Talent Management:

Building and Maintaining

a Team

Andre O’Callaghan

July – August 2010

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT

The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Seta’s.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

21. INTRODUCTION

42. TEAM DYNAMICS – UNDERSTANDING HOW TEAMS EVOLVE

63. TEAM FUNCTIONS

74. TYPES OF TEAMS AND THEIR PURPOSE

95. TEAM STAGES

95.1Forming (the honeymoon stage)

105.2Storming

105.3Norming

115.4Performing

115.5Adjourning

126. TEAM BUILDING

126.1Experiential team building

136.2Emotional-intelligence based team building

136.3Key building blocks for any team building

147. MAINTAINING TEAMS

147.1Strategy for day-to-day team working and team maintenance

167.2Attitudes and teams

187.3Micromanagement in teams

197.4Cures for micromanagement

207.5Do’s and don’ts for delegation

227.6Leading innovation in teams

237.7Classic team traps

237.8Dealing with toxic teams

257.9Dealing with teams in crisis

268. TEAM LEADERSHIP AND TEAM MEMBERSHIP

268.1Team leadership

278.2Motivating a team

288.3Team membership

299. CHANGE IN TEAMS

3110. FUTURE TEAMS

3211. POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE IN TEAMS

3312. TEAM REWARD AND RECOGNITION

3312.1Guidelines for effective team recognition

3412.2Ideas for recognition

3513. DIVERSITY IN TEAMS

3513.1What is diversity?

3513.2How are diverse teams different from homogenous ones?

3814. CONCLUSION

3915. REFERENCES

3916.WEB SOURCES

40Annexure A: Effective team leadership and how to build a team

41Annexure B: Effective team membership

1. INTRODUCTION

We are not put on this earth to see through each other, but to see each other

through - Peter De Vries

“Teamwork” is the new mantra in most organisations – you will hear the ‘Eyewitness team’ brought you the news, the events team achieved this and the IT team did that. The reality of modern businesses is that in the final analysis, all business operations and processes can be reduced to three essentials:

· People

· Product (service)

· Profit

The most important of the three are people – without good people, product and profit won’t happen. And people work in teams, or belong to a team of some description. Today’s world is so complex and fast-changing that it is virtually impossible for one person to make all the key decisions. Most decisions in organisations are taken in a team context.

The reality is that teams and the achievement of team goals have been a challenge in many organisations for many years. Any person who has been working in a corporate environment has been part of a team, and will understand the many complexities and challenges that teams pose.

Exercise:

List a few positives and a few negatives of working in a team:

Positives:

Negatives:

Teams do pose challenges and benefits. When we belong to great teams, the benefits obviously outweigh the challenges by far. When we belong to difficult and toxic teams, the challenges are heavy. The main focus of this session is therefore on how to make teams great. In other words, how to build great teams and how to sustain that greatness.

What are great teams about?

Great teams:

· Cannot be demanded

· Cannot be bought

· Cannot be taken for granted

· Cannot be faked

The good news about great teams is that we can create certain conditions that will facilitate greatness in the team. These include:

· Creating safety for team members

· Creating trust in the team

· Creating belief in the team

· Create enough sharing in the team

· Creating commitment in the team

· Establishing a common purpose

· Creating confidence within the team

· Creating passion in the team

If the above do not exist, toxic teams are created, where we need to survive the politics, steer through complex group dynamics and so on. We feel isolated, unseen and unrecognised within the team.

On the other hand, when we did well and achieve as a team, few experiences compare to that moment when we say “We were brilliant as a team”.

So when is a team a team? There are a few criteria that need to be present and applied in order for a group of people to be defined as a team:

· They need to have a common team charter / goal

· Individuals within the team must be interdependent (mutually dependent)

· All team members must subscribe to the principles of consultative decision-making (especially when there is conflict and when they need to focus on problem-solving)

· All team members must take accountability for what they need to achieve (this underlines the importance of having clear roles)

2. TEAM DYNAMICS – UNDERSTANDING HOW TEAMS EVOLVE

In all teams there are two aspects of team dynamics at play all the time – if you miss any of them, you may miss important information of how effective your team is. These aspects are:

· Content

· Process

Content is the easy part. It deals with “the what” and “the tasks” of the team’s activities.

Process is more complex and subversive and focuses on “the how” and “the functioning” within the group. It is the things that are happening to, and between team members. We often get “lost” in the content, and miss the process – often to our detriment! Group dynamics include:

· Communication and patterns of participation

· Conflict (both overt and covert)

· Leadership and power struggles

· Climate in the team

· Individual behaviour

· Non-verbal communication

· The manner in which norms are applied (or not applied)

Exercise:

Discuss how you can observe three of the above in team sessions (be specific and use real examples.

Consider the following when you deal with team dynamics:

· Attitude

· Energy

A positive attitude and positive energy are key ingredients for accountability in teams. These dimensions also play an important role in how we approach servicing and contribution within the teams:

High

A

T

T

I

T

U

D

E

Low

Spectators

Players

Walking Dead

Cynics

Low High

ENERGY

Where are you?

Walking dead (low energy – negative attitude). Often act as if they are powerless to influence events and may conduct themselves as ‘victims’.

Spectators (low energy – positive attitude). They are often watchers and not very participative. They are the thinkers in the team. Speak positively of their jobs and organisation – avoid change unless they are sure it is absolutely ‘safe”.

