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Leading a Team. Leading a Team. Our Focus Today. To review team development from a manager’s perspective To identify how to foster teamwork by leveraging. WHAT and WHY Common Purpose and Goals (Strategic Thinking). WHO Complementary Skills (Talent Selection). HOW
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Leading a Team Leading a Team
Our Focus Today • To review team development from a manager’s perspective • To identify how to foster teamwork by leveraging WHAT and WHY Common Purpose and Goals (Strategic Thinking) WHO Complementary Skills (Talent Selection) HOW A Commitment to How Work Gets Done (Facilitative Decision-Making and Collaboration)
Groups vs. Teams • Independent • Focused on personal objectives • “Hired-hands” • Distrustful • Don’t know how to deal with conflict • Interdependent • Aligned with team’s objectives • Take ownership • Openly communicate • Recognize conflict is normal
Successful Teams Need • A meaningful common purpose that the team helped shape • Specific performance goals that flow from the common purpose • A mix of complementary skills • A strong commitment to how the work gets done • Mutual accountability
The Results • Highest Score • More then 32—Stage for your team’s normal operations • Lowest Score • 16 or below—Stage your team is least like • Close Scores • Team in transition • Between Forming & Storming ORNorming & Performing • Small Difference in Scores • No clear perception of way your team operates • Performance is highly variable • Storming stage (extremely volatile with high and low points)
Characteristics of a Forming Team • High dependence on leader • Little awareness about being a team • “If I do my job well, then I’ve done my part” • Lack of clarity regarding individual roles/responsibilities • “I didn’t know I was supposed to be doing that” OR “Why are you working on that part of the project? I thought that was my job.”
Leading a Forming Team • “Telling” • Provide specific instructions • Who, what, when, where, and how • Closely supervise performance • Ensure accountability is in place for individual performance • To move team out of forming stage: • Talk about team purpose • Provide opportunities for team building • Emphasize (and model) how to communicate, coordinate, cooperate with one another
Characteristics of a Storming Team • Difficulty in decision-making • Arguing/disagreeing with no consensus on decisions • Looking to the leader to make decision and inform team members • Feeling uncomfortable and/or devalued about giving input to the decision-making process • Unstable relationships • Challenging the leader • Power struggles • Formation of cliques and factions • Persistence of uncertainty as to team purpose
Leading a Storming Team • “Selling” • Explain decisions • Clarify expectations • Including expectations about working together • Discuss “storming stage” and address problems • But don’t overact • Ultimate goal is to have team “buy in” • Moving a team out of storming stage: • Openly accept the existence of conflict as a natural part of teaming • Provide conflict management training • Model good behavior • Continue purpose discussions • Model engagement and non-defensiveness
Characteristics of a Norming Team • Clear and accepted roles and responsibilities • Decision-making through consensus • Strong team commitment and unity • Team development of work processes and work style • Possible engagement in social activities
Leading a Norming Team • “Participating” • Share ideas/ collaborate • Facilitate decision-making • Encourage input and involvement of all team members • Moving out of the norming stage: • Assist team in agreeing on actual norms that guide the team’s work • Look for areas where you can relinquish decision-making
Characteristics of a Performing Team • Shared vision • Focus on over-achievement of goals • Positive resolution of differences • Consensus on needed changes to team processes and structure • Team members take responsibility for each other • Team members know how to ask for help and how to give help • They share knowledge and information. They are inclusive • They also “go the extra mile”
Leading a Performing Team • “Delegating” • Turn over responsibility for decision-making to the team • Implementation is the responsibility of the team • Observe and monitor progress of team • Manage the boundary between the team and key external groups/people • Create development opportunities • Coach when unique problems arise
Fostering Teamwork Teamwork WHAT and WHY Common Purpose and Goals (Strategic Thinking) WHO Complementary Skills (Talent Selection) HOW A Commitment to How Work Gets Done (Facilitative Decision-Making and Collaboration)
Team Purpose “No organization will be as effective as it might be until its people understand and support the organization’s strategic purpose. A muddled sense of purpose leads to confusion and allows people to decide individually what’s important, without any context to guide them. A clear and galvanizing purpose, on the other hand, focuses everyone’s efforts and moves the organization forward in an unambiguous direction.” --Campbell and Liteman, Retreats That Work
Team Purpose • Needed to move from “forming,” through “storming,” to “norming” and “performing” • Useful when team is starting new project and you want to reinforce unity OR • People are feeling disconnected from work or each other. Can be useful to instill new meaning into work and recreate sense of teamwork • Changes have been taking place and you want to refocus employees’ attention and commitment
Team Purpose • More than just clear job descriptions • It’s your unit’s essential reason for existence • The job to be done • A clear purpose answers the questions • What does our team do? • For whom do we do it? • Why is it important?
