What we’re talking about isn’t just getting your employees to meet up at the bar after work a couple times a week, although that wouldn’t hurt. You might even join them occasionally. As a manager, you want to create cohesion around common goals, successes, and pride to be a part of your team.

How do you create a culture where this kind of team-centered unity can thrive? There are many systems out there designed to improve organizational behavior and team cohesion. Before you spend a lot of money and time trying to implement one of these, just take a look at a few basic principles.

1. Make employees aware of organizational values
As a team performance specialist, I’m always shocked how often I hear from employees that they have no idea what the values of their company are. “To make money”, is a common response. Of course making money is important, but there is more to a company than the profit at the end of the year. Every business owner and manager has an idea how she wants her team to run, but she may not understand the power of sharing these ideals with their employees. If you have a clear mission statement and vision statement and expect your employees to know and follow them, there’s a good chance they’ll buy into that mission and vision. For help developing these documents, click here.

2. Create opportunities to build trust
It’s hard to trust someone you haven’t seen in the heat of battle, so to speak. That’s why many organizations use team building retreats and workshops or field softball teams. The point is to let employees get to know each other’s strengths and count on each other in a situation where their job isn’t on the line. It also helps build a team spirit that can translate into better job performance.

3. Encourage employees to wear your team colors
This may sound silly, but there’s a reason militaries and sports teams wear uniforms. They create a sense of belonging and pride. I’m not suggesting implementing a ridiculous dress code in your office, but buying your employees jackets, T-shirts, or customized silicone bracelets with your company logo and slogan could go a long way to instilling a sense of identity as a member of your organization. You might be surprised how cost effective it can be to outfit your employees this way. Here’s a good source to get started.

4. Empower employees to improve their own systems
One of the surest drains on employee morale I’ve seen is keeping your people working with outdated conventions and systems that create inefficiency and diminish their ability to shine. Giving employees input in how to improve work processes lets you take advantage of their experience, improves adherence to policies, and builds a sense of ownership for the results of work. Let your employees know how they can suggest ideas for improving processes, automated tools, and customer relations conventions. Maybe there could be a specified time in a monthly meeting to offer and discuss suggestions. Even if you ultimately choose not to make the change, your employees will appreciate being listened to.

5. Provide ways to resolve conflicts productively
There are always conflicts when you have people working together. But depending on the culture of your organization, people may not feel free to address issues either with co-workers or management. The result is often gossip, cliques, decrease in productivity, high employee turnover. There needs to be a space where people can voice what they’re feeling without worrying that their jobs may be a risk. One of the worse things for a manager to learn is that these conflicts have been occurring under his nose and he had no idea. An employee may not feel comfortable speaking directly to her boss about an issue she has with his management style. So you may want to have a way employees can anonymously register complaints even if you have a relatively small work force.

Creating a culture that encourages team cohesion takes intelligent policies, consistent devotion to the goal from leadership, and time. If your organization has an every-man-for-himself culture, you may have to show a lot of sustained good faith effort before you see any fruit. Don’t expect your people to start brandishing their company wristbands tomorrow, but company unity will come when you’ve shown your employees that you’re serious about making changes.

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What is a high performing team?

In today’s business world, it’s not good enough for one person to excel at his or her job. The most valuable employees are those who are able to create teams that get the job done right, quickly and with a minimum of drama. The era of the “lone warrior” in business is over. Today’s successful companies nurture leaders who create high performing teams that know how to get results. A high performing team can deliver a product, report or client solution on time, under budget and anticipating the client’s and the boss’ needs.

Building high performance teams

How do you create these highly-functional, yet positive work groups? It’s as simple (or as complex) as being the best you can be, choosing the right team members and empowering your team members.

1. Create a high-performing you.

As a team leader, you have to first focus on you. In fact, Josh Bersin of Forbes found that the best performing organizations link leadership strategy to business strategy. To be a great leader, you don’t necessarily need to be the tallest or the loudest person in the room, you just need to be the most confident. More than once I’ve seen a five-foot-tall woman hold a room full of grown men at rapt attention because of her confidence and her positive energy.
In many ways a team leader is like a parent. The members of your team will look to you for guidance, to set the tone and to be an example for the group members. If you’re tense and stressed, chances are your team will be stressed and tense also. Conversely, if you start the day with a smile on your face and a calm attitude, your team will follow suit. As team leader, you not only need to be confident, you need to be consistent, trustworthy and fair. Make sure you’re up to the challenge before you start selecting individual team members.

