Managing and developing effective teams
Led by Sue Duraikan
www.duraikan-training.com
University of Cambridge
2017-18
Developing Effective Teams – The Manager’s Role
During this exercise you will have an opportunity to identify and examine the characteristics of effective teams and to explore ways in which you can act to encourage the development of such characteristics.
Section A
1. Working on your own, think back over your career and identify the most effective team with which you have been involved (either as leader or member). Then identify the least effective team. Name these teams below and make brief notes about what made the team effective or ineffective.
Most effective team
Reasons for effectiveness:
Least effective team
Reasons for ineffectiveness:
Developing Effective Teams …2
Section B
In your small group select your ‘Top Four’ factors for team effectiveness, and spend a few minutes on each one, identifying and discussing specific actions that managers can take to encourage their development.
Be specific and really focus on what would be involved in following through a particular course of action. Record your ideas below:
Top Four Factors / Actions by Manager1.
2.
3.
4.
Team Goals
Every team needs a shared goal, something to work towards.
In the broadest sense a team needs to have a sense of common purpose. All team members should be able to answer the question: ‘What are we here for?’ in pretty much the same way.
A team will also have medium term project goals that require them to work as an interdependent unit. And it will have short term task goals requiring them to work together to get things done.
What are yours?
What is your team’s common purpose? Do all members understand and share this purpose?What shared goals does your team have?
Are they SMMMMART?
How do you currently monitor progress?
What could you do to improve clarity and enhance commitment to shared goals?
‘The quality of our expectations
determines the quality of our action’
Andre Godin
SMMMMART goals
Specific - Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Specific is the What, Why, and How of the SMART model.
· WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc.
· WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish?
· HOW are you going to do it? (By...)
EXAMPLE: A general team goal would be ‘Organise 2018 conference on 20th century Spanish Art’ but this then needs to be broken down into specific individual goals eg. ‘Marta to fix venue for 400 attendees by end March.’ ‘Joan and Li to produce 2 day agenda complete with speakers and times by end May.’ ‘All to brainstorm best way to publicise at meeting on 25 November. Then Bob to follow up.’
Measurable – Decide clear criteria for success. When you measure progress, it helps team members to stay on track, reach their target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs them on to continued effort required to reach their goal.
To determine if the goal is measurable, ask questions such as...... How much? How many? How often? How will we know when it is accomplished?
Matter – You should be able to explain it matters to achieve this goal. It must be important enough to make the team feel it matters and for you to bother to follow up on progress.
Mutual – It often takes more than one person’s commitment to achieve a goal. You as the manager will need to take action to support the team in achieving their goal eg. provide coaching/training in a new skills, remove obstacles to progress, liaise with senior management/suppliers/other colleagues.
Monitored – You can’t just leave your team members to get on with it and then check at the next appraisal whether the goal has been met. If it does matter, you will need to follow up and monitor progress with them, helping them to resolve any blockages.
Achievable - To be achievable, a goal must represent an objective toward which team members are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; set goals which challenge and stretch (but provide the support they need to achieve them!). Goals which are too difficult are demotivating.
Relevant - Goals set must be clearly linked to the strategy and objectives of the team as a whole. Goals must be agreed so that an individual is not allowed to pursue his/her own agenda at the expense of the team
Timed – Your goal should have a time limit – ‘within the next week’ ‘by Christmas’ Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. Time must be measurable (ie not ‘asap’ or ‘as a matter of urgency’) and realistic.
Motivating individuals
List the members of the team you supervise (by initial). Then, write what you know about what motivates each individual.
Team member / What motivates him/her1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
‘Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."
Lou Holtz
Task, team, individual: the theory
From: John Adair, Effective Teambuilding
John Adair's Action-Centred Leadership model is represented by the 'three circles' diagram, which illustrates three core management responsibilities:
· Achieve the task
· Build and maintain the team or group
· Manage individuals
The reason these three overlap is because, firstly, the task can only be performed by the team and not by one person; secondly, the team can only achieve excellent task performance if all the individuals are managed to achieve their potential; and thirdly, the individuals need the task to be challenged and the feeling of being part of a team to be fully motivated.
