Exam 9: Understanding Work Teams

High- performing teams have members who possess both technical and interpersonal skills.

Application of Team Roles Sarah has just returned from a seminar dealing with the research of Margerison and McCann where the roles of work team members was discussed. She is enthusiastic as she sets down to select members for the new team she is developing. Hopefully Sarah can avoid some problems of past teams by selecting individuals to fill the roles needed by the work team. Jim comes to mind immediately. He is one of the most imaginative people Sarah knows. He continuously comes up with new and novel ideas; however, he is very independent and likes to work at his own pace. Ruby, on the other hand, has an extreme concern for following policies and rules. She is excellent at examining details and making sure all the facts and figures will work. Putting those two together on a team, though, may pose some interpersonal problems since they are so different. Then there is Shane. He always has such strong convictions about how things should be done. However, he will protect the group from outsiders and go to battle for them. He will help provide team stability. -Who will act in the role of explorer- promoter?

The norming stage is complete when the team structure solidifies and members have assimilated a common set of expectations of appropriate work behavior.

How does workforce diversity affect teams?

A __________ team is an extension of electronic meetings.

The stage of group development during which members try to determine what behaviors will be acceptable is known as the control and organizing stage.

Self- managing teams possess all of the following characteristics except

How is the nationality of individuals related to their receptiveness to being a part of a team?

Everyone can be a team player.

What do studies tell us about members of cohesive teams?

When Stage II (storming)of team development is complete, there will be relatively clear leadership within the team.

Application of Team Roles Sarah has just returned from a seminar dealing with the research of Margerison and McCann where the roles of work team members was discussed. She is enthusiastic as she sets down to select members for the new team she is developing. Hopefully Sarah can avoid some problems of past teams by selecting individuals to fill the roles needed by the work team. Jim comes to mind immediately. He is one of the most imaginative people Sarah knows. He continuously comes up with new and novel ideas; however, he is very independent and likes to work at his own pace. Ruby, on the other hand, has an extreme concern for following policies and rules. She is excellent at examining details and making sure all the facts and figures will work. Putting those two together on a team, though, may pose some interpersonal problems since they are so different. Then there is Shane. He always has such strong convictions about how things should be done. However, he will protect the group from outsiders and go to battle for them. He will help provide team stability. -Shane is well suited to the team role of

A virtual team is an example of use of Quality Circles.

Which of the following is not a technique a manager can use to reinvigorate mature work teams?

Application of Characteristics of High- Performance Work Teams Richard knew that just switching to teams was not going to necessarily increase productivity. He knew that there were some characteristics he needed to ensure that the group possessed in order for the group to be most effective. Richard knew that the group members needed the requisite technical skills, but wondered if there were any other skills he needed to ensure every group member also had. He knew the group must be willing to put aside individual goals and focus on the success of the team goals. He also knew the group would need to be characterized by dedication to the team's goals and a willingness to expend extraordinary amounts of energy in order to achieve the goals. Some individual work skills would have to be readjusted in order to benefit the team. -The final condition for Richard's team to be effective is to have__________ by being provided internally with a sound infrastructure.

Which of the following is not a type of team?

Mature teams are particularly prone to

Application of Stages of Team Development Shannon had never been a member of a team before. Her organization had always highly valued individual effort. Consequently, the switch to teams had been difficult. Furthermore, there had been no training in team development, and right now, Shannon was not certain they were ever going to get past this current stage of continuous intragroup conflict. There was a lot of conflict over who was going to lead the team. Once everyone had thought of themselves as part of the team, not just a group of individuals, Shannon had thought things would start to get better. That first stage had been very difficult, but now the second stage seemed no better. Shannon wondered if they would ever reach a stage of cohesiveness where close relationships would start to develop. Furthermore, at this point she was not sure they would ever get to the point of actually performing the task they had been set up for, which was to work across functions to develop a new piece of surgical equipment. Since the team was to be disbanded in two years, Shannon was afraid they were going to spend their whole two years becoming a team and would never actually develop the new equipment. -Which stage of group development is the group currently in?

Effective teams can become stagnant.

Teams can serve as a source of job satisfaction for all of the following reasons except