LTL Lecture Series 200607 TEAMWORK

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LTL Lecture Series 2006/07TEAMWORK

• Sophia Kao
• 12/04/2006

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Contents

• Definition of team
• The power of teams
• Characteristics of a good team
• What makes a good team?
• What makes a good team player?
• What makes a good team leader?
• Team building
• Conflict management
• The laws of teamwork

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What is TEAM?

• A team is a group of people who are mutually
  dependent on one another to achieve a common
  goal.
• (Elaine Biech, 2001)
• A team emphasis is on sharing information,
  gathering ideas, and coming to agreement on the
  best ways to get jobs done.
• (Anne OBrien Carelli 2004)

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The Power of Teams

• Teams involve more people, thus affording more
  resources, ideas, and energy than would an
  individual.
• Teams maximize a leaders potential and minimize
  her weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are more
  exposed in individuals.
• Teams provide multiple perspectives on how to
  meet a need or reach a goal, thus devising
  several alternatives for each situation.
  Individual insight is seldom as broad and deep as
  a groups when it takes on a problem.
• Teams share the credit for victories and the
  blame for losses. This fosters genuine humility
  and authentic community. Individuals take credit
  and blame alone. This fosters pride and sometimes
  a sense of failure.
• Teams keep leaders accountable for the goal.
  Individuals connected to no one can change the
  goal without accountability.
• Teams can simply do more than an individual.
• (John C Maxwell 2001)

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Characteristics of a Good Team

• A good team has a high success rate, i.e. more
  often than not they achieve what they set out to
• A good team agrees clear, challenging objectives,
  i.e. everyone in the team contributes to, shares
  understanding of , and is committed to the
  objectives
• A good team has a leader (it may not always be
  the same person) who adjusts the leadership style
  along a spectrum from participative to autocratic
  in the light of circumstances
• A good team has a mix of people who contribute in
  different but complementary ways thus achieving
  synergy, i.e., the team produces more than the
  sum of its individual parts

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Characteristics of a Good Team(contd)

• A good team operates in such a way that a balance
  is struck between concern for the task (the
  what) and concern for the process (the how)
• A good team creates a supportive atmosphere where
  people are happy to go at risk, say what they
  really think, develop one anothers ideas, and
  commit to an agreed course of action even though
  there may have been differences of opinion
• A good team learns from experience about
  successes and failure, by reviewing its processes
  and thus constantly improving its own performance
• A good team works hard and plays hard, i.e.
  members not only achieve challenging objectives
  but enjoy themselves as they do so
• (Roger Steward 1999)

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The Effective Team Model

• Appropriate leadership
• Clear goals and objectives
• Enthusiasm and member commitment
• Role clarity and inter-role knowledge
• Effective problem solving and decision making
  techniques
• Good interactive behavioral skills
• Cooperative relationships
• A creative atmosphere
• Appropriate mix of relevant skills

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The Effective Team Model(contd)

• Total information sharing within the team and,
  where appropriate, with other groups or teams
• Open and clear communication
• An atmosphere that encourages and supports risk
  taking and flexibility
• Valued diversity and inclusion
• Total involvement and participation
• Opportunities for knowledge transfer and skills
  development
• Optimum and relevant membership
• An environment in which, although the emphasis is
  on task and team development, the process is
  enjoyable and fun (Roger Steward 1999)

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A Good Team Player

• Share what you know
• Listen to learn
• Apply your expertise and build the skills of team
  members
• Tap the talents of coworkers
• Communicate on a regular basis, even if it means
  critiquing the way things are done
• Gather different ideas so that problems can be
  solved more effectively
• Ask tough questions for the purpose of arriving
  at good decisions

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A Good Team Player(Contd)

• Resolve conflicts to save time and money, and to
  improve safety, productivity and relationships
• Maintain a sense of humor about disagreements
• Pull your weight, taking your fair share of the
  workload
• Make decisions about daily work, rather than rely
  on supervisor direction and approval
• Recognize fellow team members for their
  accomplishments
• Are accountable for decisions, recognizing the
  importance of shared decision-making
• (Anne OBrien Carelli 2004)

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A Good Team Leader

• Guiding vision-You have a clear idea of what you
  want to do- professionally and personally-and the
  strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even
  failures.
• Passion-You have an underlying passion for the
  promises of life, combined with a very particular
  passion for a vocation, a profession, a course of
  action. You love what you do.
• Integrity- You demonstrate integrity in your
  behavior. You know your strengths and weaknesses,
  are true to your principles, and have learned
  from experience how to learn from and work with
  others. You never lose sight of your goals or
  compromise your principles. You are
  simultaneously principled and pragmatic.
• Trust-You have earned peoples trust. You reflect
  the values and aspirations of your followers. You
  accept leadership as a responsibility, not a
  privilege. You serve.

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A Good Team Leader(Contd)

• Daring-You are willing to take risks, experiment,
  and try new things.
• Listening-You listen to the people you serve, but
  you are not a prisoner of public opinion. You
  encourage dissenting opinions among your
  advisors. You test ideas, explore all sides of
  issues, and air the full range of opinion.
• Respect for followers- You are a leader of
  leaders. You are pragmatic to your core but
  believe passionately in what you say and do.
• Vulnerability-You trust in the abilities of other
  people. You allow people who follow you to do
  their best.
• Discernment-You exhibit keen insight, wisdom, and
  judgment.
• Awareness of the human spirit-You understand the
  cares, yearning, and struggle of the human spirit.