Your responsibilities as a manager for achieving the task are:
· identify aims and vision for the group, purpose, and direction - define the activity (the task)
· identify resources, people, processes, systems and tools (inc. financials, communications, IT)
· create the plan to achieve the task - deliverables, measures, timescales, strategy and tactics
· establish responsibilities, objectives, accountabilities and measures, by agreement and delegation
· set standards, quality, time and reporting parameters
· control and maintain activities against parameters
· monitor and maintain overall performance against plan
· report on progress towards the group's aim
· review, re-assess, adjust plan, methods and targets as necessary
Your responsibilities as a manager for the group/team are:
· establish, agree and communicate standards of performance and behaviour
· establish style, culture, approach of the group - soft skill elements
· monitor and maintain discipline, ethics, integrity and focus on objectives
· anticipate and resolve group conflict, struggles or disagreements
· assess and change as necessary the balance and composition of the group
· develop team-working, cooperation, morale and team-spirit
· develop the collective maturity and capability of the group - progressively increase group freedom and authority
· encourage the team towards objectives and aims - motivate the group and provide a collective sense of purpose
· identify, develop and agree team- and project-leadership roles within group
· enable, facilitate and ensure effective internal and external group communications
· identify and meet group training needs
· give feedback to the group on overall progress; consult with, and seek feedback and input from the group
Your responsibilities as a manager for each individual are:
· understand the team members as individuals - personality, skills, strengths, needs, aims and fears
· assist and support individuals - plans, problems, challenges, highs and lows
· identify, develop and utilise each individual's capabilities and strengths
· identify and agree appropriate individual responsibilities and objectives
· train and develop individual team members
· develop individual freedom and authority
· give recognition and praise to individuals - acknowledge effort and good work
· where appropriate reward individuals with extra responsibility, advancement and status
· recognise and deal swiftly with individual performance and motivation issues
In 2s or 3s consider the following scenarios, making assumptions as necessary about the background. Practise giving feedback to the individual in one scenario – then discuss how it went.
· What worked well?
· What could have been done differently?
A. Kay is new to your team. You are her manager. You have just overheard her in a conversation with a colleague, promising to deliver a piece of work by the end of the week. You know this promise is unrealistic given Kay’s other priorities.
B. You are Jim’s manager. He has recently completed a project from start to finish for the first time. He has organised the work well, kept to deadlines and produced an excellent end product. He also liaised effectively with stakeholders, from whom you have heard positive feedback about his professionalism and problem-solving ability.
C. Leila has just given her first presentation to another team in the organisation. You were sitting in. While she gave the right information, she mostly spoke to her notes and to the screen behind her, rather than to the audience.
Task, team, individual: activity
What would you do in each scenario, given the need to juggle all 3 responsibilities?
Scenario 1:
You have just got an internal promotion to manage the team you have been working in. The previous manager who left was very dynamic and you were a strong, cohesive team which achieved good results under his leadership. Most of your former peers are happy that you have been promoted, but one team member, Claire, applied for the post herself and there is now some awkwardness in your relationship.
Scenario 2:
Some of your team members know a lot more than you do about the technical area you work in. You don’t need to be an expert in these areas, but you are finding it hard to manage their workload and assess their performance. You are concerned that they may exploit your lack of expertise and just ‘do their own thing’.
Scenario 3:
You manage a very committed, hardworking team. All your team members work full time (and often significant overtime) while one, Renata, works part time. You know that some team members are unhappy that they have to deal with Renata’s phone calls when she’s not there; this sometimes involves them in considerable extra work to meet client needs. They feel that when she is there, she does not display the same team spirit; she just gets on with her own work. Your team are currently under great stress to meet a project deadline. You have just heard Steve, one of your team, shout at Renata ‘How can you just sit there in your little cocoon while the rest of us are working all hours to get this done?’
Scenario 4:
Recently one of your team members has left and another has joined. This new recruit, Paul, is deaf. You have noticed that the other team members have not made much effort to integrate him into the team. At lunch time they go off together and leave him on his own. When they chat, they ignore him. You are concerned at the impact of this on Paul’s morale and his attitude to the job.
Scenario 5:
Kamila, a team member, has called to say she will be absent today. Ravi is also absent; he’s on a training course. Your team already has a heavy workload and you’ve just had a request to take on a new, urgent task that must be completed today. You’re got 2 meetings on your calendar for today.
Stages of Team Development
Teams mature and develop. Like individuals they have a fairly clearly defined growth cycle. This has been categorised as having four successive stages.
Only when the first three stages have been successfully completed will the team be at full maturity and able to be fully and sensibly productive.
Some kind of performance will be achieved at all stages of development, but it is likely to be impeded by other processes of growth and the individual agendas. In many periodic committees, the leadership issue, or the objective and purpose of the team, are recurring topics that crop up in every meeting in some form or other, seriously hindering the true work of the team.
1. FORMING. The team is not yet a team but a set of individuals. This stage is characterised by talk about the purpose of the team, its composition, leadership pattern, and life-span. Each individual tends to want to establish her/his personal identity within the team, make some individual impression, communicate personal needs. It is crucial to the success of the team to move out of this stage quickly.
What can the team leader do to encourage this?
2. STORMING. Most teams go through a conflict stage when people start to push against the boundaries established in the Forming stage. Storming often starts where there is a conflict between team members' natural working styles. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons, but if differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated.
Storming can also happen in other situations. For example, team members may challenge your authority, or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Or, if you haven't defined clearly how the team will work, people may feel overwhelmed by their workload, or they could be uncomfortable with the approach you're using.
Some may question the worth of the team's goal, and may resist taking on tasks.
Team members who stick with the task at hand may experience stress, particularly as they don't have the support of established processes, or strong relationships with their colleagues.