ACCA F1 Accountant in Business - 2010 - Study text

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Chapter 8: Individual and group behaviour: team management

Team worker

A person who cares for individuals and the

team, and who is a good listener. He works

hard to resolve social problems between other

team members. However, he may find it hard

to take difficult decisions.

Resource-

investigator

A person who explores new ideas and

possibilities with enthusiasm, and discusses

them with others. A good ‘networker’.

However, he may be over-optimistic and may

lose energy after an initial period of

enthusiasm.

None of these nine roles is the role of team leader. The co-ordinator in a team may

be the team leader, but this is not essential.

A useful way of trying to learn the nine team roles identified by Belbin is to think

about the consequences for a team of not having a team member capable of

performing any one of the roles in the list.

Managing a team: using the ideas of Belbin

Belbin suggested that teams will work most successfully when there is a suitable

balance between these nine roles amongst the team members, and when team

members:

 understand their role in the team

 work to their strengths, and

 try to manage their weaknesses.

A team manager can use the ideas of Belbin when developing a team to perform a

particular function or task. The manager can assess the role or roles played by each

team member, and look for roles that the current team members do not fulfil. These

gaps should then be filled by recruiting new members to the team, or by

encouraging existing team members to fulfil the missing role (if this is possible). If

necessary, some existing team members should be replaced by new members who

will perform the missing roles.

Belbin’s ideas can be applied in practice fairly easily. Questionnaires have been

developed that enable individuals to assess which behavioural characteristic (or

characteristics) they have, and which team roles they can perform well.

Management can use this assessment of individuals to ensure that teams consist of

individuals who together possess all the characteristics of a successful team.

Paper F1: Accountant in business

276 Go to www.emilewoolfpublishing.com for Q/As, Notes & Study Guides © EWP

Team formation and development

 The ideas of Tuckman on team development

 The value of Tuckman’s analysis

3 Team formation and development

3.1 The ideas of Tuckman on team development

Bruce Tuckman (1965) provided an analysis of how small teams develop and

change character over time. The appropriate form of team leadership changes as the

team goes through each new stage of development.

In Tuckman’s original analysis, there were four stages of team development:

 forming

 storming

 norming

 performing.

In 1977, he added a fifth stage:

 dorming (also called adjourning, de-forming and mourning).

Forming

In the initial stage of its existence, a team is forming. The team is a collection of

individuals, but their individual roles and responsibilities within the team are

unclear. There is a high level of dependence on the team leader for guidance and

direction. The team leader must therefore direct the team members, and tell them

what to do.

Storming

The second stage in team development is storming. During this stage, decisions do

not come easily. There is usually conflict between team members, and the attitudes,

norms and preconceptions of individuals are challenged by other team members.

Team members compete with each other for status and position within the team.

There may be cliques and factions, and power struggles between them. However,

there is an improvement in the clarity of the purpose of the team and its goals. The

role of the leader is to act as coach to the team members, and to encourage them to

focus on the team’s tasks rather than on relationships and emotional issues. The

leader also encourages team members to find compromises to settle conflict.

Chapter 8: Individual and group behaviour: team management

Norming

During the norming stage of team development, the team develops norms of

behaviour and operating. The roles of the team members become clear. The way in

which decisions are taken is also established. Major decisions are taken by the team

collectively, with all team members contributing to the decision-making process.

Commitment to the tasks of the team and team unity is strong. The team leader can

use a participative style of management, so that team members take on greater

responsibility for decisions.

Performing

During the fourth stage of team development, performing, the team operates at its

full potential. The team members are strategically aware and they understand why

the team exists and what it is trying to achieve. The team members are also able to

get on with their jobs without interference from the team leader, and do not need to

be told what to do. The role of the team leader is to delegate new tasks and oversee

performance. Disagreements may occur between team members, but these are

resolved in a friendly and constructive way.

Dorming (adjourning)

In 1977, Tuckman added a fifth stage of team development to his earlier analysis.

There are various ways of describing this phase.

 The group may break up, having achieved its purpose. The members of the team

may feel a sense of loss, and the break-up of the team may be stressful for them,

particularly if it is unplanned and unexpected.

 Alternatively, the team may lose its efficiency, and might lose its ability to make

good decisions. Members of the team may share common views that ignore

developments in their business environment and changing circumstances.

Keeping the group in existence becomes the prime objective of the team

members, rather than achievement of the team’s work objectives. It may be

necessary to break up the team.

