Effective Teamwork and Conflict Resolution in Organizations, Exercises of Leadership and Team Management

Download Effective Teamwork and Conflict Resolution in Organizations and more Exercises Leadership and Team Management in PDF only on Docsity! Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 165 Lecture 39 REVIEW-II Lecture 39 is a second review and is mainly to review what ever we covered so far from lectures 25 to 38. Second part of our course was mainly focusing the team dynamics part. We tried to understand group, team and their dynamics. We started our lecture number 25 with group dynamics. Group - two or more people with common interests or objectives. Team - a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common mission, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable A team is a formal work group in which there is a high level of interaction among group members who work intensely together to achieve a common goal. A group whose members work intensely with each other to achieve a specific, common goal or objective is known as Team. All teams are groups but not all groups are teams. – Teams often are difficult to form. – It takes time for members to learn how to work together. A group/team is effective when it satisfies three criteria: o Production output: the product of the group’s work must meet or exceed standards of quality and quantity o Member satisfaction: membership in the group must provide people with short-term satisfaction and facilitate their long-term growth and development o Capacity for continued cooperation: how the group completes a task should maintain or enhance the group’s ability to work together; groups that don’t cooperate cannot survive Groups versus Teams: All teams are groups Some groups are just people assembled together Teams have task interdependence whereas some groups do not.. Why Rely on Teams? Because as compared with individuals working alone, teams tend to o Make better decisions o Make better products and services due to more knowledge and expertise We also discussed different development stages of group formation. Stages of Group Development: five stage of group development are o Forming o Storming o Norming o Performing o Adjorning Types of Teams o Problem-Solving o Self-Managed o Cross-Functional o Virtual Benefits of Teams Synergy: The creation of a whole greater than or equal to the sum of its parts. docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 166 Why Teams Are Good for Organizations o More resources for problem solving o Improved creativity and innovation o Improved quality of decision making o Greater commitments to tasks o Increased motivation of members o Better control and work discipline Characteristics of High Performance Teams o Clear goals o Results-driven structure o Competent team members o Unified commitments o Collaborative climate o Standards of excellence o Leadership Team: A team is a formal work group in which there is a high level of interaction and interdependence among group members who work intensely together to achieve a common goal. Teamwork: is the process of people actively working together to accomplish common goals. Advantages and disadvantages of having team. Advantages Disadvantages o Wider range of knowledge, expertise and ideas o Effective way to build consensus o Effective way to communicate complex information o Blocking o Dominant people o Status differential o Groupthink How Do We Measure Team Effectiveness? Effective teams have confidence in themselves and believe they can succeed—this is team efficacy. Success breeds success. Management can increase team efficacy by helping the team to achieve small successes and skill training. Small successes build team confidence. The greater the abilities of team members, more the likelihood that the team will develop confidence and the capability to deliver that confidence. We can measure the team effectiveness by measuring their… o Productivity o Cohesion o Learning/ growth & development o Integration with the rest of the organization. Leaders need to put extra efforts to convert individuals into a performing team. Turning Individuals into Team Players: It starts with the selection of right type of people, training them and linking the performance with proper reward system. “NONE OF US IS AS SMART AS ALL OF US” o When teams operate effectively, they can solve more problems, make better decisions and be more creative. o “Team are unique; dynamic, complex and ever changing.” - Ken Blanchard, author of “the one minute manager”. Leadership success requires: An understanding of group behavior. The ability to tap the constructive power of teams Team Building docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 169 o Enabling and empowering group members to accomplish their work o Selecting team-oriented members o Using technology that facilitates teamwork Decision Making and Decision Making Process: A decision is a choice made from two or more alternatives. The decision-making process is recognizing and defining the nature of a decision situation, identifying alternatives, choosing the “best” alternative, and putting it into practice. An effective decision is one that optimizes some set of factors such as profits, sales, employee welfare, and market share. Managers make decisions about both problems and opportunities. Problem Solving Vs Decision Making o Problem solving: finding the root cause of a deviation (cause analysis) o Decision making: choosing from alternative courses of action (choice analysis) Problem solving --------------- Decision making Types of Decisions: Programmed Decisions: A decision that is a fairly structured decision or recurs with some frequency or both. Example: Starting your car in the morning. Non-programmed decisions: A decision that is relatively unstructured and occurs much less often than a programmed decision. Example: Choosing a vacation destination. Intuitive decision making: Managers also regularly use their intuition. Intuitive decision making is a subconscious process of making decisions on the basis of experience and accumulated