Working With Others in a Team

Introduction

Groups and teams are common features of an organisation's scene. These include meetings, committees and groups of one sort or another. We believe that the group possesses attributes distinctly different from those of the component individuals and its features are unique. It is a common belief that what a group is capable of achieving, its constituent individuals are not. Maybe it is for this reason that groups and teams and their constituent members make an organisation into a combination of interlocking and interactive systems working towards the achievement of compatible goals, rather than a collection of individuals performing different activities and satisfying solely their individual needs. The very term `group' implies some form of common activity, some form of mutual collaboration, although such expressions as `group think' and `committee' raise doubts about the value of groups.

What is a Group?

The terms `group' and `team' have been used fairly extensively, often without any attempt being made to define what has been meant by these terms.

When we examine the literature, it becomes evident that group theorists have given different emphasis on group definitions. Some stress the individual's motivation for the `formation' of a group; some define the group as that which is perceived by its constituent members; and there are those who believe that the formation and development of group roles and norms as a `consequence' of group processes is of greater importance. Others believe that the defining characteristics of a group need to be in terms of the `interactions and interdependence' of its members.

	'A group is defined as two or more persons who interact with one another so that each person influences and is influenced by each other person' (Shaw 1971 ).

and

	A human group is a set of persons amongst whom there exists a definable or observable set of relations' (Davis 1969)

	'A group is a set of mutually interdependent behavioural systems that not only affect each other, but respond to exterior influences as well' (Cartwright and Zander 1968).

In short, the notion of a group may seem less mysterious if it is imagined to be composed, firstly, of a set of persons, and secondly, of a collection of interdependent persons

Types of Groups

Formal Groups: These are created by design, by formal authority. Formal groups are normally permanent, in that they exist and are seen to exist within the structure of the organisation. A task group or a project team may be set up to achieve specific activities.

Informal Groups: These groups, as the term implies, have not been created by design. They may be formed for a variety of reasons, including chance or personal preference.

Primary Groups: These consist of a small number of people who perform a common task and have regular personal interactions with each other. Such groups greatly influence the individual members' psychological development.

Secondary Groups. Unlike the Primary groups, these consist of a large number of people who do not have the opportunity to have much social interaction with each other.

Types of Interaction in a Group

Task-Orientated Behaviour: concerned with achieving the tasks or objectives of the group. For example, solving a problem.

Maintenance-Orientated Behaviour: maintains the moral and harmony of the group and creates an atmosphere and climate conducive to worthwhile contributions.

Self-Orientated Behaviour: aims to achieve personal or individual goals within the group situation. It is motivated by the individuals need for power or to build alliances, status and prestige, or to protect his or her self concept and perceived image by others.

Major Purposes for using Groups

For the distribution of work. To bring together a set of skills, talents, responsibilities and allocate to them their particular duties.

For the management and control of work. To allow work to be organised and controlled by the appropriate individuals with the responsibility for a certain range of work.

For problem-solving and decision making. To bring together a set of skills, talents and responsibilities so that the solution to any problem will have all available capacities applied to it.

For information processing. To pass on decisions or information to those who need to know.

For information and idea collection. To gather ideas, information or suggestions.

For testing and ratifying decisions. To test the validity of a decision taken outside a group or to ratify such a decision.

For co-ordination and control. To co-ordinate problems and tasks between functions or divisions.

For increased commitment and involvement. To allow and encourage individuals to get involved in the plans and activities of the organisation.

For negotiation or conflict resolution. To resolve a dispute or argument between levels or divisions or functions (in organisation).

For inquest or inquiry into the past.

Development of a Group to a Team

All groups go through various stages of development, and a work teams effectiveness is also a product of how the team has managed to cope with the problems it faces in each of its developmental stages. Studies have shown that team development is primarily concerned with the interactions between individual members to form a cohesive integrated unit. It is suggested that developing into an integrated and self-supporting team will involve the following broad strategies.

Assisting the team members to become acquainted

Helping members to offer feed back. Helping members to establish criteria

Encouraging members to take part in the running, development and maintenance of the relationships amongst its members.