3.2 The value of Tuckman’s analysis

Not all teams go through all the stages of development, and some teams progress

more quickly than others to the performing stage. Others get stuck and fail to reach

the performing stage.

However, Tuckman’s analysis is useful for the management of small teams for the

following reasons.

 Management should be aware that it takes time to develop a new team, and

should be patient in allowing the team to progress to the ‘performing’ stage of its

development.

 However, it should also be possible to identify when a team is not progressing as

it should and is stuck, for example, in the norming stage of development.

Paper F1: Accountant in business

278 Go to www.emilewoolfpublishing.com for Q/As, Notes & Study Guides © EWP

 Tuckman’s analysis also gives some insight into the style of management that

might be best-suited to the team at each stage of its development, in order to

encourage the team to develop as rapidly as possible.

Example

Three years ago a research team was established in the business school of a

university. Six members were appointed to the team. The purpose of the team is to

identify research projects, obtain funding for the projects from commercial sponsors,

carry out the research and prepare research papers for publication. Initially, there

was a lot of uncertainty about what the group should do, or how it should set about

the task of obtaining funding for their work.

As the team gained experience, the team became more confident about what it was

doing and what it was trying to achieve. However there were some arguments

between the team members about the work that each of them should be doing. They

carried out their research as a group, but some team members were better at some

tasks than others. Eventually, the group began to operate much more efficiently.

Each member of the group adapted to a function, and each group member

understood instinctively what each of them should be doing. Decisions were taken

collectively as a team, by mutual agreement and consensus.

Recently, three team members left, one to take up a job in another business school

and the others retiring from the business school for family reasons. Three new team

members have been appointed.

The team leader needs to recognise that the team has reached a new stage in its

development. Having gone through the forming and storming stages of

development, and having reached the norming stage, the change in team

membership has taken it back to a new forming stage. The team will have to go

through the forming and storming stages again, to become as effective as it was

before the three team members left.

Chapter 8: Individual and group behaviour: team management

Effective and ineffective teams

 Characteristics of effective and ineffective teams

 Evaluating team performance: success in achieving objectives

 Tools and techniques for building team effectiveness

4 Effective and ineffective teams

4.1 Characteristics of effective and ineffective teams

An objective of a team manager should be to create an effective team. He needs to

understand what makes and effective team, and why a team might be ineffective, so

that he can assess the effectiveness of his own team.

Many writers on the theory of business management and organisation have

suggested what the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams are. Some of

these characteristics are shown in the table below.

Effective work teams Ineffective work teams

Success. An effective team is one that is

successful at achieving its goals or

objectives.

Lack of success. An ineffective team

fails to achieve its objectives or goals.

Teams that are only partially successful are likely to be ineffective in some ways.

Focus. An effective team is aware of its

goals and objectives, and keeps these in

mind all the time. They use their time

and resources well.

Lack of focus. An ineffective team

sometimes loses sight of its objectives.

Team members might allocate their

time badly.

Collective decision-making. An

effective team reaches decisions through

discussion and agreement.

Decision-making is dominated by one

team member. In an ineffective team,

one person (or perhaps a very small

group) makes the decisions, by

imposing his views on the rest of the

team. Other team members might

disagree, but do not speak out.

Good communication. In an effective

team, the team members communicate

with each other well, and keep each

other well-informed. They are also

truthful in communicating with each

other.

Lack of communication. In an

ineffective team, communication might

be poor. Team members might not be

fully truthful with each other.

Collaboration. In an effective team, the

members will co-operate and collaborate.

Doing your own job. In an ineffective

team, the team members do not give

Paper F1: Accountant in business

280 Go to www.emilewoolfpublishing.com for Q/As, Notes & Study Guides © EWP

Each team member will do whatever is

necessary to get the job done, even if this

means doing work that is unfamiliar and

outside their normal experience.

each other support. Each team member

does his own job and is unwilling to do

anything that is not specified in the job

description.

Positive conflict. Positive conflict occurs

when there is disagreement, but the team

members are willing to discuss their

differences fully, and reach a suitable

agreement about what the solution

should be. Some conflicts are inevitable

in teams: the way that the conflicts are

resolved is important.

Failure to resolve differences. In an

ineffective team, the team members fail

to resolve their differences properly.

Disagreements are not discussed fully.

They are often resolved by an

ineffective compromise that ‘patches

up’ the differences of opinion, and the

compromise might not last for long.

Mutual support. In an effective team,

each team member is aware of the

contributions provided by the other team

members.