2. Get the right people for the team.

Choosing the right people to work on your team is something of an art and a science. Before you approach the first person, sit down and envision what you’d like the team to look like. It might even be helpful to write down your vision. You’ll want team members whose abilities and personalities all complement one another.

Looking After Your Prized Staff

Of course, team members need to have at least the minimum skills required for the job, but that shouldn’t be the only consideration you look for in choosing your team. Good team members know how to work well together and bring a positive energy to the group. Sometimes, the most qualified person isn’t the best choice for your team, especially if that person thinks he knows everything because of his seniority and isn’t willing to listen to the rest of the group. In an article called, “The New Science of Building Great Teams” by Alex Pentland communication is the key factor in high performing teams.

“… we’ve found patterns of communication to be the most important predictor of a team’s success. Not only that, but they are as significant as all the other factors—individual intelligence, personality, skill, and the substance of discussions—combined.” Harvard Business Review, 2012

Also remember that ego has no place in a good team. Look at professional sports teams. In general, the most successful teams are those without the one or two stellar players. Rather, they are the teams who have a group of players who know how to work together well.

Of course, once you’ve chosen your team, it’s essential that you communicate the team’s goals, client contacts, time line and other critical information with the team members.

3. Empower the team.

A good team isn’t a group of robots. You need to give your project team the authority to make decisions. As team leader, you don’t want every member having to come to you with every little day-to-day decision. Sometimes, you’ll be working with remote teams, where members will have to decide issues without you, because of time differences or other logistic barriers. You may not –and probably won’t–agree with every decision your team makes. However, without empowering the group, you stifle creativity and initiative. What’s more: any decision is better than having time make the decision for your group.

A true high-performing team knows what you’re thinking as team leader and what the group as a whole is thinking. Ideally, individual team members should make decisions based on those parameters, not their own opinions. As team leader, you’re responsible for creating the environment where team members feel comfortable making decisions. It may take some getting used to, but by delegating some of your authority, you’ll have more time to realize your own goals.

Creating great, high power project teams isn’t complicated, but it does take planning and care. To be effective in your team collaboration, make sure that you first create a high-power persona for yourself, one that you’re comfortable with and that will inspire confidence in your team. Next, choose the right team members and lastly, empower those team members to give them the room they need to make fast, accurate decisions.

About the Author

Taylor is a writer and manages a web development team at Project Manager, an online project planning tool.  He has experience working in small businesses and assisting larger businesses with ERP software and project delivery.

The post How to Build a High Performance Team appeared first on Team Building and Performance.

Are You More Maslow or Machiavelli?
These two paradigms are familiar to many in the business world, but they represent very different ways of managing people.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that people have certain requirements that have to be met before they can be truly fulfilled. In the workplace, this theory demands attending to the needs of each employee. Making enough money to live, job security, belonging to a team, excelling at a job, and doing meaningful work are all motivating factors. The idea is that if employees are happy at work, they’ll be more creative and produce more.

The Machiavellian style is very different. It states that it is better to be feared than loved. Rules are strict and punishments are harsh. Employees are motivated by fear of losing their jobs, but also by the yen to beat the competition. It produces a program of survival of the fittest that attracts people who can think on their feet and get the job done regardless of circumstances. And it’s an efficient way of shedding dead weight.

Which Model is Better for Business?
We all know of instances where both styles are used. Most lists of the best places to work are full of companies that take a more Maslow-oriented approach. Google is often at the top of these lists with a huge sports complex, subsidized massages, free food, and a company mission statement that everyone seems to be able to get behind. And who can argue with Google’s success?

But we’ve all seen glimpses into the white collar marketing and financial worlds where productivity means survival. You’re either rising or falling and every coworker is vying for the same promotion you are. These companies have impressive balance sheets of their own and it’s obvious why the best and brightest would embrace a chance to shoot for the stars.

Maslow’s approach is great for building team unity, loyalty, and stability. But it’s susceptible to employee complacency and cliché, in-the-box thinking. A Machiavellian regime can be very effective to push employees to great heights of creativity and production at an individual level. But know they’re only on board as long as your goals are aligned with theirs.

