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15: Work Teams

  • Page ID
    172775
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    Colorful toy figures climbing stacked blocks, some helping each other ascend a small structure, symbolizing teamwork.

    Learning Outcomes

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:

    1. What is the benefit of working in teams, and what makes teams effective?
    2. How do teams develop over time?
    3. What are some key considerations in managing teams?
    4. What are the benefits of conflict for a team?
    5. How does team diversity enhance decision-making and problem-solving?
    6. What are some challenges and best practices for managing and working with multicultural teams?
    • 15.10: Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building
    • 15.11: Team Diversity
    • 15.12: Multicultural Teams
    • 15.13: Glossary
    • 15.14: Summary of Learning Outcomes
    • 15.15: Chapter Review Questions
    • 15.16: Management Skills Application Exercises
    • 15.17: Managerial Decision Exercises
    • 15.18: Critical Thinking Case
    • 15.1: Introduction to Group and Team Management
      This page discusses the differences between groups and teams using sports as an analogy, highlighting the advantages of teamwork. It underscores that successful teams create synergy and achieve more collectively than individuals. The text emphasizes the importance of recognizing these distinctions for organizations to effectively build and manage teams.
    • 15.2: Groups vs. Teams
      This page distinguishes between a group and a team in organizations, noting that a group shares information for individual responsibilities, while a team collaborates towards common goals with mutual accountability. The Apollo 13 mission exemplifies effective teamwork through commitment and synergy. The trend towards team-oriented structures emphasizes employee empowerment and high-performance expectations as vital for success.
    • 15.3: Types of Teams
      This page discusses different types of teams organizations use based on task complexity and member fluidity. Simple work teams handle straightforward issues with stable members, while administrative teams address complex problems with changing members. Cross-departmental teams focus on integration, process teams improve strategic tasks, self-managed teams operate independently, and virtual teams collaborate online across distances. Each team type fulfills specific organizational goals.
    • 15.4: Creating Effective Teams
      This page offers guidance on creating effective teams by focusing on four key areas: context, composition, work design, and process. Effective teams are distinguished from groups by their productivity, and their performance is measured by both output and satisfaction. Flexibility in applying these guidelines is crucial, as individual needs may vary. The text acknowledges contributions from licensed content throughout the discussion.
    • 15.5: Team Players
      This page addresses the difficulties of cultivating teamwork in organizations, highlighting the significance of employee selection, training, and reward systems. It notes that not all employees naturally adapt to teamwork, influenced by personal preferences and organizational culture. Through targeted training and restructured reward systems that emphasize collaboration, companies can enhance teamwork.
    • 15.6: Managing Teams Today
      This page explores the shift from traditional bureaucratic management to flexible, team-based strategies in organizations. It highlights the need for a balance between managerial controls and team autonomy, focusing on setting high expectations and support for teams. SEI Investments is cited as an example of successfully adopting this approach to better serve clients.
    • 15.7: Teamwork in the Workplace
    • 15.8: Team Development Over Time
    • 15.9: Things to Consider When Managing Teams

    This page titled 15: Work Teams was last modified on Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:50:48 GMT and is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax.