Problem solving teams are from selection of about 6- 10 employees from the department in which the problem exists. These employees meet few hours each week and discuss methods and means to improve quality, efficiency and or the work environment. These members do not get authority for implementation. Self-managed teams consist of about a dozen employees who take the responsibility from their former supervisor. They usually handle problems related to planning and scheduling, assignments of tasks to members, making operating decisions, controlling the pace of work as well as taking action on the concern problems. The members select their colleagues themselves.
The cross functional teams are formed from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to achieve a given task. These teams are an effective means for allowing people from different areas within an organization or even between organizations to exchange information, develop new ideas to solve different problems and co-ordinated complex project jobs. Such teams take time to build trust and teams work because of the heterogeneity of team members with respect to their experience, background, knowledge as well as perspectives. Virtual teams use computer technology to bring together physically disperses members in order to achieve a common goal. They are capable of doing all the work of all other teams also. There are three main factors differentiating virtual teams from the other teams, namely:
- The absence of verbal or non-verbal cues
- Limited social context
- Ability to overcome constrains of time and space. The first two types of teams are at times informal in nature and the later are formal in nature.
- Creating effective teams does need immense efforts. The key components making up the effective teams are work design. Teams composition, resources and intellectual influences and process variables
Self Managing Team
One of the empowerment tools — self-managing time-share are also known as self reliant or self directed teams. They are natural work groups that are given significant autonomy and in return are asked to control their own Behavior and produce significant results. The combination of empowerment and training to plan, direct, monitor and control their own activities, differentiate these teams from many others. They have wide-ranging flexibity and freedom, coupled with the capability to act like managers. What is a self-managing team like? Usually, team members learn a wide range of relevant skills, this practice is called multi-skilling. As a result, members can flexibly float from area to area and task to task, depending on where they are needed most. They make joint decisions about work schedules, resource requirements and assignment of tasks.
A lot of time is spent in team meetings as members increasingly take over many tasks that were formerly their manager’s. Self-managing teams may begin by taking responsibility for simple matters such as housekeeping issues and safety training. Later, they may begin to manage their own absenteeism, set overtime and vacation schedules, select and appraise team members, train co-workers and take on direct contact with key customers. As they gain additional experience, these teams may even move beyond operational topics to redefine their organization’s mission statement, create a new compensation system or provide input into expansion plans. Organizations using self- managing teams report several advantages:
- Improved flexibility of staff.
- More efficient operations through the reduced number of job classifications.
- Lower absenteeism and labour turnover rates
- Higher levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction
The disadvantages of this approach include:
- The extended time to implement them (often take several years)
- The high training investment
- Early inefficiencies due to job rotation
- The inability of some employees to adapt to a team structure
Self-managing teams are a powerful example of the application of OB expertise about teamwork and successful participative methods. As a result, they are inclined to increase in organizational use for several reasons. As a formal practice, they are not likely to lose organizational support, they often directly involve 100% of the workforce; they posses substantial authority in many cases and they are ongoing structures (not devoted to just a single issue). Nonetheless, firms have found that, it may take several years for the teams to achieve their full potential. Cultural values highlight individualism can get in the way, rigid job classifications protected by labour contracts can be impediments and managers themselves can feel endangered by the loss of control and personal job security.
