What is a team and benefits of teamwork

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What is a team and benefits of teamwork

WHAT IS A TEAM?

Definitions of Teamwork

'work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole' (circa 1828)

source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

'the work or co-ordinated effort of a team or group of people to produce a desired result'

source: Wordsmyth Children's Dictionary

'organised co-operation'

source: The Oxford Dictionary

Teams are groups of people that share a common purpose, to which they are all committed, and who are empowered to set goals, solve problems and make decisions.

Without these common traits they are not a 'team' - they are a group of people who happen to work together in the same environment - a work group.

BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK

Effective teamwork has a number of benefits - to the organisation, to the team and, not least, to the individuals within the team.

The way that people work in teams is just as important as their individual performance.

This includes their capacity not only to work within their own team but also to have good inter-team relationships. Working in such an environment helps build high staff morale and improved work performance.

In many organisations today we see a move towards flatter, leaner structures. Stripping out layers of management means that individuals have to be more willing to take on additional responsibility and accountability - achieved through team working.

Teamwork can contribute towards:

Improved productivity
Quality improvement
Innovation and Creativity
Capitalisation of technological advances
Improved employee motivation and commitment

Effective teams are flexible, creative and responsive to the demands of the task. They demonstrate high levels of involvement, accept responsibility for team success and both recognise and value individual contributions made by team members. People value being part of such a team. The team capitalises on the skills and personalities of its members to achieve a high degree of synergy. (Synergy is that process in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts) - in other words there is a greater achievement from the team than would have been achieved by all of the individuals working separately.

WHAT DOES BELONGING TO A TEAM MEAN?

Having a shared communication network
Accepting accountability
Co-operation
Cross training - to provide team backup
Anticipating individual/organisational needs
All singing from the same hymn sheet
All team members accepting responsibility for keeping the team focused
All team members being aware of and avoiding 'groupthink'
Supporting each other
Learning - developing oneself
Having a common team goal
Understanding team goals
Synergy - team results are greater than would have been achieved by the sum of the individuals
Individual team members helping develop other team members
Involvement - the entire team takes part in the decision making process
Passion
Patience - recognising that teams go through different stages of maturity
Accepting that individual commitment to the team is more important than personal goals
Mutual support
Understanding own and other team members' roles and responsibilities
Vision

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEAMS

Kenneth Blanchard describes the characteristics of effective teams using the mnemonic PERFORM:

PURPOSE

Members can describe and are committed to a common purpose
Goals are clear, challenging and relevant to purpose
Strategies for achieving goals are clear
Individual roles are clear

EMPOWERMENT

Members feel a personal and collective sense of power
Members have access to necessary skills and resources
Policies and practices support team objectives
Mutual respect and willingness to help each other is evident

RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMUNICATION

Members express themselves openly and honestly
Warmth, understanding and acceptance is expressed
Members listen actively to each other
Differences of opinion and perspective are valued

FLEXIBILITY

Members perform different roles and functions as needed
Members have responsibility for team leadership and team development
Members are adaptable to changing demands
Various ideas and approaches are explored

OPTIMAL PRODUCTIVITY

Output is high
Quality is excellent
Decision-making is effective
Clear problem solving process is apparent

RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION

Individual contributions are recognised and appreciated by leader and other members
Team accomplishments are recognised by members
Group members feel respected
Team contributions are valued and recognised by the organisation

MORALE

Individuals feel good about their membership on the team
Individuals are confident and motivated
Members have a sense of pride and satisfaction about their work
There is a strong sense of cohesion and team spirit

Kenneth Blanchard (1990)

TEAM DEVELOPMENT PHASES

Successful teams do not just come about ‘fully formed’ – Tuckman and Jensen identify five development stages. Not all teams go through every stage - and some never get to the stage of maturity described as 'performing', instead they may oscillate between any of the earlier, less productive stages.

Tuckman and Jensen's five stages are described as:

FORMING

The first stage, when the team meets and starts to work together for the first time - the immature group is characterised by:

confusion
uncertainty
assessing situation
testing ground rules
feeling out others
defining goals
getting to know each other
establishing rules

At this stage the group is dependent on a leader to provide the 'ground rules' and an action agenda. They tend to be polite and are focused getting to know each other and on understanding the task and their part in it. They need clear direction from their leader who should:

give a specific outline of the task the team has to undertake
clarify each person's role in the team task
explain how the team has been put together and the reasons for each team member's selection
openly discuss the way you work as a manager
discuss your expectations of the team and the individuals within the team
get them to do the same
get the team involved in agreeing codes of conduct/team rules
discuss how conflict will be managed and how the team will give feedback on each others' behaviour and performance
discuss how the team will make its decisions

By doing this the manager will have provided his/her team with an opportunity to share their concerns, express their opinions and ask questions.