So which way is better? That depends on your goals. Maslow’s approach is much better at promoting strong teams. This is important if your business relies on a great deal of cooperation. It also gives you a chance to groom future leaders who you expect to stick around for the long haul. The Machiavellian way is effective where individual performance is key. Employees may not work cooperatively but they can learn by seeing how others succeed … or fail.

Can There Be Balance?
The truth is, most managers recognize the need for a balanced approach. We use a combination of policies designed to build employees up and light a fire under them when they need it. If we do this well, unity and security can coexist with vigilance and audacious creativity. The key is to find a way to strike this balance without becoming wildly inconsistent. It takes wisdom to know when to give and when to take away — especially as markets and technologies, and therefore work policies, change.

So can a manager consistently be output oriented without forgetting the value of human assets? … Balance tenure with performance? … Promote teamwork and individual excellence at the same time? One thing is certain — it’s easier said than done.

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Matthew Goyette, MBA
www.steton.com
Email

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Teamwork coaching rhetoric often tells us conflict is something to be avoided, but the truth is that a healthy amount of discord will help your team perform at its best. Conflict can feed your team’s creativity. Using it effectively allows you to mold your team dynamic into something that is collaborative and intensely productive.

Constructive v. Destructive Conflict

Many leadership training manuals focus on how to resolve conflict, but in truth, this approach fails to recognize the need for constructive conflict. There is such a thing as positive confrontation, and though destructive conflict hurts the team, constructive conflict drives it forward.

When two team members have a personality conflict or when one refuses to respect another, this is destructive conflict. The things fueling this are generally not related to the project at hand but competition and individual egos. Destructive conflict involves personal attacks and insinuations that people are not doing their jobs based on personality traits.

On the other hand, constructive conflict allows people to move forward together, attacking weaknesses in processes and designs without attacking each other. They have the same goal; they just disagree on the best way to get there. When kept under control, this can be very synergistic.

Spurs New Ideas

Studies show that better policies emerge from groups where dissent is welcomed than when there are a lot of people in a room who think exactly the same way. When people know they can safely express their own opinions, new ideas are forthcoming.

To jump start this kind of culture, a team leader may ask members to formulate their opinions on a matter and write it down before a meeting of minds. This allows them to organize their thoughts and gives them confidence to defend their own position while critiquing others’ ideas intelligently.

Acts as a Vehicle for Collaboration

Constructive conflict allows people to take a good idea, bang it around, and reshape it into a great idea. The result is that teams can benefit from each others’ strengths and different points of view.

As a team leader, you may need to referee to make sure confrontation stays constructive. Sometimes it means staying out of the way and letting arguments run their course. Other times it means wading in and restoring focus to the discussion. This type of leadership encourages teams to talk and to share ideas freely, but it allows them to feel safe doing so because they know you will not let things get out of hand.

Conflict Keeps Energy High

We’ve all been there. When you’re eight weeks into a project it can feel like all the teamwork coaching in the world could not keep your people motivated. The issue is that we are all prone to lose energy and motivation as projects draw out or become repetitive. We all get tired, and there is nothing wrong with that.

However, when people have something to spur them forward they can stay much more energized for extended periods of time. Team members challenging each other to constantly look for new and better ways of doing things, talking through road blocks, etc. helps feed the creativity and the synergy of the team. In this way teams can be their own sources of energy during the long hauls.

Gives Everyone a Voice

The strength of constructive conflict is that everyone has a chance to give their two cents. Instead of one or two people blazing forward through trial and error, a focused team can often whittle away at dead ends until all that’s left is the right way. A diversity of voices and solutions is necessary for growth in a competitive environment.

Keep in mind that it’s common in charged discussions for a couple of dominant egos to take over the room. It’s the manager’s job make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. Call on people, or find another way for them to make sure their words are heard and you are benefiting from their expertise.

As a team leader, the better you can set the ground rules for conflict in your team, the sooner individuals will learn to live within them. This will make conflict a tool of productivity and unity among team members, not just a problem to be avoided.

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Matthew Goyette is a team leaders and a lifelong student of team building. He also serves as a blogger for Moementum, a company that provides organizational coaching and consulting.

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Have you ever thought that managing people with introversion is challenging? Or that you have to “manage” them in some way. I’m guilty. Yes, guilty of seeing introversion as something that you have to change or manage.

