Chapter-18: Team Building

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Chapter-18 Team Building

• 18.1 Define an effective team
• 18.2 Recruiting team members
• 18.3 Building Team
• 18.4 Managing for Results
• 18.5 Training and development
• 18.6 The HR function

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18.1 Define an effective team

• A department within a company
• individuals within a department
• team goals ? personal goals
• supporting team members does not mean doing their
  share of the work for the mutual good of the
  whole team
• No two members of the team are alike they
  complement each other and work as one entity in
  the joint task which they are performing
• Team a small number of people with
  complementary skills who are committed to a
  common purpose, set of performance goals, and
  approach for which they hold themselves mutually
  accountable.
• A team is not just a group of people working
  together

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working group ? team

• a working group is driven by individual goals and
  measures, whereas a team focuses on team goals
  and mutual accountability
• Different professors having research in Optics
• Teams must have measurable goals, whereas this is
  not essential for working groups
• The methods of arriving at solutions so vary
  between a team and a working group
• conflict may frequently occur in a team which is
  striving to arrive at the most optimum solution.
  However, once this agreed solution has been
  obtained conflict is removed and the team commits
  to the result

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18.1.1 Stages of Development

• three distinct stages
• Drifting stage
• individuals come together and get to know each
  other
• official role which each individual plays within
  the team is defined
• The interests of individual team members are
  placed before those of the team as a whole
• Gelling stage
• Like minded individuals form into small groups
• Each group starts to develop its own identity
  under an unofficial leader
• unofficial leader may be dangerous, if
  self-interest comes first
• Unison stage
• whole team is behaving as a single, highly
  organized body, under a single leader
• interests of the team match those of the
  individuals and there is no goal conflict

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18.1.2 Team Characteristics

• An effective team has several key
  characteristics
• Highly efficient and results oriented
• High level of energy and enthusiasm within the
  team
• All team members committed to the tasks being
  performed
• Interdependency between individual members in
  achieving common goals
• Sense of purpose the team knows what it has to
  achieve
• There is an excellent working atmosphere of trust
  and mutual support
• Conflicts are resolved and lead to better
  solutions
• The team has a strong leader who uses a
  participative leadership style to gain commitment
  and share responsibility

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18.1.3 Team Membership

• Different members play different role
• Process managers usually managers or leaders of
  the team who have to keep things moving along.
• Conceptual Thinkers teams source of new and
  original ideas
• Radicals who propose new approaches to problem
  solving
• Technicians usually the specialists on the
  subject
• Harmonizers whose main aim is to ensure that
  there is good feeling and a sense of harmony
  between team members
• Planners or Implementers who drive for
  completion of team goals
• Facilitators ready to provide help and support
  wherever needed
• Critical observers stand back and observe the
  team their activity is essential in keeping the
  teams feet firmly on the ground, and stopping it
  from pursuing misguided objectives
• Politicians or power seekers who believe to be
  always right and aim to influence others usually
  responsible for shaping the teams views and
  moving them towards their common goal
• Salespeople or diplomats

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18.2 Recruiting team members

• people are a companys greatest asset
• get the best people to fill the positions in the
  team
• It is wrong to assume that the best team consists
  of like minded individuals
• Every team needs a mix of personality types and
  experiences, and this include a mix of ages
• Teams should be built from volunteers
• The team leader should ensure that the team is
  composed of suitable members, and not people who
  have been moved from their present jobs because
  they were misfit or could be spared by their
  current functions

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18.2.1 Defining the Job

• Some managers do not have a clear idea of the job
  requirements and tend to mould them around
  promising candidates
• define each job to achieve the task, not to
  expect the job to change to meet the candidate
• correctly structure the team so that the job
  meets two important criteria
• All jobs should be defined so that they can be
  performed by the average, well motivated, person
  with the right qualifications and skills. It is
  often mistaken belief that an over-qualified
  person will do the job more effectively. Such a
  person will also be more expensive to recruit,
  leading to mismatches in salary within the team
• the job should be enriched, allowing scope for
  creatively, and not just the made more difficult

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18.2.2 Attracting Candidates

• Candidates may be recruited internally, from
  within the company, or externally
• an ideal team would consist of a mix of existing
  staff and new recruits
• Several factors need to be considered when
  recruiting from outside the organizations
• The compositions of the job advertisement
• The method for advertising the job
• The use of recruitment agents and head-hunters
• carry out campus recruitment
• Lectures and professors should be invited to
  visit the companys plant
• lectures of industry experts to undergraduates

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18.2.3 Selection Criteria

• Six factors to have a set of defined selection
  criteria against which to measure candidates
• Generally health and physical fitness
• Impact on others
• Acquired knowledge and sills
• Innate abilities (e.g. quickness in adapting to
  new tasks)
• Motivation (self-starters)
• Emotional adjustment (ability of candidates to
  stand up to stress at work)
• Manager to decide, which factor is more important
  
• Maximize strengths within a team rather than
  minimizing weakness
• Technically expert but non social worker may be
  encouraged to become the thinker of the group

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18.2.4 The selection process

• hit and miss affair, with no guarantee that the
  most suitable person will be chosen
• Several techniques are available to help the
  manger in the selection process,
• The application form information, but no
  judgment of expertise etc
• Psychological testing provide an indication of
  the candidates personality types and the roles
  which they are most likely to adopt within a team
  
• Assessment groups the candidates have to go
  through group and individual exercises
• Selection Interview ????????