Team members will feel that they have been listened to, encouraged to contribute, know their colleagues better and both understand and are committed to agreed team standards of performance and behaviour.

STORMING

The second stage is characterised by a feeling of 'fragmentation' often arising because goals, roles and rules have become confused or unclear. This can result in:

disagreements on priorities
leadership struggles
tension
hostility
clique formation

This phase, when team members are jockeying to establish their position within the team, can be quite difficult - and this may lead to conflict.

Team members differing agendas can be a cause of conflict and antagonism as they become known. Some team members may resent the perceived control of others and this is another source of potential hostility. Relationships started in the ‘Forming’ stage may now come under pressure.

The team needs a great deal of direction at this stage, particularly to help with the management of conflict and to get them to focus on how to organise themselves to achieve the team objective. The manager should revisit the agreements made in the Forming stage and make sure that everyone is clear on what is required.

NORMING

During the third stage things are becoming more focused and positive, people understand the goals and their roles in achieving them. The team has identified its strengths and weaknesses and where in the past disagreements may have led to conflict, now they are consciously making sure that grievances, complaints and suggestions are listened to - conflict is beginning to be managed. Rules and standards of behaviour have been agreed so that team members relate openly with each other and are able to agree on what is expected and how failure to meet expectations will be managed.

This phase is characterised by:

consensus
accepted leadership
trust
standards agreed
roles set
co-operation

Members now feel more part of a team and better able to deal with conflict. There is a feeling of 'team spirit' - cohesion. Communication is more effective as they become more open about their goals.

At this stage the team responds well to a more participative, coaching/supporting leadership style.

PERFORMING

The fourth stage is the mature, effective, performing team.

Not every team will reach this stage but may get stuck in the norming stage where although there is a feeling of agreement, there is not yet the drive towards effective problem solving that characterises an effective team. Some teams also experience oscillation into the earlier stages - for example when a new member joins the team. It's crucial to make new members aware of the team goals, roles and rules before they join, together with the way that the team gives and receives feedback. Failure to do so can cause the team to destabilise and fall back into the storming stage.

Performing is characterised by:

successful performance
flexible team members, clear task roles
openness
helpfulness
interdependence
collaboration

The team has an effective structure and is getting on with the job and achieving its objectives. It is a mature team where members display interdependency. Members are capable of working individually, in smaller sub-groups or within the larger team.

The team is highly committed to clearly defined tasks and is engaged in effective problem solving.

At this stage leadership style should be more supportive/delegating, as the team may well be capable of working with minimal supervision.

ADJOURNING

The final stage is that of 'disbanding' and comes about either because the task is complete or because members have left the team. When this happens there may be reflection on their time together. It is often a time of reflection, 'mourning' what has passed but should also be a time for celebration.

CHOICE OF MANAGEMENT STYLE

Understanding that teams go through different stages of development, and that they may oscillate between stages, is important because it relates to management style. Using a very directive style with a mature, highly committed team could lead to frustration and disaffection. The opposite is also true - using a delegating style with a newly formed team would lead to confusion and unmanaged conflict.

CONFLICT AND THE TEAM

People often feel that conflict is inherently dysfunctional - however constructively handled it can actually have a positive effect. It usually surfaces during the 'storming stage' when the team is trying to sort out its leadership, the roles members undertake and what rules/codes of conduct it will observe. Sometimes it will be about the direction in which it is moving (or where it has stalled) – some degree of conflict is likely.

Left to fester conflict can negatively influence the effectiveness of the team – the team must be willing to address conflicts quickly, openly and in an atmosphere of trust and respect. Teams in this stage may demonstrate some of the following: failure to prepare for meetings, frequent lateness, early departure or even missing them altogether. Personalised disagreements, fading commitment, frustration, defensiveness, apathy, conflicting personal agendas.

BUT MANAGED CONFLICT CAN BE GOOD..

It may help us look for a better solution to a problem by:

Getting the team to examine potential defects in a particular solution
Revisiting goals, procedures, solutions to ensure that the best choice has been made

Without conflict the decision might be the result of ‘groupthink’.