As a Myers Briggs practitioner and workshop facilitator I am often asked to run team sessions so teams can understand how to communicate more effectively with each other and with external clients.

When I first began my career running these workshops and prepping for workshops, I would start to collate the workshop participant’s type reports, and see if the majority of their preferences were for introversion or extraversion. If I knew that the majority of people in the workshop were introverts, I caught myself saying “Oh no, how am I going to keep the energy up, or the discussion going? How can I get the discussion happening so we can really flesh out issues, or How am I going to keep my energy up so I can deliver a great experience?” (Yes, that last one was all about me.)

Notice the comments were about energy, engagement and discussion. This is what most people consider to be important inputs into a workshop, meeting and team environment; however, an introvert may see it differently. This is where we have one the biggest dichotomies in the corporate workplace.

The corporate workplace is set up to congratulate and validate extraversion yet 50% of the people in the corporate workplace have a preference for introversion and the gifts of introversion is exactly what the corporate workplace needs.

People who have a preference for Introversion:

• Get their energy from the inner world of ideas, concepts and emotions.
• Tend to think then talk then think. Yes, these are the people who never, or rarely, put their foot in it, or regret what they say.
• Tend to be brief in their communication and dialogue.
• Prefer to have one on one or intimate interactions with people.
• Like to reflect and analyze information before commenting.
• Tend to get deeper insight after a conversation.
• Prefer to share well thought out or near perfect thoughts and ideas.
• Usually have a depth of interests and are subject matter experts.
• Prefer written information ahead of time so they can reflect and process the information.
• Tend to have contained body language.

After facilitating and coaching thousands of people, I know that introversion is just a preference and the gifts and talents that introversion offers is just as relevant and important as the gifts of extraversion.

As a manager you will need to accommodate a variety of styles, preferences and competing demands.

By increasing your level of self awareness and understanding of your communication style and strengths, you can then use this knowledge to manage and coach others in your team, so they can demonstrate their gifts and talents.  This is the best way the team can leverage from each others’ strengths.

It isn’t that introversion needs to be managed; it needs to be validated and acknowledged. Understand that people with a preference for introversion do not show the outside world their strong suit; we are not privy to their best, most dominant process or way of thinking. Introverts leave that for the inner part of their world.

Isabel Briggs Myers, the co -creator of the MBTI and author of Gifts Differing, likens it to a General and an Aide. The Introvert’s General is inside the tent and we, the outside world meet the Aide so we see their least dominant preference or process.

Only when the business is very important, or the friendship is very close, do other people get in to see the General himself. As a result, the outside world can underestimate an introvert’s abilities and also get an incomplete understanding of her talents, wishes and point of view.

So, if you are managing a team with introverts, be mindful that by having just ordinary contact with them they haven’t necessarily revealed what really matters to them. If there is a decision to be made, they should be told about it as fully as possible and if it is important to them the General will then come out.

Let’s start to see introversion as a gift and talent and something to be celebrated and validated. Perhaps then the general will come out more often.

People open up and do their best work when they know like and trust the people they are dealing with. Be that type of manager.

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Jan Terkelsen is an Executive Coach helping business managers to become business leaders and their staff to become high performing teams. Using a range of modalities – Executive Coaching, Team Coaching and Facilitation and Corporate Speaking – Jan also specialises in the use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), for one-on-one coaching purposes and for improving team dynamics and communication.  http://www.janterkelsen.com  Ph 0425 795 938

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A poll carried out among British workers suggested that we are at our best at precisely 11.33 am on a Tuesday. Mondays are spent recovering from the weekend and coping with the realisation that there is a full working week ahead, but by Tuesday morning most of us are into our stride and raring to go. This can-do attitude reaches its peak at around 11.30am on Tuesday, by which time we’re enthusiastic, organised and feeling in control. Unfortunately this positive performance peak only lasts a day – come Wednesday afternoon the motivational heights have been scaled and we’re on the downward slope to the weekend with most of us easing off on the productivity and intensity of work so that by Friday, we’re ready for the weekend again.

Give your team a mid-week opportunity to celebrate.

If this sounds familiar, or explains working patterns in your own team throughout the week, there are two ways of dealing with it.

