Why Build a Team?

Real teams are not just a group of people thrown together by management. High performance teams need to be built with a purpose in mind and have proven to increase an organizations competitive advantage. Motorola for instance relied heavily on teams to surpass its Japanese competition in producing the world’s lightest, smallest, and highest-quality cellular phones (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993, 15).  Other companies which rely on teams include Ford and 3M. Creating a high-performance team oftentimes results in an unbeatable competitive advantage.

Teams are not just for large organizations. All organizations need to be able to react swiftly and decisively to threats and opportunities. Building a diverse, cross functional team increases any organizations ability to respond strategically and tactically.

Another advantage of building teams is creating less dependence on experts, either internal or external. This leads to the benefit of allowing an organization to become self-managed. An organization can not become self-managed if it does not allow individuals “to be active co-creators, not passive recipients of the design process” (Purser & Cabana, 1998, 215).

Steps to Building a High-Performance Team

Merrelyn Emery provides one example of effective team building titled, “Participative Design.” Emery’s approach assumes the best designs come from employees who are under review. The Participative Design process combines a team’s individual perspectives and experience into a concrete knowledgebase, owned by the team, not forced on it by upper management.

The Participative Design Session is usually two days and involves anywhere from 24 – 36 people. The session consists of three phases; analysis, redesign, and implementation (Purser & Cabana, 1998, 216).

Heathfield

Susan Heathfield stresses the ultimate goal of team building is “striving to improve results for customers” (Heathfield, 2007, 1-3) and suggests 12 Cs for building a team:

1. Clear Expectations – Are expectations communicated effectively?
2. Context – Team members must know why they are on the team.
3. Commitment – Team members have to be motivated to be on the team.
4. Competence – Do all team members feel the team is comprised of competent people?
5. Charter – A team needs a charter and assigned responsibilities.
6. Control – A team needs to be empowered to bring about the results described in the charter.
7. Collaboration – Team members need to understand team development, roles, and responsibilities.
8. Communication – Team members need to communicate with each other and the organization effectively.
9. Creative Innovation – The organization must truly want change to be affected from this team collaboration.
10. Consequences – Both rewards and risk must be clear and the team members must feel accountable.
11. Coordination – Teams must understand the leadership hierarchy and ultimate customer.
12. Cultural Change – The organization must recognize the differences between the traditional business hierarchy and the team building model.

How Cultural Diversity and Demographics Impact a Team

Culturally and demographically diverse teams can lead to greater creativity and innovation. Diverse teams “leads to a better diversity climate (as measured by employees’ assessment of that climate) and greater levels of support for diversity-related initiatives” (Naff & Thompson, 2000, 12).

One interesting study by Rogelburg & Rumery (1996) assigned groups a male-oriented task. As the proportion of males increased, the decision outcome was better. However, the overall winner was a team with one woman. Another study by The American Management Association (1998) found ethnically diverse teams to have better performance outcomes.

Diversity is not always good for a team. People prefer to work with people like themselves and are less attracted to working with people unlike them. Group cohesiveness can suffer and a negative climate can be the result. When cohesiveness is weak, job satisfaction and performance can also suffer.

Relational demography, pioneered by Ellen Berscheid, Elaine Walster, and Donn Byrne, proposes that an individual’s demography affects a team. An individual with similar demographics is more likely to fit into an existing group than an individual with different demographics (Naff & Thompson, 2000, 4). This is important for a manager to understand especially in the context of adding new individuals to an existing team. Already existing teams have their own cultural identity and team cohesion may suffer if caution is not taken when adding individuals.

Conclusion

Scores of books have been written on effective team building and many methods exist for building teams. No matter which method is ultimately decided on, an organization must accept the changes in organizational culture which will inevitably occur. Managers must also understand the problems and opportunities diversity and demographics have on a team.

Building a high-performance team is an ongoing process. A good start for any manager is to:

• Encourage team cohesion by creating tasks which require interdependence on other team members.
• Make sure the team is empowered to complete the tasks they are being asked to do.
• Hold the team accountable and create an incentive policy which holds the team accountable.
• Have clear, consistent objectives and open communications.

References

American Management Association (1998). Senior Management Teams: Profiles and Performance. Management Review, 87, 37-44.