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18.3 Building Team

• the real team building work begins, with the
  definition of team goals
• Select team members to meet the task requirements
  (each person should bring some special skill or
  strength to the team)
• Ensure that during the formation stage every
  opportunity is taken to get people to work
  together and to mix socially
• adopt a participative leadership style in goal
  setting decision making
• Build trust first and work with the team in
  formulating detailed goals and tasks
• Ensure that all team members have the same
  interests and aims
• Jobs may overlap but responsibilities must be
  defined
• work load in the team must be evenly distributed
  
• Identify group norms (which is what the group
  accepts as normal behavior)
• Ensure there are measures of success associated
  with each task
• Show the importance of the work being done by the
  team, to the organization, senior managers and
  publicize

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18.3.1 Creativity

• Creativity is normally considered to be the
  ability to produce new and useful results
• Creative people normally have the following
  characteristics
• are usually non-conformist (unconventional)
  sometimes considered to be difficult to mange
• want to be original and deliberately look for
  different solutions to problems
• able to think laterally around problems
• approach all problems with curiosity
• have lots of ideas, many of which may not be
  practical
• have a high level of confidence in their ability
  and prefer to work on their own with minimum
  supervision

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Creativity

• To encourage creativity in the team, a creative
  environment is essential, as follows
• A flat organization should be used to ensure that
  the level of supervision is reduced
• Creative members should be given the opportunity
  to spend less time on activities such as
  administration.
• The team should be encouraged to accept those
• There should be good facilities for study and
  research
• Individual creativity should be encouraged,
  recognized and rewarded as the ideas always
  start with an individual and are then developed
  by the team

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18.4 Managing for Results

• To obtain the highest level of performance from
  the team, each team member must have the
  following information
• Clear targets, so that they know what is expected
  of them. In setting targets any constraints must
  be taken into account and the levels of
  responsibility clearly defined.
• Clear standards of performance, along with the
  methods used to measure the targets.
• A system of feedback, so that team members know
  the progress which is being made.
• Managing by Objectives (MBO) is a targets setting
  and measurement technique to mange teams. Here
  the superior and subordinate jointly identify the
  subordinates major areas of responsibility in
  terms of results expected, and use these for
  operating the unit and for assessing the
  contribution made by each of its members

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18.4.1 Target setting

• Any target setting operation has the objective of
  moving the corporate strategy to the individual
  level
• There may be year on year improvement in targets
  and goals by changes in technology, training and
  perception
• Targets or objectives within the MBO must have
  the following characteristics
• They should be significant and not trivial
  (unimportant)
• They must be results oriented
• They should be very clearly specified and
  understood by both the manger and subordinate
• Targets should be documented and singed by the
  manger and the subordinate
• Subordinates should have been involved in
  developing their targets.
• The targets should be attainable within the time
  frame specified and with the resources available
• The targets should be measurable, so that
  subordinates know whether they have succeeded and
  how well they have done

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18.4.2 Reviews

• Reviews may deal with tasks or activities and
  may also be concerned with individual and team
  performance
• The day-to-day informal review
• Management by Walk About (MWA)
• Meeting at lunch etc
• Formal reviews, held regularly at frequent
  intervals
• such as a weekly progress report/presentation, in
  a formal or informal meeting
• personal issues may also be discussed
• Formal annual review
• usually a personal appraisal (assessment),
  discussed next

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Personal Appraisal

• stress for both the subordinate and the manager
• probably the most important task which a manager
  can do
• will build a strong bond between the manager and
  the subordinate
• May be a formal form which needs to be completed
  at the appraisal interview (uniform process)
• provides a record for future promotions and
  protect the company against a charge of
  unfairness or discrimination
• can be given to subordinates as their personal
  targets for the next period
• accumulation of the performance against
  individual targets will have to be weighted
• appraisal method based on targets may indicate
  how well subordinates have done their present
  job, but dont not show whether they have the
  qualities for promotion to another job

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Personal Appraisal

• main activities at the appraisal meeting
• personal targets ? team goals or corporate
  objectives
• Following performance assessment the
  opportunities open for the subordinate are
  discussed. These include
• training, coaching and assignment to widen the
  subordinates experience
• Rewards, such as promotion or salary increases
• Actual salary increments, however, usually depend
  on the overall rating of other staff, and the
  total pot of money available for the next period
• Agree the subordinates targets for the next
  period

