School of Computing and Information Systems ISYS90050 – IT Project and Change Management Assignment 2: Managing Ethical Challenges

Teamwork and ethics

Dr Antonette Mendoza

Sem 1, 2020

Learning objectives and agenda

• Describe teams, roles and behavior • Explain how to use meetings effectively • Ethics and ethical decisions

• leadership(add – on material) – not examinable but useful for your future

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Teams and teamwork

Managing a team - What do you do if ?

• A team member’s performance and contribution is consistently poor is a ‘slacker’? What are you going to do about it? And how are you going to deal with it?

*A common scenario you will see – as part of working with a team – someone does not do their job!!!! 

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What is a ‘Team’

• A small group of people (2- 12 usually)

• Bring complementary skills & experience

• Committed to a common purpose or goal

• Committed to a common approach

• Mutual accountability

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The Wisdom of Teams - Jon R. Katzenbach

• Work Groups

• Real Teams

• Pseudo Teams

• Potential Teams

• High Performance Teams

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Work Groups

• Members interact to share information, best practices or ideas

• No shared performance goals (individual performance)

• No joint work-products

• No mutual accountability

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Real Teams

• Small number of people

• Complementary skills

• Committed to a common purpose/goals

• Common approach

• Hold themselves accountable

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Potential Teams

• Significant performance potential

• Requires more clarity about purpose, goals, work-products, and common approach

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High Performance Teams

• Meet all the conditions of a real team

• PLUS:

– Members are deeply committed

– Perform above all reasonable expectations

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Pseudo Teams

• Weakest of all groups

• Not focused on collective performance (& not trying to achieve it)

• No interest in shaping a common purpose

• Confusion & dysfunctional behaviours

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The Team Performance Curve

Katzenbach and Smith (1993)

Working

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High-performing

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Real team

Potential

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Pseudo-

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Team effectiveness

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Question

Think back to a great team you have worked in University or in your work place!! – What made the team work well?

– What were the problems encountered?

– What was it about the people in the team that made it good?

– How did individuals behave differently from other times you worked with them?

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Dysfunctions of a team model

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Team Leader (Project Manager)

• Acts To:

– Clarify purpose & goals

– Build commitment & self confidence

– Strengthen team’s collective skills

– Remove external obstacles

– Create opportunities for others

• Creates the Project Environment

– Work space

– Team culture and values

– Project administration

– Ethical Conduct 15Sem 1 2020 Dr Antonette Mendoza

TEAM

• A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members

• Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.

Dr. R. M. Belbin (2012)

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What is a team role? • A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate

with others in a particular way

Dr Meredith Belbin, www.belbin.com

• Myers-briggs and other psychological measures underpin analysis of individual team member traits

http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types

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Team roles and behaviors

• Why is it important to know about the roles that team members might take up - by their nature/behavior?

• Why is it important to know yourself first?

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Behaviors of Team members

• Three main types of behaviors

– Task-related

– Group-related

– Hindering

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Yes to ‘Positive’ Task related behavior

• Give directions – I think we should discuss this first

• State information and opinions – One way we could reduce expenses is by …

• Engage in problem solving – These are the options as I see them

• Reality testing – realistic/logical – Will our budget allow for that?

• Summarizing – What we have covered so far is …

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Yes to ‘Positive’ group behavior • Encouraging participation

– Eg; That’s a great idea! Can we take it further?

• Listening effectively – Paraphrase

– Question

– Empathy

– Applies critical thinking

• Mediating – Eg; It seems that we have reached a stalemate.

• Relieving tension – Eg; Time for a coffee break.

• Monitoring group performance – Eg; We keep getting caught up on this one issue.

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No to ‘Hindering’ behavior

• Aggression – Eg; Come on, let’s see if you can do better

• Blocking – Eg; It won’t work

• Dominating – Eg; This is the way it should be done

• Showing off – Eg; This is all such a yawn

• Recognition seeking – Eg; What you don’t understand is …

• Inappropriate actions – Eg; Cracking a joke at the wrong time

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Best team ?

• What types of people would you choose for your project team – if given an opportunity?

NOTE: Team formation

– An issue, but out of scope many a times!!!

– A Project Manager may not have the opportunity to select his/her team!!!!

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Think again !!!!

Give at least one behaviour that you observed in your team members?

- good ?

- hindering ?

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Classification of team roles

• Action-oriented roles

– Shaper, Implementer/Completer Finisher

• People-oriented roles

– Coordinator, Team worker, Resource Investigator

• Cerebral roles

– Plant, Monitor Evaluator, Specialist

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Action-oriented - Shaper

• Contributions

– Challenging individuals; provides the necessary drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus or momentum.

