Google Three Thirds HR
Organizational Behavior
Google’s “Three Thirds”
1. Using Table 11–1 as a guide, what needs to be done to turn Google’s HR group into a true team?
Google’s current HR as described in the book works more as groups than as a true team, as defined by Katzenback and Smith (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013) There are elements of a team such as they are people with complementary skills and I believe that the groups have the same common commitment, to get the highest performance out of it existing employees and hire the best people. The three groups have highly specialized skills and I believe trying to integrate these skills throughout the team would probably dilute the performance. The problem for leadership is to combine the accomplishments of the groups in a way that weighs each group properly and recognizes each for its value. A role leadership could take on is to facilitate problem solving situations amongst the three groups with the common goal of seeing how each team can contribute to a problem and how their solutions can work together to make an even better decision. An impartial leader whose specialized skill is in facilitating groups, expressing the goals as a team, reviewing the performance as a team, will help draw each group into the team concept.
2. Should Google’s HR team members have been instructed ahead of time in the teamwork competencies in Table 11–3? Explain how it should have been done.
Facilitation is the key role of HR in this case of highly specialized, highly effective groups and the table (11-3) is about bringing a team together, so the answer is yes, HR team members would benefit from this type of teamwork building. Effective work teams have a greater chance of success if they are nurtured and facilitated by the organization (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 304) People are most effective when they know what is expected of them and those goals are specific. Then people with the desire to be effective and get ahead will do not only what is
Google’s “Three Thirds”
1. Using Table 11–1 as a guide, what needs to be done to turn Google’s HR group into a true team?
Google’s current HR as described in the book works more as groups than as a true team, as defined by Katzenback and Smith (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013) There are elements of a team such as they are people with complementary skills and I believe that the groups have the same common commitment, to get the highest performance out of it existing employees and hire the best people. The three groups have highly specialized skills and I believe trying to integrate these skills throughout the team would probably dilute the performance. The problem for leadership is to combine the accomplishments of the groups in a way that weighs each group properly and recognizes each for its value. A role leadership could take on is to facilitate problem solving situations amongst the three groups with the common goal of seeing how each team can contribute to a problem and how their solutions can work together to make an even better decision. An impartial leader whose specialized skill is in facilitating groups, expressing the goals as a team, reviewing the performance as a team, will help draw each group into the team concept.
2. Should Google’s HR team members have been instructed ahead of time in the teamwork competencies in Table 11–3? Explain how it should have been done.
Facilitation is the key role of HR in this case of highly specialized, highly effective groups and the table (11-3) is about bringing a team together, so the answer is yes, HR team members would benefit from this type of teamwork building. Effective work teams have a greater chance of success if they are nurtured and facilitated by the organization (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 304) People are most effective when they know what is expected of them and those goals are specific. Then people with the desire to be effective and get ahead will do not only what is
References: Kreitner, Robert, and Angelo Kinicki. Organizational Behavior. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Webber, Shelia S. "Leadership and Trust Facilitating Cross-functional Team Success."Journal of Management Development 21.3 (2002): 201-14. Print. Sitkin, Sim B., and Nancy L. Roth. "Explaining the Limited Effectiveness of Legalistic "Remedies" of Trust/Distrust." Organizational Science 4.3 (1993): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. Oldham, Greg R., and J. Richard Hackman. "Not What It Was and Not What It Will Be: The Future of Job Design Research." Journal of Organizational Behavior 31.2-3 (2010): 463-79. Print.