Encourage teamwork – Content guideonline.aoi.edu.au/.../1360185634ENCOURAGE_TEAMWORK.pdf · leadership has developed, here is a brief explanation of these three theories. Trait

To save this Content guide to your computer – pull down the File menu and choose Save As … and give it a file name of your choice

Up Front! Toolbox: Encourage teamwork—Content guide Page 1 of 16

© ANTA 2004

Encourage teamwork:

Assessment / Content guide

Contents

Encourage teamwork: Assessment / Content guide 1

Overview 2 Key terms 2

What is team culture? 4

Leadership theories 6 Trait theory 6 Behavioural theory 6 Contingency theory 7 Team dynamics 8 Personalities 9 Barriers to team cohesion 11 Code of conduct 13 Resolving conflict 13 Strategies for decision making 15

More resources 16



© ANTA 2004

Overview The quality of teamwork influences the quality of team performance. As a

team leader, you need to keep in mind a number of factors if you want to

encourage teamwork. This Content guide contains information and

strategies that a team leader or supervisor can use to promote and maintain

teamwork so that the team can reach its goals.

Key terms

Accountabilities

Areas in which members accept full responsibility for their actions.

Autocratic

An autocratic leader is one who simply gives directions, dominates

discussions and does not take a consultative approach.

Consultation

Consultation means you outline the situation or problem to other people,

and take their ideas or opinions into account before deciding what needs to

be done.

Culture

A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguish it from other

teams. It includes a set of values, beliefs, understandings and way of

thinking that is shared by members within the team.

DeBono’s six thinking hats

Used for changing thinking patterns of a team. Members use the coloured

hats to represent different perspectives: white hat for facts, figures and

objective information; red hat for emotions and feelings; black hat for

logical negative thoughts; yellow for positive constructive thoughts; green

hat for creativity and new ideas; blue hat for control of the other hats and

thinking steps.

Decision-making

The process of selecting the best decision from the options available. Also

see problem-solving.

Fishbone diagram

A diagram where each line or 'fishbone' represents an area that may have

caused a problem. The areas could be listed under headings, eg human

factors, procedures, hardware, management, environment.



© ANTA 2004

Negative assessment

A tool that requires decision makers to concentrate only on the negative

aspects of each choice.

Participative leader

Participative leaders encourage participation in the team, and they involve

the whole team in decision-making.

Problem Solving

The process of identifying a problem, its causes, generating options, and

choosing a solution. Also see decision-making.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are the individuals or organisations that are involved in, or

may be affected by, the work that your team does. These may include

managers, external customers, a project sponsor, internal customers,

contractors, suppliers, project team, external clients, government agencies

and the public.

Strategic Plan

A plan that describes the overall goals and objectives for the entire

organisation.

T chart

Used when trying to decide between two or three options. Write options on

a flipchart and under each option draw a T. Mark one side for and the other

against.



© ANTA 2004

What is team culture? Team culture involves the values, beliefs, understandings and ways of doing

things that provide the members of the team with a sense of identity.

Promoting a positive, strong culture in organisations and within teams has

been a strong theme in writings about management.

Some cultures encourage teamwork whereas others will not. It is important

for you, as a team leader, to understand your team’s culture so you can look

at ways to improve it and so help to make the team more effective.

If a culture promotes and rewards individual competition as the only basis

for promotion, or if the culture has a history of mistrust and autocratic

control, then this will have important consequences for how the team

functions.

Sometimes teams can develop subcultures that are different from that of the

organisation as a whole. This does not mean that the team is completely

different from the organisational culture. It simply means that its members

may have developed differences to take into account specialised problems

or situations, and unique experiences.

How can you work out the culture of a team? The answer is: by

observation. Ask yourself the following questions:

What do the team members tell each other about the organisation and the

other team members?

Are there team rituals, such as Friday afternoon drinks, morning teas,

celebrations of team members’ birthdays? Such things can tell you a lot

about team culture.

How do team members speak to each other? The way team members speak

to each other, the language they use and how and what is rewarded in the

team are all indicators of the team culture.

Do the team members value collaboration, risk-taking, openness and trust,

or are they more competitive, concerned with power and driven by self-

interest?

