Exam 9: Understanding Work Teams

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. -Which team role will Jim effectively play?

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 a __________ by being provided internally with a sound infrastructure.

The essence of continuous improvement programs is process improvement, and __________is the linchpin of process improvement.

Teams take longer to do some things than employees acting alone.

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. -Suppose Shannon's group interacted primarily to share information and to make decisions that would help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility. They would have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires joint effort; consequently, their performance is merely the summation of all the group members' individual contributions. Which of the following best describes this?

__________like to take new ideas and champion their cause.

A self- managed team is a work team composed of a manager and the employees in his/her unit that is focused on improving work activities or solving specific problems within their particular functional unit.

Teams will be difficult to introduce in the United States, Canada, and Australia because these societies are

The organization's reward system can help shape team players by rewarding cooperative efforts rather than competitive ones.

What is the difference between a work group and a work team?

At the __________stage of group development members try out various forms of behavior in an attempt to test the water and see what will be accepted by the group.

The team role of linker dislikes extremism and tries to build cooperation among all team members.

The environment necessary for continuous improvement can best be supplied with

Effective team leaders today can best be described by which of the following terms?

The challenge of creating team players will be greatest where the national culture has strong collectivism values.

__________are an effective way to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems, and coordinate complex tasks.

Cross- functional teams are expected to do all of the following except

Explain why work teams are growing in popularity today.

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. -Which role is the most important to have filled in order for the team to be effective?

Which of the following does not accurately describe virtual teams?