Judgment. o Making decisions on the basis of gut feeling doesn’t necessarily happen independently of rational analysis; the two complement each other. o Although intuitive decision making will not replace the rational decision-making process, it does play an important role in managerial decision making Roadblocks to Good Decision Making o Human Cognition o Our mental ability to comprehend and understand something o Human Perception o Difficulty isolating problems o Tend to think of only narrow range of possible solution o Human Bias o Tendency to shape responses based on stereotypes, memory, and current position Decision-Making and Technology: In today’s completive world Information technology can also help and support the decision-making. Different decision making tools are available for manager and leaders to use in practical life. Team Decision Making: Use Individual Decision Making When: o You have the information to make a good decision o The situation is urgent o Subordinates are already committed or their commitment doesn’t matter docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 170 Use Team/Group For Decision Making When: o No one knows the answer or the expertise is in the group o You want to increase the commitment of subordinates o The situation is not urgent in the sense that it requires an immediate response o You, as manager/leader, can live with choice Group/Team Decision Making Advantages Disadvantages o More information & knowledge are Available o More alternatives are likely to be generated. o More acceptance of the final decision is likely o Enhanced communication of the decision may result better decisions o The process takes longer, so it is more costly o Compromise decisions due to indecisiveness may emerge o One person may dominate the group Groupthink may occur Methods of Group/Team Decision Making (Johnson & Johnson, 1991) o Decision by authority without discussion o Expert member o Average of member’s opinions o Decision by authority after discussion o Majority control o Minority control o Consensus Decisions made in groups can be made by one of four main methods. o Unilaterally by an individual o By simple majority vote o By consensus – everyone agreeing to support the conclusion o Subgroup of team Which one is the best? There is no “best”. Different types fit best for different situations. Remember. Some decisions will be good! Some decisions will be bad! BUT You will learn something from every decision you make!!! Communication is the process by which a person, group, or organization (the sender) transmits some type of information (the message) to another person, group or organization (the receiver) using some medium (Channels). Communication encompasses both interpersonal communication (between two or more people) and organizational communication (all the patterns, networks, and system of communication within an organization). Communication and Leadership: The importance of effective communication cannot be overemphasized because everything a manager/leader does involves communicating. Effective leaders are also effective communicators. To be effective, the leader must synchronize verbal and nonverbal behavior Technology has had also a meaningful impact on leaders’ communication and coordination. o Effective leaders are also effective communicators o To be effective, the leader must synchronize verbal and nonverbal behavior o Technology has had a meaningful impact on leaders’ communication and coordination Guidelines to Team Communication: o Be specific: include facts and details to avoid being unclear docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 171 o Be accurate: as much as possible be sure that the information you are giving is true and reliable. o Be honest: be truthful with those you are communicating with and do not use questionable information. o Be logical: make sure messages are easy to follow o Be complete: give all needed information in regards to your ideas. o Be concise: be brief- not unnecessarily wordy. o Be relevant: stay on task and give information that is needed. o Ask for feedback: have recipients give comments on information. Responsibilities of Team Members o Open minded o Listen to what is being said o Give feedback to what is being said o Make sure all team members have a chance to communicate their ideas. o If decisions need to be made discuss pros and cons, and decide best option for TEAM. o Take ownership for what you say. o Take responsibility for making sure you are heard and understood. o Use terminology and examples that your audience understands. o Be aware of body language. o Always work to maintain the trust and confidence of those with whom you are communicating/working. Conflict in Team: The process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. o Perceived by the parties o Parties are in opposition to one another o At least one party is blocking the goal attainment of the other party o Goals can be tangible or psychological o Money o Task Achievement o Happiness There are several common themes which underlie most definitions: o The parties to it must perceive conflict. o Commonalties in the definitions are opposition or incompatibility and some form of interaction. Many people and organizations view conflict as a negative, or something to be avoided. Yet conflict, differences, or disagreements are a natural result of people working together. Also, without conflict, teams can become complacent and not perform at optimum levels. The challenge then becomes, how should the team be prepared for this stage of their existence, and how should the team leader facilitate through it? Sources of Conflict o Goal Incompatibility o Different Values and Beliefs o Task Interdependence o Scarce Resources o Ambiguity o Communication Problems o Perceived personal threats o Perceived threat to the organization o Personal, social, cultural differences o Others... docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 174 process, which is a key process for employers to ensure that employees are working toward organizational goals. Overall, training