Cynics (high energy – negative attitude). Often spend a good deal of time complaining about their jobs, management, policies, or other aspects of the organisation. Often say “it will not work”, displaying a “seen it all before” attitude.

Players (high energy – positive attitude). Demonstrate a positive attitude towards their jobs and organisation, and invest considerable energy in making things better.

Research by Dr Tosti (MacDonald, 2008) across more than 2000 managers in various international organisations has produced consistent results on the distribution of employees:

· Spectators 38%

· Players 14%

· Walking dead 9%

· Cynics 39%

3. TEAM FUNCTIONS

According to Margerison and McCann (1996), the following key functions need to be present in a team in order to be effective:

Notes:

4. TYPES OF TEAMS AND THEIR PURPOSE

Managers and leaders need to understand the different types of teams in order to assemble the right type of team to address the task at hand. There are several types of teams in organisations, each with a very specific purpose.

Exercise:

Identify the various types of teams that exist in your organisation, and what their main purpose is:

Types of teams:

· Work Teams: This is typically a team that has a functional purpose. HR, Finance, Marketing, etc. are all examples of a work team.

· Focused Teams: A focused team is usually a temporary team that is tasked to deal with a problem or an issue. Companies often get a team together to focus on customer issues, marketing issues or staff problems. Once the problem has been defined and a solution developed, the team disbands.

· Project Teams:

· Quality Circles: Quality circles are groups of staff who have formal training in process analysis and quality improvement. They are put in teams to focus on getting the performance of the company to improve, They are often self-managed.

· Kaizen Teams: Kaizen is a term that was first coined by Toyota. The term relates to streamlining and simplifying processes. Usually the team consists of four to seven people who have a specific purpose and task to focus on.

· Six Sigma teams: These teams use the methodology of Six Sigma, a statistically-based process of analysis to improve overall business performance and output.

· Process improvement teams: These teams can incorporate Kaizen and / or quality circles. They often use theories or models such as Six Sigma and are challenged to improve selected or identified processes within the business. Process-focused teams are usually cross-functional teams.

· Creative / problem-solving teams: These teams are formed to come up with unusual or new ideas, tools and products. They often represent all the areas of the business and use tools such as scenario-planning, brainstorming and what-if analysis.

· Remote teams: Remote teams are functional or work teams, but do not work in the same office or area. They are often a typical outcome of global organisations, and pose real challenges regarding communication, alignment to vision and goals, as well as diversity issues.

5. TEAM STAGES

This model was originally developed by Bruce Tuckman, and is still viewed as the definitive model to understand team development (Thomas, 2007). The model suggests four sequential stages of development and task completion that all teams experience:

· Forming stage

· Storming stage

· Norming stage

· Performing stage

Each of these stages requires specific leadership approaches, and each implies specific and typical behaviours.

Testing

Infighting

Sharing & Doing Performing

5.1 Forming (the honeymoon stage)

Typical behaviours:

· Politeness

· Reserved

· Avoid controversy

· Suspense – what is going to happen to me?

· Withholding information

· Guarded towards others

· Low levels of involvement

· Anxiety, nervousness

Leadership:

· Know and accept that the team will be looking at you to get things going

· Provide direction

· Move the team from the known, non-threatening topics to the real issues

Questions to address:

· Will I be included?

· Who are these people?

· What will happen to me?

· Will I be good enough?

Tasks to complete:

· Establish a clear sense of purpose

· Identify the resources and skills

· Build a supportive and open atmosphere

· Clarify roles, objectives and expectations

· Get the team to do things together

5.2 Storming

Typical Behaviours:

· Feeling stuck

· I am fed up with this

· Opting out of procedures

· Resistance to cooperation

· Competitive behaviours

· Sub-groups and cliques form

· Who is in charge (jockeying for position)

· Highlighting differences

Leadership tasks:

· Allow the differences and let people vent

· Reconfirm mission and common values

· Clarify your role – you are in charge

· Provide positive feedback

· Identify issues and deal with them (and the resulting conflict)

Questions to address:

· Who is in charge?

· Why are you frustrated?

· What direction do you need?

5.3 Norming

Typical behaviour:

· Give and take

· Acceptance of roles and responsibilities

· Agreement on and adherence to ground rules

· Working together

· Quality discussions

· Active listening

Leadership:

· Facilitate and optimise interdependence and sharing

· Shaping the team as an effective unit

Tasks to complete:

· Confront issues

· Recognise and reinforce “give and take” behaviour

· Ask for input versus telling

· Discuss dynamics and processes

· Be open to feedback

5.4 Performing

Typical behaviours:

· High performance

· Good quality problem-solving

· Mutual support and cooperation

· Giving and receiving feedback

· Follow through on commitments

· Strong team identity

· Pride, cohesion and spirit

· Flexible approach

· Compliance is replaced with commitment

Leadership:

· Stand back!

· Delegate and empower

· Coach

5.5 Adjourning

In some teams there is a fifth stage, called adjourning. This is when teams have concluded their purpose and need to disband. The key theme is closure and sometimes mourning.

6. TEAM BUILDING

Exercise:

Discuss as a group what you believe team building is. Share some experiences you had and share with others:

Team building can have many faces and many applications. Organisations often refer to a team building as a social event, or something that the team can do together. I often hear executives say that it was a great team building event when they had a braai on a Friday afternoon. That is not really team building.

