Transcript Working With A Team

Group Development
Your Role as a Leader
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Stages of Group Development
• Organizations develop in steps with specific
characteristics.
Stages of Group Development
Step One: Forming
Group members learn about one another and the tasks
at hand. They often feel anxious, excited, and
dependent upon each other. Oftentimes, issues of
inclusion, trust, and the testing of authority arise.
Strategies that can help in this stage include…
• Add structure
• Educate about differences and similarities
• Explore work styles
• Utilize team building initiatives
• Establish ground rules
Stages of Group Development
Step Two: Storming
Group members become more comfortable with each other.
They begin to engage in arguments and vie for status in the
group. They may begin to see a discrepancy of high hopes
versus the reality of what lies ahead. Members typically feel
confused, frustrated, and negative. Oftentimes issues of
power, control, and conflict arise.
Strategies that can help in this stage include…
• Encourage and facilitate dialogue
• Hold members responsible for behavior
• Educate about how to make decisions and solve problems
• Provide support
• Pay attention to emerging leaders
• Re-evaluate and set realistic group goals
Stages of Group Development
Step Three: Norming
Group members establish rules about how the team will
function to achieve their goal. They address the types of
communication that will help and hinder them in achieving
success. Typically, members feel open to feedback,
acceptance, and comfort. Oftentimes, issues of team
harmony, shared responsibility, and confidence building arise.
Strategies that can help in this stage include…
• Empower members and relinquish control
• Express your own thoughts and ideas
• Create challenges for the group
• Limit resources to allow for shared responsibility
• Recognize and reward positive contributions
Stages of Group Development
Step Four: Performing
If things have gone well, group members function at the highest
level in this stage. They have achieved collective harmony and
feel comfortable with each other, and their work. Their main
concern is success. At this stage, members usually feel
appreciated, accepted, satisfied with progress, confident, and
optimistic. Often issues of maintaining harmony and momentum
arise.
Strategies that can help in this stage include…
• Celebrate accomplishments and revel in successes
• Suggest new goals
• Test assumptions about group roles, norms, etc. and develop
new ones if necessary
• Develop self-assessment process to see how well the group
works as a team
Stages of Group Development
Step Five: Adjourning
Group members’ involvement with one another
and the task at hand comes to an end. Members
often feel solidarity and pride. Often the need for
increased reflection and decreased work arise.
Strategies that can help in this stage include…
• Engage in reflective dialogue
• Attempt to energize group
• Suggest closure initiatives
• Revisit group goals and their level of attainment
Five Tips For Building a Great Team
• Create an organization based on trust and respect.
In order for a group to develop positively, it needs a
nurturing environment. Gaining the respect and trust
of your group members is paramount. You can do
this by being kind, consistent, listening well, and
admitting your own mistakes.
• Build an inclusive atmosphere. Members need to
feel accepted for who they are, and that they have a
place at the table in the organization. Be welcoming
to people from a variety of backgrounds.
Five Tips For Building a Great Team
• Don’t limit your focus. Build relationships in group
settings, and on a one-to-one basis. Some members
need that individual time to open-up, and to get
comfortable with you, before doing so in the group.
Encourage everyone to participate in meetings and
activities.
• Don’t play favorites. You’ll probably be tempted to
spend more time with some members than with
others. Challenge yourself to branch out. Commit to
spending some time getting to know each member.
They will notice with whom you spend your time.
Five Tips For Building a Great Team
• Involve members in building teamwork. Empower
members to take ownership of their group. Elicit
their opinions, and ask them to take on different
roles within the organization. Incorporate their
suggestions, criticisms, and ideas into your approach.
Keep in mind that many students, especially those leaving home
for the first time, desperately want to belong to something
bigger than themselves. You can help by providing positive ways
for them to find that sense of belonging within our school’s
community. That way they’ll be less likely to turn to destructive
habits as an escape, or to get involved with people who may not
have their best interests at heart.
How You Can Be a True
Team Player
• Swap Favors. Respond to your fellow student leaders when
they’re in need. Your collegial approach will gain respect, and
they’ll be much more likely to return the favor when you’re
the one in need.
