Communicating in Teams and Mastering Listening and ...

1 38 Learning ObjectivesAFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO1 Highlight the advantages and disadvantages of working in teams2 Identify eight guidelines for successful collaborative writing3 Explain how wiki technology can help Teams collaborate4 Explain how group dynamics can affect team effectiveness5 Describe how meeting technologies can help participants communicate moresuccessfully6 Describe the Listening process, and explain how good listeners overcome barri-ers at each stage of the process7 Clarify the importance of nonverbal communication , and briefly describe six cat-egories of nonverbal expression8 Discuss the role of business etiquette, both in the workplace and in social settingsChapter 2 Communicating in Teams and Mastering Listening and nonverbal communication 10/16/07 2:34 PM Page 38 ISBN: 0-558-13856-XExcellence in Business communication , Eighth Edition, by John V. Thill and Courtland L. Bov e. Published by Prentice 2008 by Pearson Education, s face it: Frontline jobs inretail don t have the greatestreputation.

2 For employees, thesepositions often combine low paywith high stress, leading to rapidburnout and frequent a customer s perspective,retail employees seem to fall into two categories: unmotivatedrookies or aggressive sellers whoseem more intent on gettingtheir commissions than they founded TheContainer Store, Garrett Booneand Kip Tindell set out to shatterthese expectations by creating apleasant, welcome working andshopping experience. As millionsof frustrated consumers know all too well, though, deliveringgreat customer service isn t Container Store manages to do so through respect foremployees, open communica-tion, and a structure that pro-motes teamwork over individual selecting new employees, for instance, thecompany engages in a comprehensive interviewingand selection process to find the perfect person foreach position, driven by the belief that one greatemployee equals three good ones.

3 At The ContainerStore, a great employee is self-motivated, team oriented, andpassionate about customer ser-vice. Most new hires are formercustomers, in fact, so they realready fans of the companybefore they emphasis on team -work is reinforced twice a day,before opening and after clos-ing, through a meeting called the huddle. Similar to a hud-dle in football, it helps to giveeveryone a common purpose:set goals, share information,boost morale, and bond as ateam. team -building efforts arefurther encouraged by partici-pation in community outreachactivities, such as school supplydrives, and through purelyrecreational activities dreamedup by the employees on theFun a commitment toteamwork and effective com-munication, The Container Store paves the way for itsemployees to deliver great customer service. Tindellbelieves that full, open communication with employ-ees takes courage but says, The only way that peo-ple feel really, really a part of something is if theyknow everything.

4 1www. containerstore. comOn the JobCOMMUNICATING AT THE CONTAINER STORESOLID TEAMWORK + EFFECTIVE communication = A GREAT SHOPPING EXPERIENCE39 Daily huddles at The Container Store, informalmeetings among team members, reinforce com-pany values and let people exchange 10/16/07 2:34 PM Page 39 ISBN: 0-558-13856-XExcellence in Business communication , Eighth Edition, by John V. Thill and Courtland L. Bov e. Published by Prentice 2008 by Pearson Education, IUnderstanding the Foundations of Business CommunicationTeam members have a sharedmission and are collectivelyresponsible for their popular types of informal teamsare problem-solving Teams and communication is essentialto every aspect of team YOUR PERFORMANCE IN TEAMSYou may never work in a retail operation such as The Container Store (profiled in thechapter opener), but chances are quite good that your career will involve working inteams and other group situations that will test your communication skills.

5 A teamisa unit of two or more people who share a mission and the responsibility for workingto achieve a common can create formal teamsthat become part ofthe organization s structure, or they can establish informal teamsthat aren t part of theformal organization but are created to solve particular problems, work on specificactivities, or encourage employee teamsand task forcesare informal Teams that assemble toresolve specific issues and then disband when their goal has been Teams are often cross-functional, pulling together people from a variety of depart-ments with different areas of expertise and responsibility. The resulting diversity ofopinions and interests can lead to tensions that highlight the need for effective com-munication. For instance, consider a cross-functional team charged with making aproduct more competitive in the marketplace. A representative from the sales depart-ment might complain that the product s price is too high because manufacturing hasnot done enough to lower production costs.

