Answer the following statement(s) true (T) or false (F)

Question

1) If used properly, teams can be powerfully effective as a building block for organization structure.
2) Work teams, when they exist, are typically not a part of the formal organization structure.
3) Some people prefer to work in traditional work groups because they have no managerial responsibilities.
4) Autonomous work groups have more responsibility than self-designing teams.
5) A working group is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Answer 1

1. TRUE
Explanation: Used appropriately, teams can be powerfully effective as a building block for organization structure. Organizations such as Semco, W. L. Gore, and Kollmorgen, manufacturer of printed circuits and electro-optic devices, are structured entirely around teams.

2. FALSE
Explanation: Work teams make or do things such as manufacture, assemble, sell, or provide service. They typically are well defined; a clear part of the formal organizational structure; and composed of a full-time, stable membership.

3. TRUE
Explanation: Traditional work groups have no managerial responsibilities. The frontline manager plans, organizes, staffs, directs, and controls them, and other groups provide support activities, including quality control and maintenance. Some people prefer this arrangement to the self-managed team with more responsibility.

4. FALSE
Explanation: Autonomous work groups control decisions about and execution of a complete range of tasks and are fully responsible for an entire product or an entire part of a production process. Self-designing teams do all of that and go one step further: they also have control over the design of the team. They decide themselves whom to hire, whom to fire, and what tasks the team will perform.

5. FALSE
Explanation: A working group is a collection of people who work in the same area or have been drawn together to undertake a task but do not necessarily come together as a unit and achieve significant performance improvements. A real team is formed of people (usually a small number) with complementary skills who trust one another and are committed to a common purpose, common performance goals, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.