• Allowable weaknesses

– Prone to provocation. Offends people’s feelings. Could risk becoming aggressive and bad-humoured in their attempts to get things done

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Action-oriented – Implementer/ completer finisher

• Contributions

– Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions

• Allowable weaknesses

– Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities.

– slow to relinquish their plans in favour of positive changes

– Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate.

– could be accused of taking their perfectionism to extremes

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People oriented - Co-coordinator

• Contributions

– Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals, promotes decision making, delegates well.

• Allowable weaknesses

– Can often be seen as manipulative. Off loads personal work.

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People oriented - Team worker

• Contributions

– Cooperative, mild, perceptive, diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction. Help the team to gel, using their versatility to identify the work required and complete it on behalf of the team.

• Allowable weaknesses

– Indecisive in crunch situations

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People oriented - Resource Investigator

• Contributions

– Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities. Develops contacts.

• Allowable weaknesses

– Over-optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has passed. Might forget to follow up on a lead.

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Cerebral roles - Plant

• Contributions

- Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems. Similar to a shaper!

• Allowable weaknesses

– Ignores incidentals. Too preoccupied to communicate effectively.

– Plants could be unorthodox or forgetful

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Cerebral roles - Monitor Evaluator

• Contributions

– Sober, strategic, discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately. Needed to provide a logical eye, make impartial judgements where required and to weigh up the team’s options in a dispassionate way

• Allowable weaknesses

– Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Could be overly critical and slow moving.

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Cerebral roles – Specialist

• Contributions

– Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply.

• Allowable weaknesses

– Contributes only on a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities.

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Reflect - So what?

• What role did you play in your team?

• Why is it so important for us to know about the classification of team roles?

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Meetings • Is it important?

• Why is organizing a meeting important for a PM?

• What makes a good meeting?

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Meetings can...

• be one-on-one or as a group

• provide information

• clarify information

• give and receive feedback

• provide training

• allow discussion

• encourage problem solving

• Individual responsibility for actions

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Questions

• Think about good meetings you have experienced

• What made these meetings good?

• What made a meeting bad in your experience?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJVEpyy-Bw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPhKhTI0Lss

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Elements of effective meetings

• A collaboratively prepared agenda

• Agenda distributed before meeting

• Minutes of previous meeting distributed

• Key people present

• Begins on time, and runs to time

• Chaired effectively avoiding distractions – Parking lot

• Group dynamics problems avoided

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Chairing effective meetings 1. Plan – be clear about the objectives/aims of the meeting, make a list of topics to be discussed (perhaps construct this collaboratively)

2. Prepare & Inform – make sure everyone at the meeting understands what will be discussed and why. Circulate agenda to the team in advance.

3. Structure & control – when trying to get decisions made at a meeting, explore evidence & look for reasons before deciding on actions to be taken. 4. Summarize & record – make a list of agreed actions, who is responsible for carrying them out, and timelines. Distribute this to all meeting attendees

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Managing People at Meetings • Unite the group ✓Allow people to let off steam by asking why things are bothering

them – be careful you don’t spread negativity!!!! Decide one- on-one or group meetings!!!!!

✓Don’t take sides in a disagreement

✓Bring in other people to help explore and solve the issue

✓Stick to the facts

• Focus the group ✓Stay alert and aware during the meeting

✓Keep your hand on the wheel – you are in charge

✓Test comprehension – make sure you and others understand what is being said

✓Paraphrase and check back 40

Managing People at Meetings • Mobilize the group

✓ Protect the weak and control the strong group members so everyone has their say

✓ Check round the group to see if everyone has said what they wanted to say

✓ Record suggestions so nothing gets missed

✓ Build up ideas to make for better solutions

• Help with decision making

✓Agree how decisions will be made:

• Consensus

• Taking a vote

✓All participate in decision making

✓Individual responsibility for actions 41

Managing a team - What do you do if ?

• A team member’s performance and contribution is consistently poor is a ‘slacker’? What are you going to do about it? And how are you going to deal with it?

(Question for discussion/workshop)

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Ethics

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Ethics in Projects • Ethics can be defined as a set of moral principles and values

• Ethical dilemmas arise when our personal values come into conflict

• Employers should establish guidelines for ethical conduct just as they do for other work-related behaviors such as what time to arrive and leave the workplace, whether smoking is allowed, how customers are to be treated, etc.

• Leaders should identify appropriate and inappropriate conduct and then communicate their expectations

Eg., Juien asange/edward snowden!!!!

