Teams and Team Development Putting the Pieces Together '''

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Teams and Team DevelopmentPutting the Pieces
Together ...
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Teams
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Ingredients for a Successful Team

• Ingredient Module
• Clearly Defined Team Objectives, Scope, Team
  Charter
• Roles Responsibilities, Key Activities,
• Key Deliverables, Critical Success
• Factors, Metrics, Risks, and
• Boundaries
• Clearly Defined Meeting Guidelines Meeting
  Effectiveness
• Cooperative, Committed, and Trusted Climate Team
  Effectiveness
• Clear, Effective, Constructive Communication
  Plan
• Communication
• Understanding of Problem Solving
  Techniques Problem Solving
• Well-defined Decision-making Processes Meeting
  Effectiveness Decision Making
• Understanding of Conflict Resolution Conflict
  Resolution
• Techniques
• Awareness of Diversity Issues Diversity
• Understanding of Proper Coaching
  Techniques Coaching

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What is a team?
A team is a group of people who must collaborate
to achieve common goals, and who assume
responsibility for the functioning and
performance of the group.
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Differences Between Teams and Work Groups
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Characteristics of High Performing Teams
There are seven components which distinguish high
performing teams from teams that experience
problems ...
Definition
Component
Potential Issues If Missing
Component
1. Clarity in Team Goals 2. Clearly Defined
Roles 3. Clear Communication 4. Well
Defined Decision Procedures
Groups often assume their goals are clear and
then later experience mistakes due to
confusion. Goals need to be specific,
attainable, and well communicated. To clearly
define roles of a team, you need to design
formal roles and responsibilities, set clear
boundaries for each role, design job team
responsibilities that use each members talents
and rotate general roles. Clear communication
exists when team members speak with clarity and
directness, listen actively, explore ideas rather
than argue over them, openly share information
provide constructive feedback not
criticism. When teams develop effective
decision making procedures they explore
important issues by polling members, decide
important issues by consensus, use high quality
data as a basis for decisions, agree who will
make what decisions.
When team goals are not clear, potential
troubles may include frequent disagreement
about next steps, frustration at the lack of
progress and excessive questioning of
group decisions and actions. When there are no
clearly defined roles the skills of team members
will not be fully utilized. There may be
confusion over which team member has a specific
task and some may get more than their share of
tedious chores. Teams with poor communication
have members who have a tendency to withhold
information, discount others ideas and opinions
and cover up true feelings. Without
well-defined decision making procedures, teams
find it difficult to break out of the old
orientation of being told what to do as opposed
to deciding for themselves.
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Characteristics of High Performing Teams Continued
The seven components continued ...
Definition
Component
Potential Issues If Missing
5. Established Ground Rules 6. Balanced
Participation 7. Improvement Plan
Establishing rules for the team involves the
process of members deciding what are acceptable
and unacceptable behaviors within the team for
both tasks and relationships. This strategy not
only contributes to getting the job done, but it
develops all members expertise in all areas,
which strengthens the teams performance. The
goal of an improvement plan is to ensure high
team performance. The plan needs to cover 5
activities - Maintain communications - Fix
obvious problems - Look upstream to larger
issues - Document progress and problems - Monitor
changes
Without openly stated rules teams
often experience frustration and confusion in
other members behaviors. Potential troubles may
include members who continue behavior
that frustrates other team members. Without
balanced participation, performance can result
in certain members having too much or too little
influence based on their skill set, and cross-job
coverage not supporting productivity
goals. Without an improvement plan, the team may
use ineffective approaches to address
problems that result in little or no improvement
of team output.
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Stages of Team Development
The four stages of team development are ...
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Forming and Storming
Storming
Forming

• The forming stage occurs when team
• members first come together as a team.
• How members Feel
• optimistic
• proud
• anxious/suspicious about the job
• resentful
• How members Act
• unfocused
• impatient

• During the storming stage, teams
• discover teamwork is more difficult
• than they expected.
• How members Feel
• attitudes fluctuate
• resist new approaches
• How members Act
• argue
• defensive/competitive
• question wisdom of approach
• tension/jealousy

