Download Teams and Team Building

Teams and Team Building
Shawn Clark
Assistant Professor of IST Solutions
The Pennsylvania State University
August 24, 2000
Group Exercise
Objective: Build the tallest self-supporting structure you
can with 25 straws
Rules:
• Select a group observer
• 20 minutes to plan the how you are going to construct
your structure
• No assembly of parts during planning period (except
using two practice straws)
• Can lay out pieces, but no trial assembly
• Construction period lasts for 90 seconds
Group Exercise Follow-up Questions
• Did any group members bring special skills to the
exercise?
• What are group members doing that seems to benefit
group performance?
• What are group members doing that seems to hinder
group performance?
• What kinds of roles emerged during the exercise?
• What could your group have done differently to
improve its performance?
Presentation Objectives
• Highlight the importance of social information
processing
• Define what a team is
• Describe different types of teams
• Relate my experiences working in and with
teams
• Define why teams are important
• Describe the different types of team
dysfunction
• Identify the characteristics of an effective team
Mann Gulch Disaster
• Why do teams fail?
• How can teams be made more resilient /
successful?
Mann Gulch Disaster: Lessons Learned
(continued)
• The stakes are high
– Work is increasingly done in small temporary outfits (e.g.,
teams) in which the stakes are high and foul-ups can have
serious consequences
• Assumptions have consequences
– The crew expects a 10:00 fire but grows uneasy when the fire
doesn’t behave like one
• People are often unclear about who is in charge
• Creativity and risk taking usually don’t well under
pressure
– The foreman lights a fire right in the middle of the only escape
route
• Each individual faces the dilemma of being his or her
own boss and following the team leader
Mann Gulch Disaster: Lessons Learned
(continued)
• Sticking with the team helps keep the fear under
control
– Sallee and Ramsey stuck together
– A partner makes sense making easier
– A partner enlarges the pool of accessible data
• People rarely trust leaders they don’t know
– Leaders can have their greatest impact on a team before people
get into tight situations
Information processing is as much a social
process as it is a technical one
Social information processing involves:
• Scanning for information
• Gathering information
• Storing information
• Communicating information
• Making decisions with (or without) information
What is a team?
Definition:
• Cohesive group
• Have a common purpose
• Members hold themselves mutually accountable
• Members define a common working approach
Life in organizations includes a rich
landscape of teams and team involvement
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Work Team
Task force
Project team 2
Project team 1
Project teams
Executive boards
Project team 3
Steering committees
Quality review teams
Employee improvement teams
My experiences working in teams
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The team member nexus (living in team matrix)
Different types and sizes of teams
Functional / dysfunctional teams
Projects of various lengths
Very high stakes
 $2300 / day
 Million dollar client contracts
• Team products and deliverables
 New / improved organization structure, system, process
 Meeting notes
 Final reports
 Functional system
 Satisfied client / customer
 Viable recommendations
 Project plan
Why are teams important?
• Greater sum of total knowledge and
information
• Greater number of approaches to problem
solving
• Motivating
• Mechanism for retaining knowledge and
wisdom
• Use to develop commitment and a sense of
ownership
Team problems are costly
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•
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Cost money
Delays and missed deadlines
Customer dissatisfaction
Deliver wrong product / service / system
Careers ruined
Emotionally toxic
People die
Team pitfalls and dysfunctions
• Social loafing / free-rider effect
• Groupthink – agreement-at-any-cost
mentality
• Self-appointed mind guards / individual
domination
• Perceived inequity
• Climate of distrust
• Poor communication
• Winning the argument
Characteristics of an effective team
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Shared vision and goals
Appropriate skills and abilities
Climate of trust and openness
Team organization
Tools and techniques
Team leadership
Elements of an effective vision
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Is unique and/or creative
Fosters shared understanding
Fosters buy-in of proposed vision
Articulates clear, attainable future state
Is broken down into specific goals and
objectives
Brainstorming Exercise
• Imagine that you work for a company that
manufactures wire coat hangers. The company is
about to close because most people use plastic
hangers
• Your manager comes to you in desperate need of
help. She must figure out how to use a supply of
wire coat hangers that fills the warehouse
• The company is part of a conglomerate, and has
unlimited resources and facilities to deal with
problems
• During the next two minutes, your task is to list as
many ideas you can for using wire coat hangers.
Write your answers down on a piece of paper
A recent study produced these results
AGE
4-5
PERCENT
CREATIVE
98%
10
30%
15
12%
On the coat hanger exercise, 5 year olds generated an
average of 50 responses!
Many factors limit creativity
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•
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Habit
Fear of being wrong
Lack of self-confidence
Lack of interest
Judging ideas before writing them down
The “classical grouping” technique is useful in
categorizing and organizing brainstormed
ideas
Example:
What prevents the current ___________
process from achieving performance
objectives?
?
?
?
?
?
First, ideas are quickly brainstormed onto
cards
Print clearly
Use the horizontal format
Keep it brief (7 words or less)
Use at least one verb
Write only one thought per card
Generate as many as possible
In the second step, each card is read to the team
and posted on the wall in “thematic” groups
1
2
3
4
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Team assignment: Create a team name, share
contact information, and develop a team code
of conduct
Example of a team code of conduct:
• We will use the word “we” instead of “I”
• We will be prepared for all team assignments
• Everyone will participate in team discussions and
activities
• We will respect each other’s views and ideas
• Punctuality is a must (anyone who is late to a
meeting owes $1)
• Each team member will notify a fellow team
member when unable to attend a meeting or when
expecting to arrive late
Team name and code of conduct are due next class period