The Importance of Team Building in Modern Business | Creating Effective and Autonomous Work Groups

1. Team Building— a relatively new concept LIBR204-21 Susan Edwards and [name withheld]

2. Why is team building considered a new concept? Because team building and collaboration is counter to more traditional hierarchical business models and involves developing autonomous working groups within the business structure.

3. 5 Elements of a Good Team • We like Topchick’s criteria best: • Clear, member-defined roles and responsibilities • Open and honest communication among team members and team manager. This includes goal setting by team’s members • Supportive, knowledgeable manager/leader • Ability to make decisions freely • Rewards and recognition when goals are met or exceeded. Topchick, Gary S. TheFirst Time Manager’s Guide to Team Building.New York : AMACOM, 2007.

4. Another similar set of criteria: “There are five fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride.” —Duke University head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski Krzyzewski, Mike. Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life. Warner Books,2000

5. Soft Skills vs. Technical Skills • Building a good team isn’t just about assembling a group of individuals with the right technical skills or subject expertise to do the job. • “Soft skills” are equally as crucial to team work: communication, leadership, planning, decision-making, and coaching. • Team building is all about creating TRUST among team members.

6. Why build teams? • Most people prefer to work on a team and work best when they do. • Individuals on teams find the work more meaningful. • Teams enable organizations to use their people more effectively for higher returns. • Teams can often work without direct management support—autonomy is a motivator! • Teams can make up for inefficient supervisors. • Teams that develop synergy can make better decisions and develop better solutions than individuals. Topchick, Gary S. TheFirst Time Manager’s Guide to Team Building.New York : AMACOM, 2007.

7. Why build teams? continued… • When teams work well, they can • improve the working environment • keep communication consistent • relieve stress • reduce errors • keeps communication lines open

8. Are you ready to build teams? “Some organizations put a subject-matter expert in charge of a team—someone who has the technical knowledge but not necessarily the team-leadership skills. By team-leadership skills I mean the ability to communicate well, motivate people, facilitate discussions, make decisions, resolve conflicts, listen, deal with difficult team members, etc.” —Gary Topchick

9. Team building requires a leader who • is willing to trust staff • allows open, honest communication • can clearly define roles and responsibilities • can give the team some level of autonomous decision making Most importantly, team building takes time.

10. Is your organizationready for teams? • The five conditions for a team-based environment are: • Management that will trust the team and be open to two-way communication. • Team skills: members need training to work as a team and to work autonomously. • Empowered team members: members have to want to be part of the team. • Open approach to change and risk: teams can be risky, but the organization must be open to taking a chance. • Human Resource systems: HR ratings should look at teamwork, not just individual performance, and implement 360 reviews.

11. 2 Types of Teams • Ongoing teams • Continuous working groups or departments within an organization • Team is stable—never or rarely disbanded • Time is available to develop over months or years • Project-based teams • Cross-departmental working groups, assembled for a specific purpose • Team disbands when project is completed • Usually exists from a few weeks to a few months—not a lot of time to develop a cohesive team.

12. Teams develop over time Developing Team Self-Managed Team Needs lots of guidance from management Spends time setting up team norms (rules) Manager make decisions, with team’s input Manager needed to resolve conflict Little management oversight required. Management becomes consultant Team norms well-established Team makes decisions autonomously Team resolves conflict on its own

13. Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing • Another model of the stages of group development was developed by social psychologist Bruce Tuckman in 1965: “forming-storming-norming-performing.” • Forming: introductions, team member selection, goal setting • Storming: contentious period of competing ideas for the team • Norming: members agree on rules, trust begins • Performing: team members are interdependent, autonomous Bruce Tuckman. "Developmental Sequence in Small Groups" Group Facilitation, Spring 2001. Reprinting of Tuckman's 1965 article of same title, along with his 1977 update "Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited,"   coauthored with Mary Ann Jensen.

14. 10 Steps to Building a Team If you are ready, and your organization is ready, you can follow these 10 steps to building successful teams.

15. Preparing the Team Get upper management support. Show how team goals align with organization. Ensure they won’t usurp your authority as leader. Show how team is doing in measurable terms. Define the purpose of the team. Communicate this to team members. Identify time frames: milestones and due dates. Select team members: choose those who need to learn along with the most qualified people. Use volunteers. Connect one-on-one with individuals throughout your project.

16. In the First Team Meetings: 5. Team member openings—have members introduce themselves and explain how they see the team working. 6. Share the overall purpose. 7. Team name—have members create a name related to the team’s purpose. 8. Set goals—S.M.A.R.T. goals, revised regularly. 9. Core team issues—introduce your philosophy on teams, what you expect, resources available, logistics, schedules, concerns, discussion of rewards, and how you want them to work together. 10. Establish team norms—these ground rules should be created as a team.

