Case Incident—A Virtual Team at T. A. Sternson pages 180–181 further explores how
virtual teams work.
BEWARE! TEAMS ARENOT ALWAYS THEANSWER
When the Glenforest Secondary School students got together to build a robot, it made
sense for them to form a team. No student had all the knowledge and skills required to
complete the task, as we saw in the opening vignette. But does every task need a team?
Despite considerable success in the use of teams, they are not necessarily appropri-
ate in all situations, as Exhibit 5-9 on page 174 suggests. Teamwork takes more time
and often more resources than individual work. Teams, for instance, have greater com-
munication demands, conflicts to be managed, and meetings to be run. In their enthu-
siasm to enjoy the benefits of teams, some managers have introduced them into situations
where the work is better done by individuals. A 2003 study done by Statistics Canada
found that the introduction of teamwork lowered turnover in the service industries, for
both high- and low-skilled employees. However, manufacturing companies experienced
higher turnover if they introduced teamwork and formal teamwork training, compared
with not doing so (15.8 percent vs. 10.7 percent).^83
Another consideration is ethics. This chapter’s Ethical Dilemma Exerciseon page 180
asks you to think about whether it is ethical to force employees to be team players.
How do you know if the work of your group would be better done in teams? It has
been suggested that three tests be applied to see if a team fits the situation:^84
- Can the work be done better by more than one person?Simple tasks that don’t
require diverse input are probably better left to individuals.
Chapter 5Working in Teams 173EXHIBIT 5-8 An Illustration of a Virtual WorkspaceSource:Reprinted by permission of Shell Chemical LP.6 Are teams always the
answer?