Workforce Development and Critical Thinking LEAD 1200 CRN 25174 Chapter 6 Be an Effective Team Player and Team Builder Professor Donald P. Linden Copyright © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. 1

Even the most talented individual cannot outperform an effective team. Anonymous

Teamwork Someone may be great at his or her job, maybe even the best there ever was. But what counts at work is the organization’s success, not personal success. After all, if your organization fails, it does not matter how great you were; you are just as unemployed as everyone else.1 1Perry L. Johnson

A group of people with a common, collective goal What is a Team A group of people with a common, collective goal People who are able to make teams win are more likely to become winners themselves

Building Teams and Making Them Work Effectively Choosing Team Members Identify all potential team members Ensure a broad mix in reference to the project to be completed

Building Teams and Making Them Work Effectively (Continued) Responsibilities of Team Leaders Serve as the official contact between the team and the organization Serve as official record keeper for the team – record minutes, correspondence, agendas, and reports Serve as a full-fledged team member, but avoid dominating team discussions Implement team recommendations, and work with upper levels to implement those recommendations that fall outside of the team immediate area

Building Teams and Making Them Work Effectively (Continued) Creating the Team’s Mission Statement The reason for the project; everything that the project is expected to do, and specific enough that progress can be measured Sample Mission Statement: The Purpose of this team is to reduce the time between when an order is taken and when it is filled while simultaneously improving thee quality of products shipped.

Building Teams and Making Them Work Effectively (Continued) Creating the Team’s Mission Statement (Continued) A good mission statement is a tool for communicating the team’s purpose, both within the team and throughout the organization

Building Teams and Making Them Work Effectively (Continued) Developing Collegial, (mutually respectful), Relationships Form positive, mutually supportive peer relationships Peter R. Scholtes recommends: Help team members understand the importance of honesty, reliability, and trustworthiness Help team members develop mutual confidence in their work ability Help team members understand the pressures to which other team members are subjected

Success Tip Competence, trust, communication, and mutual support are the foundation on which effective teamwork is built. Any time devoted to improving these factors is a good investment on your part.

Four-Step Approach to Team Building Access Plan Execute Evaluate

Assessing Team Needs Clear direction that is understood by all members “Team players” on the team (e.g., Team first – me second)Fully understood and accepted accountability measures (e.g., evaluation of performance)

Planning Team-Building Activities Regardless of what your assessment reveals about the team, use that information to plan team-building activities what will enhance the team's performance.

Executing Team-Building Activities It is best to provide team-building activities only after an actual team has been formed. It is an ongoing process. The idea is to make a team better and better as time goes by. All subsequent team-building activities should be based on the results of a needs-assessment.

Evaluating Team-Building Activities A simple way to evaluate the effectiveness of team-building activities is to wait a sufficient amount of time to allow the team’s performance to improve and then conduct the needs-assessment again.

Teams Are not Bossed – They are Coached You can be an effected coached of work teams by doing the following: Giving your team a clearly defined charter - mission and goals Making team development and team building a continual activity – develop skills Mentoring team members Developing job-related competence Build character Teach corporate culture Working to make human diversity within a team a plus Handling conflict in teams

Teams Are not Bossed – They are Coached (Continued) Mentoring team members (Continued) Teach how to get things done in the organization Help the team to understand other people and their viewpoints Teach them to behave in unfamiliar settings or circumstances Give them insight into differences among people Help them to develop success-oriented values

Success Tip Good coaches are mentors. This means they establish a helping, caring, nurturing relationship with team members. Developing the capabilities of team members, improving the contribution individuals make to the team, and helping team members advance their careers are all mentoring activities.

Teams Are not Bossed – They are Coached (Continued) Mutual Respect: Trust made tangible Appreciation of people as assets Communication that is clear and candid Ethics, (principles), that are unequivocal Working to make human diversity within a team a plus Handling conflict in teams

Teams Are not Bossed – They are Coached (Continued) Working to make human diversity within a team a plus: Identify the specific needs of different groups – women, ethnic minorities, and older workers Confront cultural clashes – meet conflict head-on and immediately Eliminate institutional bias – work environment Handling conflict in teams – few things will further your career more than being able to resolve conflict in a positive way.

Assignment Part 1 Assume that your team has been formed. Write an example of a mission statement for a hypothetical team project. Make sure that it is broad enough to encompass everything the team will be expected to do, but specific enough that progress can be measured. A good mission statement is a tool for communicating the team’s purpose, both within the team and throughout the organization. You will answer in paragraph format, with complete sentences, spell checked, and grammatically correct. You will send it to me electronically attached to an e-mail with the following: Subj: LEAD1200 F CRN 25174 – Chapter 6. Part 2 Research on the Internet and find the following: One Web Site that gives an example of a mission statement One Web Site that gives an example of a team building example Indicate the accessible Web Site at the bottom of the document above.