17. 5 Elements of a Good Team Let’s review the 5 elements, and see how steps can be taken to help them grow…

18. Embodying the 5 Elements of a Team Clear roles and responsibilities: Define each member’s role, but realize there is a shared purpose. All members should understand all roles, not just their own. Discuss team progress at meetings. Open and honest communication: Constant, continual communication. Team norms and ground rules will help with honesty and trust issues. Supportive and knowledgeable leader: Use “we” instead of “I.” Listen actively, solicit feedback, build trust, and allow the team to make mistakes. Decision-making authority: Set boundaries about which decisions are made by the team and which are made by the leader. Developing teams may require the leader to make decisions with team input. Self-managing teams can handle consensus. Rewards and recognition: Reward both the team and individuals. Celebrate milestones. At conclusion of a project make sure to record what was learned, make recommendations for the future, develop tips for other teams, and talk about follow-up.

19. How Teams Get Derailed It seems so easy! Let’s look at some of the things that can go wrong.

20. Undermanaging and Overmanaging • Developing teams will need more managing. There is a tendency to undermanage these teams. This can lead to chaos, as the group is not yet able to plan and make decisions autonomously. Infighting and confusion can undermine the group. • Self-managed teams are autonomous and need little managing. There is a tendency to be overmanage these groups. This can cause frustration and anger and erode trust. • Knowing where your team is at is vital for long-term success.

21. Common Mistakes and Solutions Out of control meetings—not clearly connected to goals of the team. Solution: have an agenda, set ground rules, keep meetings small and short. 2. Seemingly random changes in project direction. Solution: keep communication lines open and explain why there is a change. The closer a project is to completion, the more difficult a transition is. Energy zapping delays. Solution: if you make a mistake, be honest! Don’t lose team’s trust. Team squabbles gone awry. Solution: Schedule a face-to-face meeting and work it out immediately. If they won’t work it out, remove one of the troublemakers from the team. Hollingsworth, C. (2009). “5 Ways to Make or Break Your Team.” PM Network, 23(4), 52-7. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from Business Full Text database.

22. Team-Building Activities • Leaders can organize activities designed to build trust and improve communication among team members. Such group activities: • Focus on developing “soft” skills. • Are often done at a retreat location, away from the normal work environment. • Traditionally done face-to-face. • Range from organized physical activities to sharing personality traits and socializing.

23. Examples of Team-building Activities Physical Trust games Example: With members blindfolded, a few members are given instructions to create a perfect square with a rope. When finished, everyone must have one hand on the rope. Members must learn to communicate verbally to accomplish the task together. Ice-Breaker gamesExample: Members write on paper what they think is most fascinating or unusual about themselves. Other members to guess which belong to which person. Debrief by asking team what purpose was, how the activity will help them work better. Did anyone hold back? Were you surprised by any information? Problem-solving games Example: Team is given a survival scenarios and a task. For example, “a plane crashed and you need to choose the 12 most useful items to survive.” Members brainstorm and rank items and must come to consensus within a time period. More team building exercises: http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html

24. Virtual Teams Virtual teams are made up of members not in the same geographic location. Such teams may never meet one another face-to-face. Thus, members never get the kind of information gleaned from cues given in body language and voice tone from teammates.

25. Common Issues in Managing Virtual Teams • Team members are not physically able to meet. • Introductions and ice-breakers are important. • Goals and responsibilities must be extra clear. • Potential cultural differences with teams spread throughout geographic regions. • Introductions should incorporate cultural personality. • Do not take soft skills for granted. • More potential conflict without face-to-face contact. • Constant communication, updates, and reminders of common goal(s). • Empower all team members to help manage conflict. • Recognize accomplishments.

26. Your Team Building Activity • Follow the link to the special Google Map.(The full url is in the notes section for this slide.) • You need a Google account to edit the map. If you do not have a Google account, you can send your information to Erik, Susan, or ask one of your Interview/White paper team members if they can place you on the map. You will be able to view the map without a Google account. • Follow the directions on the left side of the map.Make sure you don’t delete or alter anyone else’s information! Please complete this portion of the task by Sunday evening. • Check back early next week and see what your Interview and White Paper group members have posted.Post your reaction to the exercise on the discussion board. Some things to think about: • Does seeing where your teammates live and what they do change the way you think about working with them in the virtual environment? • Do you expect a different group dynamic now that you know what your partners’ strengths and weaknesses are?

27. References Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (1991). Reframing organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. Fisher, K. (1999). Leading Self-Directed Work Teams. McGraw-Hill. Free Management Library online resource for team building: http://www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/teams/teams.htm Hackman, R. (2002). Leading teams. Boston, Ma.: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Hollingsworth, C. (2009). “5 Ways to Make or Break Your Team.” PM Network, 23(4), 52-7. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from Business Full Text database. Krzyzewski. M. (2001). Leading with the Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life. Business Plus. “Team Building Activities, Initiative Games, & Problem Solving Exercises” on Wilderon Web site “http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html Topchick, G. S. (2007). The First Time Manager’s Guide to Team Building. New York : AMACOM. Tuckman, B. "Developmental Sequence in Small Groups" Group Facilitation, Spring 2001. Reprinting of 1965 article of same title, with 1977 update "Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited," coauthored with Mary Ann Jensen. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3954/is_200104/ai_n8943663/