Teamwork

=Purpose of Teamwork=

//"After all, if you could do it alone, why would you need a team?"// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

Teams are formed to create a collaborative environment in which to produce synergy in order to accomplish the goal or vision of the team. A team consists of:
 * **People** (empowered to act)
 * With **Shared Values** (that instill excitement and drive in themselves and others)
 * Working in a **Collaborative Environment** (where good team behaviors are rewarded)
 * On **Tasks** through a clearly-defined **Process** (to deliver a planned set of actions, which produce progressive results)
 * To reach their **Goals**
 * And bring the **Vision** into reality

Teams that produce awesome results efficiently and effectively do so because they have created a shared image and vision of what they are working toward.

//"It takes a team of people to collaborate together and accomplish truly great things."// - Steven Stowell and Stephanie Mead

//"The nature of the environment the team exists in has a significant impact on the team itself and its ultimate ability to reach peak performance."// - Steven Stowell and Stephanie Mead

Team Characteristics

 * Syntality** refers to the behavioral characteristics of a group (similar to an individual's personality).


 * Synergy** is a special kind of energy that allows a team to produce more as a unit than they could produce as individuals working on the same tasks. Synergy is produced when all members are committed to and working toward the shared goal and vision. Without synergy, high-performance teamwork is not possible.


 * Cohesiveness** refers to the amount of togetherness that exists within a group or team. This is what holds the team together and is created through loyalty, commitment and a willingness to give that extra effort needed to accomplish the group's goal and vision. The Musketeers' motto, "one for all and all for one" is a good example of cohesiveness.

It is important to keep in mind that too much cohesiveness can potentially lead to a phenomenon called **//g//****//roupthink//**.


 * //Decisions made when groups or teams have succumbed to groupthink can have disastrous results.//** Numerous papers have been published about the role of groupthink on the Challenger space shuttle explosion. Another common example is the Bay of Pigs invasion that went wrong in 1961.

For more groupthink Information see:
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=Team Roles=

Benne and Sheats (Lumsden and Lumsden)
K. D. Benne and P. Sheats published an article, //Functional Roles of Group Members//, in the Journal of Social Issues, 4 (1948) 41-49. Gay and Donald Lumsden provide a form for the observation of Members' Roles (based on the information from Benne and Sheats) in their book, Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000) pages 53-54.

Task Processes Facilitator's Roles

 * Initiator / contributor
 * Information / opinion seeker
 * Information / opinion giver
 * Elaborator
 * Coordinator
 * Orienter
 * **Evaluator / critic** (sometimes called Devil's Advocate and **is critical for preventing groupthink**)
 * Energizer
 * Procedural technician
 * Recorder

Transactional Processes Facilitator's Roles

 * Encourager
 * Harmonizer / compromiser
 * Gatekeeper
 * Standard setter
 * Observer
 * Follower

Process Blocker's Roles

 * Aggressor / blocker
 * Recognition seeker
 * Self-confessor / help seeker
 * Player / fun seeker
 * Dominator
 * Special interest pleader

Also in their book, Lumsden and Lumsden (page 50) discuss the importance of fulfilling key roles during team projects.

//"Although you may not be the designated leader, your responsibility in a team is to provide leadership by understanding and influencing both transactional and task processes. To do so effectively, you must understand the group, the task, and the individual roles people play in these processes. Your leadership affects your own short-term and long-term satisfaction and success as well as the team's processes and success."//

//"Developing leadership begins with developing credibility, which includes the factors of competence, objectivity, trustworthiness, coorientation, and dynamism. One way to work on your competence and to build confidence is using self-talk [messages to yourself about who you are and what your do] and visualization to see your influencing the transactional and task process of your team."//

Belbin Team Roles
[|The Belbin Team Roles web site] lists the following information:

Dr Meredith Belbin defines a Team Role as: "A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way."

Meredith’s work at Henley Management College identified nine clusters of behaviour, termed Team Roles. Each Team Role has its particular strengths and allowable weaknesses, and each has an important contribution to make to a team.

[|Dr. Meredith Belbin's team roles] :
 * Plant
 * Resource investigator
 * Co-ordinator
 * Shaper
 * Monitor Evaluator
 * Teamworker
 * Implementer
 * Completer Finisher
 * Specialist

(URL - retrieved 1/28/2010 - Belbin Team Roles: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8)

=The Role of Collaboration in Teamwork=

Collaboration is critical for a group of people to evolve into a high-performance team.

Patrick Lencioni lists five typical dysfunctions of a team:
 * 1) Absence of trust
 * 2) Fear of conflict
 * 3) Lack of commitment
 * 4) Avoidance of accountability
 * 5) Inattention to results

If we look at this from the perspective of a highly-functioning team, we get:
 * 1) Building and nurturing an atmosphere of **trust**
 * 2) Using **constructive conflict**
 * 3) **Committing** to the team and its goals and vision
 * 4) Holding everyone **accountable** for what happens
 * 5) Getting **results** to get the job done

Collaboration is the key to a highly-functioning team.

From //The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership// Fable by Patrick Lencioni (2002)

//"To put it quite simply, trust is the most significant predictor or individual satisfaction with their organizations. When you create a climate of trust, you take away the controls and allow people to be free to innovate and contribute. Trusting leaders nurture openness, involvement, personal satisfaction, and high levels of commitment to excellence."// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

//"A focus on a collective effort binds people into cooperative efforts."// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

//"The basic building block of good team building is for a leader to promote the feeling that every human being is unique and adds value."// - Unknown

//"Teams need team members who relish the hard work of learning a new skill or acquiring a new talent."// - Steven Stowell and Stephanie Mead

Managing Competition
//"A group becomes a team when all members are sure enough of themselves and their contribution to praise the skill of others."// - Steven Stowell and Stephanie Mead

It is very important to manage competition within the teamwork process. Competition can derail collaboration and prevent syntality, synergy and cohesion. This is not to say that competition has no value. Competition has its place just not within a team.

Evan Rosen states in his article, //The Hidden Cost of Internal Competition//, published on BusinessWeek.com:

//"////Internal competition is a double-whammy. No. 1, internal competition compromises value by distracting the workforce and forcing people to focus on the wrong things. To compound that loss of value, internal competition also prevents companies from creating value through collaboration. Perhaps the most significant way that internal competition derails collaboration involves trust. How can we trust one another if we're competing in a dog-eat-dog culture? Instead of trust, fear prevails. Another way that internal competition short-circuits collaboration involves information hoarding. Achieving within an internally-competitive culture requires an "it's my stuff" attitude about data and information. This attitude complicates collaboration, because collaboration requires sharing."//

Retrieved on January 31, 2010 from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2009/ca2009113_427287.htm

=Team Stages=

[|In her ezine article, The Five Stages of Team Development,] at ezinearticles.com, Shirley Fine Lee relates the following about the stages a team must go through in order to accomplish its goal:

//"Most experts in team development agree that teams will go through five different stages. How fast a team m oves through each stage will depend on the team members, their individual skills, the work they are expected to do, and the type of leadership available to the team.// //Bruce Tuckman deemed the four main stages of team development in order as Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Later, as self-managed teams became common in business, he added a fifth stage of Adjourning/Transforming. Thomas Quick called the five stages for teams: Searching, Defining, Identifying, Processing, and Assimilating/Reforming. Whatever term is used for the stages, teams will go through all five during their developmental and working processes."//

(URL - retrieved 1/28/2010 - article: http://ezinearticles.com/?id=1254894)

=Task Processes=

The following information comes from Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000) by Gay and Donald Lumsden.

1. Converting the team's charge into a project plan (planning the process)
//"... your team has several decisions to make at the outset. One is whether to designate a leader, to share or distribute leader functions, or to wait for a leader to emerge. In any case, you need to look for - and develop - leadership qualifications, which include preparation, credibility, adaptability, ethical principles, and personal involvement.

Early in the life of a team, members also need to set norms or expectations that will advance task processes, particularly those regarding time and responsibility commitments. The team needs to articulate quickly the task goals and the instrumental objectives required to reach those goals, and it must also confirm the teammates' understanding of and commitment to those goals. In addition, it is important to create meeting schedules so members can plan for and commit to the team's work.

Making meetings work for your team is everyone's responsibility ... Although a designated leader may fulfill specific functions, the team must assign responsibilities and individuals must prepare for their own participation. Part of this preparation involves planning meeting strategies, including creating either informal or formal agendas depending on the purpose of the meeting ... To be most useful, agendas should be distributed early and be readily open to modification."// - Lumsden and Lumsden (2000), pages 77 and 78

2. Gathering information (launching your inquiry and making clear reports)
//"The team should use its members' expertise and all necessary research. This requires devising a complete work plan, including specific agreements as to who does what research and reports it to the team on what date. It also involves following guidelines for good reporting and for sharing that information with the team. Members should work carefully through the information together so that everyone understands and can use it when working toward their goals. Presenters must select and organize their information, using handouts and visuals to clarify the data and to help the team stay focused on the task."// - Lumsden and Lumsden (2000), page 132

3. Critical thinking (analyzing team information)
//"Once the team has collected information, its job is to analyze it cooperatively and critically. Toward that end, a team needs to set norms that enable it to collaborate objectively. To analyze evidence, a team needs shared criteria and skills for weighing the credibility of sources and the quality of data. The basic assumptions involved in critical analysis are that the purpose is to make good decisions and that human beings have the rationality necessary to make those decisions."// - Lumsden and Lumsden (2000), page 154

4. Creative thinking (generating new ideas)
//"In this chapter, we contend that both critical and creative thinking are essential to effective team communication - and that everyone is capable of both."

"People can expand their skills in either creative or critical thinking with practice. It helps get rid of 'mind locks' that limit people to thinking in terms of rules, either / or choices, or 'logical' self-stereotypes. A team can enhance creative thinking by making the members comfortable with taking risks and can develop the members' abilities through exercises and activities. A team can also generate ideas creatively through techniques such as brainstorming, metaphorical thinking, fantasy chaining, the Nominal Group Technique (NGT), and the Delphi technique. These methods involve all team members in generating a large number of ideas and then analyzing them for quality and appropriateness."// - Lumsden and Lumsden (2000), pages 177 and 178

5. Analyzing problems and making decisions (following clear systems)
//"Systematic processes of analysis enable teams to arrive at good solutions. Dewey's reflective thinking sequence is a traditional approach, but teams can vary the order of the steps according to need. A systematic approach - scanning the difficulties, isolating primary issues, flowcharting processes - helps in identifying problems. After analyzing the causes and effects with the help of fishbone diagrams, the team can generate a range of possible solutions and set criteria for the best solution. Making decisions by increments often leads to new problems, however, so a systematic examination of critical issues is needed. Critical issues include the proposed solution's applicability to the problem; its practicality; its possible advantages, disadvantages, and risks; and the desirability of its implementation. Assessing ethical issues as well as ethical dilemmas also is critical to this process."// - Lumsden and Lumsden (2000), page 205

Team members also need to determine what is needed to document the progress of the project for the team's and organization's records.

Once a project is completed, it is helpful to conduct a postmortem analysis of the project. What worked well? What could be changed to make things go more smoothly and efficiently the next time? A summary of this information should be included in the project's documentation.

=Transactional Processes=

Building transactional processes require and understanding of verbal and nonverbal communication in order to:


 * Optimize communication by listening and questioning
 * Using constructive conflict to achieve the goal
 * Minimizing/managing destructive conflict

It is critical for team members to //"create connections and negotiate mutual meanings through verbal and nonverbal communication."// - Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 210

Task processes help team members get the job done. Transactional processes help the team create a collaborative environment needed to produce synergy. Building transactional processes can transform a group of people into a team.

//"A team is different from a group in that it is more focused and its members are more interdependent, thus achieving outcomes greater than the sum of the individuals' abilities."// - Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 24

//"Social support enhances productivity, psychological well-being, and even physical health."// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

=Role of Leadership=

//"'I'm not a leader - I'm a follower!' ... Wrong. You have a leadership role, even when you are not 'the leader'."// - Gay and Donald Lumsden

Leadership is about inspiring people to attain a vision.

It is important to remember that a team consists of:
 * **People** (empowered to act)
 * With **Shared Values** (that instill excitement and drive in themselves and others)
 * Working in a **Collaborative Environment** (where good team behaviors are rewarded)
 * On **Tasks** through a clearly-defined **Process** (to deliver a planned set of actions, which produce progressive results)
 * To reach their **Goals**
 * And bring the **Vision** into reality

Leaders, therefore, must:
 * Empower people
 * Instill excitement
 * Create and nurture a culture of leadership and collaboration
 * Expect a planned set of actions and clearly-defined process that result in progressive progress toward a well-defined goal and vision

//"Leadership is not about personality; it's about behavior. Leadership is a relationship. ... Leadership is an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us. What we have discovered and rediscovered is that leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others. When the leader in everyone is liberated, extraordinary things happen."// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

From //The Leadership Challenge// (4th edition) by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (2008)

//"People act in ways that are consistent with others' expectations of them."// - James Kouzes and Barry Posner

//"Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free - and worth a fortune."// - Sam Walton, (Founder of Walmart)

Traditional Control Models

 * Coercive power (ability to punish)
 * Reward power (ability to reward)
 * Legitimate power (granted by the system)
 * Expert power (expertise and credentials)
 * Referent power (respect)
 * Communication (base of knowledge from which all people reason and make decisions)

Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 258

//"The art of communication is the language of leadership."// - James Humes

Empowerment
//"Empowerment is what happens when leaders free people to develop self-efficacy and confidence, allowing them to have ownership of themselves and their work."// - Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 260

//"An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success."// - Stephen Covey

=Leadership styles=

Classic Leadership Styles

 * Laissez-faire** (laid back)
 * Authoritarian** (tight control)
 * Democratic** (share power)

Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 264

Contemporary Approaches

 * Transactional leadership** (exchanges rewards for performance)
 * Transformational leadership** (elevates, motivates and develops the team)
 * Visionary leadership**:
 * **Charisma** (provides vision and sense of mission; instills pride; gains respects and trust)
 * **Inspiration** (communicates high expectations; uses symbols to focus efforts; expresses important purposes simply and clearly)
 * **Intellectual stimulation** (promotes intelligence and careful problem-solving)
 * **Individualized consideration** (gives personal attention; coaches and advises)

Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership 3rd edition (2000), Gay and Donald Lumsden, page 265

=Leadership versus Management=

Warren G. Bennis is an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership studies - retrieved on January 31, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bennis

Warren Bennis says the following about leaders and managers:

//"////Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality."//

//"////Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right."

"Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just on the bottom line."

"Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard."//

//"////Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led."

"The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it."

"The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective."

"The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why."//

Quotes retrieved on January 31, 2010 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/warren_g_bennis.html

Leadership and management are important to get the job done. Leaders and managers tend to look at things from a different perspective. A person can be a great leader and a great manager. The key is to use the appropriate behavior at the right time.

A good leader does the right things and focusses on goal, direction or vision.
 * Leadership is about effectiveness
 * Leadership is about what and why
 * Leadership is about helping people do great things together

A good manager does things right and implements policies and procedures.
 * Management is about efficiency
 * Management is about how
 * Management is about getting tasks done

=Systems Thinking and Leadership=

In his book, //The Top Everyday Tools for Strategic Thinking: The Simplicity of Systems Thinking®// (Strategic Thinking Handbook #2), Stephen Haines talks about leadership and systems thinking.

A leader uses "systems thinking", in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts because of synergy, integration, and interdependence. //"In systems, the whole is primary and components are secondary."// He challenges people to //"change your thinking: from events and parts to relationships and processes////"////.//

It would follow then that a manager uses "analytical thinking", in which the whole can be broken down into small manageable components. The components are primary and the whole is secondary.

=Leadership Quotes=

//"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."// - Dwight Eisenhower

//"I not only use all of the brains I have, but all I can borrow."// - Woodrow Wilson

//"The best executive is the one who has enough sense to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."// - Theodore Roosevelt

//"Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."// - George S. Patton

//"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."// - Ralph Nader

//"The leaders who work most efficiently, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit... This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."// - Peter Drucker

//"Good leaders must first become good servants."// - Robert Greenleaf

//"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."// - Peter Drucker

//"Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly they can see it in themselves."// - Stephen Covey, //the 8th habit//

//"Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts."// - John Gardner

Leadership and Learning
//"In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."// - Eric Hoffer

Leadership and Communication
//"The art of communication is the language of leadership."// - James Humes

//"The most important goal of effective communication is clarity. Clarity is not the same as simplicity. Often, simple things are clear if the message is intended to be brief and small, but often the message is about a complex relationship that can only be presented with a necessarily large amount of data. This complexity can be made to appear clear by effective organization and presentation and need not be reduced to meaningless ... bite-sized ... chunks of data, as simplification usually does. Clarity refers to the focus on one particular message or goal at a time, rather than attempting to accomplish too much at once. Simplicity is often responsible for the dumbing of information rather than the illumination of it."// - Michael Hoffman

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