Teamwork

Getting the very best out of your next work group. Team building involves group members setting clear goals and results to get tasks done and for work satisfaction. Team building looks at defining the job that needs to get done and the way for doing that job. It does not look at personal issues between people.

Groups and teams are the key building blocks in both society and business organisations. However the group dynamics in both are likely to be quite different.

When it comes to being part of a social group you have a choice. Most of us will want to remain in our own comfort zone so we are more likely to choose to be a member of a group that matches not only our interests but also our goals and values.

Work groups however are special groups of individuals who are brought together in a specific work environment for a specific purpose. Individuals are often grouped together by a manager, without a real desire to be involved, and with little choice as to the group’s total make up. This can impact on the work group in terms of functionality - cooperation verses competition, ethics or values, productivity and of course end success.

Team building involves group members setting clear goals and results to get tasks done and for work satisfaction. Team building looks at defining the job that needs to get done and the way for doing that job. It does not look at personal issues between people.

Why do we have a group of people get together?

The four main reasons for teams meeting are:

To set goals and priorities.
To analyse or allocate the work to be performed.
To examine the way the group is working, such as its norms, decision-making, communication, and effectiveness.
To examine relationships among members of the group in order to examine roles and their interrelationships.

What sets a successful team or project group apart?

Successful teams don’t just happen. They have the following strengths:

They have clear, challenging goals, which everyone understands and wants to achieve.
They have members who are committed by being involved and talking differences through.
They have members with a variety of different styles but three styles are significantly common. These are:
- The Doers - who make sure the job gets done and give the team drive.
- The Thinkers - who have good ideas and reject bad ones.
- The Carers - who keep the team together, ease tensions, promote harmony and are sensitive about relationships within the team.
They have a leader who wins consent by changing their leadership style to suit the needs of the situation. This sometimes means simply telling team members what to do and sometimes getting ideas from team members and developing discussion and agreement.

Teams have very specific characteristics which enable them to function effectively. These are:

a strong sense of belonging,
a perception that you are a member of a team,
similar values, attitudes and desire to achieve or excel,
complementary skills of individuals,
each team member has a specific role and knows what is expected of them,
each team member helps the others,
the team is more important than the individuals,
norms and standards are very strong,
high levels of communication and cooperation.

Group dynamics - how does it work?

Team member responsibilities

Each team member has a responsibility towards the task, the team and the individual. Key responsibilities of team members are to:

communicate with team leaders and other members,
cooperate with the team leader and other members,
contribute skills and experience towards achieving team tasks,
share in the work and assist and support other members.

Team leadership

A strong team leader will use motivation to create a positive team spirit and then harness this energy to produce high team performance. He/she will:

use consultative processes to plan work in order to achieve team goals,
allocate tasks to team members,
monitor team performance,
recognise training needs for individual team members to ensure team goals are met,
plan and present strategies and activities to improve team’s performance,
analyse needs and plan for self and individual development related to the job role within a work team.

Team spirit

Team spirit is important in the workplace and usually results in:

an enjoyable work environment,
fewer grievances or disputes,
lower levels of sickness and stress,
less absenteeism and staff turnover,
a willingness by team members to assist each other,
openness and honesty in team members, and
a willingness to accept change.

Team behaviour

You may have noticed that when a group forms, the following five stages occur where members display the following behaviours:

Stage 1

getting to know each other,
making judgements about who they are likely to align with,
starting to establish roles, relationships and sub groups,
finding their feet and jostling for where they might fit in,
trying to work out how to proceed,
voicing their aims and identifying tasks and rules,
trying to work out ways of approaching tasks,
seeking to identify information and resource needs,
getting a feel for what kind of behaviour is appropriate,
establishing the group culture and norms, usually without realising it.

Stage 2

arguing to establish roles and status,
emotional outbursts, disagreements and conflict,
reactions against values, rules, assumptions, roles and tasks,
frustration about not getting on with the task,
conflict between subgroups and forming of factions,
challenges to the leader’s authority,
reactions against the demands on individuals,
little focus on the group task.

Stage 3

most disagreements are settled, at least on the surface,
settles on overall structure and subgroups,
accepts for the time being the task, roles, rules and relationships,
adopts the culture and norms without usually realising it,
starts to focus on the group task.

Stage 4

planning and organising occurs,
problems are examined,
solutions are evaluated,
decisions are made and actions agreed upon,
members take on roles and responsibilities,
constructive work gets done,
a sense of progress and achievement is evident,
group energies are focused on the task.

Stage 5

This stage occurs when a group is being disbanded or is undergoing some major membership or functionality change:

strained relationships if new members are introduced as a consequence to the loss of original members,
sense of loss (mourning),
denial and or anger toward changes,
norms and standards are very strong,
high levels of communication and cooperation.

How do you know when you have a good team?