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Norming and Performing
Performing
Norming

• The norming stage begins as the team
• moves beyond the storming stage and
• begins to function as a team.
• How members Feel
• acceptance of team
• ability to express constructive criticism
• relieved - its going to be O.K.
• How members Act
• avoid conflict
• share
• common spirit/goals
• establish ground rules and boundaries

• When a team reaches the performing
• stage it is functioning as a high
• performance team.
• How members Feel
• better understanding of team strengths
• and weaknesses
• insight into personnel and group
• processes
• satisfied with the team
• How members Act
• self change
• prevent and work through group
• problems
• close attachment to the team

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Lessons from the Geese
There is an interdependence in the way geese
function. Teams, like flocks of geese, learn from
their experience.
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Team Charter
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What is a Team Charter?

• An agreement between the team and its sponsor
• A communication tool between the project and the
  organization
• A high-level guide for the project

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Components of a Team Charter
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Example Team Charter
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Team Charter Validation

• Objective - Does it accurately described the
  project?
• Scope - Is the project well defined?
• Roles Responsibilities - Have they been
  determined for all team members?
• Key Activities - Will they allow team to meet
  its objectives?
• Key Deliverables - Are they tangible, and do
  they demonstrate results?
• Timeline/Schedule- Is the schedule sufficient to
  finish the project on a timely basis?
• Milestones- Do they support accomplishment of
  the project?
• Critical Success Factors - Do they ensure teams
  success?
• Metrics - Do they accurately measure results,
  and support critical success factors?
• Risks - Are they full documented, and do they
  significantly impede success?
• Boundaries - What elements are in, and out, of
  the project?
• Sponsor - Is the sponsor at a high enough level
  in the organization to clear barriers,
  provide resources, etc?

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Team Charter Validation ...

• Who validates the Charter? The team sponsor,
  and other key stakeholders of the project.
• What does the validation process A series of
  meetings with the sponsor and other consist
  of? stakeholders where representatives of the
  team talk through the various components of
  the Charter getting feedback and sign off on
  each part from the stakeholders.
• How does validation usually go? Each iteration
  usually brings fine-tuning to the respective
  components. Once all parties are in
  agreement, and support the team moving ahead
  with its efforts.

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Meeting Effectiveness
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Conflict Resolution
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Why have meetings?
Meetings should provide a ...

• Simple method for effective, direct,
  communication of information perceptions,
  concerns, etc.
• Structured forum for reaching decisions and
  resolving conflicts
• Dedicated time to work on goals and objectives
• Gathering for face to face interactions and
  opportunities to develop familiarity, and trust
  as a team
• Place where outsiders can interface with all team
  members at the same time to communicate important
  information
• Facilitates involvement, input, and ownership in
  results
• Enables/supports easy clarification elaboration
  of information and intent

Source Jonier Associates, The Team Handbook,
1988.
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General Meeting Guidelines
Teams should commit to the following guidelines
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• Create meeting ground rules
• Create guiding principles
• Use agendas with clear definition of expected
  outcomes processes
• Apply effective facilitation methods
• Manage meeting processes to achieve desired
  outcomes
• Document meetings
• Evaluate meetings (to identify address problems
  early to enable continual improvement in team
  effectiveness)

Source Jonier Associates, The Team Handbook,
1988.
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Create Meeting Ground Rules
Ground rules should be specific enough to enable
easy compliance and enforcement. Examples ...

• Start all meetings on time
• Establish an agenda and stick to it
• Use a flip chart to record ideas
• Everyone should participation
• No side discussions
• Test ideas for agreement
• Document distribute all meeting minutes and
  group decisions
• Clarify follow-up responsibilities
• Agenda will be developed for the next meeting

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Typical Meeting Structure
A meeting will typically have the following
format ...

• Review of Agenda and Time Contract
• Assignment of Meeting Roles
• Review of Meeting Purpose
• Brainstorming/Discussion
• Consensus Development
• Development of Path Forward Plans
• Meeting Feedback (e.g. Likes, Changes, and
  Overall Rating)

Source Jonier Associates, The Team Handbook,
1988.