Formal groups with specific task to be performed often take the form of a team. A teams membership is not normally voluntarily with relationships well described and established

Developing Teams for Projects

Nowadays, most middle-sized and Iarge firms, projects and almost all institutions, are run by small management teams. Each member is holding a position of responsibility and through him or her efforts contributes to the effectiveness of the team.

The shift in power and authority away from one individual and towards a team, amongst many things, is thought to protect the organisation against corruption and the problem of indispensability of its leadership. Team management has become the stable alternative, a means of viewing a business and/or a project effectively so long as the right combination of the people can be found. Here we deal with two related aspects of team management:

Effective Team Development, and

Team building in project management.

Effective Team Development

It is true that a perfect team requires the combination of right individuals with a selection of desired abilities and characteristics. However, it is unrealistic to expect that, by simply placing a number of skilled professional individuals in a group should be expected to perform as a team. For teams to perform effectively it requires time; time for team members to be acquainted with each other, to assess each others strengths and weaknesses and to reflect whether they can identify with the values, beliefs, attitudes and general style of their colleagues, individuals or the whole group.

One of the areas of research critical to both understanding and developing effective teams is how a disparate group develops into so effective working team. The human resource group at Cranfield School of Management examined the problem of how to develop and stimulate productive teams and has adopted the Team Development Wheel as a means of training managers to perform as team members. lt was concluded that teams experience four distinct stages in their development from a group of individuals to a more cohesive unit

These are:

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Forming:

At this stage the individual members need to become acquainted and to know more about one another. Naturally they are somewhat inhibited. Their behavioural pattern is likely to be polite probably 'impersonal', 'guarded' in disclosing personal or work oriented information or even offering an opinion. In short they test each others personalities, professional capabilities and the degree of commitment to the group and tasks in hand, and more importantly how they should be carried out.

Storming:

Once the group members have gained confidence and started working on the tasks in hand, a certain amount of infighting' is likely to occur. Leadership of the group is the one which is most likely to induce infighting amongst the members. The competition for leadership often leads to a split between the members and conflict emerges. Differences in opinion leads to taking sides and as a result some team members may opt out. The overall feeling is that of 'feeling demotivation' and the feeling of being stuck'.

Norming:

How long the storming stage takes is, by and large, dependant upon the quality of the group's Ieadership and whether or not the group members have decided to get on with the tasks in hand. Usually be doing the tasks allocated to the group and meeting the targets set. The norms of behaviour and professional practice begin to be established. The interpersonal barriers begin to disappear though the infighting may still occur from time to time. Many groups during their development stage, do not go beyond stage three and regress back to the previous stage. This is a common characteristic of groups which cannot agree on leadership or, have not established their group norms and so on. Such groups need to be identified and assisted so that they can break out of this vicious circle.

Performing:

Often, the group cannot break away from regressing back to previous stages and needs help from its leader. A sympathetic leader with interpersonal skills, counselling and listening skills, who can use those skills to help members identify with a mission or purpose. A skilled leader realises that shaping a meaningful identity for the group is the most likely to carry it into stage four.

Once in stage four, the group becomes more cohesive. Group members are more supportive of each others differences. A greater professional closeness begins to emerge. As a result of utilising each other's strengths and talents to a greater degree, the team becomes more resourceful and flexible in its approach to problem-solving and task performance. The group has matured and is performing as a genuine team.

The survival of a team depends on many factors: It depends on whether a substantial number of team members leave the team over a period of time; the degree of integration of the new members; the change in direction, objectiveness, mission, purpose and skills required for carrying out the tasks. Substantial changes in the above areas may lead to the disbandment of the team and the formation of a new one.

How to assist in the process of team growth and development.

Encourage people of different professional backgrounds to become team members where relevant, e.g., chemists, physicists, engineers, accountants.

Ensure that teams adopt a positive attitude towards the task(s) in hand by giving it sufficient freedom to make decisions and act with a degree of independence of the parent organisation.

