G r o w i n g a Te a m

I think the Army would make a serious mistake if we made a distinction and said, “You
are a manager, and you are a leader.” So my philosophy is that we are all leaders! We
also must be responsible managers or stewards of resources entrusted to us. We would
make a serious mistake to think that we could be one and not the other. — General
John Wickham.

Leaders should not think of themselves as simply managers, supervisors, etc.; but rather as “team leaders.”
Thinking of yourself as a manager or supervisor places you in a position of traditional authority based solely
on respect for the position, which in turn places you in a position of power. By understanding the personal
work preferences and motivations of your team members, you as an individual, rather than your position, will
earn their real respect and trust. All the tools discussed so far in this guide, such as counseling and
planning, provide the basic structure for developing a team. But to go from a group to a team requires a few
extra steps.

This means that the people under you are not simply followers who blindly go where you go, but rather are a
group of people who are supportive of collaboration in order to achieve a common goal through mutual
knowledge and skill sharing.

What is a Team?
A team is a group of people coming together to collaborate. This collaboration is to reach a shared goal or
task for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. A group of people is not necessarily a team. A
team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a
common goal or completion of a task rather than just a group for administrative convenience. A group, by
definition, is a number of individuals having some unifying relationship.

Team members are deeply committed to each other's personal growth and success. That commitment
usually transcends the team. A team outperforms a group and outperforms all reasonable expectations
given to its individual members. That is, a team has a synergistic effect—one plus one equals a lot more
than two.

Shared Mental Models

Team members not only cooperate in all aspects of their tasks and goals, they share in what are traditionally
thought of as management functions, such as planning, organizing, setting performance goals, assessing
the team's performance, developing their own strategies to manage change, and securing their own
resources.

These shared mental models or knowledge structures allows each teammate to generate predictions and
expectations about their teammates' roles and task demands, which in turn, allow them to make adjustments
in order to maintain effective team performance (Cannon-Bowers, Salas, & Converse, 1993).

Major Benefits of Teams

1. Teams maximizes the organization's human resources. Each member of the team is
coached, helped, and led by all the other members of the team. A success or failure is felt
by all members, not just the individual. Failures are not blamed on individual members,
which gives them the courage to take chances. Successes are felt by every team member,
this helps them to set and achieve bigger and better successes. In addition, failure is
perceived as a learning lesson.
2. A Team's output is superior, even when the odds are not in its favor. This is due to the
synergistic effect of a team—a team can normally outperform a group of individuals.
3. There is continuous improvement. No one knows the job, tasks, and goals better than the
individual team members. To get real change, you need their knowledge, skills, and
abilities. When they pull together as a team, they will not be afraid to show what they can
do. Personal motives will be pushed to the side to allow the team motive to succeed.

Most teams aren't teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each
individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position. - Douglas McGregor

From Group To Team—Getting

There
Be Enthusiastic—it's Contagious
Become enthusiastic about one aspect at a time. Start by initially looking for a quick problem to be solved.
Most teams trace their advancement to key performance oriented events that forged them together.
Potential teams can set such events in motion by immediately establishing a few challenging, yet achievable
goals.

First, find a problem and start to talk about it with the team; do not delegate it to an individual or small group,
make it a project for everybody. Choose a simple, but distracting work-related problem and solicit
everybody's views and suggestions. Next, get the problem solved. Demand urgency against a clear target.
There is no need to allocate large amounts of resource or time to this, simply raise the problem and make a
fuss. When a solution comes, praise it by rewarding the whole team. Also, ensure that the aspects of
increased efficiency, productivity, and/or calm are highlighted since this will establish the criteria for success.
When the problem has been solved, find another (preferably bigger) one and repeat.

Develop a Sense of Urgency

Team members need to believe the team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose. Establishing a sense of
urgency and direction will help them know what their expectations are. The more urgent and meaningful the
need to reach a goal, the more likely it is that a real team will start to emerge. The best teams define their
performance expectations, but are flexible enough to allow changes to shape their own purpose, goals, and
approach.

Set Clear Rules of Behavior

Teams develop rules of conduct to help them achieve their purpose
and performance goals. Some rules you might want to consider:

o attendance - no interruptions to take phone calls

o discussion - no sacred cows
o confidentiality - personal revelations must remain among the team
o analytic approach - facts are friendly
o constructive confrontation - no finger pointing
o the most important - everyone does real work

Keep Them Informed

Challenge your team with fresh facts and information. New information causes a potential team to redefine
and enrich its understanding of the objectives, thereby helping the team to set clearer goals.

