TeambuidlingSamples and guide

What is a team and why does it need to be „build“ and “developed”?

■ Teams often develop their own dynamics, which can have both a positive (motivating) and negative (pulling each other down) effect. Be aware of it and lead the team to the right direction.

■ „Team Development“ means the frequent critical analysis and optimization of the team operation mode, the role distribution, the behavior of the team members towards each other as well the work processes in the team.

■ “Team Building” usually means activities which are meant to establish a “Team feeling” and to bring the individuals closer to each other, often done at the beginning. During “Team Building” Activities, the team does things totally unrelated to their usual tasks.

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“Teams are groups of people that personally get engaged in working together towards a common goal.”

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TeambuildingImportant aspect of good project working

An example for a teambuilding activity: Outdoor-training

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TeambuildingA simple exercise

Use a 2 meter long stick or bar.

Participants build up two lines, two rows on the left and right side of the bar. Face to face.

Take their index finger and build up something like a zipper by holding them in an alternate row between.

Lay the bar on the row of fingers in a high of 1,5 m and participants being it down to the ground.

The only condition: never loose the contact to the bar. No gap between fingers and the bar.

Behavior of team members can be characterized by certain „Team Roles“

■ People take on different roles during teamwork, depending on their personality and their expertise, and to some extend also of the others personality.

■ While these roles differ from each other in terms of type of contribution, all of them are important and can be valuable for successful team work

■ People can have different roles in different teams

■ A balanced mix of roles is important

■ Identification of roles can be done either by observation (externally) or by the team members themselves with the help of certain questionnaires, such as “The Belbin Team Inventory

■ One of the most well known Team Role Model is by Dr. Meredith Belbin

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Belbin Team Roles

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OverallBelbin roles

Description

Doing / acting

Implementer Well-organized and predictable. Takes basic ideas and makes them work in practice. Can be slow.

Shaper Lots of energy and action, challenging others to move forwards. Can be insensitive.

Completer / Finisher

Reliably sees things through to the end, ironing out the wrinkles and ensuring everything works well. Can worry too much and not trust others.

Thinking / problem-solving

PlantSolves difficult problems with original and creative ideas. Can be poor communicator and may ignore the details.

Monitor / Evaluator

Sees the big picture. Thinks carefully and accurately about things. May lack energy or ability to inspire others.

SpecialistHas expert knowledge/skills in key areas and will solve many problems here. Can be disinterested in all other areas.

People / feelings

Coordinator Respected leader who helps everyone focus on their task. Can be seen as excessively controlling.

Team workerCares for individuals and the team. Good listener and works to resolve social problems. Can have problems making difficult decisions.

Resource / Investigator

Explores new ideas and possibilities with energy and with others. Good networker. Can be too optimistic and lose energy after the initial flush.

Team Development starts with Team Staffing

■ So the most important step in Team Development is the good staffing of the team members to start with. There are three main criteria to consider: The functional expertise (needed for achieving the teams goals) The ability and willingness to cooperate and communicate between the (potential) team

members Team size (ideally 5 to 7 people, more becomes increasingly difficult)

■ Also, Belbin suggests, that to be successful, every team should have: One Co-ordinator or Shaper (not both) for leader A Plant to stimulate ideas A Monitor/evaluator to maintain honesty and clarity One or more Implementer, Team worker, Resource investigator or Completer/finisher to

make things happen

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“With teams it‘s just like with a good photo, while you can try to fix many things later on, the best results you‘ll still get with a good original.”

Success Factors for Teamwork

■ Clarification - team goals, task and role distribution between need to be clear for the team members

■ Positive attitude - talk not just about bad things, but also, and always first, about what works well and shall be kept

■ Openness and honesty - to solve problems it is necessary that team members are able to talk openly about their issues

■ Cooperative attitude - the team depends on the contribution and motivation of all team members, so during team work, team members need to talk „eye to eye“ to each other, regardless of hierarchies outside of the team work

■ No personal attacks - dislikes can be expressed by explaining how one feels in certain situations, rather than accusing others.

■ Be consequent - realization of measures that are the result of problem analysis

■ Inclusiveness - especially for team development activities, all members need to be present, otherwise it‘s impossible to reach a common work basis.

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The Team-Development WorkshopOverview

1.) Preparation (Why are we here? How to we want to proceed?)

2.) Description of As-Is Situation (What‘s good? What‘s not so good? Collect views and thoughts of ALL team members)

3.) Analysis of As-Is (Identify central topics, discuss reasons for and relations between projects)

4.) Development of solutions (Collect ideas. Substantiate promising ideas, develop alternatives)

5.) Decision (Rate solution options (pros/cons), decide for certain measures and make agreements)

6.) Decide on realisation (Who does what till when? When and how is it checked if successfull?

7.) Closing (How does everyone see the results? Was achieved what planned? How was the quality of dialogs perceived? With what feelings does everyone go home?

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The Team-Development WorkshopGuide for As-Is Analysis (1/2)

Organization Structure Are the tasks distributed correctly? Do we have common understanding of the functions and roles (of the team, the leader, the

roles)? Are there tasks that are not done well or not at all?

Work Processes How is the output seen, the team performance in general? How is the team performance seen from the outside? What works well? Where do always issues/conflicts occur? What do we have to change or organize better?

Management Instruments What management instruments do we have? Which are supporting the work, which are rather obstacles? What instruments do we miss and should be installed? Which do we have, but don‘t use?

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The Team-Development WorkshopGuide for As-Is Analysis (2/2)

Communication How well does communication / information flow / meetings work? Does everyone feel „up to date“? Is the communication open? Does everyone just meet during work situation or also privately?

Leadership Who takes on which leadership roles? Are there important leadership tasks that no one takes care of? How is the current leadership style seen? Are there specific desires towards the leadership?

Cooperation Is cooperation open or does everyone mainly take care of themselves? Do the team members help each other out? Does everyone feel supported, accepted and taken serious?

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Summary

■ Teams are complex social bodies that need care and attention to work well

■ Project Team Assessment or the Belbin Inventory can help to learn more about the team and it‘s members

■ Awareness of different team roles already during staffing, but also later during the teams work are essential to form good teams and to help the individuals see their place and contribution to the team. It is important that each individual understands that contribution is not only the bright idea or the leadership in discussion, but there are many other (social) roles with vital contributions to the teams success

■ It is important to every once in a while get together for a team development workshop, discussing issues and working on improving the team to resolve blockades eventually preventing the team from being successful or utilizing its fully potential. Optionally but often well received is the combination with Team Building Activities.

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