TeamResearch News

July 2003
Vol. 1, No. 1

TeamResearch News summarizes the latest information from studies or articles on business teams, along with guidance on how to apply that research in your workplace. It is published monthly as a free service from TeamTrainers^TM Consulting (www.suddenteams.com), with announcements sent by e-mail to subscribers.

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Contents

Studies and Articles

• Avoiding Conflict Hurts Team Performance
• One Person’s Bad Mood Can Drag Down a Team
• Communication Needs of Cross-Cultural Virtual Teams Identified
• Federal Reserve Bank’s Switch to Teams Improves Performance
• Need for Help and Personal Traits Affect Team Member Support
• Online Collaboration Helps Project Teams

Newsletter Information

• About this Newsletter
• About Research Studies
• Anti-Spam/Privacy Statement
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Contact the Editor

Avoiding Conflict Hurts Team Performance

Study: Research has shown that conflicts of the right kind (issue- or process-oriented vs. personality oriented) help team performance. This study looked into this idea further using questionnaires about conflict provided to 106 pairs of workers and supervisors at government-owned companies in China. Though China has a strong cultural focus on harmony, “Considering conflict as negative and avoiding it” hurt team performance and reduced behaviors that helped the company, such as altruism and courtesy. The study also found:

• If conflict was not open, it came out through people competing with each other instead of working together to resolve issues.
• Competition, in turn, hurt team effectiveness (though not company-helping behaviors).
• A positive attitude toward conflict raised the likelihood of members helping each other.
• A sense that fellow team members were dependable increased good company behaviors.

Application: If your team members consider “getting along” more important than disagreeing publicly and doing what it takes to resolve those differences, the team will not perform as well. (One reason is that better ideas might not come out in team discussions.) Also, team members may be less likely to perform in ways that help the company, perhaps because those behaviors don't fit well with the resulting competition. Make sure members feel comfortable raising differing views. One way is to have the team develop rules and techniques for resolving those differences without getting into interpersonal conflicts. These might include a step-by-step procedure for how to work through different ideas toward a solution. Another is to respond to disagreements the way you want team members to respond when you voice a different opinion, and to learn and practice the techniques of active listening (a Web search will produce many examples for you).

One Person’s Bad Mood Can Drag Down a Team

Study: Ninety-six student teams were tested using a “confederate”—someone who, unknown to the participants, was working with the researchers. He was trained to act one of four ways by combining different levels of “energy” and “pleasantness.” The resulting moods and performance levels of the teams during videotaped meetings were rated by both the participants and video observers. The confederate’s mood spread throughout the group. To the surprise of the researchers, this happened even when the confederate was not energetic in expressing that mood. Mood improvement increased team member cooperation, reduced conflict, and improved task performance. These results are consistent with previous research on negative personalities.

Application: Keep an eye on team members who seem constantly negative. If your company provides employee counseling, consider referring them for assistance. Regardless, work with them to eliminate the behaviors that express their negativity, such as unpleasant or hostile statements, irritability, apparent depression, and lethargy. By focusing on behaviors, you can safely help them without prying into why they act that way, if you're concerned about privacy. But if you don't take action, one person’s bad mood may well affect more than just their own performance.

Communication Needs of Cross-Cultural Virtual Teams Identified

Study: In a study on communication methods for virtual teams, 90 graduate business students answered questionnaires about their experiences working together in small teams. The students interacted face-to-face and electronically for six weeks. Each team had members from at least two cultures. The researcher also interviewed four experienced international managers, and compared her results from both groups to develop suggestions for managers.

Application: Although much of the information was too general to infer practical guidance, some suggestions include:

• Some face time is important for virtual teams: “executives on virtual teams view travel as necessary to develop rapport,” especially early in the team’s life.
• Humanize e-mail communications through exchanges of photos and announcements of personal celebrations, such as birthdays and birth announcements.
• E-mail is good for teams with language differences because writers have time to compose their thoughts and edit.
• Videoconferences are better than phone conferences for large groups because video makes it easier to track who is saying what, but poor production quality is a drawback.
• Don't fear cross-cultural teaming—study participants reported enjoying the cross-cultural experience and working well together.
• For cross-cultural teams:
• Don't assign just anyone: assigned members should be people open to diversity, of course, but also especially capable, honest, and giving.
• Take extra time at the start of the project to ensure everyone knows other members’ strengths and backgrounds, and assign tasks accordingly (this helps to prevent stereotyping, because mistakes can't as easily be generalized to all members of a person’s culture).
• Establishing formal team-level processes is especially important because assumptions are more likely to be wrong.

Federal Reserve Bank’s Switch to Teams Improves Performance

Study: The researchers were asked to help the Federal Reserve Bank of Los Angeles improve its check-processing operation, which at the time was performed by workers in function-based groups (receiving, encoding, etc.). After an assessment and pilot test, the researchers recommended switching to cross-functional teams with greater control over the process, and in which all members would be cross-trained—even though some of the workers’ skills were far more technical than others. They also designed a planning tool that allowed the managers to determine the best size and mix of individuals for teams working different shifts (based on the volume of work to be done, for example).

Overall productivity rose 24.3 percent in the first year, and resulting staff reductions saved $690,000. Another $500,000-worth of staff resources could be reassigned to strategic projects. Team members became better learners and problem-solvers, increased their operational and leadership skills, and felt more ownership and accountability for their work. The bank is moving ahead with converting the teams to full self-direction, meaning the teams will take responsibility for goal-setting, scheduling, hiring, appraisals, and discipline.