Here are some indicators of a team culture that promotes effective team

operations. The team:

encourages growth and results but there is also an element of fun

welcomes change as an opportunity not a threat

provides a supportive psychological environment that allows people to take

initiative and responsibility

fosters quality customer service

values diversity with little emphasis on status

values consultation, strong communication and listening

encourages creativity.



© ANTA 2004

It is your role as team leader to determine whether your team culture is

contributing positively to the effectiveness of the team.

When you have observed the team, you might discover that part of the

reason the team is not functioning well is because the things it values are not

in keeping with the spirit of cooperation and team effort.

You must foster cooperation among team members — because in a team, it

is important that members work for the common good rather than for

themselves. The work must be shared equally and they must work towards a

common goal. So it is important that reward systems and related processes

reinforce this type of behaviour. High levels of cooperation lead to

productivity, commitment and social competence. In contrast, competition

may not be quite so effective.

#1 - Assessment Task

1. Examine your team’s culture. Does it promote cooperation?

Answer:

There are a number of strategies you can use to help create a positive team

culture. Some of these are noted below:

re-tell stories that reinforce positive team values, for example stories about

how an important client was retained because of quick action by team

members

positively reward and reinforce team behaviours that foster cooperation —

recognise team efforts in meetings, and give the members something

symbolic to recognise their efforts. This could be a certificate, movie

passes, a special lunch or just a cake at morning tea. In one organisation,

one team achieved amazing results and at that time the manager did not

have anything to give them as a reward, so he pulled his lunch out of the

drawer and gave the team his banana in recognition for their efforts. From

then on, the golden banana award became the highest reward for team

achievement in that organisation!

celebrate successes

role model desired behaviours

be a participative leader

promote a sense of fun and humour — this helps communication and

cooperation.



© ANTA 2004


2. What strategies can you use in your team to promote a positive team culture?

Answer:

Leadership theories What makes an effective leader? A lot of research has been completed to

answer this question. Since the beginning of the twentieth century,

researchers began to develop early leadership theories that focused on the

leader, how the leader interacted with the team and defining a leadership

style to suit the situation. To understand how our understanding of

leadership has developed, here is a brief explanation of these three theories.

Trait theory

A number of theories have been developed about leadership. Probably the

earliest theory was the one called ‘trait leadership’. This was based on the

idea that certain personal qualities make a good leader. In other words, a

good leader is born not made.

The problem with this theory was that there was little agreement about

which qualities were important or relevant. In some organisations, effective

leaders were quiet and restrained, in others they were assertive and decisive.

Despite these reservations, the qualities approach can be quite appealing

because there are some attributes that are necessary for all team leaders,

such as the ability to conceptualise the sorts of problems you could

encounter at work.

Behavioural theory

This theory defined two basic functions for leaders — they must be able to

manage human relations as well as the task at hand.

The idea was that these two categories — interpersonal relations and task

achievement — should be maximised for effective leadership. Although,

there may be situations where one skill might need to be emphasised to a

greater extent that another. Advocates of this approach suggest that effective

leaders are high scoring on task management and high scoring on people

management.

One problem with this approach is that most people have a tendency

towards one category more than the other.



© ANTA 2004

Another problem with this approach is that the two dimensions might be

mutually incompatible. For example, tension may exist between achieving

the task and looking after the welfare of staff. There may even be different

expectations. Senior colleagues may view only the outcomes as important

and not worry about anything else. Team members may expect concern for

their well being and working conditions.

If you are a team leader in this situation, you may find it difficult to manage

the tension created by conflicting demands.

Contingency theory

Contingency theory, unlike the above theories, states that there is no one

best way. Rather, leadership style depends on the interrelationship between

the leader, the team members and the situation. An important feature of this

approach is that leaders can change their behaviour to fit the situation.

How is the team leader’s influence measured in contingency theory? Two

factors come into play — the quality of relations and the level of informal

authority. The leader’s personality and behaviour are key determinants of

relations between the leader and the team.

Similarly, in the behavioural approach, the leader needs to find a balance

between concentrating on the task and concentrating on the interpersonal

relationships between the team.

