MHC- résumé total du cours part2 PDF

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Summary

Résumé du cours seconde partie ...

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The lessons derived from this session should help you in various ways: -

1. Better contribute to the numerous group assignments that will be given in class

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2. Improve student society tasks and achievements

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3 Enhance your participation in business simulations…

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And later on, once you enter the business world, strengthen your contribution to teamwork.

Where does this topic fit ? The TOPIC of TEAM EFFECTIVENESS belongs to Organization Behavioral Science: OB tries to explain why individuals and groups behave the way they do within the organizational setting. Based on observation and surveys, OB tries to predict how individuals and groups will behave in order to provide managers with tools to assist them in the management of individuals’ and groups’ behaviors.

WHY IS THIS TOPIC RELEVANT ? THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND IS DOMINATED BY VUCA. VUCA IS AN ACRONYM FOR : Volatility – Uncertainty – Complexity – Ambiguity The notion of VUCA was introduced by the U.S. Army War College to define the more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous multilateral world which resulted from the end of the Cold War. In this world, organizations need agility : one way to exhibit and implement agility is through teams, teams that gather and dissolve to address volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous issues.

Some of the VUCA issues that CORPORATIONS MUST ADDRESS are: - As regards volatility ( how has consumer behavior evolved in the last few days ? What has happened that has changed consumer behavior?) - As regards uncertainty (What disruptive strategy is going to jeopardize my company ?) - As regards Complexity (How does my company acquire proficiency with big data ? ) -

As regards Ambiguity ( what if we misinterpret our Chinese counterpart’s body language ?

Research has shown that teams are better equipped than individuals to solve problems. To echo a famous Japanese proverb ‘none of us is as smart as all of us’.

The question we must ask ourselves at this point is : how can you build a team that is greater than the sum of its parts ?

As shown on this picture, each member brings one piece of the puzzle to the team construction work…However, very often team members evolve in very different spheres and do not actively and collectively contribute to team assignments.

Here is an example : I have studied team effectiveness for several years at Edhec and realized the following : when a team has to achieve a task or complete a project, team members usually split the work in as many sections as there are team members and the next phase consists in putting the work together either ineffectively (they do not exchange) or incompletely (the intro is missingtransitions have been left out)

Here is how team effectiveness should look like : which means that (1) Team members converge towards task completion (2) They carry out the process together, exchanging between one another, questioning one another and challenging one another (3) To achieve the task they agree on objectives, process and outcomes

Here is a definition of team effectiveness: « A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable » The discipline of teams by HBR, Katzenbach and Smith

The 3 Cs of TEAM EFFECTIVENESS deserve some complementary explanations : -

(1) Complementary skills : question the notion of homogeneous teams and « birds of a feather flock together »

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(2) Committed to a common purpose ; there must be an agreement on the purpose of the team ; this agreement on purpose must be backed up by an agreement on performance metrics and process; what and how much are we going to achieve ? And how do we get there ?

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(3) Mutually accountable : each member of the team is accountable for performance to the other team members and the team is jointly accountable for task completion.

As a reminder, a team is « a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable », according to Katzenbach and Smith. AGAIN THE 3 Cs OF TEAM EFFECTIVENESS ARE : -

Complementary skills : a team made of members with similar skills will not go very far : diversity of backgrounds is necessary;

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Common purpose : the team must be united in diversity to echo the motto of the EU which some of you may remember: united around a common task or a common goal

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Collective accountability: the team bears collective responsibility for the task and reports to an outsider

THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEAMS. TEAMS VARY : -

BY DURATION : a team may be formed for a limited amount of time or a longer period

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BY MEMBERSHIP: members appointed to a team will vary from situation to situation (qualifications, origin, gender may influence team membership)

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BY PURPOSE : the objectives to be reached will determine the type of teamwork to be carried out.

Here are some examples. If we look at DURATION : A TEAM MAY BE PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY : permanent teams gather to achieve a medium-term or long-term goal (we can typically refer to a team of top executives appointed by the Board of Directors) / or temporary to achieve a short-term goal (we can typically refer to student club boards who change every year) or cross-functional team who will gather to achieve a project limited in time

If we look at MEMBERSHIP, we can take the example of the executive committee in an organization which gathers the heads of department. At Edhec, the executive committee comprises program heads, EDHEC MASTER, EDHEC EXEC, EDHEC BACHELOR as well as SUPPORT SERVICES REPRESENTATIVES. Or we can take the example of any student society which gathers members joining on account of various affinities or motivations, here the Singaporian students studying at the University of Sydney.