There should be only one accountability line within the team.

A team should be relatively small to allow for greater interpersonal understanding and team cohesion.

Attention needs to be focused on the differing demands made on individuals by their acting in a line capacity as a team member.

The team should operate as a multi-disciplinary unit, in an interdisciplinary style, and co-operate with relevant outside agencies.

A big problem facing most project team members is the potential incompatibility between line and team responsibilities. A line manager may have to reduce the financial resource available to the team. Practices of this nature creates doubt in the mind of the team members and may encourage them to question the managers loyalty to his or her team.

Team building in Project Management

Project managers quickly learn the critical significance of the effective project teams and the role of team building activities in facilitating project management performance. Teams have become an indispensable part of the projects simply because:

Specialist/experts need to be integrated into a larger task.

More organisational members need to be involved in the completion of specific tasks.

Increasing task complexity and complicated environmental interfaces mean that people need to work as a team to benefit from synergy and increased creativity.

Major barriers to project team development

The most common major barriers to team-building are:

Differing outlook, priorities, interests and judgements of team members

Role conflicts

Project objectives/outcomes not clear

Dynamic project environment

Competition over team leadership

Lack of team definition and structure

Team personnel assigned to project and not selected

Credibility of project leader

Lack of team members commitment

Communication problems

Lack of senior management support

lt is recommended that the project leader ought, at the start of the project, to talk with each team member on a one-to-one basis about the following:

a)    What the objectives are for the project b)    Who will be involved in it and why c)     The importance of the project to the overall organisation/institution d)    The role that each member of the project team is expected to perform and why e)     The following rewards which might be forthcoming when the project is completed f)     What are the rules of the project that need to be followed, such as regular review meetings g)     A realistic appraisal of the problems and constraints which are likely to be encountered h)    The need for team members, participation in project decision making i)      The challenge that the project is likely to provide for the individuals involved j)      Why the team concept is so important for success of the project and bow it should work

It must be stressed that, once a team is effectively developed and has successfully completed its four developmental stages, it still requires attention. Team building is an ongoing process. The project manager needs to be continually monitoring team functioning and performance to see what corrective actions may be needed to prevent various team problems. Over the life of the project, some problems will inevitably be encountered by the project team. As these problems are identified and solved, new ones will emerge. For a project leader, problem avoidance may not be an adequate strategy, he or she needs problem-solving, interpersonal and other social and group dynamic related skills.

Who Does What in a Group (Team Roles)?

The behaviour of the group members is influenced by a myriad of factors, some personal others organisational and beyond. It is commonly believed that if all members of a group have the same objectives the group will tend to be much more effective. Never-the-less, most people bring hidden agenda to groups. These hidden agenda can include:

protecting the interests of one's sub-group

impressing one's colleagues, boss etc.

scaring off an opponent

making a particular allegiance

covering up past errors

Therefore, the behaviour of group members is partly influenced by their own personal objectives. The fact that individuals are different, and may pursue their own interests in a group may not be such a bad idea. Indeed, the opposite that too much group cohesiveness can become so important to each member that the goals of the individuals are inseparable from the goals of the group. It can blind itself to what is going on around it. Blinkered, it can forge ahead down quite the wrong road. Janis describes this phenomenon of group think. To avoid it one needs the mix of roles as well as the judicious intrusion of outside comment to keep the group open.

It is important to remember that group members will have one or more roles, the choice and the casting is almost always unconscious, accidental and the result of circumstances. Whether the individual's role is s conscious or an unconscious one, it always influences the way he or she behaves.

Belbins Research

Dr. R Meredith Belbin conducted a research project at Henley Management Centre, over a period of years, examining patterns of behaviour displayed by group members participating in a management game. He established that successfully performing groups (teams) were composed of people who collectively showed a capacity to work in eight different roles. Belbin analysed people in four main factors, intelligence, dominance extroversion/introversion and stability/anxiety. He also discovered that each person has a preferred role and a secondary role which they use. These are as follows:-

THE CHAIRMAN: One who presides over the team and co-ordinates its efforts.