The first is to acknowledge this ebb and flow of energy and productivity as part of the working dynamic of any team, and to plan around it. Avoid scheduling important or lengthy meetings for Monday mornings and Friday afternoons and instead use this time for consolidating – planning for the week ahead or reviewing the week just gone; looking at what has gone well and what we could do more of both to contribute to the team and to help manage our workload. Use the Tuesday-to-Wednesday peak to tackle the more demanding tasks and for reducing the To Do list to more manageable proportions.

The second is to try to build on that Tuesday feeling by motivating the team and keeping energy levels higher for longer. Find an excuse or opportunity for a mid-week celebration and team get-together, whether it’s an informal chat, a review of success to date or a more formal acknowledgement of great performance. Or do something fun together – a picnic lunch, a fun team energiser or watching some comedy to share a laugh. We all know that not every day can be a Friday, but at least they shouldn’t all be Monday mornings.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.

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This blog is written by Fresh Tracks: Experts in running team building activities and events. For more information about their events click here.

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If not quickly resolved conflict can have a significant impact on the people in the dispute and also their colleagues

Here are a few thoughts to help your team to deal with the discord:

Work out the Root Cause
Only once the reason for the argument is established can a resolution be sought. More often than not the behaviour that caused the upset is not the original cause of the problem at all. When someone upsets us, before responding it’s well worth looking for the ‘One More Fact’ that motivates that person’s views or behaviours. I’m reminded of a woman regarded by many as a neurotic and overprotective mother who, it turns out, lost her own brother in a tragic accident as a teenager. Knowledge of this one fact helps to make sense of and understand her behaviour.

Acknowledge Differences
The modern workplace contains people from different cultures, educational backgrounds and generations. Baby boomers can differ from Gen Yers in their approach to work, preferring to see work as a “place”, whereas new entrants to the workforce simply need to plug in electronically to be at work. All too often differences are exaggerated and we don’t see the real person because of our assumptions based on their background. Not all Americans are loud, not all German’s precise and not all Brits reserved. It’s important to get to know the individual and their strengths; a great way to do this in a team is to use psychometrics and questionnaires to identify each team member’s true personality. Once a team can see themselves as a group of talented but different people they immediately lay to rest the inaccurate preconceptions based on background.

Agree on what Matters
Very often disagreements arise over issues that don’t really matter to the organisation. Just because one person wears certain clothes or another likes to go for a cigarette break doesn’t necessarily impede the team’s performance. There will be instances when smoking and dress code are damaging. The team simply needs to be clear on its role and contribution and the correct behaviours will follow. I like the example of Best Buy, a leading US electronics retailer conducting a radical experiment to transform its culture. Called ROWE, for “results-only work environment,” Best Buy will no longer equate physical presence with productivity. The goal is to judge performance on output instead of hours. There are no schedules, no mandatory meetings, work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do. It’s O.K. to take conference calls while you fish, collaborate from your garden, or log on after dinner having spent the afternoon with your children. ROWE is an indication of how some teams have managed to recalibrate their activity so that what matters, is what really makes a difference to their business.

Make Memories
The workplace has become increasingly transactional, a perpetual cycle of meetings, telephone calls and hours spent behind screens. From time to time teams must break free of their routine and do something different together, away from the office. Someone once said “You only really get to know someone when you waste time with them.” Sometimes our closest colleagues are the people who we’ve travelled with and got to know whilst waiting for a delayed flight. Where conflict exists it can often be because the two parties have never had the opportunity to get to know the person beyond the job role. I’m not advocating that two people in conflict should be forced together, but time and time again we’ve seen long-held grudges melt away when a team take part in a shared experience together.

Talk about it
Possibly the most awkward and feared aspect of conflict is the point at which the two parties must face each other and their differences. Mediation by an independent and respected third party is undoubtedly an excellent way to resolve severe differences, better still don’t let differences escalate to this level. Encourage a culture in the team in which feedback is welcomed and given regularly by all team members regardless of seniority. There are some important caveats when giving feedback however – see this blog: Five tips for giving better feedback for more information.

Also to find out why ‘If your team can’t get along you are in trouble’ watch this video blog.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.

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This blog is written by Fresh Tracks: Experts in running team building activities and events.

The post Ways to Resolve Conflict in Your Team appeared first on Team Building and Performance.

Team-Building is Important to Employee’s Sense of Belonging
Team building is the most important term. The purpose is to include everyone and to encourage those that tend to keep to themselves to join into the activities. Employees learn things about themselves and the ones around them that they never knew before.