6.1Experiential team building

A number of team building activities fall in this category – outward bound-style activities, fun activities, physical challenges, etc. They are very good to create team spirit and to allow the team to fulfil challenging tasks as a team.

An advantage of these is that team behaviours can be observed and relevant feedback can be given to the team regarding aspects such as:

· Support

· Communication

· Leadership

· Listening

· Task focus

· Team roles

A downside of these types of activities is that they often do not address the emotional challenges teams face on a daily basis, and do not translate well into the working environment.

6.2Emotional-intelligence based team building

These types of team interventions focus on creating awareness, emotional connections and norms that guide the team. It creates a common vocabulary for teams and improves the emotional sensitivities and understanding in the team.

One example is to work with the Johari Window model, and to facilitate greater awareness and understanding through:

· Feedback

· Disclosure

The Johari Window is a model for all human interaction, developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States. It provides a powerful model and is based on awareness and insight into interpersonal communication and relationships.

6.3Key building blocks for any team building

· Vision, mission, values and purpose

· Trust and awareness

· Passion

· Team behaviours

Research suggests the following characteristics of effective teams (McGovern and Shelly, 2008):

· Great teams have fun

· Great teams breed “in-groups”

· Great teams foster and nurture diversity

· Great teams know that there is no “I” in “team”

· Great teams ask for help

· Great teams see problems as opportunities

· Great teams are not afraid to fail

7. MAINTAINING TEAMS 7.1 Strategy for day-to-day team working and team maintenance

Before one can talk about practical team working and maintaining a team in everyday life, it is important to understand the single most important factor in great teams:

It’s passion! And with passion goes having fun. In most people’s experience teams who are passionate about their work, their colleagues, their “brand”, and so on are the ones who excel. Hand-in-hand with passion is the ability to have fun.

Exercise:

Why do you think fun and passion are important to effective “teaming”? Also share how your teams show passion and how you have fun as a team:

A simple strategy for building and maintaining a team on a daily basis is as follows (Thomas, 2007):

Individual activity:

Rate your team on the following dimensions that impact on team effectiveness:

Fully Effective Ineffective

Team Dimension

5

4

3

2

1

Informal atmosphere

Full participation in discussions

Task understood and accepted by all

Members listen to each other

Team resolves disagreements

Consensus decision-making

Frequent and frank criticism

Expression of feelings

Action planned and commitment given

Leadership shifts – manager does not dominate

Team is self-conscious about its operation and processes

(Thomas, 2007)

7.2 Attitudes and teams

Attitudes are judgemental – you like or dislike people, situations, etc. You can also be ambivalent or neutral. When your attitude is negative (or positive) it has a significant impact on how you feel, act and think about issues. The good news is that people can change their attitudes.

You are unlikely to choose your team colleagues at work. You can however choose your attitude towards them. Also remember that you are NOT paid to work – you are paid to get results. And the results you achieve are with / and or through the teams you belong to.

Individual exercise:

Some of what you listed above may relate to the three “R’s” of groups and teams (Thomas, 2007):

R1:Rules

R2:Rights

R3:Respect

A key question for all team members to ask is:

What behaviour will get the most productive result in my relationships with others in the team?

Notes:

Imagine you are selling yourself to another team on e-teams.com (it’s the equivalent of e-bay for teams). You need to list your strengths and your weaknesses / vulnerabilities – what will you put on the site?

Notes:

If you look at your statement, what do you need to change in order to become a more effective team-player?

Notes:

7.3 Micromanagement in teams

One of the big enemies of team effectiveness is to micromanage team members. Micromanagement kills fun and passion in teams. So what is micromanagement?

It is defined as “to manage with great or excessive control and attention to detail”.

Symptoms of micromanagement (are you guilty?):

Symptom

Yes

No

You are frustrated because your team members “don’t get it” or don’t take things as seriously as they should

You ask for frequent status reports and feedback (even when things go well)

You are quick to point out errors and mistakes

You have too many things on your “to-do” list, but the team is not fully occupied

You need to be consulted on every decision

Your team experiences a high turnover

Team members would say that they are never good enough

There is little or no initiative in the team

Others?

7.4 Cures for micromanagement

First of all you need to realise that you are guilty of micromanagement. You also need to understand the reasons why you hold on to control. You need to accept that you are running a risk of disempowering your team members and your colleagues. Micromanagement erodes people’s confidence, hurts their performance, and frustrates them to the point where they want to resign.

Consider the following:

· Ask for direct feedback on your management style

· Learn to delegate

· Clarify limits of authority, roles and responsibility

· Get coaching to help you to let go

7.5 Do’s and don’ts for delegation

“The secret to success is not in doing your own work, but recognising the right person to do it”

Andrew Carnegie

Why do we find delegation difficult?

· Fear for own performance

· Lack of confidence

· Inflexibility and disorganised

· Insecurity

· Employees’ fear of failure

· Unclear accountability and responsibility

· Unclear expectations

When you delegate you need to transfer not only the task, but also the responsibility (the obligation to complete the task) and the authority (the power or control to take decisions). If you don’t delegate these aspects, you are merely abdicating.

What not to delegate:

· Tasks that you are not good at – research suggests that you should delegate the tasks that you are skilled at.

· Boring and routine work – this is not delegation. You should delegate challenging tasks to develop and stretch your team.

· New tasks – this often results in failure and negativity.

To help you define and allot tasks, including your own, ask yourself the three questions of delegation (Peter Drucker):

· What am I doing that do not need to be done at all?