THE SHAPER: He is the task leader and in the absence of the leader may leap into his or her role.

THE PLANT: He is the source of original ideas and proposals.

THE MONITOR - EVALUATOR: He is able to dissect the ideas and ensure the flow in an argument.

THE RESOURCE - INVESTIGATOR: He brings new contacts, ideas and developments to the group, the salesman, diplomat or liaison officer.

THE COMPANY WORKER: He turns the ideas into manageable tasks.

THE TEAM WORKER: He holds the team together. He is often not noticed, but missed when he is not around.

THE FINISHER: He checks the details.

Belbin suggests that depending on the preference the team members also use specific phrases with which they can be identified (See Phrase Sheet below).

It is suggested that people prefer to work in one of those roles in a group situation, and they have some long term stability of role preference. Preferences are not likely to change very much over a period of time, but participation in other roles, which are compatible, for example. Chairman/Team worker, Shaper/Company worker. The question obviously arises, what happens if you have fewer than eight people? The answer seems to be that as people have secondary team roles, they can double up when necessary and perform two of the functions instead of just one; in other words you can operate a perfect group (team) with four people if necessary.

Conclusion

Individuals are the constituent members of groups in organisations but the groups themselves make up the social fabric, which is organisation. Groups provide the vehicle for co-ordinating, meshing and merging the individuals skills and abilities. They then can be helped to develop themselves into better contributors within the group process and to make their work groups achieve higher performance levels and attain higher individual and group satisfaction.

Phrase Sheet

The phrases below are indicative and representative of the kinds of behaviour associated with each of the Belbin Team Roles:

CHAIRMAN: 'What we are here to do is

'Let's do this first and that later'

'To summarise, the main points seem to be

'Perhaps you could then he will '

'To get back to the main issue, would you

SHAPER: 'What we have to do is

'We're wasting time - we have to

'No - you're wrong - the most important issue

is

'If we put what you've said with his suggestion

we can

PLANT: 'What about ..

'Let's get underneath that

'It ought to be orange'

'Turning that on it's head gives us

'We mustn't overlook gravitational effects'

'Why don't we go back to basics'

MONITOR/: 'The problem with

EVALUATOR 'We have to watch out for

'Let's not overlook

'If we pay attention to the gist of this we

should

COMPANY : 'Given the time we've got, we could ..

WORKER 'We can certainly do X within our budget'

'Gravitational analysis is a crazy approach

but we could put a heavy weight on the bottom'

'Let's get this up on the board'

'If we nail that part down we'll be more sure of

this result'

RESOURCE : 'What a great idea ..

INVESTIGATOR 'I know someone who can

'Don't worry - I can get them wholesale'

'Thunder flashes - no problem - my cousin

'I can persuade sales to

TEAM: 'Joe - I think you should listen to Harry'

WORKER 'Let's give Frank's idea a chance'

'No need to fight about

'Why don't you say more about

'When Fred gets back from the hospital we

could'

FINISHER: 'Let me check that

'We'll never unless

'What about

'No - we must everything - to get it to work'

'What about article 3 in sub-paragraph IV,

paragraph G, in the ninth volume?'

'You can't do that - we'll be a week late'

Quality Circles

	Quality circles are groups of workers, usually led by their supervisor, who meet voluntarily and in their own time to discuss the problems they face in achieving quality, or some other important target. The circle is given training in problem solving techniques and the resources to solve the problem it identifies.

The idea of quality circles was developed in Japan. In the UK and other Western countries there are a number of different methods of operation but the essential ingredients are the same. The group consists of five to ten members, and attendance is voluntary. They may meet in company time. They are usually led by their immediate supervisor, although the leader is often chosen by the group. The leader has to be thoroughly trained in how to run the circle. He/she cannot be too directive but must ensure that the problem is identified and defined clearly and that analytical problem solving techniques are used to solve it. He/she must help the group to keep its feet on the ground and come up with practical solutions, guide the circle when the agreed answer is being implemented. This role is a key one. Quality circle members are usually employees doing similar work.