1. Task behaviour is concerned with defining roles and responsibilities. It is

concerned with the what, when, where, how and with whom of each task.

2. Relationship behaviour on the other hand, is more concerned with

maintaining personal relationships between the leader and the team as well

as between team members.

It is important to become aware of your leadership style so that you can

adjust it to the situation if necessary. Some leaders find it very difficult to

modify their style even when they know the situation demands it. For

example some may find it difficult to reduce their task-oriented approach

when a more relationship style is called for.

Further reading

Cole, K (2001) Supervision The theory and practice of first-line

management. Prentice Hall: Sydney, Ch 2 pp 606-624, and/or

Robbins, S, Bergman, R, Stagg, I & Coulter, M (2003) Management. 3rd

Edition. Prentice Hall: Sydney, Ch 16 pp 482-502.

These books talk about different approaches to leadership (leadership

theories, or ways of thinking about being a manager):

trait approach – these theories say you need certain traits or qualities to

be a manager, eg confidence, intelligence, initiative

behavioural approach – these theories often put managers into categories

according to how the manager behaves, eg authoritarian or democratic



© ANTA 2004

situational approach – these theories say that effective managers vary

their leadership style to suit the situation (also called the contingency

approach)

Think about how these approaches provide guidelines to how you interact

with your team, and solve problems in the workplace.

Team dynamics

How team members relate to each other and to you as the team leader has a

big impact on the effectiveness of the team’s operation.

Behaviour can influence not only performance, but also the degree of

satisfaction that members get from working in the team.

Studies have shown that team members take up a number of roles in the

team — some have a positive influence and others have a negative

influence.

There are two types of team roles:

maintenance role — this is concerned with exploring, searching, creating

and contacting

task role — this is concerned with detail, precision, standards, rules and

planning.

The table below summarises some of the different types of roles members

may undertake in a team.

Table: Summary of team roles

Task roles Maintenance roles Destructive roles

Brainstormer

Expert

Judge

Devil’s advocate

Representative

Implementer

Chairperson

Secretary/Note taker

Encourager

Peacemaker

Tension-reliever

Confronter

Husher

Recognition seeker

Victim

Blocker

Distractor

Aggressor

If you have an imbalance of roles within your team, then you have a

problem. Too many members taking up task roles will result in the work

getting done, but at the cost of interpersonal relations. And if there are too

many members taking up maintenance roles, then the members will feel

good about being in the team but often at the expense of the task.


3. Think about the different people you work with. Do they offer different things to

your team? List the different ways that they contribute.



© ANTA 2004

Answer:


4. What would you do if you had an imbalance of roles in your team but you could

not change the team membership in any way?

Answer:

Personalities

We often think of people we know as having very different personalities —

and the way we interact with different people will often depend on their

personality and ours.

A tool called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® is based on this idea.

People answer a series of questions and a consultant helps them come to a

better understanding of their own 'personality type'. People can then focus

on how to use this information to improve the way they interact with the

people around them.

We're not suggesting that you take this test, but it is a good idea to have a

quick look at the 'personality types' it describes. This will help you to

appreciate the vast range of personalities you are dealing with as a team

leader, and the different things people bring to a team.

It can also help you to think about your own personal style, and how you

may need to adapt it to different situations that come up.

Myers-Briggs uses personality-level descriptions:

extrovert/introvert

sensors/intuition

thinking/feeling

judgment/perception.

Where do you fit in with these descriptions? Where do the people around

you fit in?

Extrovert/introvert

What does an extrovert personality mean? An extrovert:



© ANTA 2004

has an outgoing personality

is a live wire

is assertive

is gregarious (sociable, expressive).

Extroverts like variety and action. They will often act quickly, sometimes

without thinking. They are friendly and easy to get to know. They often seek

out the company of others to talk things through.

What does an introvert personality mean? An introvert is:

a shy person

a quiet achiever

a loner.

Introverts like quiet concentration, think before acting and are reserved and

hard to get to know. They can be seen to be withdrawn and will choose to

spend time alone.

Where do you think you fit in? What about the people you work with?

Sensing/intuition

Sensors are usually well organised, good at getting things started and

converting ideas into action.