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Approach for making ethical decisions • Gather facts – about project, people, timelines, problem under

consideration, how did we get to this?

• Define ethical issue – be clear about the ethical issue is!

• Identify the affected stakeholder – list them out/use the stakeholder analysis report/ what's their role/values/motivations – how are they affected/why?

• Identify the consequences – effect of this action on you; stakeholders!

• Identify the obligations –yours/stakeholders/other parties concerned

• Consider your character and integrity – reflect on self!

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Example : How to handle ?

• Your project is up to the stage where a Business Case must be put to the board for sign off. After the first draft of the Business Case it is clear the project wont stack up. The sponsor asks you to remove the internal costs to make the Business Case look more attractive.

• Tutorial question – on ethics

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Leadership (add-on material for your reading)

NOT part of the lecture – I will not cover this section. Its only for your reading benefit.

NOT EXAMINABLE 47

Leadership and Successful projects • A successful project requires effective Leadership

This involves:

✓ Direction

✓ Aligning people

✓ Motivating and inspiring people

The guest lecture covered the quadrants and leadership skills!!!

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Leadership skills and behavior Most of the skills required for Project Management are common sense-“The problem with common sense is that it is not common” - Will Rogers

•People skills

– Communication skills

– Empathy

– Intelligence (Intelligence Quotient –IQ and Emotional Quotient - EQ)

•Positive behavior

•Goal focused behavior

•Consistent

•Resilient

•Self motivated

•Passionate

“Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.” – General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

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Leadership Styles • Many effective leaders have a collection of distinct leadership styles

• A study of 3,871 executives worldwide by Daniel Goleman in 2000 – best leaders do not rely only on one leadership style, but may use a several different styles depending on the situation

• The following six styles can be used in influencing performance and results

– The Coercive Style (do as I say; effective in crisis; dealing with problem employees, extreme top-down approach- obstructs new ideas, limits communication; people lack sense of ownership)

– The Authoritative Style (come with me; defines goals and allows people choose their means of achieving it; vision, enthusiasm; not great with working with experts, experienced people)

– The Affiliative Style (people come first; happy; flexibility; create perception that mediocrity is tolerated; no direction, lenient, feeling that standards/rules are not important)

– The Democratic Style (getting consensus, what do you think; collect ideas, build trust, openness, morale high, leading to endless meetings, committees, conflicts among leaders)

– The Pace Setting Style (do as I do now; setting a pace for himself and others, poor communication of goals and objectives leading to confusion)

– The Coaching Style (try this ; able to identify strengths and weaknesses; help with long-term goals; people should be up for it; not good when people are resistant to change)

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Leaders and emotional intelligence What is emotional intelligence?

It is the ability to understand and manage our relationships and ourselves better

(or)

It is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others…and for managing emotions effectively in others and ourselves

- David Goleman The ability to recognize and then control our emotions is key to

making intelligent decisions!

EI includes 4 competencies: self awareness; self management; social skills and awareness - watch out who you are; who the people you work around are; where you are and how you would relate to the people!!!!

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Leadership Is Different From Management

“Leadership is different from management, but not for the reasons most people think. Leadership is not mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having “charisma” or other exotic personality traits. It is not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it.

Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment”. (Kotter, 2001: p.3)

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Leadership vs Management 1. Leaders work from an elected base, Managers are appointed to position

2. Leadership - continually thinks beyond the horizon, Management strives to reach the horizon

3. Leadership is a quality, Management is a science and an art

4. Leadership provides vision, Management provides realistic perspectives

5. Leadership deals with concepts, Management relates to functions

6. Leadership exercises faith, Management deals with facts

7. Leadership seeks for effectiveness, Management strives for efficiency

8. Leadership challenges the status quo, Management administers

9. Leadership provides direction, Management is concerned with control Author: Paul McLoughlin of Intellectual Dynamics

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Leadership vs Management 10. Leadership thrives on finding opportunity, Management succeeds on

accomplishment

11. Leadership determines policy, Management devises procedures

12. Leadership motivates people, Management provides structure for people

13. Leadership determines true culture, Management follows true culture

14. Leadership embraces & adapts to change, Management provides the

process of change

15. Leadership is about having confidence in people, Management defines

performance accountabilities

16. Leaders review position, Management measures achievement Author: Paul McLoughlin of Intellectual Dynamics

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Summary

• Be aware of personality styles

• Where possible, match roles to personality

• Be aware of individual and group behavior, especially in meetings

• Encourage the positive and avoid the negative

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Wrap up Reading for this lecture – parts of chapters 4 and 13

Ref: Jack T. Marchewka

Next week – Negotiations and conflict resolution

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