• Avoid Cliques. Nothing breaks down group cohesiveness like
cliques. Some group members will become better friends than
others. It’s important to reach out beyond your comfort zone
to get to know others.
• Balance Strengths and Weaknesses. In solid teams, people
complement one another, thus creating an effective balance.
Don’t keep yourself from learning new things because “it’s not
a strength of mine.” Instead, grab this chance to learn and
allow others to learn from you, too.
How You Can Be a True
Team Player
• Create Team Traditions. Spending so much time together, you’ll develop
your own special traditions that reflect your group’s special sense of
loyalty or quirkiness. It’s part of the fun, and really adds to a sense of
togetherness.
• Establish Open Lines of Communication. Develop mutual respect through
open and honest sharing. Trust is crucial. Agree to discuss issues directly
with each other, rather than behind someone’s back. And follow through.
If you sense that another group member is having a problem with you,
confront that person with care and tact. It may simply be a small
misunderstanding.
• Don’t Argue in Public. Your views may differ from those of other group
members, yet be sure to maintain a public air of support. That means
addressing contentious issues in private. Don’t raise your voice, use
abusive language, or engage in name-calling. End the discussion on an
upbeat note by communicating your appreciation of the other person’s
contributions.
•
How You Can Be a True
Team
Player
Don’t Be the Weak Link. You’ve probably heard the saying: “A team is only
as strong as its weakest link.” Be sure that you’re not that weak link on
your leadership team. Live up to your responsibilities, communicate
effectively and meet—or surpass--expectations.
• Maintain a Professional Attitude. Professionals work together to resolve a
situation rather than searching for someone to blame. Honestly evaluating
your own responsibilities, and owning up to your mistakes, is the sign of a
consummate professional. Be polite. Good manners are an important part
of any workplace relationship. Remember the “thank you” and “please”
philosophy. And be careful not to interrupt others, even when your
enthusiasm is bubbling over!
• Leave Your Team Baggage Behind. You may have been a part of teams
before! Some may have been great, some not so good, but you need to
leave some of those expectations or perceptions behind! Bring to the
group the strategies and skills you learned from previous teamwork
initiatives. However, leave behind the expectations that this experience
will be exactly like the last.
How You Can Be a True
Team Player
Enhancing Your Other Awareness:
So many times we talk about “self-awareness,”
which is an important concept to grasp,
indeed. Yet, as a leader, it’s also important to
increase your “other-awareness,” too. What
does this mean? It includes things like:
• Getting to know members well enough that you can
sense when something is out of the ordinary
• Looking beyond what people tell you and seeing
what their non-verbals are communicating
• Seeing what you can do for others instead of
expecting them to do things for you
• Checking in with your quieter, behind-the-scenes
members who may not make their needs/wants as
evident as those outgoing, enthusiastic members of
your organization
Working With Your Advisor:
What Your Advisor Wants and Needs From You
• Wants: You to be challenged AND rewarded through your
experience.
• Needs: You to follow through on what you agree to do.
• Wants: To be a full participant in the group activities and endeavors.
• Needs: Time away from the group to accomplish those
“administrative” duties she still needs to get done.
• Wants: You to communicate fully – the good, the bad, and the ugly
– in a respectful manner.
• Needs: To share information with the group that may be for your
ears only and expects you to keep it in confidence.
• Wants: To have fun! Advisors want to work hard and then play hard
in appropriate ways.
• Needs: You to have fun and enjoy your experience.
Your Fellowership Skills
• According to Robert Kelley in the book Insights on
Leadership by Larry C. Spears, exemplary followership
means:
“Being actively engaged in helping the organization
succeed while exercising independent, critical judgment
of goals, tasks, potential problems, and methods.
Exemplary followers have the ability to work
cooperatively with a leader to accomplish the
organization’s goals even when there are personality or
workplace differences. They are the key players in both
planning courses of action and implementing them in the
field.”
What Type of Follower are You?
• Sheep followers. These are the most negative type of
followers because they are completely passive and
dependent, always wandering around while waiting for
further direction and only accomplishing the necessary simple
tasks on which they are trained.