The sequence of events in a typical quality circle is as follows:

The members identify problems in their work area, although on occasions supervisors or managers can indicate problems that need to be solved.

When the problem has been identified the circle agrees a realistic goal for its activities, such as to reduce defects from 6 to 3 per cent over a period of three months.

The circle draws up a plan for solving the problem using appropriate analytical techniques.

The base data are collected by members of the circle and possible solutions to the problem are reviewed. Expertise from supervision or technical personnel can be called on.

When a solution has been agreed the circle presents to management its analysis of the problem and its proposals for solving it.

The circle is responsible for implementing solutions agreed by management. It monitors results, carries out tests as necessary and reports on progress.

Requirements for Success

Quality circles are only effective under the following conditions:

They are introduced carefully. Pilot tests are essential.

A trained and experienced individual (probably an outside consultant) introduces the scheme.

Top management fully supports the scheme.

The environment and technology are such that the quality circle groups will have plenty of scope for developing improvements.

The management style of the company is sympathetic to this form of participation.

The members of quality circles are trained in problem solving and analytical techniques.

An organizer is appointed to coordinate and monitor the programme.

Benefits

Quality circles can help to improve quality and productivity by obtaining employee involvement and commitment in solving problems jointly, and making sure those solutions are implemented.

Case Study Team Management A number of problems waiting to be solved are the day by day background of our work. Sometime current and urgent problems become more important than our basic activity. To manage problem solving in a structured way is considered a real management success. This was the case of Mr. John Ionescu the director of HR Department. He recently noticed that he is acting more like a fire fighter than a manager. He decided to take some actions against this situation. One of the actions was to create a team to solve one of his most embarrassing problems reviewing all job descriptions in the whole ministry and putting them in accordance with the most recent agreed work procedures. He was very aware that a number of competencies are needed for such an important and complex task. He therefore asked his colleagues, the other directors to assign one of their employees to work for this team. The importance of the job descriptions for carrying out a proper selection and performance assessment process was a clear issue for all directors. In four days time, Mr. Ionescu got a list of twelve persons to work with his best HR specialist Mr. Escu for solving this problem. Mr. Ionescu arranged a team meeting with all members and prepared a formal approved document to set the team structure and task. Mr. Ionescu has been assigned the task to monitor and assess the team results. On Tuesday - October 28 took place the meeting and all members have been informed about main objectives and deadlines. Questions have been satisfactory answered and every body was confident in the full success of this action. When the first deadline came, Mr. Ionescu was out of the ministry to attend an international seminar in Salzburg. When back he was too busy to disseminate the new ideas collected at the seminar so he forgot to ask for the first team results.

When the second deadline came, Mr. Ionescu arranged a meeting with all team members to assess their results. He found out that some samples of various job descriptions have been collected from other organisations and specific competencies for each directorate have been identified. But no agreement for the structure of the new job description has been reached and no potential progress was expected. A lot of arguing generated an unpleasant meeting atmosphere. Mr. Ionescus feeling was that the team was not working properly and he asked himself why. Would a harder control have the appropriate input on the teamwork? Should he replace some of the team members? Problem: What do you think is the real problem with this team? Are Mr. Ionescus solutions valid to improve the teamwork? Solution guide lines: Read carefully the case study and try to identify what theoretical concepts presented in the Team Management Chapter could apply; Analysing the major barriers to a project team development, you may see that the project objectives and outcomes have been clearly defined for all team members; Some other barriers should be investigated as potential failure causes, such as: Poor credibility of the project leader Mr. Escu; Different priorities and interests of team members; Team personnel assigned and not selected and Lack of team members commitment; Please discuss how each of these factors affected the teamwork success;

One other major cause of the team failure could be considered the lack of Mr. Ionescus involvement in developing the team: No assistance for the group members to become acquainted; No helping members in establishing criteria; No each step feed-back offered and No encouraging them to run, develop and maintain proper work relations.