A good team:

Has a high success rate. More often than not it achieves what it sets out to do.
Agrees on clear, challenging objectives. Everyone in the team helps develop ideas and understands the team’s objectives.
Has a leader who adjusts the leadership style from democratic to autocratic.
Has a mix of people who help (in different ways) toward the overall team development.
Operates in such a way that there is a balance between a concern for both the task (the “what”) and the process (the “how”).
Creates a supportive atmosphere. People are happy to say what they really think, develop one another’s ideas, and commit to one agreed course of action even though they may have differences of opinion.
Learns from experience, and uses its successes and failures to improve its own performance.
Works hard and plays hard. The members not only achieve challenging objectives but also enjoy themselves as they do so.

A model for good teamwork

Composition and maturity of the team members and the mix of skills and experience that each can bring to the table is an extremely important consideration when a team is formed.

Goals and objectives must be clearly understood and accepted by all team members - they need to know where they fit into the overall organisation, what their purpose and primary functions are, and how they can best contribute to the overall performance. Objectives need to be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and with sensible time frames.

Roles for each team member must be clearly explained. There must be no role ambiguity, conflict or confusion especially if a team member has multiple tasks. Priorities need to be identified. Aims and objectives of individual tasks must be clarified. What, Why, When, How and Who are useful reminders for establishing guidelines for developing a team member’s objectives.

Procedures should be set in place to enable the team to make quality decisions.

Relationships are formed whenever a team of people work closely together. It is important to ensure all team members are complementary to the mix and feel comfortable with one another because this will influence the way they work together.

Team environment needs to be a favourable one to foster a positive, sharing and supportive working climate. Consider factors like a high level of autonomy or power sharing.

Team leaders have responsibilities to the team, the individual team members and the wider organisation. A good team leader is one who leads by example, and has both the support and respect of the team members.

Organising a team project

To help the team leader to assign tasks and responsibilities it is useful to be able to identify, understand and maximise the interactive personality traits of the individual team members. Clearly differentiated types are identified below but take into account that sometimes individuals can share a mix of the characteristics identified.

A profile of types

Typically each member of a team will have a more dominant or preferred style of interaction and this becomes evident depending on the team needs and the situation. There are many diagnostic models available to identify individual team performance styles. One such model is the Belbin Team Performance Model which identifies nine major roles. The traits of these individual personality types are identified below. You should find that you can identify some, if not all of these individually defined traits in the members of your team.

The Implementer

A practical organiser,
Converts plans into actions,
Will say what is achievable,
A producer of schedules, organisational charts,
Efficient, systematic, methodical,
May be inflexible.

The Co-ordinator

Co-ordinates activities,
Uses resources effectively,
Establishes roles and work boundaries,
Communicates well,
Clarifies objectives,
Sets agenda,
Selects problems for consideration,
Establishes priorities,
Questions, listens, summarises.

The Shaper

Gives shape to application of team’s efforts,
Is a good task leader for specific project,
Responds to a challenge,
Quick to challenge,
Unites ideas, objectives into single feasible project,
Results oriented (makes things happen),
Wants immediate action,
Intolerant of vagueness.

The Ideas Person

Good source of original ideas,
Radical approach to problems,
Imaginative and intelligent,
Deals with major issues - not details,
Criticises, makes counter-proposals,
May not react well to criticism,
Vital spark.

The Resource Investigator

Brings ideas, information and developments,
Has outside contacts,
Good liaison officer,
Not original ideas,
Sees relevance of new ideas,
Active under pressure,
Short-lived enthusiasm,
Prevents team stagnation.

The Evaluator

Measured, dispassionate analysis,
Genuine critic rather than creator,
Objective,
Interprets and evaluates volumes,
Solid and dependable,
Good judgement,
Can be negative.

The Team Builder

Aware of individuals’ needs,
Active internal communicator,
Builds on ideas – supportive,
Encourages others,
Dislikes personal confrontation,
Value not always visible.

The Completer/Finisher

Personally checks every detail,
Worries about what may go wrong,
Sense of urgency,
Compulsive in meeting deadlines,
Intolerant of slap-happy members,
Can be depressing,
Can get bogged down in detail,
Relentless follow-through.

The Specialist

Single minded, self starting,
Dedicated,
Provides knowledge or technical skills,
Maintains professional standards,
Contributes only on a narrow front,
Can lack interest in other subjects,
Good on making decisions based on in-depth experience.

Don’t stop at just identifying the interactive traits of the individuals that make up your next team project. Once you have identified individual traits make use of them so that you get the very best out of the group.

Disclaimer - The information published above is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from Australian Business Limited. The information published above is intended as general information only and should not be relied on in place of specific legal or professional advice. Australian Business Limited accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage, which may be suffered or incurred by any person acting on the information published above. For employment and industrial relations advice it is recommended that all parties seek professional legal advice from Australian Business Lawyers (tel: 13 26 96) or from independent legal advisors.

Reprinted with permission of NSW Business Chamber. For more information about this article or NSW Business Chamber, its products, services and membership, please call 13 26 96 or visit the web site: www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au
First published: 7 July 2003.
Last updated: 8 March 2006.