Team Leadership: The use of

teams in organizations, Types

of teams, Decision making in
teams, Leadership skills for

Unit 4 effective team meetings,

Ginnet’s team effectiveness
leadership model, virtual and
self-managed teams, the
changing role of leadership in
self-managed teams.
The use of teams in organizations

• Synergetic benefit
• Team members often evaluate one another’s thinking- reduce errors
• Mutual support
• Continuous improvement and innovation
• Job satisfaction- organisational citizenship behaviour
• Positive organisational outcomes
• Need for affiliation, security, self esteem and self fulfillment
• Teams are integral part of workplace
• Global economy- challenges, competition, service, technological advancements
• Teams form the basic unit of empowerment
• Productivity, quality, efficiency, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction
Disadvantages of teamwork

• Members face pressure

• Shrinking of individual responsibility
• Social loafing
• Groupthink
• Conflict
Types of teams
• Functional teams
• Cross-functional teams
• Matrix teams
• Self-managed teams(share or rotate team responsibility)`
• Virtual teams
• Operational teams
• Special purpose teams
• Management teams
Functional teams

• These teams are permanent and

always include members of the
same department with different
responsibilities.
• A manager is responsible for
everything, and everyone reports
to him.
• These types of teams are more
likely to be found in companies
that incorporate traditional project
management.
Cross-functional Teams

• Cross-functional teams are made up

of members from various
departments.
• These teams tackle specific tasks
that require different inputs and
expertise.
• Even though cross-functional teams
are becoming increasingly popular
 worldwide, a recent study has
proven that a whopping 75% of all
cross-functional teams are
dysfunctional.
 Matrix Teams

• These teams are

characterized by a “two-
boss system”, where an
individual report to a
different manager for
various aspects of his work.
• This type of team is the
product of 
Matrix management approa
ch
.
Self-managed Teams

•Typically, members of self-managed teams

are employees of the same organization who
work together, and even though they have a
wide array of objectives, their aim is to reach
a common goal.
•There is no manager nor authority figure,
•so it is up to members to determine rules
and expectations,
• to solve problems when they arise, and to
carry shared responsibility for the results.
Virtual Teams

• Virtual teams are made up of people

who work in different physical
locations
• who rely heavily on collaboration
tools to get things done together.
• Virtual teams provide members with
better life-work balance and allow
business owners to employ the best
experts in the field, regardless of the
fact that they live on another
continent.
Operational teams
• Operational teams support other types of teams. They are formed to make sure that all back office
processes go smoothly.
Special purpose teams

• Special purpose teams are teams that are formed to fulfil a special purpose
or a one time off project.
• These teams include working committees for a particular event, or a
committee that comes together to solve a particular problem.
• Usually, these teams are not permanent and they are usually disbanded
once the purpose of the team is served.
Management Teams

• Management Teams are like the board of directors of a company.

• The directors or managers come together to deliberate on strategic and
macro-issues that affect the whole organization.
• This function is traditional and necessary extension if the organization has
work groups.
Characteristics of effective teams

Effective teams are those that meet their performance targets such
as quality, productivity, profitability, employee satisfaction and
commitment, deadlines.
Team effectiveness is defined as having 3 components:
1. Task performance: degree to which the team outputs meets
the needs and expectations of those who use it.
2. Group process: degree to which members interact or relate
in ways that allow the team to work increasingly well
together over time.
3. Individual satisfaction: degree to which the group
experience, on balance, is more satisfying than frustrating to
team members.
Characteristics of effective teams

• Team norms: acceptable standards of behaviour that are shared by team

members
• Team leadership: adaptive, when to play different roles such as mentor, manager,
coach, facilitator
• Team cohesiveness and interdependence
• Team composition: right mix of complimentary skills, knowledge and abilities
• Team structure: allocation of tasks, responsibility and authority
• Creativity driven
• Organisational support
Decision-making in teams

Decision-making is the process whereby a final but best choice is made

among the alternatives available.
Team decision making (also known as collaborative decision making) is a
situation faced when individuals collectively make a choice from the
alternatives before them. 
STEPS IN DECISION MAKING
PROCESS
Various Techniques used for Decision Making

1. Brainstorming: A group of people are encouraged to develop creative ideas or solutions to

problem. This can reduce fear of criticism by other members
2. Nominal Group Technique: Encourages interaction among group members in a structured
manner.
1. Problem will be stated to group.
2. Every member will work independently on problem,
3. later all will discuss the solutions developed by each of the member.
4. Each solution will get votes from all the members.
5. A solution with highest votes will be adopted
3. Delphi Group:
1. Problem will be submitted to a panel of experts.
2. The panel members never meet face to face, they don’t even know other members.
3. Experts contribute individually and
4. their opinions will be combined and
5. in effect averaged to get the best solution.
 