• Yes followers. These followers are more involved and
enthusiastic than sheep followers, but they are still very
dependent on leaders for direction. They demonstrate limited
critical thinking skills, only completing tasks as the leader
requests. They can be problematic because they do only what
they are told—and nothing more—and tell leaders what they
want to hear, not what they need to know.
What Type of Follower are You?
• Alienated followers. These followers are critical thinkers and very
independent, but passive in carrying out their roles. They have a
personal dislike for leaders and may have started out as exemplary
followers but got “turned off.” They may be cynical or skeptical,
channeling energies to fight against rather than work toward a goal.
• Pragmatic followers. These followers are capable workers who
navigate bureaucracy and political systems by carrying out
directives to the letter and constantly monitoring group dynamics.
They often operate with the motto, “Better safe than sorry.”
• Exemplary followers. These followers take on projects with minimal
preparation and supervisors trust them to get the job done well.
They are independent, responsible, and believe they are as valuable
to the organization as the leader. They are proactive, control their
own ego, gather the facts, play by the rules, and seek wise counsel.
Rules For Being an Effective Follower
Sometimes, as leaders, it is important to let others lead and to
fill the role of effective follower. Here are a few helpful tips:
• In small group discussions: YOU should not be the main
attraction. Listen to others and allow them to lead.
• In conflict resolution: Show people how to resolve their
own conflicts, rather than do it for them.
• In group interactivity: From icebreakers to role-plays, you
are there to show them the way, not hover over them or do
the work for them.
• Facilitate greater understanding: Your role involves easing
connections between people and increasing their
awareness.
Working With an Under-Performing
Team Member
• As frustrating as it may get at times when you have a group
member who isn’t acting “up to par,” remember that there
is almost always more going on than what meets the eye.
Remember to be open, honest and understanding with
group members. Keeping lines of communication open is
very important, as it provides motivation. Remember that
you can always talk to your advisor about this issue. More
than likely they have dealt with it in the past. Leading a
group is all about teamwork, and everyone brings different
strengths and limitations to the table. If you focus on the
positive when you can, you’ll find that your outlook is more
positive as a result.
Working With an Under-Performing
Team Member
• Ask yourself: Are these group members actually not
fulfilling their responsibilities? Or--do they just have
a different way of getting things done. It’s an
important distinction. If the latter is the case, there
isn’t much you can do but try to learn from them by
observation, and offer them constructive feedback
when appropriate.
• However, if they’re truly not fulfilling their
responsibilities, that’s a whole other story. Here are
some suggestions on how to work with unmotivated
fellow group members:
Working With an Under-Performing
Team Member
• Try talking it out. You never know what’s going on with
someone until you ask them. Schedule some quiet, private
time to sit down with them to have an honest conversation.
They may share information with you that explains what’s
going on.
• Offer assistance. Not everyone is comfortable asking for help.
Ask them if there is an aspect of the task on hand that you or
another group member could help with. If you are concerned
about the task not being completed, ask if they feel like they
will be able to accomplish it and talk about a timeline or
deadline for the task.
Working With an Under-Performing
Team Member
• Help organize the member(s). Not everyone knows how to
execute tasks. If a member has taken on a new task, they may
need some guidance, but may be shy about asking for help.
• Assign a veteran group member to work with new members.
It is always nice to have someone show you the ropes. This
can be helpful for new members who are not quite sure how
things have been done in the past and what the expectations
are of the group.
• Recognize the work that has been accomplished. Even
though the entire task may not be complete, recognizing the
work that has been accomplished may help motivate group
members to keep working.
Working With an Under-Performing
Team Member
• Be the cheerleader. Motivation comes in many
forms. Find out what you are comfortable with and
what will work with your group members.
Enthusiasm is contagious! If you are not excited
about the project and progress, that makes it harder
for them to be excited.
• Draw on their strengths. Rather than trying to
correct the behavior of your peers, attempt to
discover their strengths. Take a good, long look at the
struggling member, and see if you can draw on those
strengths to help you accomplish different tasks.
Question & Answer