Grow Together
Teams must spend a lot of time together (bonding), especially in the beginning. Yet potential teams often fail
to do so. The time spent together must be both scheduled and unscheduled. Creative insights as well as
personal bonding require impromptu and casual interactions.

Reinforcement Works Wonders

Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward. Positive reinforcement works as well in a
team context as elsewhere. For example, by being alert to a shy person's initial efforts to speak up, allows
you to encourage continued contributions.

Other methods include:

o Focus on both development and performance. Make teamwork the norm for all actions.
Model teamwork in the way you conduct business and the way you interact with your
colleagues.
o Use all your leadership tools, such as coaching, counseling, mentoring, tutoring, and
concentrating on improving performance.
o Use informal processes, such as the way you communicate, showing respect, and
appreciating and celebrating their achievements.
o Your feelings must show commitment, loyalty, pride, and trust in your team.
o Share the credit.
o Create subcommittees for key areas and give them decision making authority.
o Take turns having a different member facilitate or lead the meetings.
o Talk last in discussions, after you've heard from the others.
o Be clear about when you're expressing your own personal opinion, that of the organization,
or that of the whole team.

Leadership shows itself in the inspired action of team members. Traditionally, organizations have assessed
leaders by their actions and behaviors. But, the best way to assess leadership is by the degree to which
people surrounding leaders are inspired. It is this inspiration that leads organizations on to excellent
performance, rather than mediocre performance.

Team Elements
As a leader, there are a number of elements that you must help to create in a team. Teams learn and
demonstrate behaviors that are not exhibited by mere groups. These characteristics represent the essential
elements of an effective team. Your team will not normally form on its own, rather there is almost always
someone who was the catalyst for bringing the team together. This someone must be you. It's okay for you
to be the focal point at the beginning, but at some point in time the ownership of the team needs to shift to
the other members as a whole.

Common Elements
A team goal - Although your team might have a number of goals, one of them must stand out. For example,
“To produce 10% more widgets than last year without hiring additional personnel.” A supporting goal might
be, “To provide 40 hours of yearly training for each member.” Everyone must know, agree upon, and be
committed to accomplishing the team goal.

Productive participation of all members - This has four levels:

1. Contributing data and knowledge

2. Sharing in the decision making process and reaching consensus
3. Making the decision
4. Making an imposed decision work
Communication - Open, honest, and effective exchange of information between members.

Trust - Openness in critiquing and trusting others.

A sense of belonging - Cohesiveness by being committed to an understood mandate and team identity.

Diversity - This must be valued as an asset. It is a vital ingredient that provides the synergistic effect of a
team.

Creativity and risk taking - If no one individual fails, then risk taking becomes a lot easier.

Evaluation - The ability to self correct.

Change compatibility - Being flexible and assimilating change.

Participatory leadership - Everyone must help lead to one degree or another.

Teamwork
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the team. I had trxuble understanding it until my supervisxr shxwed me hxw the xffice typewriter
perfxrms when just xne key is xut xf xrder. All the xther keys xn xur typewriter wxrk just fine
except xne, but that xne destrxys the effectiveness xf the typewriter. Nxw I knxw that even
thxugh I am xnly xne persxn, I am needed if the team is tx wxrk as a successful team shxuld.

Steps to Team Problem Solving

Step 1 - Define the goal. A team needs to know what to focus on. You can lay out the basic goal, such as
“reduce workplace accidents”, but it is important to let the team define and expand the goal.

Step 2 - Not only must the “what” be solved, but also the “why.” The team should identify what's in it for both
the organization and the team. This is best accomplished by asking “What is the benefit?” In addition,
creating a specific target that builds enthusiasm helps to make the objective appealing.

Step 3 - Define the obstacles that will prevent the team from achieving what it wants. Focus on internal
obstacles, not on the external environment. It becomes too easy to say, “We can't do anything about it.”
Internal factors are within their reach.

Step 4 - The team now plans its actions or objectives. Lay out four or five concrete steps, and write them
down. Not “we'll try” actions, such as “We'll try to serve customers better.” Rather, you want actions that can
be tracked and monitored. You cannot measure a “try” action. You want observable behaviors, such as
“Greet all customers with a smile and a good morning” or “Customers will be served within 1 minute upon
their arrival.”

Step 5 - Formulate actions to address.

