TEAM INTERVENTIONS

Effective Team
An effective team has certain characteristics that allow the team members to function more efficiently and productively. An effective team develops ways to share leadership roles and ways to share accountability for their work products, shifting the emphasis from the individual to several individuals within the team. A team also develops a specific team purpose and concrete work products that the members produce together.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Effective teams will have open-ended meetings and develop active problem-solving strategies that go beyond discussing, deciding, and delegating what to do; they do real work together. When necessary, individuals in a team will set aside their own work to assist other members of the team. In a well-functioning team, performance is based not on an individual member's ability to influence other members, but rather is assessed directly by measuring the work products of the whole team. Rewards based on the whole team's effort help underscore the importance of team responsibility.

How to use it?

Establish

objectives together: Define performance objectives with the team and make sure that all team members understand the objectives and what actions will need to be taken to achieve them.
Develop

a participatory style: Encourage staff to suggest ways to improve services. Listen to their ideas and acknowledge their points of view. Encourage team members to discuss issues and to find solutions together.
Focus

on contributions: Define objectives for having all team members actively contribute to the meeting.
Organize

meetings: Hold meetings with the whole team during supervisory visits.

Organize

the team: Define roles and responsibilities together. If everyone has a clear role, individuals will be less likely to become frustrated and will be more willing to work together.
Explain

the rules: Discuss all norms and standards that have been established .
Promote

team responsibility: Encourage members of team to take responsibility for completing specific tasks and to solve problems as a team. Introduce rewards only if the entire team meets objectives.
Establish

time commitments: Schedule when and how each team member will devote time to team work. Monitor actual vs. planned time carefully and clarify all adjustments in schedule.

Components of effective team

There are four essential components to an effective team: 1. Positive Corporate Culture 2. Give Recognition A. Outstanding performance B. Continued performance C. Improved performance 3. Positive Feedback 4. Provide New Opportunities

Characteristics of effective team

Team members share leadership roles. Team develops own scope of work. Team schedules work to be done and commits to taking time allotted to do work. Team develops tangible work products. Team members are mutually accountable for work products. Performance is based on achieving team products. Problems are discussed and resolved by the team.

ROLE NEGOTIATION TECHNIQUE

Given by Roger Harrison It is based on the peoples unwillingness to change their behaviour. It is imposed technique in the form of writing. Steps involved in this technique1. Contract setting-Consultant sets the climate and establishes the ground rules. 2. Issue diagnosis- Individuals think about how their own effectiveness can be improved if others change their work behaviors. 3. Influence trade- Negotiation period in which two individuals discuss the most important behavior changes they want from the other and the changes they are willing to make themselves.

APPRECIATION AND CONCERN EXERCISE

It is suitable when defeciencies in interaction of members is lack of expression of appreciation and lack of confronting concens. Steps involved: 1. Jot the 1-3 appreciation for each member of the group 2. Jot down 1-3 concerns of each member. 3. Someone is asked to be the volunteer and listen to members of the group

VISIONING
Given by Ronald Lippit. Group member describes their vision of what they want the organisation to be in future. The time frame may be anywhere from six months to five years in the future. Various forms of visioning, or the use of mental imagery or the development of cognitive maps, are extensively used in strategic planning and in future search conferences. Steps involved: On a paper write down the characteristics you would like the company to posses. Make the characteristic visible to others using flipchart. Report to group and be prepared to answer questions. Subgroup of 3 people will extract the themes and prepares to report them to whole group.

Dysfunctional Patterns
Chaos everythings a crisis, always putting out fires Hub and Spoke everything revolves around the leader Dead Team lack of movement or urgency, waiting for others to take charge Round and Round cant make a decision Drop the Ball lack of follow through or accountability Vicious Cycle out of control conflict, lack of trust Hidden Agendas out for yourself instead of the good of the team Elephant in the Room avoiding the important issue Scope Creep I never met an idea I didnt like

Team Intervention
Business Goal: Improve the performance of a business critical team (such as a dysfunctional executive team or stuck project) by changing dysfunctional team patterns Process: Conduct interviews of team members to assess the dysfunction Present results and get buy-in from the team Facilitate 1-2 team meetings per month for 3 months Coach individual members, as necessary Content: Work on key business items Create new behaviors that produce successful results

Team Intervention Example

CEO was experiencing high turnover and no urgency on his executive team Interviews identified vicious cycle of conflict between CEO and his Vice Presidents Achieved agreement to blame the vicious cycle instead of the other side Strengthened the relationship of the VP group Coached the CEO and improved his relationship with individual VPs Individual, team and project performance sharply improved

Enterprise Level
Business Goal: Improve business performance by standardizing team best practices across the department or company Process: Assess skill gaps and best practices with business leaders and HR professionals Identify required tools and best practices Conduct standard or customized FasTeams for Leaders program for all team and project leaders Create peer consultation groups for team leaders Content: Teams take Team Process Check every 6 months to stay on track

Enterprise Example
Global biotech grew through new ventures and acquisitions - needed standard method for managing global projects and services Customized the project tools and leadership program to meet those needs After pilot, program and tools became required for all lab managers Conducted train-the-trainer to transfer program management and training to internal resources Achieved goals of standardization, time-to-market and budget

Coming together is a beginning Keeping together is progress; and Working together is success