TEAMS DIFFER FROM GROUPS IN 3 WAYS : IF WE TAKE THE EXAMPLE OF THE SETTING DESCRIBED ON THIS PICTURE, WE FIND OURSELVES IN A CALL CENTER. 1° MEMBERS ALL HAVE THE SAME SKILLS : SALESMANSHIP i.e. CONVINCING THE CUSTOMER TO BUY THE PRODUCT 2° EACH OF THEM WORKS INDIVIDUALLY TOWARDS THIS GOAL 3° EACH OF THEM IS INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR TASK COMPLETION AND REPORTS TO A SUPERIOR

ON THIS PICTURE, WE DESCRIBE A ROWING TEAM. EVEN IF MEMBERS HAVE MOSTLY SIMILAR SKILLS EXCEPT FOR THE SMALL GUY SHOUTING AT THE FRONT CALLED THE COX, THEY ARE WORKING TOWARDS A COMMON PURPOSE AND WILL REPORT TO THEIR COACH AFTER THE RACE, BEING JOINTLY ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR VICTORY OR DEFEAT A STRING QUARTET BRINGING TOGETHER A VIOLIN, A VIOLA, A CELLO and A BASS will BE VIEWED AS A TEAM : -

Each instrument requires complementary skills

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Musicians work towards a comon goal, which is delivering the best performance

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They are collectively and mutually accountable for their performance and will possibly report to their manager or the concert hall manager for future events.

Teams integrate individuals around tasks and are intended to create tight networks of those people… It is expected that teams will normally perform better than individuals working on their own, when the tasks to be done require multiple skills, judgment and experience » (Mohrman et al, 1995) The importance of teams has been underlined by numerous academics; because of evergrowing complexity, organizations increasingly resort to teams.

Teams are integrated wholes ; these wholes are integrated around tasks. These tasks require « multiple skills, judgment and experience ». Mohrman et al describe 3 main processes that are involved in team work : integrating around tasks – building a cohesive whole- and performing better.

LISTEN TO WHAT PROFESSOR AMY EDMONSON HAS TO SAY ABOUT TEAMS : TEAMING IS NO LONGER A NOUN TEAMING HAS BECOME A VERB TEAMING REFERS TO : -

AN ACTIVITY

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A SKILL

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A PROCESS

« NONE OF US IS AS SMART AS ALL OF US » EVEN IF THIS FAMOUS JAPANESE PROVERB APPLIES TO TEAM WORK, NOT ALL TEAMS ARE EFFECTIVE, NOR SUCCESSFUL. LET US LOOK AT SOME OF THE REASONS WHY TEAMS ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL

ABSENCE OF TEAM IDENTITY IS ROOT CAUSE #1: IT IS OFTEN DUE TO FAILURE OF MEMBERS TO FEEL MUTUALLY ACCOUNTABLE TO ONE ANOTHER FOR THE TEAM'S OBJECTIVES OR TO LACK OF COMMITMENT AND EFFORT FROM TEAM MEMBERS. IDENTITY ISSUES OFTEN HAPPEN WHEN TEAM MEMBERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TOGETHER WITHOUT ANY PREPARATION or WHEN THE TEAM WORK IS FORCED UPON THEM, THEREFORE INVOLVING MOTIVATIONAL ISSUES. THIS IS OFTEN THE CASE OF WORK TEAMS AT EDHEC WHEN THEY ARE MADE AT RANDOM AND DISSOLVE AFTER A WEEK’S WORK. In the 4th part of this talk, we will outline ways to solve this issue.

DIFFICULTY MAKING DECISIONS IS ROOT CAUSE #2: Poor collaboration due to bad information sharing, involving flawed joint decision making jeopardize teamwork: poor collaboration happens when team members rigidly adhere to positions, make repeated arguments rather than bounce back on other team members’ input and do not process the information shared between members. Information sharing is key in this process : research shows that difficulties making decisions arise from the sharing of public vs private information. We will emphasize this point later on.

POOR COMMUNICATION IS ROOT CAUSE #3: POOR COMMUNICATION HAPPENS WHEN MEMBERS INTERRUPT OR TALK OVER ONE ANOTHER. CONVERSELY, POOR COMMUNICATION WILL ALSO HAPPEN WHEN SOME TEAM MEMBERS REMAIN SILENT. PARTICIPATION IS CLOSELY LINKED TO DECISION-MAKING : when everyone has contributed to addressing a problem, the solution is more easily accepted and one can avoid false consensus (you know, when everyone nods in agreement without truly agreeing). We will see in part 4 of this talk that a climate of PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY is essential to effective communication. One should also be aware of cultural differences as open communication may vary from culture to culture.

INABILITY TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS IS ROOT CAUSE #4: Conflict between team goals and members' personal goals will often undermine team effectiveness. Conflict may take the form of tensions and personal attacks, arguments between team members, aggressive behaviors and gestures. Conflict resolution is therefore a crucial skill in management that will be addressed later in this course. For the time being, we advise our team members and students to consider separating the problem from the people involved in conflict. Think of the last time you had a conflict with someone and looking back to I, try separating the problem from the person involved…

LACK OF PARTICIPATION IS ROOT CAUSE #5: Failure to complete assignments, poor attendance at team meetings, low energy during meetings, lack of interest and motivation are all symptoms of lack of participation. There are different ways to address lack of participation : first of all the team leader needs to understand the reasons why the team member fails to participate. In extreme cases, the team leader may decide to exclude the team member or more favorably, will offer to coach the team member during the process.