· What am I doing that can be done by somebody else?

· What am I doing that only I can do?

Levels of delegation

The different delegation levels progressively offer, encourage and enable more delegated freedom. Level 1 is the lowest level of delegated freedom (basically, none). Level 10 is the highest level typically (and rarely) found in organisations.

Level 1: "Wait to be told." or "Do exactly what I say." or "Follow these instructions precisely." 

Level 2: "Look into this and tell me the situation. I'll decide."

 

Level 3: "Look into this and tell me the situation. We'll decide together."

Level 4: "Tell me the situation and what help you need from me in assessing and handling it. Then we'll decide."

Level 5:"Give me your analysis of the situation (reasons, options, pros and cons) and recommendation. I'll let you know whether you can go ahead."

Level 6: "Decide and let me know your decision, and wait for my go-ahead before proceeding."

Level 7:"Decide and let me know your decision, then go ahead unless I say not to."  

Level 8: "Decide and take action - let me know what you did (and what happened)."

Level 9: "Decide and take action. You need not check back with me."

Level 10:"Decide where action needs to be taken and manage the situation accordingly. It's your area of responsibility now."

Delegation process

· Decide on tasks to be delegated

· Decide who should perform the tasks

· Provide resources

· Delegate

· Step in

· Feedback

Principles of delegation

· Explain

· Set clear standards and goals

· Clarify authority and responsibility

· Involve subordinates

· Ensure completion

· Provide performance training

· Provide feedback

· Delegate the tasks you know best

7.6 Leading innovation in teams

The single most important aspect that influences innovation and creativity in teams is the culture or climate in the team. According to Prather (2010) you can create a supportive climate for innovation and creativity. The dimensions you need to consider are:

· Challenge and innovation

· Trust, openness, freedom and risk taking

· Idea time

· Idea support

· Debating

· Playfulness and humour

· Value for diversity

According to Prather (2010) the key to leading innovation is to define a challenge statement with the team. A challenge statement is a tool that is used in creativity and problem-solving processes. It is a statement that focuses the issue and is an important component for creative thinking. The challenge statement starts the process and it identifies the challenge that the team needs to solve clearly. It also focuses the team’s thinking and is the foundation of for defining the problem to be solved.

To define a good challenge statement, the following rules should be considered:

· It must contain only ONE challenge (avoid the word “and”)

· It should not be too specific

· It should not contain possible solutions (avoid the word “by”)

A challenge statement is written as follows:

“We must

so that

An example: We must find ways to compete effectively with small-scale accounting firms, so that we can remain competitive and relevant.

7.7 Classic team traps

According to Miller (2008), you need to be aware of classic team traps that most teams fall victim to. If you can manage these and avoid them, your teams will be effective and focused:

· “What are we here for?” – Lack of understanding what we need to achieve, unclear goals and misdirected energy.

· “Our world is THE world” – The team is inner-focused, methods are more important than the end-results and working in silos.

· Single issue obsessions – The team pursue a single issue (often irrelevant and not important to the overall goals).

· Reality distortion – The team is not objective and only focus on what they want to see (what is important and convenient to them).

· Increasing bureaucracy – The team adds policies and procedures to protect themselves and uses it as a power-base.

· A lack of new stimuli – ‘Group–think’ is a symptom. Fresh ideas are resisted and little innovation is evident. This is often the result of teams working together for a long time.

· We all agree – This is closely related to the above. Little debate and disagreement is allowed. The team feels safe when they all agree (and often believe that they are always right).

· The sepia photo – The team is out of touch and not focused on new trends, needs and competitors. They often are irrelevant and out of touch.

· Poor communication – The team is not communicating within the team, not aware of customer needs, and little involvement of key stakeholders.

These traps or issues can be categorised into three broad categories:

· Losing their sense of perspective / priority

· Isolationism

· Siege mentality

Teams need to address these by asking themselves “what is really important” and “why do we exist”? They also need to be close to those they serve and lastly the team need to get out of the paralysing self-serving and self-reflective culture that teams often fall into.

7.8 Dealing with toxic teams

Difficulties in teams are often the result of the following:

· Differences in attitudes

· Differences in perceptions

· Cultural differences

· Personality differences

· Emotional insecurities

· Maturity levels

· Socio-economic backgrounds

These factors will, over time (if not addressed), toxify the team and impact negatively on the team’s spirit and culture. Over time the mood becomes negative, suspicious and toxic. This directly impacts on the team’s ability to solve problems, to focus on the tasks at hand and to deliver effectively. Most of the team’s energy will flow towards the “issues” and politics will take up most of the focus in the team.

When a team member becomes problematic, team members will adopt one of four approaches:

· Motivational Approach- “You need to change your ways”. In this approach the message to the member is positive and the intention is to let the person know that their behaviour should change and that the team will help to achieve the change.

· Rejection Approach- “You don’t belong here”. Here the message is negative and the intent is to let the team member know that they do not fit in and is non-compliant with the team culture.

· Intervening Approach- “Let me show you the right way”. The message is positive and the intent is to assist the team member to do things differently in order to fit in and to comply with the team culture.

· Defence Approach- “We are different here”. This approach serves to protect the team and its values. The team often band together and isolates the offending team member (often with the intent to get them to leave).

