication
Flows within the chain of command
Downward communication Upward communication Open and honest
communication is key
Formal Communication
With open communication, employees feel free to express opinions, offer suggestions, and even voice complaints.
Seven Characteristics of Open Communication: Employees are valued High level of trust exists Conflict is invited and resolved positively Creative dissent is welcomed Employee input is solicited Employees are well-informed Feedback is ongoing
Formal Communication
Informal communication channels carry messages outside formally authorized channels
Organizations becoming more decentralized/global; informal communication provides an important source of information
Grapevine: is an internal information channel that passes information from unofficial sources Main drawback is gossip; spreads misinformation, weakens
morale
Informal Communication
Nonverbal communication transmits messages through actions and behaviours.
Gestures, posture, eye contact, tone and volume of voice, and even clothing choices are all nonverbal actions that become communication cues.
Have a far greater impact on communications than many people realize.
Can show a person’s true feelings and thoughts; receivers tend to believe nonverbal cues when they conflict with verbal ones
Nonverbal Communication
External communication: A meaningful exchange of information through messages sent between an organization and its major audiences
Customers, suppliers, firms, general public, government officials
Every communication with customers should create goodwill.
Communication during crisis: Respond quickly. Put top company management in front of news media. Stick to the facts. When you don’t know, offer to find out. Recognize the existence of a problem. Speak briefly and clearly.
External Communication