Team-Based Design  Introduction to Teaming  Processes of Effective Teams  Individual Commitment  Diversity and Teamwork  Guidelines for Effective Feedback  Dealing with Common Team Problems

Introduction to Teaming Prominence of teams in workplace  Self-directed teams  CQI (continuous quality improvement) teams  Participative management  Cross-functional design teams  (OURS)

What is a Team? Task Group  Members depend on each other in some way  Members must share at least SOME goals  Collective efforts yield high performance  Cooperation vs Competition  Synergism  Productivity (a + b) > Prod (a) + Prod (b)

Advantages of Teams  Motivation – team spirit  Sharing/delegation of workload  Fast response to change in requirements  High creativity, good decision-making  Better cross-functional communication/ find problems  Learning from each other

Problems with Teaming  Meetings and consensus-building take time  Poor leadership  ineffectiveness  Many people are not good team players  Differences in effort/commitment  conflict, resentment  Hard to communicate between disciplines  Too much cohesion  screen out relevant info

Learning about Teaming  Employers really care about your ability to work in teams  You will gain experience with a team  You SHOULD reflect on the team process you are participating in, see how YOU can improve your skills  Tolerance

Principles for Effective Teaming  Collective decision making  Collaboration & interchangeability (pitching in with each other)  Appreciation of conflict/differences – try to RESOLVE them, not bury them  Balance of effort  Focus  Open communication  Mutual support  Team spirit

Individual Commitment to Team A good team member must be willing to:  Commit time, effort  Work hard  Identify with team  Prioritize team goals relative to your own

Diversity in Teams  It’s a benefit – more views/expertise available  Innovative solutions  It’s a curse – harder to communicate/feel cohesive  Conflicts in style, preferences, etc.  Ideally, want a BALANCE

Feedback to Team Members  Most people don’t like to provide feedback, if not positive  Fear hurting feelings/making enemies  Even when requested, most may not want to hear it BUT:  If ACCURATE and HELPFUL, may be valued, and can help individual and team  If you can’t change things, don’t mention it  Make it descriptive, not judgmental – “it makes ME feel”, not “you are such a …”

Protocol for Feedback Session  Decide on subject for feedback (scope)--”Let’s talk about how we …”  Start positive, what they should KEEP doing  Mention what you’d like to see people do more or less of  Teammates should clarify, gently reinforce, avoid ganging up  Continue feedback to rest of team – all get a chance to give, receive  Some things are best left UNSAID – you need to keep working with your teammates!

For RECEIVING Feedback  Evaluate your performance yourself, first – if they tell you what you know, don’t blame them!  Relax, breathe while listening – no one will hit!  Listen carefully, without interrupting  Ask for examples, but don’t dispute  Acknowledge valid points / their viewpoints  Sort it out later – it’s just INPUT to you, NOT revealed truth

“Normal” Problems – They CAN be Handled  Floundering – recognize and adapt/decide  Monopolizing – recognize, feed back, correct -- “Hang on, let’s see what xx and yy think…”  Personalizing – don’t blame people for problems outside their control – attack the problem, not the person  Power struggles – recognize, resolve – when WINNING matters, not resolving the issue, it’s a problem  Externalizing – don’t blame the “powers that be” for the troubles of the group