Symptoms to look out for (Harvard Business School, 2004):

· Poor communication in the team (interruption, silence, innuendos)

· Low participation (poor attendance, low energy levels, delays)

· Difficulty to reach consensus (rigid positions, same arguments)

· Negative conflict (sarcasm, arguments, little support for each other, aggression)

Exercise:

Read through the following scenario and discuss in a group what the best approach will be:

You are the manager of a senior management team. One of the managers tend to withdraw when under pressure and the other team members feel that he is not contributing, and is impacting negatively on the team. There are cliques in the team and these subgroups have different ways of dealing with this colleague. One group is talking negatively about him to subordinates and colleagues. Another team is purposefully sidelining him in key projects and discussions and the third group is feeding you with information on how the other groups are dealing with the team member.

The manager has also spoken to you, but his input is mostly focusing on external reasons why he is not coping – typically systems that are poor, outdated technology, poor quality of staff, etc. He has not shown any insight into his impact on the team. Recently a few of his subordinates have also chatted to you informally, and the message was that the manager is not involved, does not communicate with them and that they hardly ever see him.

In your discussion, think about the following:

· What is the best approach to address this?

· Who should be involved?

· What will be an appropriate message?

· When should the intervention take place?

7.9 Dealing with teams in crisis

It is important to understand what constitutes a crisis. Simply put, a crisis is a change. Crisis in teams can have many forms and faces, but they can all be managed. Consider the following:

· Recognise the crisis. This sounds simple, but we often don’t see the crisis in the making. Consider this: There are often problems in teams that we are aware of, but do nothing about it, and one day it erupts in a huge crisis. So pay attention to what is happening in the team, Address it timeously. Confront the hard issues and be guided by your instinct and values.

· Contain the crisis. Deal with it decisively and quickly. We often sweep things under the carpet. When a crisis happens in a team, you do not have the luxury to deliberate and take your time. You need to instil confidence and stabilise the situation.

· Communication is key. Identify the key issues and define appropriate responses to address them.

· As a leader, the following will assist you in resolving a crisis:

· Turn fear and negativity into positive action

· Don’t undertake to do things you cannot deliver on

· Contain the damage (and remove the threats as quickly as possible)

· Learn from the crisis (for example, how could we have done things differently, what did we do well, etc).

8. TEAM LEADERSHIP AND TEAM MEMBERSHIP8.1 Team leadership

In order to be effective as a team leader, you need to adopt your leadership style according to the readiness levels of the team members. This implies finding a balance between giving direction and providing support. The level of support and / or direction will be dependent on the team’s motivational and competency levels.

If a team is new and in its orientation and forming stage, they are confused regarding tasks, roles and purpose. In this stage members are mostly enthusiastic and committed to the team. As a leader, the most appropriate style will the Structuring Style – meaning a strong focus on direction, and a low focus on support.

During the storming phase, members become dissatisfied and become less committed, they start to question authority, test boundaries and as a leader, you need to adopt the Resolving Style. This means that you need to focus strongly on providing both support and direction.

In the norming stage, team members start to focus on integration, and will be capable and willing to perform, but they will lack confidence and may battle with morale. During this phase the leader need to adopt the Collaborating Style – that is to focus on support and encouragement, and less on direction-giving.

Teams in the performing stage will focus on production and will be both capable and confident in their team functioning. During this stage the leader should stand aside and let the team do what they need to do. The approach should be low on both direction and support, and the focus should be on a Validating Style.

One of the key challenges of leadership in teams is the fostering of loyalty. Employee loyalty has two aspects, namely emotional loyalty and behavioural loyalty.

In order to build loyalty in your teams, you need to focus on the following (Rao, 2006):

· Create opportunities that provide job satisfaction

· Define the outcomes and goals of each team member’s role

· Provide the team with adequate resources to achieve their goals

· Give the team a sense of accomplishment

· Have a clear vision and mission for the team and get buy-in from the team

· Treat all members fairly

· Show care to the team members

· Demonstrate trust

· Show appreciation

· Invite team members to express ideas, suggestions and to participate

· Communicate regularly and clearly to the team

Never underestimate the importance of a loyal team – loyalty has a huge impact on brand value and customer retention.

8.2 Motivating a team

Motivating a team is complicated because you deal with different people at different levels, with different drivers and needs. However, most teams can be motivated as a group with the following:

· Trust

Trust facilitates motivation. If you trust staff, they feel empowered and will (in most cases) live up to your expectations. To show trust, you need to:

· Remove controls

· Relinquish your authority

· Take some risks

· Believe in people

· Introduce challenge

· Make jobs more complete

· Match job content to life interests

· Match challenges to both the individual and the company’s needs

· Reduce fear of failure

· Maintain people’s dignity

· Constructive criticism

· Empower, and not to micromanage

· Reward real performance

· Take an interest in the personal objectives of people

· Have fun

· Socialise

· Play as a team

· General

· Create small wins towards the bigger goal / purpose

· Set compelling and emotive goals

· Spend time on “purposing”

8.3 Team membership

"None of us is as smart as all of us." Ken Blanchard

There are certain requirements to be a good team member:

· The team member must be willing to support the team mission and work toward accomplishing team goals.

· The team member should understand their role within the team, as well as what skills, knowledge, and abilities they have to contribute toward the team's success (this implies self-awareness)

· The team member must be willing to decide how they will work with others.

· The team member should commit to working within the team's plans and priorities, including attendance at meetings and training deemed necessary for the team.

· All members must be willing to work collaboratively on problem-solving and accept change as part of process improvement.