• Misunderstandings can dissolve when seen from a different perspective
• Alliances are formed when faced with a dilemma to work through
• Personalities are exposed in new and different ways
• Ideas come to those that free themselves from the “it is how it has always been done” mentality

Team-building days are fun as well as challenging.

There is going to be a Team-Building Day – Now What
It is easy to talk about a team-building day but making it happen may be more challenging. Deciding what to do and where to do it involves making many decisions, consideration of the cost and what would make the greatest impact. Why not let the employees plan the day? The details would be different for a small business compared to a large business of course. A small business may include only a few employees while a larger business could include a hundred or more. The type of business would also make a difference – would outdoor challenges be best or would a cooking class be better?

What is the best Team-Building Event
Team-Building events are often thought of as outdoor challenges like rock climbing and obstacle courses. They may even include a trip to another state or a cruise to an exotic island. While those are great ideas they are not the only way to improve employee motivation. The state of the economy over the past several years has caused many businesses to change their extravagant ways. In some ways that is a good thing because often simple is better. Employees interact with each other instead of their surroundings. Getting to know each other is easier when there are fewer events.

Asking the employees what they would like may be surprising. Special training to improve their positions in the company, working together for a charity or taking hands on cooking class given by a celebrity chef may be exactly the right plan.

Team-Building Days Improve Employee’s View of their Job
Employees that love their jobs appreciate the benefit of a team-building day. Positive events also affect employees that have begun to dread going to work every day. Create a scrapbook to remind each employee and the employer of what is good about where they work now and in the future.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.

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Written by guest writter Tom Tolladay, event organiser for Chillisauce.

The post Team-Building Days – Renew Employee Excitement and Motivation appeared first on Team Building and Performance.

Below is an idea for a team building activity focusing on the what happens when new members join a team.

Learning Objectives
1. To experience the process and feelings that arise when a new member joins
an ongoing group with defined tasks and roles;
2. To explore the coping mechanisms adopted by the individual and the group
to deal with entry problems;
3. To examine functional and dysfunctional coping strategies of groups.

Orientation
The facilitator may refer to the general orientation on group development and make appropriate connections to the whole seminar objectives.

Instructions
1. This activity may be used with groups of 10 to 12 members each.
2. A separate room is required where volunteers (one per group) can be
briefed.
3. The facilitator gives the instructions during the activity proper.

Activity Proper: Experiencing
1. The facilitator asks for several volunteers who are told to go to a separate
room to await their instructions. The remaining participants are divided
into groups of 10 to 12 members each. (It is important that groups do not
begin to form into cohesive units before volunteers are recruited.) The role
of the volunteers and the purpose of the activity are not divulged at this
time.
2. The facilitator gives the remaining participants the following information:
a. Each group is an advertising company engaged in the business of promotion.
b. Each company has two tasks to complete in the next 30 minutes:
(1) To organize the company, select a name, establish a hierarchy, assign roles, clarify tasks, and produce an organizational chart (this information is collected by the facilitator at the end of 10 minutes, and if this task is completed before the allotted time, work may proceed on the second task);
(2) To prepare in 20 minutes a set of twenty slogans or advertising themes for a potential client, the Bank XYZ (the bank is interested in increasing deposits by means of an aggressive public relations campaign);
(3) To have its work is evaluated as a whole (the bank examines each company’s submissions and accepts the one best complete set of slogans or themes).
c. After the facilitator has briefed the groups, they are directed to move to separate areas to begin working.
d. While the work groups are engaged in their tasks, the facilitators meet with the volunteers and brief them on their task. They are told that each of them will be joining an advertising company in a managerial capacity. They are to spend the next 10 minutes writing down some of their expectations for the job and listing contributions they think they can make to the company.
e. At the end of the 10 minutes of the activity, the facilitator visits each work group, collects its organizational chart and introduces one volunteer to the company members, announcing that the person is joining the company as a manager. No further details are given.
f. While the work groups are completing the second task, the facilitator prepares a chart paper poster listing the criteria used to evaluate the slogans, and adjusts the organizational charts to reflect the addition of the new managers.
g. When the groups have been working on the second task for 20 minutes, the facilitator calls time and collects the materials prepared by each of the groups.
h. The participants are told to take a 10-minute break while the facilitator (as president of the Bank XYZ) evaluates the slogans and decides on the winning company.
i. The participants are reassembled in the large group to hear the Bank XYZ’s decision. The facilitator reads the winning set of slogans aloud.