Intuitors like to imagine possibilities. They are good at generating ideas

and creating the big picture, but they tend to overlook details. Their

hunches, or intuition, are often correct.

Are you a sensor or an intuitor? What about the people you work with?

Thinking/feeling

Thinkers like to think things through before acting. They:

put things in logical order and predict logical outcomes of choice

are tough minded and are prone to upsetting others, without being aware of

what they have done

can be perceived as arrogant or cold.

Thinkers are methodical. They enjoy analysing problems and are best

working with facts and figures.

Feelers are more in tune with what others are feeling. They:

like harmony and see things according to their personal values and gut

reactions

are warm and outgoing

work best in groups because they are perceptive about people’s moods,

feelings and reactions

dislike telling people unpleasant things.



© ANTA 2004

Are you a thinker or a feeler? What about your staff, your boss, your

clients?

Judgment/perception

Judges work best when:

following a plan

they can see they will get things settled and finished

they are coordinating tasks and meeting deadlines.

However, judges are often seen as rigid and inflexible.

Perceptors are people who:

enjoy flexibility in their work and are curious about everything

adapt well to changing circumstances — although they may procrastinate

they can get things done quickly

can also be seen as disorganised and purposeless in their approach to tasks.

There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ personalities. The point of talking about

personality types is to improve your relationships with people. If you are

aware of what personality types your team members are, you are in a better

position to communicate with them effectively.


5. Think about your own interpersonal style. You'll probably find that you see a bit

of yourself in more than just one of the descriptions above.

How can you adapt your interpersonal style for different situations that come up at

work? Or for different people that you deal with?

Answer:

Barriers to team cohesion

Developing team cohesion involves developing unity within your team,

creating an environment where relationships are generally harmonious and

team members work effectively together. For a team to develop cohesion, its

team members need to:

spend enough time together to create bonds between them

have a similarity of goals and attitudes.



© ANTA 2004

How well a group bonds together depends on cooperation and the ability of

members to appreciate the diversity of the team’s talents and abilities. We

do know, however, that when a group of people gets together, conflict often

results.

Conflict is an inevitable part of team life. It results from the uniqueness of

each person — regardless of how compatible people may be there will

always be times when one’s ideas, actions, needs or goals do not match the

rest of the team. Yet, if positively used, conflict can be beneficial to the

team’s productivity and cohesion.

It is important for you, as team leader,to be able to identify the types of

conflict in the team that are preventing it from working cooperatively. If you

deal with conflict effectively, you will increase team loyalty and cohesion.

There are various types of conflict that create barriers to team cohesion.

They can be summarised in two categories:

1. people conflicts

2. team conflicts.

People conflicts

Interpersonal conflicts can be very destructive to the team’s performance.

They can arise from stereotyping, priority clashes, poor communication

patterns, different personality types, diversity of team members and power

plays.

These might arise when there are disagreements over:

facts (people are aware of the facts but interpret them different ways)

goals (people may disagree over team direction or targets they are expected

to achieve)

methods (people fail to agree on ‘how’ the task is being done)

values (people have fundamental differences between what is right and

wrong).

Team conflicts

These conflicts can arise because inadequacies in organisational conditions.

Team conflict may arise because of:

unclear goals. If goals and direction are not clear, team members could

easily fall into conflict about what needs to be done and by whom

limited resources including technology

lack of participation in decision making

poor communication

poor policy and procedures that create inequalities.



© ANTA 2004


6. Look at your workplace and list the areas where your team might have conflict.

List some strategies you could use to prevent the conflict starting in the first place.

Answer:

Code of conduct

At times it may be necessary if the team has difficulty dealing with

differences to construct a code of conduct. This lays out how people should

relate to each other and what will happen if they don’t follow the code of

conduct.

It is important that the whole team agrees on what should be in the code of

conduct. All team members should sign off against it.

Some of the topics in a code of conduct might include:

professional and appropriate behaviour

respect of people and property

prevention of unlawful discrimination and harassment

bullying

fairness and equity

communication with co-workers.

Resolving conflict

As a team leader you will need to carefully monitor your team so that you

can recognise potential conflicts and deal with them. This means resolving

any misunderstandings before they escalate to full flown conflicts.