Various Techniques used for Decision
Making
4. DECISION TREE
• One of the best ways to analyze a decision is the use of what has been called a decision tree. The
approach involves linking a number of event “branches”, which when fully arrayed, resemble a
tree.
• The process starts with a primary decision that has at least two alternatives to be evaluated. The
probability of each outcome must be ascertained as well as its monetary value.
Advantages of team decisions

• Improve decision quality- pool of relevant knowledge, and stimulating creative ideas
• Participation of different functions, subunits, parties.
• Allow responsibility to be diffused among several people, thereby facilitating support for
some types of unpopular decisions (budgets cutbacks and disciplinary actions)
• Help the members understand the nature of the problem and reasons for the final choice
of solution
• Effective implementation of decisions
• Higher commitment by team members
Disadvantages of team decisions

• Usually take longer than decision made alone

• Cost in terms of participant time is greater
• Objectives and priorities differ
• May end up being poor compromise rather than optimal solution
Decision making in teams

• Leader-centered versus group-centered approach

• Leader-centered approach: exercise his or her power to intimate,
direct, drive, instruct and control team members
• Group centered approach: empowers group members to make
decisions and follow throughout
Constraints on Team Decision Making
• Time Constraints
• There’s a saying that “committees keep minutes and waste hours.” This reflects the fact that
teams take longer than individuals to make decisions.
• production blocking is time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural
requirement that only one person may speak at a time.
• Evaluation Apprehension
• A decision-making problem that occurs when individuals are reluctant to mention ideas
that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that other team members are silently
evaluating them.
• Pressure to Conform
• Team cohesion leads employees to conform to the team’s norms. This control keeps the
group organized around common goals, but it may also cause team members to suppress
their dissenting opinions, particularly when a strong team norm is related to the issue
• Groupthink
• The tendency of highly cohesive groups to value consensus at the price of decision quality
Leadership skills for effective team meetings

• Managers spend a great deal of time in management meetings

• Most meetings include employees
• Common for teams to have daily meetings
• Therefore need for meeting management skill is stronger than ever
• Success of meeting depends on leader’s skill
Leadership skills for effective team meetings

• 1 – For more effective team meetings, leaders should speak up early

instead of speaking often
• 2 – Check in with team members before assuming
• 3 – Be clear about what your role is in each meeting
• 4 – Be selective about which meetings you attend
• 5 – Make sure a plan of action is created
• 6 – Keep everything in the meeting focused on the full group
• 7 – Use meetings as an effective delegation tool
10 Most Important Leadership Skills for
Team Success
• Ability to Lead
• Effective Communication
• Relationship Building
• Industry Expertise
• Perceptive of Team Needs
• Trustworthiness
• Time Management
• Commitment
• Confidence
• Problem Solving
Leadership skills for effective team meetings

• Planning meeting:
• Preparation of leader and member have direct effect on meeting
• There are at least 5 areas in which planning is needed
• Objectives
• Selecting participants and Making assignments
• Agenda
• Date, Time and place for meeting
• Leadership
• Written copy of meeting to be sent to members prior to the meeting
Leadership skills for effective team meetings
objectives Clear idea and purpose
Objectives to be accomplished during the meeting
Regular scheduled information dissemination
Brainstorming meetings
Participants and assignments Who should attend?
Should non-group member attend?
Members should know what is expected out of them
Advance notice
Agenda What is expected
How the meeting will progress
Flexible and allow more time when really needed
Order of priority
Date, Time and place for meeting Get members input regarding which day and time is more convenient
Leadership Leadership style?
Disseminate, discussion, vote, consensus
 The first meeting

• Orientation stage
• Leader should use high task role
• Getting to know each other
• Introduction- group purpose- objectives- member’s job role

The 3 parts of meeting

• Identifying objectives
• Covering agenda items

Conducting • Summarizing and reviewing assignments

meetings Leadership

Handling problem members

• Silent
• Talker
• Wanderer
• Bored
• Arguer

Working with group members

Self-managed teams

• A self-managed team is a team in which the members take collective

responsibility for ensuring that the team operates effectively and meets its
targets.
• Typically, members of self-managed teams are employees within an
organisation who work together, within a broad framework of aims and
objectives, to reach a common goal.
• When setting up the team, two of the parameters that have to be defined
are the levels of responsibility and autonomy that are given to the self-
managed team.
Self managed teams
• So teams can have varying degrees of autonomy, from teams who have considerable
control over their work, and the boundaries within which they operate, to self-managed
teams that are set boundaries by team leaders. (Some authors give different names to
teams at different ends of this spectrum. In this course we use the same term.)
• In general, self-managed teams have considerable discretion over:
• the work done and setting team goals
• how work is achieved – which processes are used and how work is scheduled
• internal performance issues – distributing the work and the contribution made by
each member of the team
• decision making and problem solving.
The Challenging roles of a team leader in a hierarchical & a self-managed
team
Hierarchical team Self-managed team

The role is vested in one individual. The role may be shared.

To manage the team. To support the team by providing (or arranging others to
provide) coaching and advice.

To plan and allocate the work done by the team. To agree, in discussion with the team, the standard of work and
the aims, objectives and targets of the team.

To monitor and appraise the performance of team members in To monitor the achievement of the team as a unit. To appraise
carrying out the tasks allocated to them. individual performance.

To motivate the team members. To provide the conditions for high motivation.

To act as the main contact point for communication between the To facilitate the creation of channels of communication with the
team and the rest of the organisation. rest of the organisation.

Dr. S. GOKULA KRISHNAN, Associate Professor 31

 Difference between traditional and self managed teams

Charecteristics Self managed teams Traditional teams

Leadership With in the team Outside the team

Team member role Interchangeable Fixed

accountability Team Individual

Work effort Cohesive divided

Task design Flexible Fixed

skills multiskilled specialized

Benefits of self managed teams

• Greater improvement in quality, speed, process and innovation

• A sense of belonging and ownership in one’s work
• Greater employee motivation
• Accelerated new product development
• Greater employee participation
• Reduced operational cost
• Greater employee job satisfaction, commitment, productivity
• Lower turnover and absenteeism
Team member characteristics

• A strong belief in personal accountability

• Internal locus of control
• Emotional stability
• Openness to new ideas
• Effective communication
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to endanger trust
• Conflict resolution skills