What do you believe is the major purpose for your team’s existence? Your purpose
Develop a Shared Purpose SharedPurpose
Team Performance Goals • Different from individual job objectives • Require the collaborative effort of team members to make something specific happen that adds value • Gathering from time to time to make a decision will not sustain teamwork • But a team goal like “improving service to students … by X to Y” for an office can support team alignment
Qualities, Characteristics, Experiences? • What qualities and characteristics are needed in order for someone to be a good team player? • What types of experiences might demonstrate someone’s ability to work on a team?
Complementary Skills • Technical or functional expertise • Problem-solving and decision-making skills • Interpersonal skills
Preparing Questions • The single best predictor of a candidate’s future job performance is his or her past job behavior • Selection NOT based on: • Your assumptions or intuition • “I’m dependable” or “I’m hardworking” or even “You can count on me”
Guidelines for Good Questions • Use open-ended questions that ask for specific examples of past job behavior NOT: • How do you feel about working on a team? • Also avoid hypothetical questions about how the candidate might handle some future tasks NOT: • How would you handle being part of a team?
Guidelines for Good Questions • Keep your questions aligned with job skills and employee characteristics you are seeking • Ask broadly: • Tell me about your experience working on a team
Guidelines for Good Questions • Or specifically: • What are some of your best techniques for resolving conflicts and disagreements? Please give an example of how you used them to influence your peers and/or team members • Please give us a specific example of a team that you were a part of and how you helped cultivate the team dynamic
Using the Qualities and Characteristics Identified Earlier …What Questions Will You Ask?
Questions to Consider • Tell us about a time when you were part of a team that worked very well together. What did you do to foster the success of that team? (teamwork) • Tell us about an instance when you had to adjust your communication style in order to be more effective with another person. How did you know that you needed to adjust? What adjustments did you make? (communication, flexibility) • Describe an alliance or partnership you’ve developed with another employee or group. What steps did you take to build this alliance? What benefits did this have for you and the organization? (collaboration, cooperation)
Questions to Consider • Think of a situation in the workplace when you did not have all the information necessary to solve an issue or problem. What did you do? (communication, cooperation) • Please describe a time when you were in charge of a project, but others did not submit materials or information to you according to your deadline. How did you handle it? (communication, cooperation)
A Commitment to How Work Gets DoneCollaboration and Facilitative Decision-Making
Building Team Performance • Spend time together • e-mail, phone calls count too • Exploit the power of feedback and recognition • Reinforce behaviors essential to team performance
Building Team Performance • Set some clear rules of behavior • Attendance (e.g., no interruptions to take phone calls), discussion (no sacred cows), confidentiality (the only things that leave this room are what we agree on), feedback (no finger pointing) • Seek maximum appropriate involvement from your team members • Through collaboration and facilitative decision-making
Collaboration is… “A mutually beneficial relationship between two or more individuals, groups, or organizations who jointly design ways to work together to meet their related interests and who learn from each other, sharing responsibility, authority, and accountability for achieving results.” -Roger Schwartz
Why Collaboration? • Better decisions • Increased commitment from team members • Reduced time for effective implementation • Higher quality team relationships • Increased organizational learning • Increased personal satisfaction
Why is Collaboration so Difficult? • It requires that we give up our preconceived ideas of what the solutions should be to find solutions that take advantage of the collaboration • When we are under pressure or the stakes are high, we tend to want to control the outcome • This “control mindset” makes collaboration less likely
Assumptions: I’m right. If you disagree, you are wrong My motives are pure; those who disagree have questionable motives I understand the situation; if you see it differently, you don’t understand The Control Mindset
Learning Mindset • Assumptions: • I have some information; others have other information • Each of us may see things the others do not see • Differences are opportunities for learning • People are trying to act with integrity given their situation
A Learning Mindset for Collaboration • In a collaborative environment, the team uses a learning mindset where advocacy and inquiry are in balance • And it starts with the leader
Advocacy • Speak your opinions and assumptions respectfully and be open to alternative views • Explain your reasoning—how and why you came to any decision/conclusion • Test your conclusions and assumptions • Encourage others to do the same
The Language of Advocacy “Here’s what I think and here’s how I got to this.” “I came to this conclusion because…” “I assumed that…” “Here’s one aspect which you might help me think through”
