Leading Effective Teams Dr Catherine Hannaway Senior Fellow, Durham University

1. Leading Effective Teams Dr Catherine Hannaway Senior Fellow, Durham University

2. Individual Team Task Prof John Adair Effective Leadership

3. http://www.nhsleadership.org.uk/workstreams-clinical-theleadershipframework.asphttp://www.nhsleadership.org.uk/workstreams-clinical-theleadershipframework.asp

8. Why Teams? “There is a significant and negative relationship between the percentage of staff working in teams in acute hospitals and the mortality rate in those hospitals, taking account of local health care needs and hospital size. Where more employees work in teams the death rate among patients is significantly lower.” Borrill & West, Aston University, 1999

9. Groups and teams: how to tell the difference • Team • shared leadership roles • individual and mutual accountability • specific team purpose that the team itself delivers • collective work-products • encourages open-ended discussion and active problem solving meetings • measures performance directly by assessing collective work products • discusses, decides and does real work together • Working group • strong, clearly focused leader • individual accountability • the group’s purpose is the same as the broader organisational mission • individual work-products • runs efficient meetings • measures its effectiveness indirectly by its influence on others (e.g. financial performance of the business) • discusses, decides, and delegates

10. Focusing on team basics Performance results Mutual Small number of people Individual Problem solving Technical/function Interpersonal Accountability Skills Specific goals Common approach Meaningful purpose Personal growth Commitment Collective work products Katzenbach and Smith (1993)

11. Why Teams? • They bring together complementary skills and experiences that exceed those of any individual • enables a better response to multifaceted challenges • In jointly developing clear goals and approaches, teams establish communications that support real-time problem solving and initiative • as a result teams can adjust their approach to new information and challenges with greater speed, accuracy and effectiveness • They provide a unique social dimension that enhances the economic and administrative aspects of work • overcoming the barriers that stand in the way of collective performance • Teams have more fun! • fun both sustains and is sustained by team performance

12. Characteristics of High Performing Teams • Feeling safe to take risks • External positive affirmation that you are doing a good job • Successful team accepts feedback and acts on this feedback/seeks feedback • Reflective • Reflect on own team performance • Self evaluation • Trust other people to cross cover • Self support themselves and the team • Task significant to themselves and others • Like each other • Respect everybody’s strengths • Build on things that work well • Share goals - fun, clear • Same mind set • Organised - Commitment • Think differently, happy with the mix • Want to support each other – fair • Honest about performance • Not blamed – getting rid of fear • Brave enough to stop things that aren’t working • Finish job!! Celebrate • Reflect – and be positive • Leadership • Membership • Ownership • memory of high performing teams • Accountability • Good philosophy • Shared purpose • Shared understanding • Clarity of individual and team roles • Shared values • Trust • Timeliness of actions • Celebration of success • positive feedback, team feeing valued • Empowered • Support from within the team • Laughter • Desire for all to succeed • Common vision • Working for the greater good • Everyone thinks you are a high performing team • Committed to task/completion of objective • Valuing of each member of the team

13. The Team Performance Curve High-performing team Real team Performance impact Working group Potential team Katzenbach and Smith Team effectiveness Pseudo-team

14. How Work Groups Form into Effective Units or Teams (Bruce Tuckman) 1 Forming 2 Storming 3 Norming 4 Performing Important that: • Group Members recognise they belong to the group • Have effective working relationships based on agreed goals • Understand one another and are prepared to share ideas and feelings

15. Working Group no significant incremental performance need or opportunity to require it to become a team members interact primarily to share information, best practices, perspectives and to make decisions to help each individual perform beyond that no common purpose, performance goals, joint work-products that call for either a team approach or mutual responsibility Pseudo-team could be a significant performance need or opportunity but it has not focused on collective performance and is not really trying to achieve it weakest of all groups in terms of performance impact contribute less than working groups as interactions detract from each member’s individual performance without delivering any joint benefit sum of the whole is less than the potential of the individual parts Key Points on Performance Curve

16. Potential Team a significant incremental performance need and is really trying to improve its performance impact typically requires more clarity about purpose, goals or work-products and more work on a common working approach potential teams abound in organisations steepest performance gain comes between a potential team and a real team Real team a small number of people with complementary skills who are equally committed to a common purpose, goals, and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable High-performance team meets all the conditions of real teams and has members who are also deeply committed to one another’s personal growth and success significantly outperforms all other like teams and all reasonable expectations given its membership Key Points on Performance Curve

17. Some Thoughts on Leading Teams • Genuine concern for others • Ability to communicate and inspire • Decency • Humanity • Humility • Sensitivity • Respect for others Prof Beverley Alimo-Metcalfe summarises the 7 qualities as the leader being a servant not a hero

18. Belbin – Team Roles Categories Action-orientated roles shaper implementer completer/finisher People-orientated roles co-ordinator team worker resource investigator Cerebral roles plant monitor evaluator specialist Belbin (1993)

19. Team Leadership • look to the specifics of the performance challenge – effective working group requiring good management or team approach? • keep the purpose, goals and approach relevant and meaningful • build commitment and confidence • strengthen the mix and level of skills • manage relationships with outsiders, including removing obstacles • create opportunities for others • do real work

20. Approaches to building team performance • Establish urgency and direction • Select members based on skills and skill potential, not personalities • Pay particular attention to first meetings and actions • Set some clear rules of behaviour • Set and seize upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks and goals • Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information • Spend lots of time together • Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition and reward

21. Further Reading • Belbin, R Meredith (1998) Team Roles at Work. BH • Borrill, C.A., West, M. (2000c), Team-working and Effectiveness in Health Care, Aston Centre of Health Service Organisation Research (ACHSOR), University of Aston, Birmingham • Borrill, C.A., West, M. (2000a), How Good is Your Team? A Guide for Team Members, Aston Centre of Health Service Organisation Research (ACHSOR), University of Aston, Birmingham • Katzenbach J.R. and Smith D.K. The Wisdom of Teams – Creating the high performance organisation – Harvard Business School Press