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Counseling

• manager provides the subordinate with feedback on
  performance and discusses strengths and
  weaknesses
• Three methods may be used in counseling
• The tell and sell method
• managers views on the subordinates performances
  and future plans are thrown to ..
• subordinates have no opportunity for commenting
  the assessment
• leaves the subordinate with a sense of
  frustration and injustice
• He may consider the appraisal meeting as a
  vehicle for fault finding

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Counseling

• The tell and listen method
• Managers give their views and then ask the
  subordinates to comment
• the subordinate is expected to agree with ..
• puts the subordinate on the defensive
• The ask and discussion method
• managers adopt the role of helpers
• manager is sharing ideas with the subordinate and
  is not just giving advice
• Helps to identify the subordinates strengths and
  how these can be better utilized
• builds a strong bond between them and provides a
  very effective counseling technique
• Manager must avoid the danger of .

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Managing Conflict

• caused by an incompatibility of goals, interests
  and ideas
• can occur between individuals or between groups
• can occurs in appraisal or counseling situations
  between the manager and subordinate
• must be accepted as a fact of life within an
  organization can often be very useful
• lose-lose situation if conflict resolved using
  authority or ignoring it. neither one is happy
• Win-lose situation if manger takes sides
• Resolving the conflict is dependent on the
  characteristics of the people involved

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Managing Conflictin the following ways

• Avoidance if the two parties recognize and pull
  away from the brink
• Negotiation both parties look for compromise,
  (if both parties)
• Confrontation two parties head on, if the two
  are equally matched,
• If one is clearly much stronger, the other will
  withdraw gracefully
• for equally matched parties confrontation helps
  to define the problem and the differences sharply
  (can either adopt an avoidance mode of a
  negotiation mode)
• if they both share the same goals, they will
  collaborate to come up with a joint solution.
  This is the best resolution of conflict, leading
  to a true win-win situation

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18.5 Training and development

• Various reasons for training
• To improve performance in the present job
• To ensure that subordinate is ready for some
  future position. (educational)
• To ensure that all team members share a common
  vocabulary
• To ensure that team member have the same basic
  knowledge
• Because the advertising leaflet on the course
  looks good (person who can be spared)

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The aim of all training and development programs
are

• To provide the student with knowledge
• A specialist knows more and more about less and
  less and A generalist knows less and less about
  more and more
• To develop specific skills in the student
• To affect the students attitudes and values
• difficult to do, since attitudes have been build
  up over many years
• Courses which aim to change attitude are best
  held away from the normal work environment
• likely to take a relatively long time

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18.5.2 Self Development

• People cannot be taught they must learn
• A person must be motivated to train or develop
  Several activities need to be carried out
• Planning, to determine the areas which need
  improvement
• Selection of the triaging or development methods
• Making time for self development
• Seeking feedback
• Creating opportunities for self development
• Interest not directly related to ones work are
  also useful for self development. Examples are
  joining the local committee of ones professional
  institute presenting papers at conferences and
  acting as a visiting lecturer in a local college

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18.5.3 Learning theories

• studies dealt with conditioned behavior showed
  that a dog could be conditioned to perform
  certain actions at the expectation of food
• John Watson postulated that human behavior can be
  defined in terms of two items
• a stimulus (any change in environment )
• a response (behavioral reaction to the stimulus)
• Operant conditioning learning theory, in which
  behaviour is obtained, eliminated or maintained
  depending on the outcome of the behaviour carried
  out. For example, if every time engineers make
  suggestions, they receive a negative response
  from their managers, then they will learn not to
  make suggestions

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18.5.4 Learning and development methods

• Education teaches the student to be confident in
  an uncertain environment
• It must be learned and cannot be taught
• Training is usually applied to a much more
  specific aim and environment,
• and it can be taught
• Common techniques for management training
• Classroom lectures Programmed learning
• Case Studies Role planning
• Business games
• Sensitivity training or T-Groups
• Job rotation Job shadowing

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18.6 The HR function

• HR is usually responsible for
• Being aware of legislation and making sure that
  the company works within these in all its actions
  
• All industrial relations matters, such as
  negotiations with .
• Setting policies on terms and conditions of
  employment
• All health and safety matters
• Talking the lead in organization matters and
  ensuring that the company exhibits organizational
  effectiveness.
• Administrating the companys grievance and
  disciplinary procedures
• Internal communications within the organization
• Assisting the line manager on personnel matters

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Assignments

• Device a form for the personal appraisal of your
  staff. Elaborate each point
• What are the possible reasons of conflict between
  individuals
• What are the possible reasons of conflict between
  groups