WHAT IS ‘GROUPTHINK’?

'Groupthink' arises when the group’s need for agreement is greater than their motivation to consider alternatives - so avoiding the expression of contradictory views.

Symptoms of groupthink:

false feelings of (team) invulnerability
excessive optimism
excessive risk-taking
silence from team members being interpreted as consent
too narrow a focus on alternative choices
not looking at majority favoured options in the context of possible unsurfaced risks or potential alternatives
not making use of available expert opinion and/or when used, only paying selective attention to facts that support the group’s view
exerting pressure on those with different views

HOW TO AVOID GROUPTHINK

The group process must enable team members to disagree with a growing consensus from the rest of the group. They must make their concerns known. This may create tension but should lead to the team reconsidering the issue to prevent poor decisions being made.

Conflict and Improving Productivity

Finding the most effective solutions is often achieved as a result of conflict. In fact avoiding conflict may actually lead to some members becoming disaffected and losing interest – resulting in a negative effect on group productivity.

Conflict and Organisational Change

Problems relating to procedures, responsibilities and work distribution in teams may appear as conflict within the group. By openly surfacing conflict there is potential for the group to improve its ways of working.

Conflict and Personal Awareness

Understanding their own style for resolving conflict can help team members to recognise their strengths and weaknesses and how it will affect others.

An understanding of how one's personal style affects other people can help team members to become more adept at anticipating conflict and concerns others may have in the future.

In turn this helps one adapt one’s approach to achieve better resolutions to group conflict.

Conflict and Morale

Dealing openly with conflict within the group allows people to express their emotions and reduces stress – people ‘get to know’ each other better and this can have a very positive effect on morale and group cohesion.

TIPS FOR DEALING CONSTRUCTIVELY WITH CONFLICT

Get the underlying reasons for the conflict out in the open – use active listening skills and don’t interrupt

Don’t make your mind made up before you start - suspend judgement and listen

Concentrate on areas where there is agreement rather than on areas where you can’t agree

Realise that pressures outside of work may affect a team member’s attitude or performance

Think carefully about the way work is distributed - use sub-groups or joint assignments to help reduce conflict

Accept that some conflicts, particularly between very dominant types may need to be dealt with outside the group

Look at the strengths brought into the team by each team member

Go for a quick win when conflict levels are high – start with the problems that are easiest to solve

Don’t let the group turn its attention to 'a scapegoat'

Recognise that you may be a cause of conflict yourself

Use an external mediator if necessary

Don’t personalise things when you are feeling upset – it is your feelings that are the problem, learn to manage them

Take time out to calm down. Only then approach the individual(s) concerned

Define the problem – so both parties are able to agree exactly what is at issue

Negotiate the differences - be prepared to compromise. Always use active listening to understand the issue from their perspective

Remember the 80/20 rule (80% listening/20% talking) because conflict tends to escalate when you spend more time talking at the other party than listening..

Focus on the issue and not on the person

Ask "What did you do in this situation?" to get factual responses rather than one-sided opinion

Don't hold grudges - when you’ve’ buried the hatchet’ it should stay buried..
Think ‘we’ rather than 'I versus you' and work together to solve conflict

Don’t ‘pass the buck’

Build the long-term relationship

Sometimes taking an adjournment is a good idea

Celebrate team achievements

AGREE A TEAM CHARTER

The team itself should define rules/codes of conduct - by gaining agreement on standards of behaviour the team become accountable to one another.

The purpose of the Charter is to:

support team performance
clarify team members’ assumptions and expectations
provide a framework to support the team
establish codes of conduct and clarify standards of performance

It should address such matters as attendance, participation and rules for decision-making.
It will also consider issues such as lateness and acceptable behaviour - having a clear understanding of how conflict will be managed and what sanctions the team is prepared to impose are key elements of a team charter and should not be avoided.

TYPES OF TEAM

Quality Circles

The idea behind this type of team is that the people who live closest to the problems are often best suited to think of solutions..

Popular in the United States in the 1980’s their focus was on making suggestions for improvements in products, services and procedures. They did not usually have authority to implement their suggestions, instead recommendations were passed to senior management for consideration.

Teams were usually between 6-10 people and were sometimes given formal training in the use of problem solving tools and techniques.

In the UK Cammell Laird used this system however implementation decisions were through Works Councils consisting of both workplace representatives and management. Their teams were known as Problem Solving Groups (PSG’s).