Step 6 - Take action now! This is the most critical step. It is what differentiates an effective team from a
group. Groups have lots of meetings before, if ever, taking action—while teams get it done! Get commitment
from individual team members to take action on specific items.
 Team Leadership
Keep the purpose, goals, and
approach relevant and meaningful
All teams must shape their own common purpose, goals and approach. While a leader must be a working
member of the team who contributes, she also stands apart from the team by virtue of her position as
leader. A team expects their leader to use that perspective and distance to help them clarify and commit to
their mission, goals, and approach. Do not be afraid to get your hands dirty (lead by example), but always
remember what you are paid to do (get the job done and grow your employees).

Build commitment and confidence

Work to build the commitment and confidence level of each individual and the team as a whole. Effective
team leaders are vigilant about skills. Their goal is to have members with technical, functional, problem
solving, decision making, interpersonal, and teamwork skills. To get there, encourage them to take the risks
needed for growth and development. You can also challenge them by shifting their assignments and role
patterns. Get them out of their comfort zone and into the learning zone, but not so far that they go into the
fear zone:

Staying in our comfort zone makes change and learning difficult as we have nothing pushing or pulling us
(motivation). However, if we go too far out of our comfort zone, we enter the fear zone where no learning
takes place because of the extreme discomfort. When we enter the learning zone, we become slightly
uncomfortable as we are slightly out of place, therefore we change in order to fit in.

Manage relationships with outsiders

Team leaders are expected by people outside of the team, as well as the members within, to manage much
of the team's contacts and relationships with the rest of the organization. You must communicate effectively
the team's purpose, goals, and approach to anyone who might help or hinder it. In addition, you need the
courage to intercede on the team's behalf when obstacles that might cripple or demoralize the team get
placed in their way.

Create opportunities for others

One of the challenges is providing performance opportunities, assignments, and credit to the team and the
people within it. You cannot grab all the best opportunities, you must share it with your team. This will help
you to fulfill one of your primary responsibilities as a leader—growing the team.

Create a vision
A vision is the most important aspect of making a team successful. Teams perish when they don't clearly
see the vision—why they are doing what they do and where they are going. You must motivate the team
toward the fulfillment of the goals. Workers want to be successful and they know the only way to do that is
by following and achieving great goals.

Are You Ready to be a Team

Leader?
You are comfortable in sharing leadership and decision making with your employees.

You prefer a participative atmosphere.

The environment is highly variable or changing quickly and you need the best thinking and input from all
your employees.

Members of your team are (or can become) compatible with each other and can create a collaborative
rather than a competitive environment.

You need to rely on your employees to resolve problems.

Formal communication channels are not sufficient for the timely exchange of information and decisions.

Common Problems
Leaders select too many members in their own image. As a result, teams become unbalanced with
too many people overlapping in the same areas, while there are skill gaps in other areas.

Leaders do not understand their own strengths, abilities, and preferences.

Individuals in unbalanced teams feel their talents and abilities are not being used.

Leaders feel they do not know how to motivate people. This is because they do not know them and their
individual needs.

Team members feel that the team does not work smoothly. They believe individual work preferences
conflict rather than complement each other.

Its time to do some rebuilding if you are facing any of the following problems:

o Loss of productivity or output

 o Complaints

o Conflicts between personnel

o Lack of clear goals

o Confusion about assignments

o Lack or innovation or risk taking

o Ineffective meetings

o Lack of initiative

o Poor communication

o Lack of trust

o Employees feel that their work is not recognized

o Decisions are made that people do not understand or agree with

If you have a team problem be sure to include the team on the rebuilding process:

1. First, have a diagnostic meeting. This meeting should be off-site so that there are no interruptions and to
show them you are truly committed to building a team. This part of the process is not to fix any problems but
to bring forth what is both good and bad with the team in order to formulate future plans. You need to find
out what is working or not working and where they are with their working relationships with each other, other
teams, and you. If the team is large, it might help to break them down into smaller discussion groups in order
to have more lively discussions or to pair them up and have them report back to the team. Consider the first
part of the diagnostic meeting as abrainstorming session. Do not throw out any problems or ideas that you
feel are irrelevant. After all the data have been made public, have the team determine what is correct and
relevant.

2. Next, categorize the issues, such as planning, scheduling, resources, policies, tasks or activities the
group must perform, interpersonal conflict, etc.

3. Once all the information has been categorized, develop action plans to solve the problems.

4. And finally and most importantly, follow up on the plans to ensure they are being accomplished.