Heathfield, S. (2007). Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team.htm

Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Naff, K. C., & Thompson, R. C. (2000, August). The Impact of Teams on the Climate for Diversity in Government: The FAA Experience. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from http://www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/cami/00_27.pdf

Purser, R. E., & Cabana, S. (1998). The Self Managing Organization: How Leading Companies Are Transforming the Work of Teams for Real Impact. New York: The Free Press.

Rogelberg, S. G., & Rumery, S. M. (1996). Gender Diversity, Team Decision Quality, Time on Task, and Interpersonal Cohesion. Small Group Re-search, 27, 79-90.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people into groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others (O’Neil, 2007). Individuals must understand how to differentiate between ethnicity and race. Race, (in the human context), is an artificial definition based on physical characteristics.

In the Spanish speaking Caribbean, a mix of black, white and oriental races exist. These physical characteristics are combined into a resulting mulatto culture. Individuals would most likely categorize themselves as Latino, regardless of skin color or facial features.

An individual’s ethnicity plays a major role in their world view. Black skinned Cubans or Dominicans have more in common with Mexicans or white Cubans than they do with African-Americans. Hindus from India and Muslims from Pakistan also share many of the same ethnic traits, minus of course, the religious influences.

Age

When an individual ages his or her behavior is bound to change. Physically, the body slows down after the age of 25. Mentally, older people learn new tasks more slowly and may be slower thinkers. Older workers tend to use experience and expertise when working and may find it hard to work with complex or confusing stimuli, (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 1997-2006).

Younger workers can work at a much faster pace and filter out distractions, but lack the experience to exploit already existing solutions. In other words, they look at all problems as new problems and don’t have the wealth of problem solving experience of older workers. Younger workers may often “reinvent the wheel”; this can be good or bad depending on the problem being solved. Other studies have shown “that younger individuals are more likely to start a new firm than older ones” (Levesque & Minniti, 2006, 177).

Gender

The battle of the sexes has probably been going on since time began. While many jokes have been made about the differences between men and women, true gender differences are recognizable. History and evolution have favored certain traits differentiating men and women.

Many of the behavioral differences exhibited by men and women result from our history as hunter-gatherer societies. A good amount of evidence points to men having better spatial problem solving skills and new research shows women being better at sense of direction. A study by Joshua New concludes, “women’s minds are specialised (sic) for their ancestral task of gathering the sort of food that cannot run away” (The Economist, 2007).

In the case of fight or flight, women also react differently from men. Women, “react to danger by quieting and soothing their offspring and by affiliating with a group for protection” (Callahan, 2000). Males in the same situation have hormonal changes which prepare them to fight or flee.

Not all researchers are convinced women and men are from different planets. Deborah Cameron cites research in her book regarding four common myths, (1) women talk more than men, (2) men and women communicate differently, (3) men’s and women’s brains are hardwired differently when it comes to language, and (4) men interrupt more than women (Caeser, 2007).

Religion

Religion or lack thereof, plays a fundamental part in a person’s individual behavior. A Christian grows up believing in certain values such as heaven and judgment day. Followers of Santeria and Yoruba based religions believe in multiple orishas or saints from which the follower’s personality derives. Hindus believe in reincarnation and Buddhists believe in self reflection and improvement.

Religion is likely to be a major form of diversity in most organizations. Religion also goes hand in hand with ethnicity. Many times ethnicity determines religion. Understanding the broad social and behavioral differences presented by each religion is important. Managers can not only understand and motivate appropriately, but can take advantage of the behaviors each religion promotes.

Conclusion

Almost all organizations are made up of a diverse set of individuals. This diversity is not limited to race or gender, but also encompasses other factors such as religion, ethnicity and age. Individuals come into the workplace with different values and perceived acceptable behavior.

An organization needs to create a system to manage the diversity present in its workplace. Understanding how different aspects of diversity make up individual and organizational behavior will make creation and implementation of these standards clear. Understanding diversity also helps an organization understand and promote its own ethical guidelines.

References

Caeser, E. (2007, October 23). Talking tosh on Mars and Venus. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/pqdweb?index=6&did=1359300721&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1193165176&clientId=13118

Callahan, S. (2000, Sept 22). GENDER DIFFERENCES : Chemistry or culture?. Commonweal, 127.16, 9.