6 Someone from manufacturing mightcounter that costs are already as low as possible but perhaps the sales departmentdoesn t know how to sell the product effectively. Balancing these competing interestsand opinions without letting them boil over into personal animosity requires skill atlistening, speaking, and formal Teams that usually have a long life span and can becomea permanent part of the organizational structure. Committees typically deal with reg-ularly recurring tasks, such as an executive committee that meets monthly to planstrategy and review the purpose and function of your team , you and your fellow teammembers must be able to communicate effectively with each other and with peopleoutside your team . As Chapter 1 points out, this ability often requires taking on addi-tional responsibility for communication : sharing information with team members, Listening carefully to their inputs, and crafting messages that reflect the team s collec-tive ideas and opinions.

7 Increasingly, this communication takes place long distance,with virtual teamsconnecting from remote locations using avariety of meeting technologies (see Using Meeting Tech-nologies on page 51).Advantages and Disadvantages of TeamsWhen Teams are successful, they improve productivity, cre-ativity, employee involvement, and even job frequently at the core of participative management, theeffort to involve employees in the company s decision mak-ing. Getting employees involved in the daily operation oftheir own stores is one of the central principles of participa-tive management at The Container Store, as managers andemployees share vital business information every day. A suc-cessful team can provide a number of advantages:4 Increased information and pooling theresources of several individuals, Teams have access to moreinformation in the decision-making process. Increased diversity of members can bring avariety of perspectives to the decision-making process.

8 Companies in fast-moving industries rely on Teams to workclosely and quickly to solve problems and capitalize on 10/16/07 2:34 PM Page 40 ISBN: 0-558-13856-XExcellence in Business communication , Eighth Edition, by John V. Thill and Courtland L. Bov e. Published by Prentice 2008 by Pearson Education, 2 Communicating in Teams and Mastering Listening and nonverbal communication Skills41 Effective Teams can pool knowledge,take advantage of diverse viewpoints,and increase acceptance of solutionsthe team in mind, however, that unless these diverse viewpoints are guided by ashared goal, the multiple perspectives can actually hamper a team s Increased acceptance of a who participate in making a decisionare more likely to support the decision enthusiastically and encourage others toaccept it. Higher performance in Teams can unleash new levels of creativ-ity and energy in workers who share a sense of purpose and mutual Teams can be better than top-performing individuals at solving , Teams fill an individual worker s need to belong to agroup, reduce employee boredom, increase feelings of dignity and self-worth, andreduce stress and tension between teamwork has many advantages, it also has a number of potential disad-vantages.

9 At their worst, Teams are unproductive and frustrating, and they waste every-one s time. Teams need to be aware of and work to counter the following disadvantages: when pressures to conform with accepted normsof behavior cause individual team members to withhold contrary or unpopularopinions. The result can be decisions that are worse than ones the team membersmight have made individually. Hidden team members may have a hidden agenda private,counterproductive motives, such as a desire to take control of the group or toundermine someone else on the team . Free team members may be free riders individuals who don t con-tribute their fair share to the group s activities. important drawback to teamwork is the high cost of coordinatinggroup activities. Aligning schedules, arranging meetings, and coordinating indi-vidual parts of a project can eat up a lot of time and of Effective TeamsTo be effective collaborators in a team setting, you and your colleagues should recog-nize that each individual brings valuable assets, knowledge, and skills to the collaborators are willing to exchange information, examine issues, and workthrough conflicts that arise.

10 They trust each other, working toward the greater goodof the team and organization rather than focusing on personal most effective Teams have a clear objective and a shared sense of purpose,communicate openly and honestly, reach decisions by consensus, think creatively,and know how to resolve these team skills takes time and prac-tice, so companies now teach teamwork more frequently than any other aspectof contrast, unsuccessful teamwork can waste time and money, generate lower-quality work, and frustrate both managers and employees. A lack of trust is cited asthe most common reason for the failure of Teams . This lack of trust can result fromteam members who are suspicious of one another s motives or ability to common reason for failure is poor communication , particularly when teamsoperate across cultures, countries, and time communication can alsoresult from basic differences in conversational styles. Some people expect conversa-tion to follow an orderly pattern in which team members wait their turns to view conversation as more spontaneous and are comfortable with an overlap-ping, interactive need to avoid the negativeimpact of groupthink, hiddenagendas, free riders, and 10/16/07 2:34 PM Page 41 ISBN: 0-558-13856-XExcellence in Business communication , Eighth Edition, by John V.