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 …show more content…

The importance of instrumental cohesiveness works best for these large cross functional teams because they each have a specific skill set that when combined will make an effective and successful team. Hence the team will be cohesive because they know they are dependent on each other to accomplish the group’s goals. Again the team leader is the facilitator of this. The team leader pulls in all groups to update and clarify goals, projects, changes, etc and gets input on how each group will contribute to achieving the one goal. The team leader makes sure each group is involved and that they are working a task that best suits their needs. While group leaders are together, the team leader recognizes each group and members contribution. This multi stage interaction creates a cohesiveness with the team and also builds trust as the teams sees each other shared goal and less of their perceived differences. Tasks that are considered important are likely to increase motivation, promote collective efficacy, and strengthen task cohesion as the team strives towards accomplishing its goal(s). Rather than provide individual incentives (which can lead to competition and conflict), group feedback and rewards are encouraged. (Oldham & Hackman, 2010).
5. What advice would you give Google’s Laszlo Bock about managing a cross-functional team, team building, and team