· Each team member should be respectful of others, welcome diversity, and establish both trust and accountability within the team.

· The team member shows enthusiasm, inspires and motivates others and invests energy in the team.

9. CHANGE IN TEAMS

Change is a constant in all organisations, and teams are part of this. Teams often represent the biggest challenge in managing change effectively. Teams also react to change in the same way that individuals do, but can be much more difficult to manage. People in the team form coalitions, close rank and can become a very powerful force in resisting change.

As a leader, you need to understand the psychology of change in teams, and why teams react the way they do:

Change in teams:

10. FUTURE TEAMS

It is important to realise that different generations are now converging in the workplace, complexity is increasing and challenges and issues are changing teams in the modern organisation. Miller (2008) anticipates the following:

· Teams will be younger, and will use methods of communication that will not be understood and accepted by the rest of the organisation

· Methods of communication will be self-generated, as opposed to imposed.

· Team members will “broadcast” themselves – who they are, what they want, what they battle with, etc

· Teams will be more brutal in their attitude towards work and other team members

· They will have short-term focus (“let’s get the job done and move on to the next job, or to go and play”)

· Remote and virtual teams will become more and more a part of the modern organisation

Other changes in the nature of work that will impact on teams and how they operate include:

· Little or no guaranteed job security

· Increasing mobility

· Employees are becoming “free agents”

· Telecommuting (working outside the traditional office environment)

· Building “portfolio careers” as opposed to holding a traditional position or a job over a period of time

11. POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE IN TEAMS

Teams often experience politics and power games. Reasons can include:

· Personal insecurities

· Protecting one’s self-worth

· Justifying yourself and your contribution to the team (read pay cheque – why am I getting paid?)

· Trying to control circumstances

· Protecting yourself against real or perceived threats

· Perceived inequality and favoritism

· Feelings of not being safe

Political sensitivity in teams is crucial for effective functioning. Political astuteness in the team’s leadership is especially significant and has a direct correlation to the team’s effectiveness. According to Ferris, Davidson and Perrewé (2005) the political intelligence of a team’s leader directly influence the team’s perception of support, which in turn increases trust, commitment and engagement.

Team members who are able to influence, persuade and to get others to act in ways that are mutually beneficial to the group and the company’s objectives are the ones who excel in teams. They are respected, supported and come over as secure and confident.

Political intelligence is a skill that is becoming more and more relevant in the modern organisation – the modern workplace is a political arena – everywhere you look there is some form of negotiation, deal-making, exchanging of favours, coalition forming and alliances being formed going on.

Political awareness and intelligence have the following aspects:

· Social astuteness

· Interpersonal influence

· Networking ability

· Apparent sincerity

12. TEAM REWARD AND RECOGNITION

As a team leader you need to understand that people who feel appreciated and recognised are more positive about themselves and the team. They also feel more empowered and therefore more willing to contribute.

People who feel appreciated and recognised are more likely to stay with the company than those who feel unappreciated.

Leaders often neglect or avoid recognition and reward. The reasons are:

· They feel it undermines their authority

· They don’t have time for it

· They feel embarrassed

· They think regular recognition has a “short shelf life” – it wears out quickly and loses impact.

· They feel they cannot afford it

· The culture is not supporting recognition (“you get paid to do this”)

· It is not important to the leader

· Others?

12.1 Guidelines for effective team recognition

· Clearly define what behaviours, actions, accomplishments and achievements you want to reinforce

· Ensure fairness, clarity and consistency. People need to feel that similar contributions receive similar recognition

· Do not only recognise and reward the highest or best performer. Meaningful contributions will not be sustained.

· Ensure that criteria for evaluation are clear, defined and communicated.

· Make recognition a common practice, not a scarcity

· Know your team members and determine what kinds of rewards and recognition will be most meaningful to them (“pull factors”)

· Ensure that the reward / recognition is commensurate with effort and output.

· Link reward and recognition to major milestones and key objective achievement

12.2 Ideas for recognition

· Money

· Written recognition

· Positive attention

· Development opportunities

· Meaningful work

· Gifts

· Symbols

Remember that motivated employees are happy employees. Happy employees create happy customers. Happy customers make your business sustainable.

Surveys have shown that people’s biggest motivation in the long run is not only money, but also the simple acknowledgement (“thank you”), respect, personal development, and empowerment.

13. DIVERSITY IN TEAMS

13.1 What is diversity?

Team diversity is the significant uniqueness of each individual in a team. This should not only include the usual diversity aspects such as religion, sex, age, and race, but also additional unique personality characteristics such as introverts and extroverts, liberals and conservatives, etc.

All of these differences can affect team interactions and performance. However, not all differences affect team performance. For the purposes of this chapter, differences are discussed when they significantly affect team performance.

13.2 How are diverse teams different from homogenous ones?

Diverse teams have different challenges, benefits, and pitfalls compared to homogenous teams. The main benefit is that a diverse background fosters a creative environment. The main pitfall is that differences between team members can lead to destructive conflict.

Exercise:

List all the categories and aspects that make teams diverse. Think of teams in your working environment, and list as many factors that contribute to the diversity of the team. Also think about the positives and the challenges these factors can represent:

Notes:

Factors

Positives

Challenges

The following categorizes the physical and social differences (excluding actual workplace experience) that most frequently create a diverse environment.

