Team Building With Paul Cowell Team Building Teams

Team Building With Paul Cowell

Team Building • Teams are created to increase productivity, maximise co-operation and communication and minimise conflict • Leader very important role they are driven by two characteristics – Dominance-desire to dominate (manage) other people – Eminence-desire to achieve status through competition based on ability

Team Building • Types of teams – Natural work group – Management – Project improvement – Process redesign – Cross-functional – New product design team

Team Building • Tuckman (1965) suggested teams go through four stages in a relatively short space of time – Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing – Adjourning (added in 1975)

Team Building • Forming • This is the stage where everyone is polite to each other but very little trust, members treated as strangers • Managers not too sure of their role and everyone want to establish there own identity within the group

Team Building • Storming • We test each other, members start to communicate their feelings, but don’t view themselves as part of a team. • Most groups go through a conflict stage with colleagues where rules are set but individuals tend to interpret them in their own way. Personal agendas are revealed with interpersonal hosility. • This stage tests group trust

Team Building • Norming • People start to value other types and accept their viewpoints • Group rules are established • At storming stage people rebel quickly, goals and roles are understood, people work together positively • Relationships become stronger, people are more aware of each other

Team Building • Performing • Team works well together, there is a lot of flexibility because of team trust • Everyone is focussed on team goals and is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team • Performance will be achieved but can be hindered by the processes of growth and individual agendas

Team Building • Adjourning • Team has achieved its purpose and is ready to move on with the team members feeling good about themselves • However team members feel venerable at this stage show sensitivity required. Members feel threatened by change

Team Effectiveness • The Givens – The nature of the task determines how the group should be managed (urgent or routine) • Intervening Factors – Motivation and leadership styles • The outcomes – Satisfying personal and group needs (job satisfaction, respect and cohesion)

Team Effectiveness • Teams function best when; – – – Values and objectives shared by all members Members aware of each others differences Good mix of personalities and skills Inter team support Information and ideas shared, new ideas welcome Each member encouraged to participate and there is trust and openness – Effective communication through formal and informal meetings

Managing Team Diversity • Multi-disciplinary teams – Makes members aware of their tasks in context of whole organisation • Multi-skilled teams – Allows for the flexible allocation of work • Project teams – For specific purposes and have a life-span • Multi-cultural and diverse teams – Growing importance with globalisation

Leading Groups • Adair’s action-centred leadership model • Task roles – Initiating, Information-seeking, Diagnosing, Opinionseeking, Evaluating, Decision-making • Group maintenance roles – Encouraging, Peace-keeping, Clarifying, Standardseeking • Individual maintenance roles – Goal-setting, Feedback, Recognition, Counselling, Training

Motivating the Team • Motivation is important for: – – Job efficiency Producing better quality work Individuals share needs they wish to satisfy Needs are satisfied through wants, for example more money – Motivators are established that act as the wants, for example a better car for salesmen – Non physical motivators also exist such as friendship etc

Motivating the Team • Maslow – Every persons needs are arranged in a hierarchy of relative potency – Each level of need is dominant until satisfied, only then does the next level become a motivating factor – A need that has been satisfied no longer motivates

Motivating the Team • Herzberg’s two-factor theory of job satisfaction – Individuals have two separate systems • A need to avoid unpleasantness, satisfied by ‘hygiene factors’ preventative measures by managers to minimise dissatisfaction, short-lived individuals continually need more • A need for personal growth satisfied by motivator factors such as, status, advancement, recognition, responsibility etc

Motivating the Team • Mc. Gregor XY Theory – X Theory managers believe staff are lazy and will do as little as they can get away with. They assume people: • Inherently dislike work, must be controlled, prefer to be directed – Y Theory managers believe people work best when they are empowered to make decisions. They assume people: • View work as a natural activity, exercise self-direction, work towards objectives, accept and seek responsibility

Improving Job Satisfaction • Better job design • Job-enrichment, participation in decisionmaking • Job-enlargement, widening the area of responsibility • Pay incentive schemes, by results tend to be short-term

Improving Job Satisfaction • Performance appraisal – Review performance, potential and salaries but always give feedback – Sometimes appraisal is by peers • Appraisal Interview – Tell and sell, manager gives details of appraisal and then tries to sell it – Tell and listen, manager gives appraisal and then invites response, this provides an opportunity for counselling

Training and Development • Identify areas where training needed and write training objectives • Identify training methods to be used and plan a systematic training and development programme • Identify opportunities for broadening the employees knowledge and experience • Evaluate training

Training and Development • Development takes a wider approach to widen the employees experience by: – Increasing challenges and responsibility – Helping them formulate personal and caree development roles – Give suitable education and training to develop – Help plan their future