PROCESSING

Data Gathering
The facilitator reassembles the work groups, distributes the adjusted organizational charts and provides them with some felt tipped markers and chart papers. The following questions, printed earlier on chart paper, are posted for all the participants to see:
1. What are your reactions to the results of the competition?
2. How did you feel when the new member was introduced into the group?
3. (To the managers) How did you feel about joining an intact group? How do
you feel about the expectations you had regarding your job, those that were
met and those that were not met?
4. What were the ways in which the group assimilated the new member? How
did the group react to the change in its hierarchy?
5. What is the effect of the new member on the group’s functioning?

Each group focuses its discussion on these questions and records answers on chart paper (20 minutes). After the discussion, each group posts the printed answers on one side of the room for all the participants to see.

Synthesis
The facilitator summarizes the responses of the groups and evokes from the participants a recognition of patterns in their reactions. She helps them formulate generalizations that will show the effects of new members on group functioning. A lecturette may be discussed.

Integration
The facilitator asks the following questions to integrate the general principles learned by the participants:
1. What new awareness do you have about yourself after the experience?
2. How can you apply the insights you learned from this experience to your
own work situations?
3. What action steps can your organization take to reduce the dysfunctional
effects of changes in work group membership.
4. What did you learn about groups from this exercise?

For more team building activities such as this, please visit teambuildinggames.org.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.

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Until recently, when the same group planned and executed a complete project without my input at all. They were inconsiderate and exclusive, in my opinion. Maybe the problem was me. I thought I was performing well and on further analysis I was. The issue was the group not seeing value in every member. I had made myself a part of the wrong group. I persevered though, and gave chance after chance, adjusted my values and made rationalisations. I reflected on the circumstances for a whole week and concluded that compromising myself like that was unacceptable and led to unhappiness and stress.

The situation is still difficult to talk about and I cannot provide further detail here. Removing the emotion is hard too, but it needs to be done to write about this experience objectively. With respect to teamwork and group dynamics, sometimes you just have to cut a group loose and find your own way!

Within any effectively performing group, members are given the opportunity to raise issues and concerns, contribute knowledge and opinions, and assist in operational decision-making and planning activities. Forums such as team meetings, one-on-one meetings, planning days, performance appraisals, conferences, etc all help people to develop relationships, share information, understand each other’s work and discuss issues related to the achievement of team goals. But when (not if) the group dynamics break down, what then can be done?

Being comfortable and confident in your own abilities provides a solid psychological basis for dealing with a breakdown in positive group dynamics. Knowing where your strengths lie can allow you to explore your own shortcomings more effectively. Learn from your experiences and analyse and reflect upon the feedback you have received in the past. Ensuring you are completely comfortable with your own strengths and limitations reduces the need to completely rely on others within the group for affirmation.

Next, recognise the situations in which you cannot please everybody and simply act with your best judgment – especially if you are leading the group. Any golfer or tennis player will tell you that you have to be able to trust your shot. So, too, a group member or leader has to be able to trust in their own well-informed decisions to be able to move forward. If there are issues affecting group performance, they need to be addressed promptly and directly. Offer or seek out opportunities to improve performance. This indicates to the rest of the group a willingness to work with them to explore solutions.

Despite all of these strategies there will be occasions where a group member simply makes the choice to NOT work with you in the team or with the team as a whole. Recognise this and discuss the choice with them, exploring feelings, reasons and specific examples. This can be quite a confronting exercise but it is worthwhile for peace of mind. If it comes down to it, be prepared to walk away yourself or to let them leave the group, depending on the situation. Sometimes, it’s simply just the best option for you/the group. In my situation from earlier, it was the best option for me.

The final piece of advice is to accept the consequences of your chosen action. Acceptance will eventuate after an initial period of anger or disappointment and then a period of reflection. It is important to work through these thought processes so you can then mentally equip yourself to move on to new opportunities with a renewed sense of determination.

I shall end this article with two quotes:
1. “The well-run group is not a battlefield of egos.” – Lao Tzu, Chinese Taoist philosopher
2. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill, British WWII Prime Minister

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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.

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Writen by guest writer Jason Novosel from Novohorizons Management Training

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