has a fairly impressive record of influencing organizational effectiveness, scoring higher than appraisal and feedback, and just below goal setting in its effect on productivity. o Employees recruited for a flexible working role rather than a ‘job’ and for their ability to learn rather than for pre-existing skills o Employees expected to re-train periodically o Training seen as an investment not a cost o Learning is an ongoing process in the organisation, which is integrated with working o Performance, appraisal and development are seen as part of a single process Purpose of Training: Effective training can raise performance, improve morale, and increase an organization's potential. Poor, inappropriate, or inadequate training can be a source of frustration for everyone involved. To maximize the benefits of training, managers must closely monitor the training process. Training ensures that Team/Organization meets current and future performance objectives set by top management. Training also helps in continuous improvement of performance of individuals and teams, and maximizing people’s potential for growth (and promotion). o Ensure Team/Organization meets current and future performance objectives by… o Continuous improvement of performance of individuals and teams, and… o Maximizing people’s potential for growth (and promotion) Learning Principles o Participation o Repetition o Relevance o Transference o Feedback Phases of Learning Cycles Understand and frame problem o Create a shared understanding o What is the problem (or opportunity)? o What are we trying to do? o How are we going to do it? o Starts out being general but becomes more defined as you proceeds Key Characteristics of Successful Learning Teams o Clear (and shared) sense of purpose o Good communication o Freely shared information o Shared leadership o Interdependence of team members o Utilization of members’ strengths o Mutual encouragement of risk taking o Adaptive – able change/modify plans when new information and/or circumstances emerge o Pride in team identity Learning Organization? “A learning organization is one in which people at all levels, individually and collectively, are continually increasing their capacity to produce results they really care about”. Learning organization is Creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring, and retaining knowledge. Purposefully modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 175 “Learning Organization” is a Hot Topic: Levels of Learning Managers/leaders need to encourage learning at four levels: o Individual o Group o Organizational o Inter-organizational The Basis of the Learning Organization Strategy need to be o Transfer Knowledge, not just information. o Knowledge leads to better, safer decisions. o Better-informed. o Knowledgeable. o Wiser decisions. Organizations Must Learn Faster & Adapt to the Rapid Changes in the Environment otherwise they will be history. The Bottom Line: Any organization that has a culture and structure that promotes learning at all levels to enhance its capabilities to produce, adapt and shape its future. The Knowledge Management Cycle o Create knowledge o Capture knowledge o Refine knowledge o Store knowledge o Manage knowledgee o Disseminate knowledge What Will a Learning Organization Achieve for You? o Develop effective leadership skills o Gain skills in working as a team o Improve professional development o Understand change management skills o Overcome staff inertia o Link theory and practice to solve organizational problems o Create a non-threatening environment Through learning, we: o Re-create ourselves o Become able to do things we never were able to do before o Re-perceive the world and our relationship to it o Extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life Why is there a Need for a New Managerial Mindset? o Change o Globalization o New technology o Need for strategic flexibility o Need for non-linear thinking o Need to see the whole o Need for changed mental models Building, Maintaining & Sustaining the Learning Organization Reward and Recognition Systems o Team-based reward and recognition systems can promote teamwork docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 176 o Focus should be rewarding teams for achieving specific goals Why People Leave Their Jobs? o They feel they do not make a difference. o They do not get proper recognition. o They are not learning anything new or growing as a person. o They do not like their coworkers. o They want to earn more money. People leave organization due to many reasons but one of them might be the improper compensation system. Compensating Teams: Reasons for tailoring compensation to individuals: o Motivation comes from within the individual as opposed to the group. o The development of skills and behaviors is an individual undertaking. o Fairness in dealing with teams does not mean equal pay for all. o Team compensation is not a payoff but a means of nurturing behavior that benefits the team. Rewards and other Employee Behaviors Starting from attracting the good team members/employees to retain every thing is revolving on the reward system of organization. Three important HR related behaviors like turnover, absenteeism and attendance is directly linked with the reward system of organizations. With better reward system we can minimize the turnover, absenteeism and attendance and vice versa. Reward is also used to reinforce positive behavior and reduces the undesirable behaviors. Total compensation comprises of direct like wages, salary, commission, gain sharing etc while indirect benefits, vacation, insurance, etc. Even positive behavior of manager/leader also play important role in modifying the behaviors of the team member/employees. We can see a wide range of benefits organization use to attract, and retain the employees. Objectives of Reward Systems o Attraction and retention (employees compare to other firms in the market) o Motivating performance (contingent on expectancy & equity) o Getting employees to gain skills and knowledge o Reinforce the organization’s culture o Not