Team Development

Objectives To know the stages in the development of teams To understand team roles To understand about team decisions To learn how to deal with difficult team members To learn about effective team meetings

What is a team? Two or more individuals who work together toward a common objective

Effective teams have interdependent members can outperform even the best individual’s performance do not always have the same leader have members that care about each other cheer & encourage each other have a high level of trust

In general, teams... generate more ideas than individuals, so decision making is more informed improve understanding & acceptance because of participation have higher levels of motivation & performance, due to synergy offset personal biases & blind spots are more likely to engage in a risky shift

Phases of team development Forming Conforming Storming Performing

Forming Questions regarding expectations, goals, leadership & responsibilities Uncertainty & discomfort Need for direction, clarity & structure

Conforming Focus on becoming unified Differentiation of roles Cooperation Relationship building

Storming Disagreements & competition Disagreements with the leader Testing norms Expressions of individuality

Performing Awareness of team’s competence Pursuit of continuous improvement Mutual trust Commitment

Team roles Recorder Gatekeeper Devil’s advocate Timekeeper/Taskmaster Encourager

Recorder Should we say it this way? I think we need more detail here. Let me read this back to everyone to make sure it’s right.

Gatekeeper We haven’t heard from you yet. Can anyone add anything else before the recorder writes that down? Thanks for your input. Can we get a different opinion.

Devil’s Advocate Are you sure that this issue is important? Are you confident that this really works? Is that practical? How can we really do that?

Timekeeper/Taskmaster Let’s get back to the main point. Let’s come to a decision. I think we need to pick up the pace, we have only 5 minutes left. Let’s decide who is going to do what.

Encourager That’s a great answer. Let’s think hard and creatively. I’m sure we can figure this out. We’re doing a great job here.

There are many roles..... Task facilitating Relationship building Blocking They can be grouped into 3 categories:

Task facilitating roles help the team accomplish its objectives: – information giving – information seeking – reality testing – summarizing

Relationship building roles facilitating tension relieving harmonizing

Blocking roles Dominating Pulling rank Stalling Side tracking

Types of Group Decisions

Unilateral/Authoritarian One person makes the decision and imposes it on others.

Handclasp Two people make the decision and impose it on the group. Can also be a “minority” decision, with less than half of the group.

Majority Take a vote, more than half agree.

Unanimous Everyone agrees.

Consensus Alternatives are discussed and refined until everyone can agree with the final decision

Groupthink cohesiveness of team drives out good problem solving preservation of team takes precedence over accurate decisions or high quality accomplishments not enough conflict

Team Attributes that Contribute to Groupthink illusion of invulnerability shared stereotypes rationalization self censorship illusion of unanimity

12 Angry Men An illustration of groupthink

Questions on 12 Angry Men What instances of groupthink are observed in the movie? What are examples of roles in the movie? What are examples of effective and ineffective group dynamics in the movie? Can you think of a similar situation in a company?

How can groupthink be avoided? Devil’s advocate Open discussion -- equal participation Outside experts “Second chance” meeting Subgroups

How to have effective meetings? Purpose Plan Process

Purpose Why have the meeting? To share information To disseminate information To building commitment To make decisions

Planning Prepare an agenda Distribute pre-meeting information Set objectives

Conducting the meeting Covering the agenda in the right order Set ground rules: time frame, level of participation Reports -- on previous assignments Promote participation Summarize at end Decide on “action” items for next time