Recent research suggests that women may make better team
leaders than men. “The more women participating equally in a
project, the better the outcome,” suggests Professor Jennifer
Berdahl, of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the
University of Toronto.^26 Berdahl’s research, which looked at
169 students enrolled in her organizational behaviour courses,
found that in predominantly female teams, women shared lead-
ership roles and were more egalitarian in how they worked.
Male-led teams, whether they were predominantly male groups
or mixed-gender groups, received poorer grades on their projects
than teams where women shared leadership roles.^27
Sometimes teams need coaches more than they need lead-
ers. Though workplace teams often report that they receive lit-
tle coaching compared with leadership,^28 productivity-related
coaching may help teams perform more effectively. In particu-
lar, coaching may be best at three particular stages in the team’s
history: “at the beginning for effort-related (motivational) inter-
ventions, near the midpoint for strategy-related (consultative)
interventions, and at the end of a task cycle for (educational)
interventions that address knowledge and skill.”^29
Teams do not always need a leader. For instance, the evi-
dence indicates that self-managed work teams often perform better than teams with
formally appointed leaders.^30 Leaders can also obstruct high performance when they
interfere with self-managed teams.^31 On self-managed teams, team members absorb
many of the duties typically assumed by managers.Climate of Trust
Members of effective teams trust each other. For team members to do this, they must feel
that the team is capable of getting the task done and they must believe that “the team
will not harm the individual or his or her interests.”^32 Interpersonal trust among team
members facilitates cooperation, reduces the need to monitor one another’s behaviour,
and bonds members around the belief that others on the team won’t take advantage of
them. Team members are more likely to take risks and expose vulnerabilities when they
believe they can trust others on their team. OB in Action—Building Trustshows the
dimensions that underlie the concept of trust.
Team members must also trust their leaders.^33 Trust in leadership is important in that
it allows the team to be willing to accept and commit to their leader’s goals and decisions.Performance Evaluation and Rewards
How do you get team members to be both individually and
jointly accountable? The traditional individually oriented
evaluation must be modified to reflect team performance.^34
Individual performance evaluations, fixed hourly wages,
individual incentives, and the like are not consistent with the
development of high-performance teams. So in addition to
evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual
contributions, management should consider group-based
appraisals, profit sharing, gainsharing, small-group incentives, and other system mod-
ifications that will reinforce team effort and commitment. Ignoring these factors may
affect the level of trust that develops in the team.^35
One additional consideration when deciding whether and how to reward team mem-
bers is the effect of pay dispersion on team performance. Research by Nancy Langton,162 Part 2Striving for Performance
OB IN ACTION
Building Trust
The following actions, in order of importance, help build
one’s trustworthiness.
➔Integrity—built through honestyand truthful-
ness.
➔Competence—demonstrated by technical and
interpersonal knowledgeand skills.
➔Consistency—shown by reliability,predictabil-
ity, and good judgmentin handling situations.
➔Loyalty—one’s willingness to protectand stand
upfor another person.
➔Openness—one’s willingness to share ideasand
informationfreely.Source:P. L. Schindler and C. C. Thomas, “The Structure of
Interpersonal Trust in the Workplace,” Psychological
Reports,October 1993, pp. 563–573.Should individuals
be paid for their
“teamwork” or
their individual
performance?