DB 9

Chapter 9: Building Effective Teams & Teamwork

BOOK:

*Developing Management Skills

· Author: David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron

· Publisher: Pearson

Edition: 9th edition

Building Effective Teams and Teamwork

We begin Session 13 with a metaphor on Teamwork.

Near the home of one of the textbook co-authors is a nature pond where scores of Canadian geese spend the winter. Each morning they fly over the house in a V-pattern to the nature pond. The reason is that the flapping wings of the geese in front create an updraft for the geese that follow. This V-pattern increases the range of the geese collectively by 71 percent compared to flying alone. On long flights, after the lead goose has flown at the front of the V for awhile, it drops back to take a place in the V where the flying is easier. Another goose then takes over the lead position, where the flying is most strenuous. If a goose begins to fly out of formation, it is not long before it returns to the V because of the resistance it experiences when not supported by the other geese's wing flapping.

Another feature of these geese is the loud honking that occurs when they fly. Canadian geese never fly quietly. The reason for the honking is not random. It occurs among geese in the rear of the formation in order to encourage the lead goose. The leader doesn't honk - just those who are supporting and urging on the leader. If a goose is shot, becomes ill, or falls out of formation, two geese break ranks and follow the wounded or ill goose to the ground. There they remain, nurturing their companion, until it is either well enough to return to the flock or dies.

Seven attributes of effective and skillful workteams are identified in the textbook.

· Effective teams have interdependent members determined by the coordinated, interactive efforts of all its members.

· Effective teams help members be more efficient working together than alone and outperform even the best individual's performance.

· Effective teams function so well that they create their own magnetism because of their camaraderie.

· Effective teams do not always have the same leader. Leadership responsibility often rotates and is shared broadly as teams develop over time.

· All members are treated as an integral part of the team, and therefore, care for and nurture one another.

· Effective teams have members who encourage and bolster the leader and each other.

· Effective teams have a high level of trust among members, demonstrating integrity and interest in other members' success, as well as their own.

Advantages of Teams

Developing team skills is important, because of the tremendous increase in the use of teams in work organizations over the past decade.

One reason for the escalation of teamwork is the increasing amounts of data showing improvements in productivity, quality, and morale see Table 9.1.

In the workplace there are various descriptions for workteams:

Empowered teams	Top management teams
Autonomous work groups	Quality circles
Semiautonomous teams	Project teams
Self-managing teams	Task forces
Self-determining teams	Virtual teams
Crews	Emergency response teams
Platoons	Committees
Cross-functional teams

Which descriptions are familiar to you?

Developing Credibility

Establishing credibility and the capacity to influence team members are the first key challenges faced by team leaders. The following seven behaviors are keys to building and maintaining credibility and influence among team members.

1. Demonstrate integrity - do what you say

2. Be clear and consistent

3. Create positive energy

4. Use commonality and reciprocity

5. Manage agreement and disagreement

6. Encourage and coach

7. Share information

Articulating A Vision

General Gus Pagonis (Desert Storm General) says "Every successful venture grows out of a vision. It's the vision that motivates, embraces, and sets limits, all at once." All teams have specific goals and objectives to achieve. It helps illuminate the core values and principles that will guide the team through the assignment. It gives direction, provides possibilities, and evokes a deeper meaning and commitment.

1. Left-brained and right-brained thinking An effective vision statement contains objectives, targets, and intended accomplishments (left-brain components), as well as metaphors, colorful language, and emotion (right-brain components).

2. Interesting If a vision contradicts weakly held assumptions and challenges it will be ignored.

3. Passion and principles

Effective visions are grounded in core values that team members believe in and about which they feel passionate. A vision focused on "increasing productivity" is less energizing than a vision based on "changing people's lives."

Leaders who clearly articulate the desired outcomes for the team develop "SMART" goals - S pecific, M easurable, A lighted with team culture, R ealistic but stretching, and T ime-bound. SMART goals are motivating and energizing. "We will achieve a five percent improvement in the on-time delivery of our products by the end of the quarter."

International Caveats

Individuals in different cultures exhibit differences in values and orientations. Diagnosing, understanding, and capitalizing on individual differences is a crucial skill of competent managers. An effective team manager recognizes the differences among people by assessing those cultural orientations:

Universalism versus particularism Individualism versus collectivism Neutrality versus affectivity Specificity versus diffuseness Achievement versus ascription Internal control versus external control Past, present, or future time orientation

Advantageous Roles

There are two main skills associated with team members: playing advantageous roles and providing helpful feedback to others. All of us have experienced teams that just seem to click, that were able to get results quickly and effectively, and were fun to be in. Those dynamics don't just happen by chance, but depend on certain key roles played by team members. Team performance is enhanced by team members who play certain roles to facilitate task accomplishment and group cohesion.