Share how these impact on teams that you work in:

Gender 

Notes:

Race 

Notes:

Culture 

Notes:

Age 

Notes:

Sexual orientation 

Notes:

Disabilities 

Notes:

Educational level

Notes:

Industry / working experience

Notes:

Personality

Notes:

By definition, diversity means that there will be an increased likelihood for a wider range of views to be present. This includes views that are likely to challenge widely accepted views of the team and its culture. The existence of these diverse views is essential to the process of organisational change. In addition, as teams are becoming increasingly global, diversity can help an organisation or team to understand its place in its surroundings.

The differences inherent in a diverse team environment also cause challenges. The benefits of having diverse backgrounds do not occur without having team members that are dedicated to success and a common goal. The preconceived notions about differences in other people, such as racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, etc, disrupt work processes and can prevent teams from achieving their goals. Simple misunderstandings can arise from basic cultural differences, communication styles or work attitudes, and create challenge.

Diversity in teams has benefits and creates challenges. However, by being aware of these challenges and how to address them, teams and team managers can overcome them and reach success.

Leaders need to use team members’ diverse gifts, abilities, and skills to achieve the common goal. This requires an intentional focus on getting team members to show respect and acceptance of the other team members (all of whom are different in one way or another).

The truth is that if team members do not accept others for what they are, they will be unable to use the abilities of each team member to fill in their own weak areas. Hence, the team effort develops knowledge and skill gaps that often lead to failure. Their only goal becomes the ones on their personal agendas while ignoring the needs of the team and the organisation.

Creating an environment that encourages diversity enables team members to accept every individual on the team and helps them realise that it takes a variety of people to become the best. This kind of environment also enforces the need to rely on everyone within the team, no matter how different another person may be. These characteristics and experiences make a worker unique. Diversity occurs when the whole team sees all these unique characteristics, and realises that workers are more valuable because of their differences.

14. CONCLUSION

Teams are an integral part of corporate life. It is both satisfying and challenging to belong to a team. Teams present opportunities to grow, interact and a place to belong. Teams also can be a place where people can be damaged, rejected and manipulated.

We are all part of a team at some stage of our working lives – whether it is an informal group, a task team or a circle of friends at work. We can all attest to the incredible highs and the feelings of accomplishment when our teams “made” it. Equally so, we all have stories to tell of how terrible it feels to be part of a toxic or dysfunctional team.

The reality is that we are part of a team, and the key challenge is to manage relationships, improve understanding and awareness and make the most of the people that make up the team. Team leadership is at its core. Team members also need to take ownership of their contributions and influence within the team.

15. REFERENCES

BOOKS

Creating Passion-Driven Teams. 2009. Career Press. Franklin Lakes.

Ferris, G.R., Davidson, S.L. & Perrewe, P.L. 2005. Political Skill at Work. Davies-Black Publishing. Mountain View.

Harvard Business Essentials. 2004. Manager’s Toolkit. HBS Publishing Corporation. Boston.

Heller, R & Hindle, T. 1998. Essential Manager’s Manual. Dorling Kindersley Ltd. London.

Mannering, K. 2008. Dealing with Difficult People. Hodder Education. London.

Margerison, C & McCann, D. 1995. Team Management. Management Books Ltd. Gloucesterhire.

McGovern, J. & Shelley, S. 2008. The Happy Employee. Adams Media. Avon.

Miller, D. 2008. Brilliant Teams. Pearson Education Limited. Edinburgh Gate.

Prather, C. 2010. Manager’s Guide to Fostering Innovation and Creativity in Teams MCraw-Hill. Madison.

Rao, A. 2006. The Tao of Loyalty. Sage Publications. London.

Thomas, M. 2007. Mastering People Management. Thorougood Publishers. London.

16.WEB SOURCES

· http://humanresources.about.com

· http://www.chumans.com/human-systems-resources

· http://www.dawson- mcdonald.com.au/

· http://www.mindtools.com

Annexure A: Effective team leadership and how to build a team

Skill

Yes / No

1. Remove individual competition – competition diminishes collaboration. For teams to work together, you need to not single out employee’s efforts and instead look at team performance and team metrics.

2. Define roles and responsibilities clearly – give clear instructions so there is no ambiguity on who is to do what and when.

3. Create group incentives for excellence – to motivate the team, offer team incentives.

4. Clearly define expectations and what excellence looks like – this is very important for team harmony. If your team does not understand clearly what excellence is, they will have problems attaining it. You may have a very different idea than your team members about what you are striving towards.

5. Provide ongoing professional development - Team leaders who invest time and effort to allow team members to grow and to develop professionally gets a lot more out of the team. Great leadership is to build people to a stage where the leader can step back and let the team do it themselves.

6. Give the team the power to make and implement decisions – empowering the team to contribute ideas and then take some risks and learn is very important for effective teamwork.

7. Deal with staff conflicts immediately – don’t let conflicts fester and grow into bigger conflicts. Deal with them as soon as possible and be consistent with your approach.

8. Promote acceptance of a variety of points of view – differences in cultural backgrounds, ages, experience levels and educational levels, can influence the foundations used to make perceptions and judgements. Being open-minded, to these varying points of view, should be encouraged.

9. Encourage open, honest communication – “candour” in the workplace goes a long way to build respect and transparency in the team. Remember that team members know what is going on, and they will look at you to talk to them and to act quickly on any obvious problems.