cost the firm too much!! Designing Rewards o Always remember your basic motivational theories o Options for reward systems o Objectives of reward systems o How rewards impact organizational effectiveness o Implementing a reward system o Appropriate rewards practices sometimes vary between countries Individual or Team Rewards? Individual rewards o fosters independent behavior o may lead to creative thinking and novel solutions o encourages competitive striving within a work team Team rewards o emphasize cooperation & joint efforts o emphasize information sharing docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 179 Implementation of Virtual Teams: o Must set out a clear business reason for the team o Team must understand its mission/purpose o Team members must develop a sense of interdependence o Must have accountability and rewards for team members Challenges to Virtual Team Success: o Building trust within virtual teams o Maximizing process gains & minimizing process losses on virtual teams o Overcoming feelings of isolation & detachment associated with virtual teamwork o Balancing technical & interpersonal skills among virtual team members o Assessment & recognition of virtual team performance Virtual Team Competencies o The right technology o Shared work space & processes o Established ground rules o Acceptance of cultural, style & preference differences o Effective group dynamics o Clear identity o Teamwork skills o Leadership o True trust Virtual Leadership Virtual leadership is about how to pull the people on a worldwide assignment together into one cohesive partnership. Leadership is about making things happen and getting things done. It just takes more work in a virtual environment. Key in Leading a Virtual Team o Build trust o Reward and recognize o Communication o Motivation o Commitment Virtual Team Leadership Competencies o Make the invisible, visible o Make the intangible, tangible o Create & foster a climate of trust o Establish & constantly model standards of accountability o Communicate clearly, constantly & effectively within each receiver’s realm o Delegate responsibilities Virtual Leadership Key Traits o Everyone gets core information at the same time. o Everyone has equal input. o Everyone's ideas are weighed against the alignment tool, not out of preference. o Everyone's ideas are never judged or rejected at the onset. o Everyone has equal opportunity to shine. o Everyone is rewarded or publicly recognized for contributions to the project. o The leader socializes equally with people near and far. o Even appearances or suggestions of favoritism break trust. docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 180 Team Meetings Team meetings keep members informed and provide a forum for problem solving, decision-making, and innovation. Meetings, when productive, are also one of the primary ways to develop team member relationships, enthusiasm, and spirit. Effective Meetings at Work: Focused, Crisp and Short Types of Meetings o Leadership/Management: to review the overall organization performance, setting up new goals and targets, headed by CEO, or Chairman. o Department Specific: to review the departmental performance, headed by the head of department. o Project Management: to review the overall project performance, headed by Project Director or Project Manager. o Other Meetings o Quarterly Business Review: to review the quarterly progress report of all the departments in the organization. o Client Specific: to meet with specific client/customer to discuss the business matters etc. o Functional Team: meeting with in the department between different teams exist in one department. o Special Project: meeting on special project o Performance Review (1-1): to review the performance o Others: a number of unscheduled meetings has also arranged on different level of organization. Meeting Techniques: o Ask yourself, "Is this meeting really necessary?" o Have a goal for the meeting. What do you want to accomplish? o Have an agenda with clearly stated items and the amount of time to be allotted each one. Send out the agenda at least one day ahead of the meeting. o Limit attendance and appoint a leader. o Stay focused on the agenda. If a new topic is introduced, add it to the list of future agenda items or negotiate with the group if it should be discussed now. Have a clock in the room. o Strive to get everyone involved in the discussion, avoid domination by one or two members. o Foster rigorous debate and brainstorming, while respecting each other's opinions. o Use visual aids. Have a flip chart and use it. o Keep minutes of the key points raised and actions to be taken, then follow up. o Do a two-minute evaluation of the meeting. Ask everyone what went well… what could be improved. The Meeting Process o Plan o Start o Conduct o Close o Follow Up Leading Team Having the leading position or higher score in a contest; "he is ahead by a pawn"; "the leading team in the pennant race". Attributes of High Performing Teams: o Performance outcomes docsity.com Leadership & Team Management – MGMT 623 VU © Virtual University of Pakistan 181 o Specific, shared purpose and vision o Mutual, internal accountability o Coordinated, shared work roles o Inefficiency leading to efficiency o Extraordinarily high quality o Creative continuous improvement o High credibility and trust o Clarity of core competence o Participative leadership o Shared responsibility o Aligned on purpose o High communication o Future focused o Focused on task o Creative talents o Rapid response Principles of Leadership Effectiveness o Do not avoid risks. o Believe in yourself. o Take the offense rather than the defense. o Know the ways of disagreement and the means of compromise. o Be a good follower. Effective leaders lead as they would like to be lead. Note Material presented during this course is taken from different books, presentations and work done by great peoples in this field to make the material understandable for a common person and purely for learning purpose. Material/work used from different sources is highly acknowledged. docsity.com