Mohrman et al. (1995) points out the benefits of working in teams. These are as mentioned below:
- Cost-effective and time-effective productivity without compromising quality.
- They provide a learning ground to the organization and also help in retaining the learning.
- Cross-functional teams benefit the organization by improving the quality management.
- Cross-functional teams undertake effective process re-engineering.
- Task being performed should be concurrent between the individual and the team to improve time-efficiency.
- Teams working together provide more new and innovative ideas.
- Monitoring and co-ordinating teams is more effective as compared to individuals.
- Increase in the information-processing requirements can be handled by groups or teams better than individuals.
How Teams and Groups Operate
The behaviour of teams and groups in an organization can be organized either formally or informally. In order to achieve the collective purpose within an organization, teams behave formally. For this, the organization has to use whatever resources it has as effectively and efficiently as possible. This is done or achieved by creating a formal organization. In a formal organization, the actual task is broken down into sub-tasks, which are assigned to smaller units, known as sub-units. This sub-division of task continues until a smaller group takes the ownership of the sub-task and the work of the sub-task is divided among the members of the group. The process of identifying of the purpose and dividing the tasks among the members is known as the formation of formal organization and the groups thus formed are known as formal groups.
We can say that a formal group is a group which has been formed so that a defined work of an organization’s collective purpose is done. The members of a formal group are directly and officially responsible for the tasks assigned to them.
All types of formal group will exhibit the following characteristics:
- Task oriented.
- Permanent.
- Formal structure.
- Organized to achieve the goals.
- Activities are directly related to the collective purpose of the organization.
Just like formal groups, we have informal groups. These groups are formed by the members of the formal groups. Informal groups exist in an organization but are not anticipated by the management. The informal groups are formed by the members of the formal groups due to their interactions with each other. These groups are totally unplanned and not decided but they share similar characteristics of smaller groups. We might say that informal groups are developed or formed when members of formal groups interact and associate with one another.
How to Build a Good Team
George Caspar Homans has offered a theory known as ‘Homans’ Theory of Group Formation’. This theory explains how groups are formed. He wrote a book, The Human Group (Homans, 1951), in which he has told us that there are certain conditions that affect the groups. As a result, the groups try to influence the conditions in which they exist.
The following model tells us about the various factors of group formation:
Figure 1: Homans’ model of group behaviour
(Source: David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski, Organizational Behaviour An Introductory Text, FT Prentice Hall, Harlow, England, 2004, p. 301)
-
Background Factors: Present the perspective of group activity. Also known as external system and it consists of five perspectives:
-
Physical Perspective: arrangement of objects and human activities.
-
Cultural-Personal Perspective: individuals and the norms they have set up, values and goals.
-
Technological Perspective: facilities available and accessible.
-
Organizational Perspective: policies and rules made by the company.
-
Socio-Economic Perspective: economic factors affecting organization.
-
Required and Given Behaviours: Behaviours that the employees are ‘required’ to adhere to by the organization. According to the employees, these are the behaviours ‘given’ to them. Organizations expect the individuals to perform certain activities; have interactions among them; should oblige certain norms or rules; and should show some sentiments towards their work. Homans has refers to this collectively as the external system.
-
Emergent and Actual Behaviours: The behaviour of the group members, apart from those required by the organization, are known as ‘emergent behaviours’. These actions are the activities, interactions and sentiments and are the outcome of the ‘background factors’ and from ‘required and given behaviours’. Emergent behaviours have their set of norms. Homans refers to this as the internal system.
Stages of Group Development
Bruce Tuckman and Mary Ann Jensen suggested that there are five stages of group development - forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965; Tuckman and Jensen, 1977). It might not be necessary that all groups are developed through all the five stages and it is possible that some groups may get stuck at some earlier stage making them inefficient.
Forming (First Stage): During this stage, the members are more self-oriented. They are still in the nascent stages of finding about one another. Everyone is trying to create an impression about the other person. The members are dependent on some leader to tell them what to do and lay down the norms.
Storming (Second Stage): This may also be known as the ‘conflict stage’. The members try to sort out what each one wants out of the group and individually. Each individual reveals his/her personal goals and there could be some interpersonal hostility. Any kinship formed during Forming, might get strained during Storming.