LACK OF CREATIVITY IS ROOT CAUSE #6: LACK OF CREATIVITY STEMS FROM AN INABILITY TO GENERATE FRESH IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES AND A FAILURE TO THINK OUT OF THE BOX. In this case team members are guided by prevailing wisdom, they are entrenched in established ways of doing, are afraid to ask questions or just be curious and playful. This may translate into a failure to turn unexpected events into opportunities and I cannot resist quoting THE KODAK COMPANY who in the 1990s dropped the digital camera it had invented in 1975 for fear it would harm its photographic film business. You know the end of the story…

GROUPTHINK IS ROOT CAUSE #7:

Groupthink may be the reason why KODAK did not develop its digital camera : groupthink stems from a unwillingness or inability to consider alternative ideas. It may be reinforced by poor leadership and lack of critical thinking or debate over ideas. Behind groupthink, there is an overriding impulse for team agreement and unity. It is highly detrimental to both team progress and innovation. Groupthink is aggravated by cronyism : Cronyism is the practice of awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues.] Because the appointer will need support in his or her own proposal, job or position of authority, he appoints individuals who will not try to weaken his or her proposals, vote against issues, or express views contrary to his.

INNEFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IS ROOT CAUSE #8 The leader’s ROLE IS ESSENTIAL: IT ACCOUNTS FOR FAILURE OF MEMBERS TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS, INABILITY TO DEFINE A VISION FOR THE TEAM, FAILURE OF THE LEADER TO DELEGATE OR TO REPRESENT MULTIPLE CONSTITUENCIES. LEADERSHIP STYLES ARE EXTENSIVELY DOCUMENTED IN LITERATURE : I ADVISE YOU TO COMPARE AUTOCRATIC vs DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP OR TRANSACTIONAL vs TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP. Transformation leadership is epitomized in the following quote by the 6th president of the US: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848).

IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION, YOU VIEWED A TED TALK BY MARGARET HEFFERNAN. She told you the story of ALICE STEWART’s RESEARCH ABOUT CHILD CANCER which showed that 2 TO 1 CHILDREN WHO HAD DIED from cancer HAD HAD X-RAYED PREGNANT MOTHERS, A FINDING THAT STUMBLED AGAINST CURRENT BELIEFS. THIS STORY IS A FANTASTIC MODEL FOR CRITICAL THINKING – IT TELLS YOU TO HIRE PARTNERS WHO ARE NOT ECHO CHAMBERS. Why is this so difficult and infrequent ? Because it goes AGAINST OUR BIOLOGICAL DRIVE: WE PREFER PEOPLE LIKE OURSELVES. Remember the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’. You are naturally attracted by people that are like you. TO DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING, you MUST BE READY TO OPEN YOUR MIND.

TAKE THIS FAMOUS QUOTE BY WILLIAM WRIGLEY, JR: « when 2 people think alike on a team, one of them is redundant ». WHAT DOES IT TELL YOU ? TO INTRODUCE CRITICAL THINKING, TO ORGANIZE CONSTRUCTIVE DISSENT, TO BE COMFORTABLE ENOUGH on the team TO INTRODUCE NEW IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES… HOW CAN YOU FIGHT AGAINST GROUPTHINK ? YOU MUST CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH CONDITIONS ARE SET TO PRODUCE THE MOST CREATIVE THINKING: SOME OF THESE CONDITIONS INCLUDE:

- A CLIMATE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY - SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS

TO PROMOTE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY AND SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS, OPENNESS IS just THE BEGINNING…(1) You must be open to new ideas and people, consequently you have to share information and enlarge your network. (2) You must see conflict as thinking (remember: separate the person from the problem) for example, you must have a whistle blower on your organization, somebody that will report on dissonant information; (3) you must stand up to authority to have thinking organizations and initiate progress. THE SYMBOL OF OPENNESS AND RESISTANCE IS THE YOUNG PAKISTANESE GIRL, Malala Yousafzai, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, ADMITTED TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY IN SEPTEMBER 2017

MOST PEOPLE REGARD CONFLICT AS NEGATIVE AND CONSEQUENTLY DISLIKE IT AND AVOID IT. HOWEVER CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT IS SOUND AS LONG AS IT MOVES FROM THE AFFECTIVE SPHERE TO THE COGNITIVE SPHERE. FEELINGS MUST NOT BE HURT AND CONFLICT MUST BE CENTERED AROUND THE PROBLEM AWAY FROM PEOPLE; EASIER SAID THAN DONE? YOU WILL TELL ME ! FOR SURE BUT IN THIS AREA, LIKE OTHERS, WE NEED PRACTICE AND WE ALL KNOW THAT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT…

CONSIDERING CONFLICT AS CONSTRUCTIVE IS ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT AS MOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO PLAY THE BLAME GAME From your early age, when something goes wrong, you get blamed for it. This continues in the workplace : it is very easy to lay the blame on somebody else especially since you are the leader and even when it is your own fault. In my professional life, I have met many leaders who laid the blame on their subordinates to avoid being discredited or demoted. These are not effective 21st century leaders.