Application: This is another in a large number of studies showing the productivity gains and cost savings that true teams can achieve, especially cross-functional teams, even if some of the workers have relatively few work skills. If you have people working in linear processes who have not been trained to do the other jobs in the process, and who have no control over the design of that process, a switch to cross-functional teams will likely provide big improvements in performance.

Need for Help and Personal Traits Affect Team Member Support

Study: To study what leads team members to help each other, researchers tested 71 four-person teams of undergraduates as they played a military command game. One person on each team was given a much higher workload than the others. In some teams, that person had plenty of resources (far more tanks) relative to their team members, and in others they had the same resources. All members were given personality tests, and the studies recorded which members went to assist the high-task members and how often that happened.

There weren't many surprises. Teams performed much better if other members were willing to aid the high-task member. Also, this support was more likely if the high-task individual did not have more resources. In general, emotionally stable people with good work ethics were more likely to provide support. High-task members who were extroverted were generally better at accepting help than shyer people. How agreeable a person was had no effect on whether they lent a hand (a surprise to the researchers). Introverts were less likely to receive help when it was really needed than when it wasn't really needed; the reasons for this were outside the scope of the study.

Application:

• One measure for how a team is progressing toward high performance is to see how often team members help other members facing higher task loads. But remember that support behaviors could hurt a team if the back-up providers neglect their own tasks or the team doesn't coordinate its back-up efforts.
• If you feel like your team members do not provide enough support to you, ask yourself some tough questions. Have you told them you need help (or other resources, such as information from them)? Are you a reliable helper to others when they need help?
• Teams or team leaders should keep in close contact with shy team members that have high workloads to make sure they ask for help when needed and that it is provided.
• Do not automatically expect a generally friendly or pleasant person to be the most helpful. Agreeable or not, the stable and conscientious worker may be more likely to provide assistance.

Online Collaboration Helps Project Teams

Article: A management research firm's studies into project management practices “show successful firms have mastered the documentation, management, and transfer" of both the usual technical data from projects as well as how-to knowledge in areas "such as information technology, marketing, and new products development.” This article discusses software packages and Web sites in a range of complexity (and cost) for capturing both types of knowledge from your project teams.

Application: Consider the following questions as related to project management by your team. The more “yes” answers you give, the more you should investigate online collaboration tools:

• Are members in different locations?
• If so, are they also in different time zones?
• Do project stakeholders outside the team want to check team progress frequently?
• Do team members exchange a lot of e-mail and/or carry on discussions by e-mail?
• Do some members feel they don't get information they need to do their jobs by the times they need it?
• Do members have trouble keeping track of which version of a document is the latest?

If you decide you need online collaboration, don't just dive in and buy a package. Be sure you know exactly what team problems you want the tool to fix, so that you don't buy a more powerful solution than you need. Also look into low-cost options such as Web portals, some of which are customized by industry. A Web search for “online project management” should give you options.

TeamTrainers^TM converts standard work groups into high-performance teams and solves team problems. Unlike standard teambuilding companies, we don't use games or fake projects. Instead, we help your team overcome its real challenges while learning to solve future ones on its own. Start your move toward high performance today by contacting Jim Morgan now.

About this Newsletter

To make sure TeamTrainers provides the most up-to-date team information to our clients, each month I review the latest academic journals and business magazines for team-related studies and articles. I have started this monthly newsletter to share what I learn with the friends of TeamTrainers so you can put it to use right away.

Each summary has these sections:

• “Study” or “Article”: This contains a description of the academic “study” or business magazine “article” and its results stated in plain English. In the case of studies, I tell you a little about what kind of study was done and who the test subjects were (see the next section, “About Research Studies”).
• Application: Here you'll find my suggestions on how to put the findings to use in your work group or team. Frequently these aren't based just on what the study said, but on its findings within the context of my prior research and experience.
• Source: I always provide a full citation so you can have a look for yourself. Unless otherwise noted, all sources were found in the Foster Business Library at the University of Washington.

About Research Studies

Good researchers always list the "limitations" of their studies, i.e., the reasons their findings may not apply to different groups of people. Unfortunately, some consultants and journalists don't make those limitations clear. Since I only use research studies from “refereed” journals—those whose articles have been reviewed by independent scientific peers of the authors—you can feel comfortable that they meet at least the minimum standards for proper science. But you should note the:

• Size of the study: The more people there were in the test, the more comfortable you can feel that the results would apply to a wide range of people.
• Type of test and test subjects: A laboratory test using undergraduate students may produce results far different from a workplace study with employees. However, lab test results are far less likely to be “contaminated” by variables the researcher can't easily control in the real world. Neither is necessarily better than the other; but results of one type are considered more likely to match reality if they agree with those found by the other type.
• Body of knowledge: A study that builds on and is consistent with earlier research is more reliable than an early test of a new theory. Most studies I report on in TeamResearch fit the first category; if they're in a new area of inquiry, I'll let you know.

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Contact the Editor

Your questions and suggestions are always welcome. Contact:

Jim Morgan
Head Coach, TeamTrainers Consulting
(425) 823-5082
jim@suddenteams.com
www.suddenteams.com