Norming (Third Stage): This may also be known as the ‘cohesion stage’. The members of the group come closer to each other. They start dividing the task and become more group oriented. Norms may be created for the group and individual roles are divided. The members have a feeling of belonging to the group and as a result, become more task oriented.
Performing (Fourth Stage): When a group reaches this stage, it is above its differences and starts delivering to the task. The group is now more focussed on getting the task done. Members do not mind working alone or in sub-groups or as one single group. The members are highly committed to the task and the jobs of each member are defined and members help each other in task done.
Adjourning (Final Stage): This stage signifies the completion of the task and disbanding of the group.
Woking in International Teams
International teams are may also be known as multi-cultural teams. This is because in an international team, the members belong to different countries having different cultures, traditions and work environment.
In today’s world, most of the organizations are multinationals. A multinational company (MNC) is one which has its operations spanning two or more countries. So it is important for MNCs to be working with people of various backgrounds and cultures. For these people to work together, they are put in teams with members from different countries thereby creating international teams.
For an international team to be successful, it should exhibit the following characteristics:
- No communication gap between members belonging to different nationalities.
- No rivalry between members belonging to rival countries.
- No biasing towards members of the same community.
- No feeling of one culture being superior to another and all cultures should be treated with equal importance.
- The members should have some knowledge about each others cultures.
- The members must have respect for the traditions and cultures of other members.
These are but some of the characteristics of a successful international team. All the other important factors required for teambuilding will remain the same but these factors play a significant role in the development of international teams.
Advantages of International Teams to Organizations:
- Members, when working in international teams, have to come out of their comfort zone of communicating with someone from your own nationality. This is beneficial for the organizations as the members of the teams will be more confident.
- Individuals get more international exposure by working in international teams. This is beneficial for the organization as a whole as they will have people who can adapt themselves to working in diverse cultures.
- When working in international teams, different cultures bring their own essence to the team. One culture may be hard working while another culture may be good at interacting with people. Both these cultures when working together will provide hard work as well as good interaction with the management and clients. This is again good for the development of the organization.
Disadvantages of International Teams to Organizations:
- There maybe some kind racial insecurity among members of different cultures that may come in the way of team work. As a result, the team will not be as productive as it should be. This will have a negative impact on the organization.
- There may also be job insecurities as people of a country would not like people from other countries taking up their jobs. Such insecurities and feelings result in improper working of the team and will have an adverse affect on the organization.
- Usually, highly skilled people, from other nations, are not paid as much as much they deserve and also not as much as their counterparts. This may again induce a feeling of discrimination among the members of the team. This is again not good for the development of the organization.
Overall, I would say that working in an international environment has both pros and cons. There may be some aspects of it which might prove to be beneficial for the organizations but at the same time, there will be some factors affecting the progress of the organization.
The diversity in such organizations is also good for the employees. The employees will get international exposure. Also, according to me, employees of such organizations will have the knowledge about different cultures. They would learn new things and would gather new ideas and thoughts. They would get to know about working in various cultures. They would also get to know about the work ethics and work cultures of different nations, as the work culture of one country could be very different from the work culture if another country. This is a very vital quality that most employers look for in their employees these days. As most organizations are now trying to target the international markets, they require employees who can go to various countries and work there representing the organization. Someone who is a good team player and also has the quality of being easily adaptable to an international environment will prove to be a valuable asset to the organization.
Bibliography
- Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (fifth edition)
By – David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski
References
-
Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A., 2004, Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Harlow, England (fifth edition).
-
Hampton, M.M., 1999, ‘Work groups’, in Y. Gabriel (ed.), Organizations in Depth, Sage Publications, London, pp. 112-38
-
Homans, G.C., 1951, The Human Group, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
-
Likert, R., 1961, New Patterns of Management, McGraw-Hill, New York.
-
Mohrman, S.A., Cohen, S.G. and Mohrman, A.M., 1995, Designing Team-based Organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
-
Proctor, S. and Mueller, F. (eds), 2000b, Teamworking, Macmillan, Basingstoke.
-
Tuckman, B.C., 1965, ‘Development sequences in small groups’, Psychological Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 384-99.
-
Tuckman, B.C. and Jensen, M.A.C., 1977, ‘Stages of small group development revisited’, Group and Organizational Studies, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 419-27.