Lack of mutual support. In an

ineffective team, the team members are

not properly aware of what the other

team members have achieved.

Team spirit. In an effective team, team

members identify themselves with the

team and feel a part of the team. Team

spirit and team loyalty is strong.

Lack of team spirit. Members of an

ineffective team do not have any team

spirit and simply get on with their job.

4.2 Evaluating team performance: success in achieving objectives

One of the tasks of management is to evaluate the performance of the work group

for which they are responsible. Performance evaluation is linked to planning, co-

ordination and control. Measuring and evaluating team performance is also

necessary when there is a system of team incentives and rewards.

There are various ways of measuring and evaluating performance. Three basic

approaches to performance measurement are measurements of:

 economy

 efficiency, and

 effectiveness.

Economy is measured by the success of the team or work group in controlling its

costs. Cost control may be judged by comparing actual spending with the planned

spending limit. (There is often a spending limit for each work group or team in the

annual budget for the organisation.)

Efficiency (or productivity) measures the amount of resources used for the tasks

that have been achieved. For example, the productivity of a work group may be

measured by the output per member of the team during a period of time, or the

output per labour hour. Alternatively, productivity may be measured by the sales

achieved per member of the team (for example, annual sales revenue per member of

the sales team).

Chapter 8: Individual and group behaviour: team management

Effectiveness measures success in achieving goals and targets. Targets may be

short-term or long-term. They may also be:

 quantitative – measuring the volume of work achieved or the size of results

 qualitative – measuring output in terms of quality (percentage of rejected items,

level of customer satisfaction, and so on)

 time scale for achievement – whether a particular task is completed before a

target date for completion.

Team performance may also be measured in other ways, such as the level of job

satisfaction amongst team members. However, it is doubtful whether a clear link

exists between work satisfaction and achieving the goals of the organisation.

4.3 Tools and techniques for building team effectiveness

The effectiveness of a team can be improved through good team management. A

team leader should try to build a team by appointing individuals to fulfil all the

necessary roles, and he should give it time to develop.

The manager should keep the team aware of its objectives and targets. He should

encourage openness in communication and a full discussion of problems and ideas.

As the team develops, he should allow the team to reach its own collective

decisions.

Team-building tools

There are some training tools that may be used by team leaders to encourage the

development of the team. These involve various types of team activities on training

courses, such as ‘outward bound’ activities.

The purpose of this type of team training is to enable the team members to get to

know each other and go through shared experiences outside the work environment.

In addition, the tasks they are given force the team members to rely on each other in

order to accomplish these tasks. Team members have to work for the ‘good’ of the

team in order to benefit themselves.

The experience of such training courses should continue after the course has ended,

so that team members work better together when they return to their work.

Motivation and incentives

It might also be possible to improve team effectiveness by offering incentives for the

successful achievement of team objectives and targets. Motivation and reward

systems are described in the next chapter.

Paper F1: Accountant in business

Paper F1

AccountantinBusiness

CHAPTER

Motivation

Contents

1 Theories of motivation

2 Reward systems and motivation

Paper F1: Accountant in business

Theories of motivation

 Content theories and process theories of motivation

 Maslow: the hierarchy of needs

 Herzberg and motivation-hygiene theory (two-factor theory)

 McGregor: Theory X and Theory Y

 Argyris on motivation (immaturity/maturity model)

 Adams: equity theory of motivation

 Vroom: expectancy theory

 Handy: motivation calculus and psychological contracts

 McClelland: motivational needs theory

1 Theories of motivation

Theories of motivation are concerned with identifying the factors that affect the

attitudes of employees (including managers) to their work and the amount of effort

that they put in to doing their work.

If managers understand the factors that motivate their employees, they might be

able to take measures to improve motivation and effort.

Theories of motivation also help us to improve our understanding of our personal

motivation to work and what we hope to get from our job.

1.1 Content theories and process theories of motivation

There are many different theories of motivation. It might help to make a distinction

between:

 content theories of motivation, and

 process theories of motivation.

Content theories

Content theories concentrate on what motivates individuals in their work.

There is often an assumption that the same things motivate everyone. Rewards will

satisfy a need and individuals will be motivated to obtain those rewards.

Examples of content theory are:

 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

 Herzberg’s hygiene and motivator factors

 McClelland’s motivational needs theory (although there are also elements of

process theory in motivational needs theory).

ACCA F1 Accountant in Business - 2010 - Study text - Emile Woolf Publishing

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.