Team Building

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Team Building

• Nikki Conklin, Ph.D.
• Associate Director Programs,
• Ohio State University Extension
• Agr. Educ. 842
• May 17, 2006

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Teams

• Team is a group of people who work together to
  achieve a desired outcome
  
• People become a team when they work together
  interdependently and synergistically to
  accomplish something.
  
• (Wellins, Byham Wilson, 1991)
• Teamwork is a series of complementary and
  mutually reinforcing behaviors completed in a
  group (Snow, 1992)
  

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Why Teams

• Use of teams increased dramatically in all
  organizations in the last decade
  
• Teams are an appropriate structure for
  implementing strategies formulated to deal with
  performance demands and opportunities presented
  by the changing business environment.
• (Mohrman, Cohen Mohrman, 1995)

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Why Teams Cont.

• Teams are recognized as a fit between strategy
  and organizational design which leads to a
  competitive advantage
  
• .
• Galbraith, Lawler and Associates, 1993 Nadler,
  Gerstein, Shaw and Associates 1992)
  

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Purpose of Teambuilding

• Teambuilding is designed to help people who work
  together to function more effectively in teams
  and to assist the team itself to work more
  effectively as a whole
• (Moxon, 1993)

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Team Building

• Teambuilding can be defined as a structured
  attempt to improve/develop effectiveness of a
  group of people who work together
  
• (Clark, 1994, Moxon,1993)
• Each team member should have a notion of constant
  improvement in order for a company or team to
  continually improve
  
• (Byham,1990)

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Teambuilding

• A deliberate process of facilitating the
  evolution of a close and effective work group so
  that
  
• Team leadership is coherent, visionary and
  acceptable
  
• The teams roles, functions and deliverables are
  clearly understood
  
• Members of the team have emotionally signed up
  and dedicated their efforts to collective
  achievement
  
• There is positive, energetic and empowering
  climate in the work group
  
• Informal and formal meetings are efficient and
  make good use of time and available resources
  
• Weaknesses in team capability have been diagnosed
  and their negative effects mitigated or
  eliminated (Woodcock Francis, 1994)

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Teambuilding

• The best teambuilding happens when selected
  activities meet identified needs of the team or
  address as needed skills and competencies.
  
• Teambuilding in a workplace is a task-oriented
  activity. The task alone provides the context in
  which it becomes appropriate to discuss processes
  and procedures and individual behavior
• (Moxon, 1993)

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Teams

• Teams can allow organizations to be more
  responsive in dealing with new demands and
  opportunities in a rapidly changing world.
  
• Allow for organizational flexibility
• Integration of knowledge , experience and
  perspective that cannot be held by one person.
  (Donnellon, 1996)
  

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Effective Teams

• Effective teams are self-directed and are made up
  of small groups of people empowered to manage
  themselves and the work they do on a daily
  basis. (Wellins, Byuham Wilson, 1991)

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Types of Teams

• Employee involvement meets on a regular basis
  to use its talents to help solve problems
  achieve continuous improvement (quality circles)
  
• (Schermerhorn, 2002)

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Types of Teams

• Committees formal team designated to work on a
  special task on a continuing basis.
  
• Project team / task force formal team convened
  for a specific purpose expected to disband when
  that purpose is achieved.
  
• (Schermerhorn, 2002)

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Types of Teams

• Cross-functional task group staffed with a mix
  of specialists pursuing a common objective.
  
• Virtual task group members from dispersed
  locations who are electronically linked.
  
• (Kreitner, 2001)

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Characteristics of Effective Teams

• Team leadership
• Team direction
• Information
• Team processes
• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Adequate resources
• Physical
• Human
• Financial

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Managers Role on Teams
(Schermerhorn, 2002)
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Empowering Teams

• Clear charge and boundaries for work
• Skilled team leaders
• Safe environment
• Strategies to manage conflict
• Freedom to work
• Performance measurement with feedback
• Compensation and rewards

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Trust

• Belief in the integrity, character, or ability of
  others.
  
• (Kreitner, 2001)

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Building Trust

• Concentrate on six areas
• Communication
• Support
• Respect
• Fairness
• Predictability
• Competence
• (Kreitner, 2001)

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Indicators of success for program teams in the
Cooperative Extension System

• Kelbaugh (2003) dissertation research in HCRD
• Delphi with Extension professionals nationally
• Identified 4 indicators as critically important
  to program team success

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Critically important indicators(Kelbaugh,2003)

• Evidence that team members are committed to the
  work of the team and follow through with their
  agreed upon roles and responsibilities
  
• A clear vision of where the team is going, and
  agreed upon and understood goals
  
• The impact of programs delivered to clientele
• An established process for communication among
  team members that allows for efficient and open
  information sharing in a timely manner

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Building Blocks for Teams

• Resources for Team Leaders
• OSU Extension
• http//www.ag.ohio-state.edu/ptd/index.html

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References

• Kreitner, R. (2001). Management (8th Ed.).
  Boston Houghton Mifflin Co.
  
• Schermerhorn, J.R. (2002). Management (7th
  Ed.). New York John Wiley Sons, Inc.
  
• Tuckman, B.W. Jensen, M.A.C. (1977). Stages of
  small-group development revisited. Group and
  Organization Studies, 2(4), 419-427.