Team Structure

3 Key excerpts on "Team Structure"

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  eBook - PDF

  Exploring Management

  • John R. Schermerhorn, Jr., Daniel G. Bachrach(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  20 As Figure 8.5 shows, these are horizontal structures where teams are often formed across func- tions and staffed with members whose talents match team tasks. 21 The goals are to reduce the functional chimneys problem, tap the full benefits of group decision making, and gain as much creativity and speed in problem solving as possible. Consultant and scholar Gary Hamel says that one of the forces driving managers to build Team Structures is the growing presence of “younger workers” who are “impatient with old hierarchies and value systems.” 22 Could this description apply to you? Might it suggest the type of organization structure you would be most comfortable working in? Sometimes things don’t work as hoped in Team Structures because the complexities of teams and teamwork create problems. As with the matrix, team members sometimes have to deal with conflicting loyalties between their team and functional assignments. Teamwork always takes time. And, as in any team situation, the quality of results often depends on how well the team is managed and how well team members gel. This is why you’ll most likely find that organizations with Team Structures invest heavily in team building and team training, as well as special office space designs to encourage teamwork. Network Structures Make Extensive Use of Strategic Alliances and Outsourcing. Another development in organizational structures uses a network of strategic alliances and outsourcing to dramatically reduce the need for full-time staff. Shown in Figure 8.6, a network structure links a central core of full-time employees with outside suppliers and service contractors. Because the central core is small and the surrounding networks can be expanded or shrunk as needed, the potential advantages are lower costs, more speed, and greater flexi- bility in dealing with changing environments. 23 A Team Structure uses permanent and temporary cross- functional teams to improve lateral relations.

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  Organizational Behavior

  • Michael A. Hitt, C. Chet Miller, Adrienne Colella, Maria Triana(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Otherwise, tasks may not be performed in the best manner pos- sible, and employees may duplicate their efforts or work against each other. Important aspects of Team Structure include roles, norms, and task structure. Team Member Roles Team roles are expectations shared by team members about who will do what and under which conditions. 74 Roles can be formally or informally adopted by team members. Some members primarily serve in leadership roles, and others take the roles of followers. The leadership role does not need to be formally assigned or a function of formal authority. Leaders can emerge informally in groups. Apart from leadership roles, all teams need to have members fulfilling both task roles and socioemotional, or expressive, roles. 75 Task roles involve behaviors aimed at achiev- ing the team’s performance goals and tasks. Socioemotional roles require behaviors that support the social aspects of the team. A team member may also emphasize destructive individual roles, which involve behaviors that place that individual’s needs and goals above those of the team. 76 As we would expect, these roles impede team performance rather than facilitate it. Exhibit 11‑3 depicts examples of specific task, socioemotional, and individual roles. As a team becomes more stable and structured, the roles of individual members often become resistant to change. 77 Group social pressures tend to keep members “in their place,” and the team resists outside forces that would change members’ roles, even if these roles were not the ones assigned by the formal organization. Norms Norms are informal rules or standards that regulate the team’s behavior. Norms tend to emerge naturally in a team and are part of the team’s mental model, although oc- casionally they are systematically recorded. Norms serve the purpose of regulating team members’ behavior and providing direction. When individual team members violate team norms, some type of punishment or sanction is usually applied.

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  The Essentials of Teamworking

  International Perspectives

  • Michael A. West, Dean Tjosvold, Ken G. Smith, Michael A. West, Dean Tjosvold, Ken G. Smith(Authors)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Employees also must be engaged in the design and change process. People are engaged well beyond traditional workplace norms. Employees are invited into decision making and ownership of outcomes. The increased engagement leads to greater ownership and commitment. It also mitigates the negative impact of stress (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Because of the increased participation, everyone has a shared stake in the output. The responsibility for the health of the organization is shared much more evenly across the organization. It is not just top management’s job to figure it out. Organizational Structure In a TBO, work is done collaboratively in a Team Structure. Teams are the basic performing unit, the formal organizing unit, of the organization. Some of the characteristics of structure in a TBO are explored below. A VARIETY OF TEAM TYPES SUPPORTS DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK Because flexibility and adaptability are so important to meeting the demands of the ever- changing business environment, organizational structure of a TBO must be able to flex and change as well. Because of the different needs, many different types of teams exist. Teams can be temporary or permanent, single function or multifunctional, inside one orga- nization or across several, and have co-located or distributed membership. Cohen and Bailey (1997) identified four types of teams in their review of empirical team studies published from 1990 to 1996. Work teams are long-term and fairly stable teams that are responsible for producing goods or services. Parallel teams are short-term teams with limited authority (usually with recommendation power only) that exist in parallel to existing organizational structure. Project teams are short-term teams with a specific goal or objective that is com- pleted, and then the team is disbanded. Project teams usually are cross-functional. Finally, management teams are long-term teams of managers that coordinate, integrate, and provide direction to other teams.

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