One effective way for you to resolve conflict is by collaboration.

Collaboration brings conflicting parties together to work out their problems.

This channels people’s energies into finding a solution rather than spending

their energies fighting each other.

You can use the following problem-solving steps to resolve conflict

between team members.



© ANTA 2004

Applying the steps for problem-solving to dealing with conflict between team

members

Problem-solving step Problem-solving skills

Helping your team members to resolve conflict

1. PROBLEM Describe the problem

Identify the outcome

you want

Ask for help

Admit the conflict exists — this is

the first step for those involved to

recognise there is a problem and

bring it into the open.

Confront the problem — this

involves defining the problem and

teasing out the relevant issues. Each

person involved must get a chance

to present the problem how they

see it.

2. SOLUTION Develop options

Consider the

consequences

Make the decision

Develop an action plan

Brainstorm — generate possible

solutions and search for a mutually

acceptable one.

Select an option — it is best to

select an option based on objective

and agreed on criteria eg, fairness

to both parties, effects on the other

team members, etc.

3. REVIEW Ask yourself how it’s

going and when it’s

finished, how it went.

Look positively towards the

future — capitalise on any positive

feelings. Discussion about how

similar conflicts can be avoided in

the future could also be appropriate

here.


7. Think about a conflict currently facing your team. Write down the steps you

would need to take to start resolving the conflict.



© ANTA 2004

Answer:

Strategies for decision making

Decisions and decision-making are central to organisational life and

success, and teams are inevitably involved in solving problems and making

decisions. Not all decisions are of equal importance. There are basically

three types of decisions:

1. Everyday decisions — are relatively simple because of their routine

nature.

2. Crisis decisions — require quick, precise action and need to be made

almost immediately.

3. Complex decisions — often involve change and so debate, disagreement

and sometimes conflict are necessary. They often need to generate a

number of alternatives.

Many team leaders or supervisors have problems about making decisions.

For example, many team leaders:

do not think things through carefully enough, failing to anticipate the

consequences of their decisions

want to blame someone rather than solve the problem

have experienced a number of failures so they tend to give up or avoid

making decisions

may be in a very structured work environment, which can prevent

innovative and creative decision-making

think they have to be resolute and decisive, and so reflection and

consideration are not valued.

A collaborative approach to decision making has many positive outcomes, but

keep in mind that sometimes it may not be necessary to involve the team. You

can make a decision without consulting your team when the problem:

is easily defined

has clear boundaries

is not ambiguous

is dependant on facts not values.

What decision-making strategies can you use to make decisions? On the one

hand, we have the autocratic decision that only involves the leader. On the

other, is consensus which means a decision cannot be reached until all

members agree.



© ANTA 2004

Autocratic — a decision is made by the leader and communicated to the

team

Final say — discussion-generated solutions are allowed by the team leader

who has a final say on which one will be implemented

Elite group — only selected members of the team are involved in the

decision making process

Consultancy — the leader makes a tentative decision and then presents it

to the rest of the team for discussion and input

Majority rules — all members are involved in the decision making

process and have an equal vote. The decision with the most votes is

implemented

Consensus — voting is not allowed, but a decision cannot be made until

all team members agree on the decision to be implemented.


8. Think about how decisions are made in your team. Are the decision-making

strategies the most appropriate for the type of decision to be made?

Answer:

More resources If you're keen to find out more about this topic, look for these books in your

local library.

Hackett, D & Martin, CL (1993) Facilitation skills for team leaders. Crisp

Publications Inc: Menlo Park, California.

Stott, K & Walker, A (1995) Teams, teamwork & teambuilding: The

manager’s complete guide to TEAMS in organisations. Prentice Hall:

Sydney.

Welbourn, M (1941) Understanding teams. Pearson Education Australia:

Sydney.

Video

Quarry Peter (1992) People skills — Team building. Ash Quarry

Productions: Victoria.

Documents

Encourage teamwork – Content guideonline.aoi.edu.au/.../1360185634ENCOURAGE_TEAMWORK.pdf · leadership has developed, here is a brief explanation of these three theories. Trait