Two main types of roles exist that enhance team performance: task-facilitating roles and relationship-building roles. Task-facilitating roles help the team accomplish its outcomes or objectives. Performance task-facilitating roles help the team work more efficiently and effectively in achieving its objectives. These roles become vitally important:

· when progress toward goal accomplishment is slow

· when the team is being deflected from its task

· when time pressures exist

· when the assignment is complex or ambiguous or unclear on how to proceed

· when no one else is helping the team move forward

Relationship-building roles emphasize the interpersonal aspect of the team - the cohesive, interdependent, and positive affect among team members.

Blocking roles inhibit the team from achieving what they could have achieved, and destroy morale and cohesion. You may recognize some of these roles.

· Dominating: Excessive talking, interrupting, or cutting others off

· Overanalyzing: Splitting hairs and examining every detail excessively

· Stalling: Not allowing the group to reach a decision or finalize a task by sidetracking the discussion, being unwilling to agree, repeating old arguments, and so on

· Remaining passive: Not willing to engage in the team's task; staying on the fringe or refusing to interact with other team members; expecting others to do the team's work

· Overgeneralizing: Blowing something out of proportion and drawing unfounded conclusions

· Faultfinding: Being unwilling to see the merits of others' ideas or criticizing others excessively

· Premature decision making: Making decision before goals are stated, information is shared, alternatives are discussed, or problems are defined

· Presenting opinions as facts: Failing to examine the legitimacy of proposals and labeling personal opinions as truth

· Rejecting: Rejecting ideas based on the person who stated them rather than on their merits

· Pulling rank: Using status, expertise, or title to get ideas accepted rather than discussing and examining their value

· Resisting: Blocking all attempts to change, to improve, or to make progress; being disagreeable and negative about virtually all suggestions from other team members

· Deflecting: Not staying focused on the topic of the team's discussion; changing the subject of discussion or making comments that deflect attention away from the main points

Each of these blocking roles has the potential to crush morale, destroy consensus, create conflict, hamper progress and make ill-informed decisions. Effective team members recognize when blocking roles are displayed, confront and isolate dysfunctional members, and provide feedback to those who are inhibiting effective team performance.

Providing Feedback

Providing positive feedback to someone is much easier than relaying negative feedback. Most of us are hesitant to offend others, increase the problem, or destroy team morale. Focus on behavior not persons

· Focus on observations rather than inferences; descriptions rather than judgments

· Focus on situational behavior rather than abstract or hypothetical

· Focus on sharing ideas and information rather than giving advice

· Focus on the amount of usable information, rather than on amount you give

· Focus on value to the receiver, not on emotional release it provides to you

· Focus on time and place

Team Development

All teams progress through stages of development. These stages cause the dynamics within the team to change, the relationships among team members to shift, and effective leader behaviors to be modified. The skill we need to develop is how to identify and diagnose the stage of your team's development, and what kinds of behaviors are most effective to enhance the team's performance.

Research shows that teams develop through four stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing.

Stage	Explanation
Forming	Something must happen for a team to feel that they are a cohesive unit. The team is faced with the need to become acquainted with its members, its purpose, and its boundaries. Relationships are formed and trust established. Clarity of direction, norms, rules, and expectations are clarified.
Norming	The team establishes a highly cohesive unit, sharing a common goal and the motivation that leads the team toward its goals. The team is faced with creating cohesion and unity, differentiating roles, identifying expectations for members, and enhancing commitment. Providing supportive feedback and fostering commitment to a vision are needed from team leaders.
Storming	Every team goes through a stage in which team members question the legitimacy of the team's direction, the leader, the roles of other team members, the opinions or decision of others, and the task objectives. The team is faced with disagreements, counterdependence, and the need to manage conflict. Challenges include violations of team norms and expectations and overcoming groupthink. Focusing on process improvement, recognizing team achievement, and fostering win-win relationships are needed from team leaders.
Performing	The performing stage represents highly effective and efficient team functions. The team is faced with the need for continuous improvement, innovation, speed, and capitalizing on core competencies. Sponsoring team members' new ideas, orchestrating their implementation, and fostering extraordinary performance are needed from the team leaders.

Review Table 9.3  which identifies attributes of a high-performing team.

High-performing work teams also take responsibility individually for continuously improving the team and its processes. Experimentation, trial-and-error learning, freewheeling discussions of new possibilities, and personal responsibility by everyone for upgrading performance is typical. A set of behaviors that foster and perpetuate this stage of development include:

· Capitalizing on core competence

· Fostering innovation and continuous improvement

· Enhancing speed and timelines

· Encouraging creative problem solving

All of us are members of multiple teams - at work, at home, or in the community. Teams are increasingly prevalent in the workplace, because they have proven to be powerful tools for performance improvement for individuals and organizations. It is important to become proficient in leading and participating in teams. It is obvious that merely putting people together and giving them an assigned task does not make them into a team.