The idea was so successful in this organisation that PSG’s were responsible for finding solutions to such multi-million pound quandaries as ‘how to replace an ageing tug..’ – answer after all options considered, build it ourselves..

Improvement (Project) Teams

These teams have commonly replaced QC’s and are not only able to make recommendations but are empowered to make decisions in collaboration with managers.

This sort of team is rarely permanent, being formed to find solutions to particular problems or ways of improving existing processes, products or services after which they are disbanded. Sometimes however their success leads to them on to become involved in other continuous improvement activities.

Work Teams

This type of team is organised around a function or group of functions – for example, the ‘Finance Team’. Encouraging people to recognise that they are part of a team is an important aspect of getting them to accept more responsibility for problem solving and decision making.

Organisations today want flexibility from their workers, so that teams that had in the past only undertaken one task, will now be expected to carry out multiple functions and will therefore need to develop other skills through cross-skilling, up-skilling and multi-skilling.

Team members must support each other and work effectively together, the manager has an increased coaching role – guiding, assisting with decision making, problem solving, goal setting and defining action.

Work Teams are usually permanent as their functions are ongoing.

Self-Directed Work Teams

These teams have reached an advanced stage of maturity and are capable of self-management. They exhibit a high level of trust with each other and with their manager. Leadership is often shared within the team. The team can be relied upon to 'follow through' and achieve its objectives.

Achieving such maturity can take between two and five years – SDWT's select their own leader, set their own goals, define their own targets and conduct peer reviews..

An approach such as this can only be successful where managers are not threatened by the team's independence and where team members are willing to take personal responsibility for outcomes.
UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT STYLE

A manager’s style can be influenced by a number of factors – these include personality, organisational culture, the maturity of work groups..

Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor (1960) argued that one can identify two distinct sets of assumptions that managers make about the people that work for them.

Theory X assumes that people are basically lazy, need close supervision, are not to be trusted and often have goals that conflict with those of the organisation.

Conversely Theory Y assumes people to be mature, self-motivated, self-controlled and able to work without rigid interpersonal and organisational control.

In fact many managers employ a mixture of both styles, depending on the nature of the people/situation.

The Theory X style will work in the short term and may even get better results more quickly, however use of this style is unlikely to be most effective in the longer run.

Healthy organisations promote job satisfaction amongst their employees, to motivate them and make the most of their skills (Theory Y).

Action Centred Leadership

John Adair, the world’s first Professor in Leadership Studies, developed his model during the 1960’s and 1970’s while lecturing at Sandhurst and later with the Industrial Society.

Adair believes that leadership can be developed, rather than being a trait or inborn quality.

The ‘action-centred leader’ gets the job done through the work team and relationships with fellow managers and staff – effectiveness depends on his/her ability to influence and be influenced by, the group and its members in the performance of a common task.

The three components are

TASK - directing the job to be done

TEAM – co-ordinate and support the team as a whole

INDIVIDUAL – introduce, support and review the individuals doing it

The responsibilities overlap – according to the specifics of the situation different demands will be made on the manager. There is a balance but also a tension between them.
The manager must respond to the situation and adopt leadership behaviours which enable the demands to be met.

The functions are interdependent – if there is insufficient attention to task there will be a disruptive affect on the group and dissatisfaction among individuals. Conversely there will be deterioration if attention to task is given at the expense of the group/individual.

MEETING NEEDS

Individual

To be included
To make a contribution
To be respected
To feel safe
To grow
To receive feedback

Task

Clear objectives
Appropriate procedures
Evidence of progress
Avoidance of digression
Meeting of deadlines

Group

Trust
Commitment
Openness
Stability
Cohesion
Success
Sense of purpose
Enjoyment

Individual Maintenance Functions

Motivates – develops ideas, assesses skills, provides targets
Develops – flexible delegation and use of individual skills
Mentors – Counsels, advises, trains & appraises

Task Maintenance Functions

Policy making – sets objectives
Plans – considers options and sets standards
Co-ordinates – makes best use of resources
Controls – maintains standards and reviews progress against plan
Expert – provides required technical knowledge

Group Maintenance Functions

Motivates
Communicates – gives clear briefs to clarify objectives and plans. Disseminates and collects information
Mediates– sorts out internal conflict and builds team
Discipline – maintains standards
Trains
Appoints sub-leaders
Represents the team with other groups

Source : https://www.southampton.ac.uk/pdu/resources_links/resources_pdfs/buildingteams.doc

Web site link: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/

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