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DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE TEAMS Chapter Six. How Teams Differ From Groups. Note: All teams are groups but not all groups are teams. There are four principle characteristics that distinguish small groups from teams: Cooperation Diversity of Skills Group Identity Time and Resources.
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How Teams Differ From Groups Note: All teams are groups but not all groups are teams. There are four principle characteristics that distinguish small groups from teams: • Cooperation • Diversity of Skills • Group Identity • Time and Resources
LEVEL OF COOPERATION: THE WORKING TOGETHER IMPERATIVE • Teams typically manifest a higher level of cooperation than standard groups. • The essence of all teams is collaborative interdependence. • When members work mostly for themselves, attempting to advance individual agendas, the essence of a team is missing.
DIVERSITY OF SKILLS: LOOKING FOR COMPLEMENTARITY • Teams usually consist of members with more diverse skills than those found in standard groups. • A team requires complementary, not identical, skills.
GROUP IDENTITY: OPERATING AS A UNIT • Teams typically have a stronger group identity than standard groups. • Team names are important and often the subject of intense debate when the team first forms.
TIME AND RESOURCES: COMMITMENT TO THE TEAM • Teams, however, often require substantial resources and long-term time commitments. • Team members may devote huge time allotments to perfecting skills to help the team succeed.
DEFINITION OF A TEAM • A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who act as an interdependent unit, are equally committed to a common mission, and hold themselves accountable for team performance. • Not all groups can become teams. Board of Directors, class discussion groups, task forces and standing committees are not usually teams.
TEAM MEMBERS • Team members are the raw materials of any successful team. • Assembling the optimum combination of individuals is the starting point for team building. • Among the top predictors of a team’s effectiveness are: • Qualities of individuals who make up the team • Skills and competencies • Attitudes and behaviors displayed
TEAM SLAYERS: MEMBERS’ BAD ATTITUDES • For teams to be effective, attitude is at least as important as aptitude. • Good attitudes do not guarantee a team’s success, but bad attitudes guarantee its failure. • Egocentrism reveals the “me-first” attitude that promotes team friction and weakens team cohesiveness.
CYNICISM: CAN’T- DO ATTITUDE • Teams are systems, so even a single member can demoralize an entire team. • The attitude that most destroys teamwork and team effectiveness is cynicism. • Cynics focus on the negative, predicting failure and looking for someone or something to criticize, sapping the energy from the team with their negativity. • The attitude and the behavior associated with it are contagious.
TEAM MEMBER REMOVAL: PURGING THE ROTTEN EGG • Removal should be a last resort after efforts to correct problem behavior have been undertaken. • The principal candidates for expulsion from a team should be those who persistently display incompetent communication, especially if they show no interest in improving, and those with egocentric and cynical attitudes that disrupt team relationships.
TEAM BUILDERS: CHOOSINGAND DEVELOPING TEAM MEMBERS NOTE: Who should become a team member depends on what each potential member has to offer the team. • Experience and problem-solving abilities • Cultural diversity offers different perspectives • Communication training to develop competence
GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING MEMBERSHIP DIVERSITY There are several guidelines to managing membership diversity in teams: • Accept diversity as an advantage for the team. • Choose team members for their complementary skills and knowledge as well as their attitude. • Choose a transcending goal to bridge differences. • Be respectful of all team members and avoid cultural bias. • Keep communication open.
BUILDING TEAMWORK Building teamwork is a complicated process that unfolds over time. Developing Team Goals: The Four C’s • Clear • Cooperative • Challenging • Committed
TEAM ACCOUNTABILITY What does team accountability mean? • The team, rather than individual members, assumes responsibility for success and failure. • Team failure is our failure. • Team success is also a matter of collective responsibility, and team talk should reflect this.
STRUCTURING TEAM EMPOWERMENT:ENHANCING MEMBERS’ CAPABILITIES What is the definition of “Empowerment”? • The concept of empowerment is the process of enhancing the capabilities and influence of individuals and groups. • There are four dimensions of empowerment: potency, meaningfulness, autonomy, and impact.
IMPEDIMENTS TO TEAM EMPOWERMENT There are four primary impediments to team empowerment: • Organizations can sabotage their own teams • Not everyone embraces empowered teams • No decision-making participation • If rewards are distributed for individual effort, not team success
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPOWERED TEAMS • Teams set their own goals and rules. • Team members often set their own work schedules. • Teams usually design their own work space. • Work space is divided relatively equally among members. • Members devise and embrace rules for appropriate member behavior.
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPOWERED TEAMS • Teams as a whole are accountable for team performance. • Teams determine their membership and remove members who are deemed ineffective or disruptive. • Team members are trained to operate collaboratively and supportively. • Decision making is typically democratic, and leadership is participative. • Team members don’t ask for permission from the team leader to take risks or make changes, but negotiate with the team and strive for consensus.
FOSTER PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP:NURTURING EMPOWERMENT • Team leaders don’t act like bosses or supervisors if they hope to be effective. They are teachers and facilitators or skill builders. • A situation such as military combat may require directive leadership, but the general leadership pattern for most teams should participative.
INSIST ON A COOPERATIVE CLIMATE: JERKS NEED NOT APPLY • An effective team leader is a competent communicator capable of using supportive communication and avoiding defensive communication patterns with team members. • Effective team leaders also suppress their egos to encourage a cooperative climate. • Effective team leaders work with team members to develop supportive rules.