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (1997-2006). Aging Workers. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/aging_workers.html

Levesque, M., & Minniti, M. (2006, March). The effect of aging on entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Business Venturing  , 21(2), 177-194.

O’Neil, D. (2007, July 25). Ethnicity and Race: An Introduction to the Nature of Social Group Differentiation and Inequality. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from http://anthro.palomar.edu/ethnicity/Default.htm

The Economist (2007, August). Science and Technology: Sex, shopping and thinking pink; Evolutionary psychology. . Retrieved October 22, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1325019261)

Why is organizational behavior important to study? If people are an organizations most important asset then understanding how humans behave in organizations will improve productivity. Understanding OB allows better worker relations, more realistic expectations and improves job satisfaction.

Organizational Culture

An organizations culture stems from “the shared beliefs and values that influence the behavior of organizational members” (Schermerhorn, Jr et al., 2005, 9). Every organization has a different culture. For example, at (name changed) Grey Valley Wine and Spirits, the corporate culture expects employees in any position to learn constantly about the industry and then teach clients. The culture also encourages direct communications with any other employee no matter what level on the org chart they are. Other company’s cultures may expect employees to only do their job and not give input at all.

Diversity

Organizations which do not have a culture of encouraging diversity are at a decided disadvantage. In the modern world of global business, not hiring the best person for the job solely because of gender, race, ethnicity, religion or age is not only foolish, but probably illegal.

Some organizations are even going to the extreme of trying to eliminate all subcultures and become truly multicultural. “The multicultural organization is a firm that values diversity but systematically works to block the transfer of societally based subcultures into the fabric of the organization” (Schermerhorn, Jr et al., 2005, 440).

Communication

Two types of organizational communication exist, formal and informal. Organizations of all sizes make use of both, whether directly or indirectly. Formal channels of communication generally follow the chain of command or org chart and are top down. Informal channels on the other hand tend to be more open and spontaneous. Scuttlebutt or gossip is also considered forms informal organizational communication.

Many small companies such as Grey Valley Wine and Spirits rely more on informal communications channels. Small organizations by and large adhere less to formal command structures and all employees are generally more active in feedback and decision making.

Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency

Organizational effectiveness measures how well an organization is in sync. Even with the best management, superior strategy and flawless execution an organization can be less successful than it could be. Organizations who understand employees as partners stand a much better chance of achieving high organizational effectiveness and efficiency. “Organizational effectiveness is about each individual doing everything they know how to do and doing it well” (NIH, 2004).

Smaller organizations should exhibit more organizational efficiency due to less bureaucratic management. This is not always the case as smaller organizations oftentimes have less clear strategic goals and incomplete systems. Grey Valley Wine and Spirits tends to not have as many mature systems in place for employees. This creates inefficiency as several, and oftentimes conflicting, methods are created by employees and not management. These systems may also conflict with management’s strategic plan.

Organizational Learning

In todays fast paced, global business environment, organizations need to adapt quickly to threats and opportunities. How an organization learns directly affects the speed and efficiency of an organization to handle opportunities and threats. Richard Karash supplies this definition, “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” (Karash, 2002).

At Grey Valley Wine and Spirits, employees are constantly learning and experimenting. New products are created and new markets serviced based on employee suggestions. Gluten-free beer, a new product, was conceived by a team who were researching new product ideas. The beer was then created by the Brewmaster. After a one year test phase, in which many iterations of the beer was brewed and sampled, a final product was introduced. All employees of the company contributed and in the process learned about the beer brewing process, helping them both professionally and personally.

Conclusion

Understanding organizational behavior increases the opportunity for a successful organization. Gaining an awareness of an organizations culture is necessary for continued diverse growth. In order to attract the best talent to an organization, a culture of diversity and open communication is needed. Once an organization has the best talent it can find, the organization can improve efficiency and have more wide-spread viewpoints to learn from.

References

NIH (2004). Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/about/profile/profile_archives/2004/effectiveness.html

Karash, R. (2002). What is a “Learning Organization”. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://world.std.com/~lo/

Schermerhorn, J. R., Jr, Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2005). Organizational Behavior (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc..