TEAM BUILDING
UNIT -4
Introduction
“Coming together is a Beginning
Keeping together is Progress;
and
Working together is Success”
–Henry Ford
Why Build Teams
BUILDS RELATIONSHIP
 REDUCES STRESS
 Raise Moral
 Enhance Communication
 Reward, Recognition & motivation
 Stimulates creativity
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Team
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A group of two or more people
Organized to work together
To achieve a set of objectives
That cannot be achieved effectively by individuals.“
“You Americans have caught
on to our secret of
productivity in Japan– teams!
But we will still win. You
think all you need to do is to
put people together in
groups and something will
happen. We know that’s only
the beginning.”
-- President of Matsushita
Proctor & Gamble lowered its manufacturing
cost by 35%
 GE improved productivity by 200 %
 Toyota reduced its defect rate to the lowest
in the industry.
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Team:
A team is a small number of people with
complementary skills who are committed to a
common goals, and approach for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable.
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Small number – 2 to ten people
Complementary skills – appropriate balance or mix of
skills and traits
Commitment to a common purpose and performance
goals – specific performance goals are an integral part of
the purpose.
Commitment to a common approach – team members
must agree on who will do a particular job & develop a
common approach.
Mutual accountability – at its core, team accountability is
about the sincere promises we make to others & ourselves –
commitment & trust.
Difference between Group and Team
 A group is not necessarily a team. A group
can have individuals with varied
interests, attitude as well as thought
processes. It is not necessary that the group
members would have a common objective or
a common goal to achieve.
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Types of Team in an
Organization.
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Functional or departmental teams: Groups of people from
the same work area or department who meet on a regular
basis to analyze customer needs, solve problems, provide
members with support, promote continuous improvement,
and share information.
Cross-functional teams: Groups of people who are pulled
together from across departments or job functions to deal
with a specific product, issue, customer, problem, or to
improve a particular process.
Self-managing teams: Groups of people who gradually
assume responsibility for self-direction in all aspects of
work.
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Permanent teams- These teams perform on a permanent basis and are
not dissolved once the task is accomplished.
Temporary teams - Unlike permanent teams, temporary teams loose
their importance, once the task is accomplished. Such teams are usually
formed for a shorter duration either to assist the permanent team or
work when the members of the permanent team are busy in some other
project.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT & PERFORMANCE
“Great people don’t equal great teams.” –Tom Peters
Stages of team building:
1.
Stage 1- Forming :Team acquaints & establishes
ground rules.
2.
Stage 2 – Storming : Members resist control by group
leaders and show hostility.
3.
Stage 3 – Norming : Members work together
developing close relationships & feelings of
camaraderie.
4.
Stage 4 – Performing : Team members work toward
getting their job done.
5.
Stage 5 – Adjourning : Team may disband on
achieving their goals or because members leave.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEAMS
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Team members should feel that their
participation is important and personally
beneficial to them.
Teams should only remain intact as single entities
so long they are working on a particular problem.
Whenever possible, the team should include some
of the persons who will be responsible for
implementing the decision.
Members of a team must possess the appropriate
balance or mix of skills and traits.
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A team should be around of 5 to 15 members
maximum.
Members of the teams should have knowledge
and information that is relevant to the problem
and task.
It is necessary for the team to select a leader.
The influence of members on decisions in teams
should be based on their capacity to contribute
( relevant expertise) and not on the authority
they possess in the organization.
Conflicts that develop within should be
confronted and resolved with a problem solving
approach, instead of being avoided or smoothed
over.
CHARACTERISTICS OF INEFFECTIVE TEAMS
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You cannot easily describe the team’s mission.
The meetings are formal, stuffy, or tense. People do
not do their best in an uncomfortable atmosphere.
There is a great deal of participation but little
accomplishment.
There is talk but not much communication. Many
teams are composed of very talented people who
enjoy talking but not listen to the contributions of
others.
Disagreements are aired in private conversations.
Decisions tend to be made by the formal leader with
little meaningful involvement of other team
members.
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Members are not open with each other because
trust is low.
There is confusion or disagreement about roles or
work.
People in other parts of the organization who are
critical to the success of the team are not
cooperating. There is rarely a period in a team’s
history when external relations are not important.
The team is over loaded with people who have the
same team player style. Style diversity leads to
looking at all aspects of team effectiveness.
The team has been in existence for at least three
months and has never assessed its functioning.
Periodically , teams need to assess progress
towards goals and to evaluate team process.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEAM MEMBERS
It will be observed that organizational failures often
are not a result of poor leadership but of poor
follower ship. An effective team member is,
therefore, on who:
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Understands and is committed to group goals.
Is friendly, concerned and interested in others.
Acknowledges and confronts conflict openly.
Listens to others with understanding.
Includes others in the decision making process.
Recognizes and respects individual differences.
How to Build Highly Effective
Teams
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Set clear goals for the results to be produced by the
team.
The goals should be designed to be “SMART.” This is
an acronym for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant and
Time-bound.
define a mechanism for clear and consistent
communications among team members.
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Define a procedure for members to make decisions and solve
problems.
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Determine the membership of the group-Consider the extent of
expertise needed to achieve the goals, including areas of
knowledge and skills. Include at least one person who has skills
in facilitation and meeting management. Attempt to include
sufficient diversity of values and perspectives to ensure robust
ideas and discussion. A critical consideration is availability –
members should have the time to attend every meeting and
perform required tasks between meetings.
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Develop staffing procedures (recruiting, training, organizing,
replacing).
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Determine time frames for starting and terminating
the team, if applicable.
Assign the role of leader
Assign role of communicator – communication is the
life’s blood of teams-Communication is the most
important trait of a successful team. It cannot be left
to chance. Someone should be designated to ensure
that all members receive regular communications
about purpose, membership, roles and status.
Communications should also be with people outside
the team, especially those who make decisions or
determine if the team is successful or not.
Identify needs for resources (training,
materials, supplies, etc.).
 Identify the costs to provide necessary
resources for the team-Develop a budget
that itemizes the costs associated with
obtaining and supporting each of the
resources. Get management approval of the
budget.
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Contact each team member-Before the first meeting,
invite each potential team member to be a part of the
team. meet with each person individually.
Communicate the goals of the project, why the
person was selected, the benefit of the goals to the
organization, the time frame for the team effort, and
who will lead the team (at least initially). Invite the
team member to the first meeting.
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Carefully plan the first team meeting -In the first
meeting, review the goals of the team, why each
member was selected, the benefit of the goals to the
organization, the time frame for the team effort, who
will lead the team (at least, initially), when the team
might meet and where, and any changes that have
occurred since the individual meetings. Have this
information written down to hand out to each
member. At the end of the meeting, ask each person
to make a public commitment to the team effort.
 Regularly monitor and report on status of team
members toward achieving the goal.
 Supervisor Support-it is critical that supervisors of team
members remain available to provide support and resources
as needed. The supervisor should regularly monitor team
members’ progress on achieving their goals. Provide ongoing
encouragement and visibility to members. One of the most
important forms of support a supervisor can provide is
coordination with other supervisors to ensure that team
members are freed up enough to attend meetings.
Regularly celebrate team members’
accomplishments!
 One of the best ways to avoid burnout is to
regularly celebrate accomplishments.
Otherwise, members can feel as if they are on
treadmill that has no end. Keep your eye on
small and recurring successes, not just the
gold at the end of the rainbow.
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