Download Chapter 4: Communicating and Working in Teams

4
“Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.”
―Henry Ford,
American businessman
and automotive innovator
Communicating and
Working in Teams
After completing the chapter, you will be able to:
• List common characteristics of effective team
members.
• Explain important things to do when planning and
conducting a team meeting.
• Describe how written, verbal, and nonverbal
communication is used in a team.
• Discuss leadership styles and characteristics of an
effective leader.
• List ways of overcoming barriers.
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Team—two or more people working together to
reach a goal.
– Teams create a better or different outcome than
working as an individual to solve a problem or
perform a task.
– A formal team may be the department in which you
work, such as a customer service team.
– An informal team may be the recycling committee.
– Team has become an important part of both business
and social vocabulary.
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Common characteristics of a team member:
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cooperation
politeness
patience
enthusiasm
dependability
loyalty
building of self-esteem of others
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Types of teams
– Formal teams
• created for a specific and organized purpose
• have an appointed leader
• members are chosen based on talents and skills
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Teams
• Types of teams
– Virtual teams
• made up of members who are in different locations
• through the use of technology, employees work from
home or while traveling
• can use telephone, video, Internet, or any other
communication technology
• cost-effective option for business because there are no
travel expenses and team members’ time can be used
more efficiently
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Types of teams
– Informal teams
• come together usually for a social purpose, like a
softball or bowling team
• individual team members participate as a member of
the team by choice, as opposed to a formal team where
participation is required
• leader of an informal team may be voted on by team
members or the natural leader may step up to the task
of leading the team
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Team development
– Basic steps that each team will take
• getting to know each other
• learning to work together
• working together
• being successful
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Guidelines to complete a task
– Identify
• team’s purpose, goals, and objectives
• ways to successfully achieve the team’s goals
• each team member’s responsibility in completing the
task
• ways to effectively communicate with team members
while working on the project
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Team member roles
– Facilitator
• helps team work through each step of completing a
task
• responsibilities include
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preparing agenda for each meeting
keeping the group members on task
staying focused on the team purpose or goal
reporting the progress of the group to others
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Team member roles
– recorder
• creates minutes
• records the discussion during brainstorming
• attends to the agenda and records each item as it is
addressed
• quotes group members, but does not edit or evaluate
group member thoughts
– timekeeper
• mindful of time as the team works through the task at
hand
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Teams
• Team member roles
– encourager
• informal role who is positive and influences others to
be positive when challenges occur.
• sometimes referred to as the optimist
– skeptic
• challenges team to prove the solution is correct
• teams can benefit from this team member, who looks at
all the solutions for possible issues
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Teams
1. What are the two types of teams?
2. What are the four steps of team development?
3. List five roles that individual team members play.
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Meeting as a Team
• Use parliamentary procedures
– rules for conducting a meeting, where the majority
rules, but the minority is respected
• When planning a meeting:
– reserve a meeting place
– send an invitation to those who need to attend
– create and send an agenda before the meeting
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Meeting as a Team
• When conducting a meeting:
– start the meeting on time
– preview the agenda so everyone is clear on the
purpose of the meeting
– encourage participation
– keep the discussion on topic
– summarize the information at the conclusion of the
meeting
– end on time
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Meeting as a Team
1. When should a meeting not be held?
2. What are parliamentary procedures?
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Communicating as a Team
• Written communication
– well-written messages reflect competence and
professionalism
• Verbal communication
– learn how to present
yourself in a
professional manner
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Communicating as a Team
• Nonverbal communication
– lead by example
– sit erect, watch the speaker, show you are attentive
and interested.
– poor posture, lack of eye contact, and other nonverbal
signals show you are not interested in the other
person
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Communicating as a Team
1. What do successful teams know about wellwritten messages?
2. What positive messages can nonverbal
communication send?
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Leadership in Teams
• Leadership
– can be defined as the ability to motivate or guide
others
– a title does not make a leader
– willingness to motivate others makes a leader
– a leader motivates others to reach goals or work
through challenges
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Leadership in Teams
• Leadership style is the way in which a manager or
team leader leads employees or team members
– laissez-faire leadership style means the leader lets
someone complete a task on his or her own
– democratic (participatory) leader encourages team
members to participate in the leadership process
– autocratic style of leadership is distinct because there
is no question who is in charge and who are followers
• Leaders are people who can motivate and direct
others and who can improve a process or situation
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Leadership in Teams
• A leader
– is self motivated
– does not have to be asked for help
– has integrity and tries to do the right thing for the
team
– is organized and can identify how to accomplish tasks
– is a motivator and can move others to take action
– can manage conflict in a team
– is confident, positive, and sees the glass half full
– does not feel he or she has to do everything
– allows others to participate to accomplish the task
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Leadership in Teams
1. What is leadership?
2. List the three styles of leadership.
3. What are four characteristics of a good leader?
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Overcoming Communication
Barriers in Teams
• Identify the team’s purpose, goal, and objective for
the task at hand
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establish a clear picture
assign roles and responsibilities
identify ways to effectively communicate
identify processes needed as the solution for the task
takes place
– identify conflicts as they happen and resolve them so
that progress is not delayed
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Overcoming Communication Barriers in Teams
1. How does a good leader help the team overcome
communication barriers?
2. Why is it important to assign roles to each team
member?
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• Effective teams display cooperation,
politeness, patience, enthusiasm,
dependability, loyalty, and building of selfesteem in others.
• Teams develop in steps: getting to know each
other, learning to work together, working
together, and success.
• Teams should meet only when needed, not
when the topic can be handled through e-mail
or other communication.
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
• Communication plays an important role as the
team presents solutions for review.
• The three styles of leadership are laissez-faire,
democratic, and autocratic.
• Good leaders help the team overcome
communication barriers by guiding the
process and procedures for working together.
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Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.