Members of successful teams put a tremendous amount of time
and effort into discussing, shaping, and agreeing on a purpose that
belongs to them both collectively and individually. This common
purpose, when accepted by the team, becomes the equivalent of
what celestial navigation is to a ship’s captain—it provides direc-
tion and guidance under any and all conditions.
Specific Goals
Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific,
measurable, and realistic performance goals. Just as we demon-
strated in Chapter 4 how goals lead individuals to higher perform-
ance, so goals also energize teams. These specific goals facilitate
clear communication. They also help teams maintain their focus
on achieving results.
Consistent with the research on individual goals, team goals
should be challenging. Difficult goals have been found to raise team
performance on those criteria for which they are set. So, for instance,
goals for quantity tend to raise quantity, goals for speed tend to
raise speed, goals for accuracy tend to raise accuracy, and so on.^66
Teams should also be encouraged to develop milestones—tangible
steps toward completion of the project. This allows teams to focus on
their goals and evaluate progress toward the goals. The milestones
should be sufficiently important and readily accomplished that teams
can celebrate some of their accomplishments along the way.
Team Efficacy
Effective teams have confidence in themselves. They believe
they can succeed. We call this team efficacy.^67
Success breeds success. Teams that have been successful raise
their beliefs about future success which, in turn, motivates them
to work harder. One of the factors that helps teams build their
efficacy is cohesiveness—the degree to which members are
attracted to one another and are motivated to stay on the team.^68
Though teams differ in their cohesiveness, it is important because
it has been found to be related to the team’s productivity.^69
Studies consistently show that the relation between cohe-
siveness and productivity depends on the performance-related
norms established by the group.^70 If performance-related norms
are high (for example, high output, quality work, cooperation
with individuals outside the group), a cohesive group will be
more productive than a less cohesive group. If cohesiveness is
high and performance norms are low, productivity will be low.
If cohesiveness is low and performance norms are high, pro-
ductivity increases—but less than in the high cohesiveness–high
norms situation. Where cohesiveness and performance-related
norms are both low, productivity will tend to fall into the low-
to-moderate range. These conclusions are summarized in
Exhibit 5-7 on page 170. OB in Action—Creating a Team Charter
provides a way for teams to develop productivity norms when
the team first forms.
Most studies of cohesiveness focus on socio-emotional cohe-
siveness,the “sense of togetherness that develops when indi-
viduals derive emotional satisfaction from group
Chapter 5Working in Teams 169OB IN ACTION
Creating a Team Charter
When you form a new team, you may want to develop
a team charter, so that everyone agrees on the basic
norms for group performance. Consider including answers
to the following in your charter:
➔What are team members’ names and contact
information(phone, email)?
➔How will communicationamong team members
take place (phone, email)?
➔What will the team ground rulesbe (where and
when to meet, attendance expectations, workload
expectations)?
➔How will decisionsbe made (consensus, majority
vote, leader rules)?
➔What potential conflictsmay arise within the
team? Among team members?
➔How will conflicts be resolvedby the group?Source: Submitted by Don Miskiman, Chair and U-C
Professor of Management, Malaspina University College,
Nanaimo, BC. With permission.A recent study of 23 National Basketball Association (NBA)
teams found that “shared experience”—tenure on the
team and time on court—tended to reduce turnover and
boost win-loss performance significantly. Why do you think
teams that stay together longer tend to play better?cohesiveness The degree to
which team members are attracted
to one another and are motivated to
stay on the team.