- Work design
- Process variables (those things that go on in the team that influence how
effective the team is)
Becoming a team player is not easy, as OB in the Streetdemonstrates.
Top Skeleton Racer Finds Teamwork a Real Challenge
Is being a team player all that tough? Jeff Pain spent much of the 2000s so far try-
ing his best not to be a team player.^17 Before the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Pain
was ranked the top skeleton racer in Canada.
Much of Pain’s negativity toward teamwork was directed at team member Duff
Gibson. The two have been intense rivals for over five years.
“When Duff started skeleton [in 1999], I had a difficult time with my team dynam-
ics because I felt that I knew a lot more than the people I was sliding with,” says
Pain. “I didn’t want to share information with them and I carried that mistaken
belief right up to last year [2004]. That was probably my and Duff’s worst year.”^18
In summer 2004, Pain, Gibson, and fellow team member Paul Boehm decided
to work together to share information about the tracks they were competing on, and
then tried to help each other out.
Pain and Gibson improved their times and reached the highest level in interna-
tional standings. Pain admits that learning how to be more of a team player has
helped him improve in a sport that he was thinking of quitting because of his unhap-
piness with other team members. “I really insulated myself, and that didn’t create a
good environment for me or the team,” Pain says.^19 At the 2006 Olympics, the two
teammates wound up taking the top spots in skeleton racing: Gibson won gold, and
Pain won silver.
Chapter 5Working in Teams 159
OB IN THE STREET
Te a m
effectiveness
Context
- Adequate resources
- Leadership and structure
- Climate of trust
- Performance
evaluation
and rewards
Work design
- Autonomy
- Skill variety
- Task identity
- Task significance
Composition
- Skills
- Personality
- Roles
- Diversity
- Size
- Members’ flexibility
- Members’ preference for
teamwork
Process
- Common purpose
- Specific goals
- Team efficacy
- Managed level of conflict
- Accountability
EXHIBIT 5-4 A Model of Team Effectiveness
