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 teamshave interdependent memberscan outperform even the best

individual’s performancedo not always have the same leaderhave members that care about each

othercheer & encourage each otherhave 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

FormingConformingStormingPerforming

FormingQuestions regarding

expectations, goals, leadership & responsibilities

Uncertainty & discomfortNeed for direction, clarity &

structure

ConformingFocus on becoming

unifiedDifferentiation of rolesCooperationRelationship building

StormingDisagreements & competitionDisagreements with the leaderTesting normsExpressions of individuality

Performing

Awareness of team’s competencePursuit of continuous

improvementMutual trustCommitment

Team roles

RecorderGatekeeperDevil’s advocateTimekeeper/TaskmasterEncourager

RecorderShould 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.

GatekeeperWe 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 facilitatingRelationship

buildingBlocking

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

facilitatingtension relievingharmonizing

Blocking roles

DominatingPulling rankStallingSide 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 invulnerabilityshared stereotypesrationalizationself 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 advocateOpen discussion -- equal

participationOutside experts“Second chance” meetingSubgroups

How to have effective meetings?

PurposePlanProcess

Purpose

Why have the meeting?To share informationTo disseminate informationTo building commitmentTo make decisions

Planning

Prepare an agendaDistribute pre-meeting informationSet 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