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A Good Team Leader(Contd)

• Courage in relationships-You face up to tough
  decisions. You act with ruthless honesty.
• Sense of humor- You have a broad perspective on
  the human condition that accounts for many points
  of view. You have a compassionate sense of humor.
• Intellectual energy and curiosity-You accept
  responsibility for learning frantically.
• Respect for the future, regard for the present,
  understanding of the past-You are able to move
  constantly back and forth between the present and
  the future. You build upon the work of your
  elders.
• Predictability-You do not follow whims.

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A Good Team Leader(Contd)

• Breadth-Your vision of what the organization can
  accomplish has room for contributions from all
  quarters. Your vision is large enough to contain
  multitudes.
• Comfort with ambiguity- You make sense out of
  chaos.
• Presence-You stop to ask and answer questions.
  You are patient. You listen to problems. You seek
  to understand nuances. You follow up on leads.
• (Max Depree 1993/ Warren Bennis 1994/James
  OToole 1996)

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Team Building

• Team is built to achieve success
• Shareholder for all
• Shared ownership
• Shared mission, values, motto
• Build leaders, not followers
• Build esteem
• Engagement
• Grow the team

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Examples of Core Values

• Support
• Unity
• Care
• Understanding (Inclusion)
• Sharing (Communication)
• Respect

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Conflict Management

• Conflicts are natural and inevitable facts of
  organizational life.
• Conflict may be beneficial, making groups
  effective, energetic, creative, release tensions,
  leading to change but it can also be disruptive.
• Conflict management is the long-term management,
  an on-going process, of intractable conflicts. It
  may not lead to a resolution.
• Conflict resolution refers to resolving the
  dispute to the approval of one or both parties.
• It is estimated that 30 of a managers time is
  spent dealing with conflict.
• (Ho Kit Wan 2006)

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Sources of Conflict

• Interpersonal sources
• Group dynamic sources
• Organizational sources

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Interpersonal Sources of Conflict

• Faulty attributions
• Assumptions and beliefs
• Poor communication
• Personality clashes
• Gender, age and cultural differences
• Distrust
• Grudge

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Group Dynamic Sources of Conflict

• Formation of cliques
• Power tactics and manipulation
• Relationship rules (social and task-related rules)

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Organizational Sources of Conflict

• Struggle for resources
• Ambiguity over responsibility and jurisdiction
• Inequity of reward
• Differentiation leading to self-interest
• Differentiation leading to divergent values and
  vision
• Power differentials
• Blockage of communication

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Styles of conflict management

• Five styles, along two dimensions, concern for
  self and concern for others
• Integrating high concern for self and for
  others, collaboration to reach a solution
  acceptable for both parties
• Obliging low concern for self and high concern
  for others, play down differences and emphasize
  commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other
  
• Dominating high concern for self and low concern
  for others, a forcing behavior to win ones
  position
• Compromising moderate concern for self and
  others, both parties give up something to make a
  mutually acceptable solution
• Avoiding low concern for self and for others,
  withdrawal, passing the buck, sidestepping
• (Rahim 1983)

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Tactics of Conflict Resolution

• Prompt response/action
• Finding neutral turf
• Define clearly the issue
• Acknowledge the grievances
• Grasp your own standpoint (what can be changed
  and what cannot be changed), and what is the
  baseline. Has a tentative solution to offer when
  necessary.
• Handle the most critical issue first, and let the
  other party know your baseline, your
  difficulties, the consequence of not doing so,
  and what cannot be changed.
• Narrow the scope of issue

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Tactics of Conflict Resolution(Contd)

• Emphasize super-goal, show problem solving
  attitude
• Recall successful cooperative experiences
• Offer feedback/observation
• Stick to the fact, focus on interest, not
  position nor opinion
• Show sincere, considerate, empathetic and
  committed attitude
• Two-way communications
• Maintain trust, keep promise
• Sharing, clarification, expression, not teaching,
  blaming, or even scolding

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The Laws of Teamwork

• The Law of Significance-
• One is too small a number to achieve greatness
• The Law of the Big Picture-
• The goal is more important than the role
• The Law of the Niche-
• All players have a place where they add the most
  value
• The Law of Mount Everest-
• As the challenge escalates, the need for
  teamwork elevates
• The Law of the Chain-
• The strength of the team is impacted by its
  weakest link

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The Laws of Teamwork(Contd)

• The Law of the Compass-
• Vision gives team members direction and
  confidence
• The Law of the Bad Apple-
• Rotten attitudes ruin a team
• The Law of Countability-
• Teammates must be able to count on each other
  when it counts
• The Law of the Price Tag-
• The team fails to reach its potential when it
  fails to pay the price
• The Law of the Catalyst-
• Winning teams have players who make things happen

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The Laws of Teamwork(Contd)

• The Law of Identity-
• Shared values define the team
• The Law of Communication-
• Interaction fuels action
• The Law of the Edge-
• The difference between two equally talented
  teams is leadership
• The Law of High Morale-
• When youre winning, nothing hurts
• The Law of Dividends-
• Investing in the team compounds over time
• (John C. Maxwell)

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TEAM

• T Trust / Talk
• E Engagement / Empowerment
• A Alignment / Accountability
• M Mutual support / Multiple perspectives