Chapter 7: Teamwork,
Teambuilding, and Coaching
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What Is a Team?
Working Together
Building Teams
Leading a Kitchen Team
Leading a Restaurant Shift
Total Quality Management
Empowerment
Team Challenges
Coaching
Group Versus Team
• A group is a large number of
people working together
because of similarities, yet
remain neutral.
– They interact only to achieve the
objective.
• A team is a group of individuals
who share a common goal & the
responsibility of achieving it.
– The team attempts to achieve a
positive collaboration among its
members.
The Formally Appointed Team
• Has a appointed team leader.
• The team leader may have more
decision making authority than
others.
• Power may be delegated to
them.
• Delegation is when one gives a
portion of their responsibility &
authority to a subordinate.
The Informally Appointed Team
• Evolves on its own.
• Has a rotation of
leadership.
• The group leader does not
have formal power over
the group.
• The informally appointed
team has some advantages
over the formally
appointed.
The Informally Appointed Team:
Advantages
• One person probably does not possess every quality
needed to be the perfect leader.
• Everyone has a chance.
• Formally appointed team leaders may also lose
popularity among the group because of their
connection with management.
• In a informal team, eventually everyone is linked
with management.
Why do people join teams?
• To accomplish tasks as
efficiently & swiftly as possible.
• To feel like they are part of a
whole.
• To feel like they contribute
something to the overall success
of the team.
• To develop, enhance, and/or
confirm some underlying
identity needs.
Teamwork
• The actual action that a team
performs.
• Cooperative effort by a group of
persons acting together as a team.
• Team players are individuals
that participate in a collective
effort & cooperation to get the
job done efficiently.
Norms
• Team norms are defined as implicit, in addition to
explicit rules of behavior.
• Norms occur within every type of team interaction.
• Norms work best when the team creates them.
• Positive team norms are behaviors that are agreed upon
& accepted within the group.
• One way a manager may increase positive team norms
in the hospitality industry is by giving rewards.
• Negative team norms are behaviors that are against the
interest & are not accepted by the overall group.
A Cohesive Team
• Communicates well with each other &
has well-defined norms, unity, respect,
& trust among its members.
• Strengths & weaknesses; hopefully
what one member lacks another will
make up for.
• If a team lacks cohesion, the group will
not have any sense of unity which will
result in a hindered performance.
• To build a cohesive team goals &
objectives need to be set.
Leading a Kitchen Team
• Starts with a “battle plan”.
• Every station discusses
their action plan & then
‘preps’ to ‘par’.
• Then the chef/kitchen
leader practices
participative leadership,
leading by example,
working with the team.
Leading a Restaurant Shift
• Every shift is unique & presents different
obstacles to overcome
• Nevertheless, leaders must be ready to lead
their staff through a successful shift.
• This is where the following come in handy:
– Opening Checklists
– Pre-shift Meetings
– Closing Checklists
3 Ways to Influence an Informal
Team:
• Feed Back: The type (positive
or negative) & amount should
even itself off, or meet in the
middle.
• Identification: Identify the
key players within the group.
• Communication: Builds trust,
& helps to confirm that you
are addressing the right issues.
Before Building a Team
• First consider what they want out
of the team they are about to build
& clarify these goals to pre-existing
members .
• Be very selective with who is hired,
& always conduct a reference
check!
• Remember that one team member’s
problem affects the whole group in
a downward spiral.
• Build a positive work environment.
Formal Versus Informal Groups
• Formal groups are work
groups established by the
company.
– They include committees,
group meetings, work teams
& task forces.
• Informal groups are more
social & form naturally in
the workplace.
Changing a Group into a Team
• Get the teams input
toward establishing team
goals.
• Allow some team
decision-making.
• Stress communication
within the team.
• Have collaboration among
team members.
Creating a Successful Team
• Together, Everyone, Achieves, More!
• Team effectiveness is defined by 3 criteria:
– 1st, the productive output of the team meets or
exceeds the standards of quantity & quality.
– 2nd, team members realize satisfaction of their
personal needs.
– 3rd, team members remain committed to working
together.
A Successful Team
• Understands & is committed to the vision, mission, & goals of
the company.
• Is mature.
• Works to continually improve how it operates.
• Treat each other with respect.
• Differences are handled in a professional manner.
• Respect their supervisor.
• Members are consulted & their input is requested in decisionmaking.
• Members encourage & assist other team members to succeed.
• The team meets or exceeds its goals.
• Has synergy.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
• Goal is to ensure
continuous quality
improvement of services
& products for guests.
• TQM is applied in all
areas of business at every
level.
• It consists of 10 steps:
10 Steps to TQM
1. Have excellent leaders as supervisors & managers.
2. Build & train teams of volunteer associates within
each department & later cross departmentally in
problem solving.
3. Teams decide on & write down the appropriate
levels of guest service & relative weighting for ”their
guests”.
4. Set mission, goals, & strategies based on guest
expectations.
5. Empower & inspire associates to reach goals.
10 Steps to TQM
6. Identify deficiencies, which are areas where
service falls below expectations.
7. Analyze & resolve identified deficiencies
8. Modify processes to incorporate corrections to
improve service to expected levels.
9. Track results – improvements in service, guest
satisfaction, employee satisfaction, cost
reduction, & profit.
10. Evaluate & support the process.
Empowerment
• Empowerment: ensuring that
employees have the skills,
knowledge & authority to make
decisions that would otherwise be
made by management.
• Structured empowerment allows
employees to make decisions within
specified limits.
• Flexible empowerment gives
employees more scope in making
decisions.
Team Challenges
• Overcoming
negativity.
• Learning how to
delegate (appropriate)
responsibilities.
• Overcoming high
turnover.
• Gaining respect from
& within the team.
Coaching
• Coaching is a process involving observation of
employee performance & conversation focusing
on job performance between the manager & the
employee.
• Coaching focuses on enhancing skills of the
employee, productivity of the employee &
elevating employee motivation.
– Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Coaching
• 8 Step Coaching Model:
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1. Be supportive
2. Define the problem & expectations
3. Establish impact
4. Initiate a plan
5. Get a commitment
6. Confront excuses/resistance
7. Clarify consequences
8. Don’t give up
Coaching
• If the leader takes the
coach approach, they
will still be part of the
team, involved in
employee performance.
Coaching
• Why do supervisors avoid coaching?
– Lack of time.
– Fear of confrontation.
– Assuming the employee knows they are doing a
good job.
– Little experience coaching.
– Assuming that the employee will ask questions
when appropriate & does not need feedback.
The Coach
• Is present.
• Is a teacher.
• Observes employees
doing their jobs.
• Asks questions.
• Gives feedback.
Counseling Sessions
• 1. Speak in private with the employee. Be relaxed
& friendly.
• 2. Express in a calm manner your concern about
the specific aspect of job performance you feel
needs to be improved.
• 3. Ask the employee for his or her thoughts &
opinions, including possible solutions.
• 4. Ask the employee to restate what has been
agreed upon to check on understanding.
• 5. At a later time, you should follow up & make
sure that the performance concern has been
addressed.
Behaviors of a Coach
• Do not think about employees as people that need to be
controlled.
• Listen, listen, listen!
• Develop the individual strengths of each employee.
• Endorse effort & growth (instead of pointing out
mistakes).
• Stop providing solutions. Give your employees an
opportunity to figure it out.
• Stop making all the decisions. Delegate decisions where
appropriate & engage your employees.
• Be unconditionally constructive.
• Create an environment where people want to work with
you, feel valued, respected & part of a team
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.