10. Make sure the basic resources are made available – It is crucial to set teams up for success and not for failure. Good team leadership is to also give attention to the obvious (which often is not in place). For example, make sure the team has the basic technology, required information and processes in order to achieve their goal.

11. Articulate a clear vision and a code of behaviour - if your vision isn’t clearly articulated, your team will not know how they contribute to the big picture. Your team needs to feel passionate about the work they do. If they see that their efforts contribute to a bigger goal, they can anticipate next steps.

Annexure B: Effective team membership

Skill

Yes / No

1. Demonstrates reliability - You can count on a reliable team member who gets work done and does their fair share to work hard and meet commitments. They follow through on assignments. Consistency is key. You can count on them to deliver good performance all the time, not just some of the time.

2. Communicates constructively - Teams need people who speak up and express their thoughts and ideas clearly, directly, honestly, and with respect for others and for the work of the team. That's what it means to communicate constructively. Such a team member does not shy away from making a point but makes it in the best way possible — in a positive, confident, and respectful manner.

3. Listens actively - Good listeners are essential for teams to function effectively. Teams need team players who can absorb, understand, and consider ideas and points of view from other people without debating and arguing every point. Such a team member also can receive criticism without reacting defensively. Most importantly, for effective communication and problem-solving, team members need the discipline to listen first and speak second so that meaningful dialogue results.

4. Functions as an active participant - Good team players are active participants. They come prepared for team meetings and listen and speak up in discussions. They're fully engaged in the work of the team and do not sit passively on the sidelines.

Team members who function as active participants take the initiative to help make things happen, and they volunteer for assignments. Their whole approach is can-do: "What contribution can I make to help the team achieve success?"

5. Shares openly and willingly - Good team players share. They're willing to share information, knowledge, and experience. They take the initiative to keep other team members informed. Much of the communication within teams takes place informally. Beyond discussion at organized meetings, team members need to feel comfortable talking with one another and passing along important news and information. Good team players are active in this informal sharing. They keep other team members in the loop with information and expertise that helps get the job done and prevents surprises.

6. Cooperates and help - Cooperation is the act of working with others and acting together to accomplish a job. Effective team players work this way by second nature. Good team players, despite differences they may have with other team members concerning style and perspective, figure out ways to work together to solve problems and get work done. They respond to requests for assistance and take the initiative to offer help.

7. Exhibits flexibility - Teams often deal with changing conditions — and often create changes themselves. Good team players roll with the punches; they adapt to ever-changing situations. They don't complain or get stressed out because something new is being tried or some new direction is being set.

In addition, a flexible team member can consider different points of views and compromise when needed. They don’t hold rigidly to a point of view and argue it to death, especially when the team needs to move forward to make a decision or get something done. Strong team players are firm in their thoughts yet open to what others have to offer — flexibility at its best.

8. Shows commitment to the team - Strong team players care about their work, the team, and the team's work. They show up every day with this care and commitment up front. They want to give a good effort, and they want other team members to do the same.

9. Works as a problem-solver -Teams, of course, deal with problems. Sometimes, that's the whole reason why a team is created — to address problems. Good team players are willing to deal with all kinds of problems in a solutions-oriented manner.

They're problem-solvers, not problem-dwellers, problem-blamers, or problem-avoiders. They don't simply rehash a problem the way problem-dwellers do. They don't look for others to fault, as the blamers do. And they don't put off dealing with issues, the way avoiders do.

Team players get problems out in the open for discussion and then collaborate with others to find solutions and form action plans.

10. Treats others in a respectful and supportive manner - Team players treat fellow team members with courtesy and consideration — not just some of the time but consistently. In addition, they show understanding and the appropriate support of other team members to help get the job done. They don't place conditions on when they'll provide assistance, when they'll choose to listen, and when they'll share information. Good team players also have a sense of humor and know how to have fun (and all teams can use a bit of both), but they don't have fun at someone else's expense. Quite simply, effective team players deal with other people in a professional manner.

Team players who show commitment don't come in any particular style or personality. They don't need to be rah-rah, cheerleader types. In fact, they may even be soft-spoken, but they aren't passive. They care about what the team is doing and they contribute to its success — without needing a push.

Team players with commitment look beyond their own piece of the work and care about the team's overall work. In the end, their commitment is about winning — not in the sports sense of beating your opponent, but about seeing the team succeed and knowing they have contributed to this success. Winning as a team is one of the great motivators of employee performance. Good team players have and show this motivation.

Notes:

Advising

Innovating

Promoting

Inspecting

Producing

Developing

Organising

Meaning

Linking

Notes:

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Notes:

Notes:

Defining Goals

Identify tasks

Plan Activities

Performing Tasks

Monitoring Performance

Reviewing Performance

CELEBRATE

List the people in your team towards whom you need to change your attitude. Also indicate how you will change.

Notes:

Notes:

Notes:

CHANGE

L

O

S

S

F

E

A

R

U

N

K

N

O

W

N

RESISTANCE!

Resulting emotions such as: anger, fear, stress, resentment, unhappiness, sadness, agitation, anxiety, judgment, distrust, etc.

LOSS

Jobs

Status

Security

Comfort zones

Title

Office

Others?

FEAR

The unknown

New skills

New structure

Coping ability

Too much work

Others?

THE UNKNOWN

Uncertainty

Rumours

Competencies and skills

Comfort zones

New order

Others?

Notes:

PAGE

42

Building and Maintaining a Team

July and August 2010