Chapter 7: Teamwork, Teambuilding, and Coaching

• What Is a Team?

• Working Together

• Building Teams

• Leading a Kitchen Team

• Leading a Restaurant Shift

• Total Quality Management

• Empowerment

• Team Challenges

• Coaching

Group Versus Team• A group is a large number of

people working together because of similarities, yet remain neutral. – They interact only to achieve the

objective.• A team is a group of individuals

who share a common goal & the responsibility of achieving it.– The team attempts to achieve a

positive collaboration among its members.

The Formally Appointed Team

• Has a appointed team leader. • The team leader may have more

decision making authority than others.

• Power may be delegated to them.

• Delegation is when one gives a portion of their responsibility & authority to a subordinate.

The Informally Appointed Team • Evolves on its own.• Has a rotation of

leadership.• The group leader does not

have formal power over the group.

• The informally appointed team has some advantages over the formally appointed.

The Informally Appointed Team: Advantages

• One person probably does not possess every quality needed to be the perfect leader.

• Everyone has a chance.• Formally appointed team leaders may also lose

popularity among the group because of their connection with management.

• In a informal team, eventually everyone is linked with management.

Why do people join teams?• To accomplish tasks as

efficiently & swiftly as possible.• To feel like they are part of a

whole.• To feel like they contribute

something to the overall success of the team.

• To develop, enhance, and/or confirm some underlying identity needs.

Teamwork

• The actual action that a team performs.

• Cooperative effort by a group of persons acting together as a team.

• Team players are individuals that participate in a collective effort & cooperation to get the job done efficiently.

Norms

• Team norms are defined as implicit, in addition to explicit rules of behavior.

• Norms occur within every type of team interaction.• Norms work best when the team creates them.• Positive team norms are behaviors that are agreed upon

& accepted within the group.• One way a manager may increase positive team norms

in the hospitality industry is by giving rewards.• Negative team norms are behaviors that are against the

interest & are not accepted by the overall group.

A Cohesive Team• Communicates well with each other &

has well-defined norms, unity, respect, & trust among its members.

• Strengths & weaknesses; hopefully what one member lacks another will make up for.

• If a team lacks cohesion, the group will not have any sense of unity which will result in a hindered performance.

• To build a cohesive team goals & objectives need to be set.

Leading a Kitchen Team

• Starts with a “battle plan”.• Every station discusses

their action plan & then ‘preps’ to ‘par’.

• Then the chef/kitchen leader practices participative leadership, leading by example, working with the team.

Leading a Restaurant Shift

• Every shift is unique & presents different obstacles to overcome

• Nevertheless, leaders must be ready to lead their staff through a successful shift.

• This is where the following come in handy:– Opening Checklists

– Pre-shift Meetings

– Closing Checklists

3 Ways to Influence an Informal Team:

• Feed Back: The type (positive or negative) & amount should even itself off, or meet in the middle.

• Identification: Identify the key players within the group.

• Communication: Builds trust, & helps to confirm that you are addressing the right issues.

Before Building a Team• First consider what they want out

of the team they are about to build & clarify these goals to pre-existing members .

• Be very selective with who is hired, & always conduct a reference check!

• Remember that one team member’s problem affects the whole group in a downward spiral.

• Build a positive work environment.

Formal Versus Informal Groups

• Formal groups are work groups established by the company. – They include committees,

group meetings, work teams & task forces.

• Informal groups are more social & form naturally in the workplace.

Changing a Group into a Team

• Get the teams input toward establishing team goals.

• Allow some team decision-making.

• Stress communication within the team.

• Have collaboration among team members.

Creating a Successful Team

• Together, Everyone, Achieves, More!

• Team effectiveness is defined by 3 criteria:– 1st, the productive output of the team meets or

exceeds the standards of quantity & quality.– 2nd, team members realize satisfaction of their

personal needs. – 3rd, team members remain committed to working

together.

A Successful Team• Understands & is committed to the vision, mission, & goals of

the company.

• Is mature.

• Works to continually improve how it operates.

• Treat each other with respect.

• Differences are handled in a professional manner.

• Respect their supervisor.

• Members are consulted & their input is requested in decision-making.

• Members encourage & assist other team members to succeed.

• The team meets or exceeds its goals.

• Has synergy.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

• Goal is to ensure continuous quality improvement of services & products for guests.

• TQM is applied in all areas of business at every level.

• It consists of 10 steps:

10 Steps to TQM

1. Have excellent leaders as supervisors & managers.

2. Build & train teams of volunteer associates within each department & later cross departmentally in problem solving.

3. Teams decide on & write down the appropriate levels of guest service & relative weighting for ”their guests”.

4. Set mission, goals, & strategies based on guest expectations.

5. Empower & inspire associates to reach goals.

10 Steps to TQM

6. Identify deficiencies, which are areas where service falls below expectations.

7. Analyze & resolve identified deficiencies

8. Modify processes to incorporate corrections to improve service to expected levels.

9. Track results – improvements in service, guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction, cost reduction, & profit.

10. Evaluate & support the process.

Empowerment • Empowerment: ensuring that

employees have the skills, knowledge & authority to make decisions that would otherwise be made by management.

• Structured empowerment allows employees to make decisions within specified limits.

• Flexible empowerment gives employees more scope in making decisions.

Team Challenges

• Overcoming negativity.

• Learning how to delegate (appropriate) responsibilities.

• Overcoming high turnover.

• Gaining respect from & within the team.

Coaching

• Coaching is a process involving observation of employee performance & conversation focusing on job performance between the manager & the employee.

• Coaching focuses on enhancing skills of the employee, productivity of the employee & elevating employee motivation.– Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Coaching

• 8 Step Coaching Model:– 1. Be supportive– 2. Define the problem & expectations – 3. Establish impact– 4. Initiate a plan– 5. Get a commitment– 6. Confront excuses/resistance– 7. Clarify consequences– 8. Don’t give up

Coaching

• If the leader takes the coach approach, they will still be part of the team, involved in employee performance.

Coaching

• Why do supervisors avoid coaching?– Lack of time. – Fear of confrontation.– Assuming the employee knows they are doing a

good job.– Little experience coaching.– Assuming that the employee will ask questions

when appropriate & does not need feedback.

The Coach

• Is present.• Is a teacher. • Observes employees

doing their jobs. • Asks questions. • Gives feedback.

Counseling Sessions• 1. Speak in private with the employee. Be relaxed

& friendly.• 2. Express in a calm manner your concern about

the specific aspect of job performance you feel needs to be improved.

• 3. Ask the employee for his or her thoughts & opinions, including possible solutions.

• 4. Ask the employee to restate what has been agreed upon to check on understanding.

• 5. At a later time, you should follow up & make sure that the performance concern has been addressed.

Behaviors of a Coach• Do not think about employees as people that need to be

controlled.• Listen, listen, listen!• Develop the individual strengths of each employee.• Endorse effort & growth (instead of pointing out

mistakes).• Stop providing solutions. Give your employees an

opportunity to figure it out.• Stop making all the decisions. Delegate decisions where

appropriate & engage your employees. • Be unconditionally constructive. • Create an environment where people want to work with

you, feel valued, respected & part of a team © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.