Team work & Team building

To understand the basic concepts and ideas of team work and team building. team work and team building.

To appreciate the strengths and difficulties of working as a team.

To learn the basics of promoting team work in the organization.

Types of TeamsTypes of Teams

Formal versus informalFormal versus informal Mechanical versus organicMechanical versus organic Inter-team versus intra-teamInter-team versus intra-team Inter-agency versus intra-agencyInter-agency versus intra-agency Same discipline versus different disciplinesSame discipline versus different disciplines User-involved versus user-ledUser-involved versus user-led

Synergy of Teams

Synergy: the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Usefulness of synergy includes:– increasing resources for problem solvingincreasing resources for problem solving– improving quality of decision makingimproving quality of decision making– enhancing members’ commitments to tasksenhancing members’ commitments to tasks– fostering creativity and innovationfostering creativity and innovation– satisfying individual needs for growthsatisfying individual needs for growth

Task Activities of a Team

Initiating Information sharing

Summarizing Elaborating

Opinion giving Distributed leadership

Maintenance Activities of a Team

GatekeepingGatekeeping EncouragingEncouraging HarmonizingHarmonizing Reducing tensionReducing tension NormingNorming Self-managingSelf-managing

Avoidance of disruptive activities or behavior

Being aggressiveBeing aggressive BlockingBlocking

Self-confessingSelf-confessing Seeking sympathySeeking sympathy

CompetingCompeting WithdrawalWithdrawal

Seeking recognitionSeeking recognition

Obstacles to Team Work

Personality conflictsPersonality conflicts: Individual differences in personality and work style may disrupt the group.

Task ambiguityTask ambiguity: Unclear agendas and ill-defined problems.

Free ridingFree riding: Diffusion of individual efforts and responsibilities.

Poor readiness to workPoor readiness to work: Wasting of time in unprepared meetings

Characteristics of High Performance Teams A clear and elevating goal A task-driven, result-oriented structure Competent and committed members A collaborative climate External support, recognition and delegation Strong, principled and yet democratic

leadership

Team cohesiveness versus performance norms Low productivity: strong commitments to

harmful norms Low to moderate productivity: weak

commitments to harmful norms High productivity: strong commitments to

supportive norms Moderate productivity: weak commitments

to supportive norms

Teamthink/Groupthink

Teamthink or Groupthink is the tendency for highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities for undermining their weaknesses and promoting their strengths. Because of undesirable competition and disruption between teams, alienation will be resulted accordingly.

Symptoms of Groupthink

Illusions of group invulnerability Belief in inherent group morality Applying direct pressure to ‘deviants’ to conform

to group wishes Self-censorship by members Accepting consensus prematurely Protecting the team from hearing disturbing

viewpoints from outsiders

How to handle groupthink

Encourage a sharing of viewpointsEncourage a sharing of viewpoints Create subgroups to work on the same

problem and then share their proposed solutions

Assign one member to play a ‘devil’s Assign one member to play a ‘devil’s advocate’ role at each group meetingadvocate’ role at each group meeting

Review the decision after consensus is apparently achieved

Inputs of Team building

Organizational setting: resources, technology, structures, atmosphere

Nature of taskNature of task: clarity and complexity Group sizeGroup size: number of members Membership characteristics: abilities, values

and personalities User participationUser participation: primary versus secondary

users

Throughputs of team building

The way members interact and work The way members interact and work together to transform inputs into outputs.together to transform inputs into outputs.

The process through which ideas and The process through which ideas and contribution of team members are contribution of team members are recognized.recognized.

Outputs of team building

Accomplishment of desired outcomes as follows:

- task performance and productivity

- human resource maintenance and development

- prevention of disruptive groupthink and team alienation

Task Functions Information and opinion giver information and opinion seeker starter direction giver summariser co-ordinator diagnoser energiser reality tester evaluator

Task Needs

Defining the task Making a plan allocating work controlling work quality checking performance against the plan adjusting the plan

Maintenance Functions encourager of participation Harmoniser tension reliever communication helper evaluator of emotional climate process observer standard setter active listener trust builder interpersonal problem solver

Maintenance Needs

Setting standards maintaining discipline building team spirit encouraging, motivating, giving a sense of

purpose ensuring communication with the group training the group as a group

Self-oriented Behaviour

dominating blocking recognition seeking pairing up withdrawing playboying

Individual Needs

attending to personal problems encouraging individuals giving status recognising and using individual abilities training the individual