Groups and Teams Groups a number of people

Groups and Teams Groups: a number of people who are connected by some shared activity, interest, or quality. Team: "A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team.

Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his/her strengths and minimize his/her weaknesses. Team members need to learn how to help one another, help other team members realize their true potential, and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond their limitations. A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a strong sense of mutual commitment creates synergy, thus generating performance greater than the sum of the performance of its individual members. "

The Discipline of Teams By Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith � The Discipline of Teams is useful in determining whether using a team or a working group makes the most sense for your situation. � A team's performance calls for both an individual's performance and mutual accountability whereas a working group performance is a collection of what members do as individuals. � Teamwork values include: encourage listening and responding constructively to views expressed by others, giving others benefit of the doubt, providing support, and recognizing the interests and achievements of others. � Characteristicsof a working group include: strong clear focused leader, individual accountability, the group's purpose is the same as the broader org. mission, individual work products, runs efficient meetings, measures its effectiveness indirectly by its influence

Powering Up Teams Bradley L. Kirkman and Benson Rosen � Successful teams have active synergy, each group member has the ability to make his or her teammates better. � Four experiences empowered teams share: potency, meaningfulness, autonomy, and impact. � These four dimensions are likely mutually reinforcing and reciprocal. � Teams that are empowered are more productive, proactive, and capable of providing excellent customer service. � The employees of empowered teams report very high levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and commitment to their teams. � Leaders of empowered teams must play the role of coaches and facilitators, helping teams define tasks, structure activities, and monitor their own progress.

Exercise 1 � Getting to Know Other Employees: Mental Team-Building Activity As your business expands and grows, it’s inevitable that you will have new team members and possibly have to form new teams as people move to different positions and job responsibilities change. This game is perfect for promoting communication, listening skills, and motivation. � This game is called “Circle of Questions, ” and its name pretty much says it all. You can use as little as 10 people to play this game, and the duration can last anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. � How well do you know your co-workers or employees? � Begin “Circle of Questions” by splitting the group into two equal teams (if there is an odd number, then either find another participant or let someone sit out until the next game). Ask one team to stand in a circle facing

� First things first: have both teams greet each other. Then, explain that the people in the inner circle will ask a question (of a manager’s choice) of the person opposite them in the outer circle. That employee will have 30 seconds to give an answer before the whistle blows. Hint: make these open-ended questions and remember that there is no right or wrong answer. � After the allotted 30 seconds is up, the person in the outer circle will ask the person in the inner circle the same question with the same rules applying. After both people have asked each other a question, then the inner circle will move clockwise one place and the outer circle will move counter clockwise one space to find a new partner. � Expect some confusion at first, but after several tries you will get the hang of it. Repeat this exercise by asking more questions, each time alternating

�Example questions: Where would you like to be in 5 years? What does success look like to you? What’s your greatest strength? (Try to ask questions that gradually work toward a theme you would like to address). �The following exercises will also be done to strengthen the communication of the group as well as to ensure that my employees have a network to utilize so that they can maximize their potential. I want my employees to feel like they are a part of a group and that they have support and resources available. This exercise will be helpful to get them in communication and interacting with one another.

Exercises 2, 3, & 4 � Open communication is essential for building trust. You need to get everyone on your team talking to one another in an honest, meaningful way, and you can use several strategies to accomplish this. First, create a team charter to define the purpose of the team, as well as each person's role. Present this charter at the first team meeting, and encourage each team member to ask questions, and discuss his or her expectations. � Now select a team building exercise. When chosen carefully and planned well, these exercises can help "break the ice" and encourage people to open up and start communicating. � Meet regularly, so that all team members have a chance to talk about their progress, and discuss any problems that they're experiencing. This time spent face-to-face is an important part of getting to know each other. It also creates opportunities for team members to talk, and to help one another solve problems. � Make sure that you "walk the talk" here: whenever you have important or relevant information to share, do so immediately. Demonstrate that open communication is important to you by consistently sharing with the group. The more you share with your team members, and thereby prove that you have no hidden agenda, the more comfortable they'll feel trusting you and each other. I have also listed an exercise on how to do this with a virtual team. I hope to one day have many consultants that cover a large geographic area so this modification is important.

� 3. Know Each Other Personally One way to build trust is to encourage your team members to see their colleagues as people. Think about creating situations that help them share personal stories, and bond. � Do this by asking sensitively about their family, or about their hobbies. Start by sharing some personal information about yourself, and then ask someone else about a hobby, or a musical interest. � Another way to get the team acquainted, and to form stronger bonds, is to socialize after work or at lunch.

� 4. Building Trust Virtually If you manage a virtual team, then you might be � � � working with a group of people who have never met face to face, or who have never spoken to one another personally. So, how can you build trust between people who are hundreds – if not thousands – of miles apart? You can apply some of the advice above when you're working with a virtual team. Schedule a virtual "meet and greet" if it's a new team, to help everyone get to know one another as individuals. Or, create a web page for your team's project, and ask everyone to write a paragraph or two about their personal history and interests. A team charter is still important for defining the goals and expectations of the team. Make sure that the charter addresses roles, as well as processes for submitting work digitally. Make sure that the charter is as comprehensive as possible, so that people don't feel uncertain or fearful about the work they're doing. Next, make sure that everyone on the team is aware of other team members' expertise and skills, as well as the value that each individual contributes to the group. Encourage your team members to treat each other just as they would if they were working face to face. This means that team members should make every effort to be on time for conference calls or web meetings, and that they should let the rest of the team know when they'll be absent, or on vacation. It's particularly important to follow through on the promises you make, and to set an example for everyone else. Keeping your promises is incredibly important in a virtual team, because your word is often all you can give. Positive follow-through builds trust quickly, and can raise the entire group's tone and expectations.