21st CENTURY TEAM LEADERS MUST LEARN TO BE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS; REMEMBER THE QUOTE BY John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) : “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. IN TODAY’s COMPLEX WORLD : TO BE EFFECTIVE TEAM LEADERS, PEOPLE NEED TO BE CONNECTED TO OTHERS AND SHOW HELPFULNESS. WHAT DRIVES HELPFULNESS IS PEOPLE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER. AND WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN PEOPLE REALLY COUNTS. A good example of this bonding phenomenon can be given with this US company who decided to synchronise COFFEE BREAKS. The result + 15 MILLION DOLLARS in earnings + 10% MORE SATISFACTION from employees.

TEAMS LEARN THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR. A GOOD WAY TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IS TO EXPERIMENT NEW WAYS OF DOING. THE FASTEST-LEARNING TEAMS TRY MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF DOING. HOWEVER THEY CANNOT DO SO UNLESS A CLIMATE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY HAS BEEN CREATED; THE RISK OF FEELING EMBARRASSED OR STUPID OR IGNORANT OR INCOMPETENT -WHEN YOU PROPOSE SOMETHING- MUST BE ELIMINATED; WHICH MEANS YOU MUST FEEL COMFORTABLE MAKING SUGGESTIONS, TRYING THINGS OUT, MAKING MISTAKES AND ADMITTING THEM – I AM REFERRING TO Authors AMY EDMONSON, RICHARD BOHMER AND GARY PISANO who studied heart surgery teams experimenting a new cardiac surgery technology in 16 medical centers. In the article referenced in your bibliography « speeding up team learning », they demonstrated that the most effective teams were the ones with the highest level of psychological safety.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY REFERS TO A CLIMATE IN WHICH PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE BEING AND EXPRESSING THEMSELVES. IN MANY STUDIES, PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IS KEY TO LEARNING BEHAVIORS. AMY EDMONSON, IN AN ARTICLE ENTITLED « PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY TRUST AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS : A GROUP LEVEL LENS » (2003), EDMONSON DEFINES a number of FACTORS that CONTRIBUTE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY.

AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED POWER RELATIONS IMPACT PERCEPTIONS OF RISK IN THE WORKPLACE. YOU ARE LESS LIKELY TO ASK FOR HELP FROM YOUR BOSS THAT FROM YOUR PEERS OR SUBORDINATES. AND AGAIN A SUPPORTIVE LEADER : OPEN –COACHING ORIENTED – WILL BE MORE PRONE TO CREATE A CLIMATE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY. ONE IMPORTANT FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IS LEADER BEHAVIOR: 3 ASPECTS OF LEADER BEHAVIOR MUST BE EMPHASIZED : 

A LEADER MUST BE AVAILABLE AND APPROACHABLE – YOU AS A LEADER MUST STEP DOWN FROM YOUR PEDESTAL

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A LEADER MUST EXPLICITLY INVITE INPUT AND FEEDBACK

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A LEADER MUST MODEL OPENNESS AND FALLIBILITY: after all every body makes mistakes

ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IS TRUSTCOMBINED WITH RESPECTFUL INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS. TRUST HAS BEEN DEFINED AS THE EXPECTATION THAT OTHERS’ FUTURE ACTIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE TO ONE’S INTERESTS. RESPECT IN THE WORKPLACE IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH COMPETENCE. DO A LITTLE INTROSPECTION AND REFLECT UPON WHOM YOU TRUST / WHOM YOU DO NOT TRUST / AND WHY… AND REMEMBER THAT BUILDING TRUST OR REPAIRING TRUST TAKES TIME…

 “The discipline of team learning starts with ‘dialogue’, the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine ‘thinking together’. To the Greeks dia-logos meant a free-flowing of meaning through a group, allowing the group to discover insights not attainable individually…. [It] also involves learning how to recognize the patterns of interaction in teams that undermine learning. (Senge 1990: 10)

YOU WILL NEED SOME PRACTICE FIELDS, that is to say, PLACES RESERVED FOR EXPERIMENTATION and TEAM-BUILDING; REMEMBER THAT TEAMS LEARN THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR . T...