LEVERAGING TEAMWORK FOR

SYNERGY AND PERFORMANCE

IMPROVEMENT

Rare Konsult Ltd.

What Did U See?!

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Whose Job Is It?
 A job must be done, and was given to 4
people; Somebody, Anybody, Everybody and
Nobody.
 Somebody did not do it because he thought
Anybody could do it. Anybody did nothing about
the job since Everybody was supposed to
accomplish it. Everybody left it to Nobody to do it.
 However, the job was left undone when
Nobody was willing to do it!

Heeheeee…..Even clowns can do

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better!
What is Happening?!

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 The Perspective
• Teamwork is slowly becoming a huge asset and way of doing business.
• Why?
– Rugged individualism doesn't always work in a a competitive business
setting that requires superior performance.
– As workers become more segmented, executives found team-building to
be an effective way of bridging the gaps in the modern workplace.
– With companies growing, the ability to bring people together from
various segments of the company and build a cohesive unit is
paramount to ensure continued growth.
– With a younger, more innovative workforce working with an older, more
stable generation the need to develop cohesion is critical if these
generations are ever to work effectively together.
• However, many organizations still fail to develop successful teams
because they aren't sure what a team really is.

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 This is Interesting!

Together

Everybody

Achieves

More

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…or is it?
 What is a Team?
• “A team is not a random collection of individuals, with separate
agenda, but a group of people who work together on a
continuing mission with common goals and objectives. The
mission is accomplished through specific and defined tasks
that may be simultaneous or sequential and that may change
from time to time” (Altalib, 1991 p.134).
•
• A team is a group of interdependent individuals, with
complimentary skills, organized and committed to a common
purpose, goals and working approach, for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable.

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 Distinguishing Characteristics of a Team

• A common purpose, described in its mission statement.

• Interdependent members, no one person can do everything.
• Team members receive training in the tools and techniques
that they will use.
• A coach or facilitator helps them work together as a team
and use the tools and techniques they need to achieve
their mission.
• Team members make many of their decisions as a team.
• Team members are collectively responsible for the outcome
of their efforts.

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 Spot the Difference
 Group  Team
 Interdependence  Interdependence
 Interactive  Interactive
 Skills variety  Mission/Task specific
 Common goal skills
 Mutual influence  Task specifity
  Mutual accountability

Family
Family Girls
Girls Guide
Guide
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 What is Teamwork?
• Teamwork is the process of getting a task
accomplished and goals achieved
through the efforts of people working
together as harmonious co-operative unit.

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 Note that…
• Teamwork isn't simple. In fact, it can be a
frustrating, elusive commodity...Teamwork
doesn't appear magically just because
someone mouths the words.
– Pat Riley (1945 - ) U.S. basketball coach
The Winner Within, 1994.
http://encarta.msn.com

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 Benefits of Teamwork

• Some of the benefits of using teams

include:
– Creative new ways to address opportunities, solve problems,
and improve business processes
– Cooperation, coordination and communication, particularly
among people from different departments or functions
– Commitment to a course of action
– Greater productivity
– Better use of people’s skills and abilities
– Personal development of team members
– Higher morale among team members

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Stages of Team Development

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Factors that Distinguish Teams
• Teams are distinguished by five attributes:
– Scope; cross-functional
– Size; 2-5, 6 effective, 12 optimal
– Mission; work teams, improvement teams, special
purpose teams
– Authority; directed teams/self-directed teams
– Duration; temporary/ongoing

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 Types Of Teams

• Teams differ in terms of location and

nature of the task to accomplish.
• Types of teams include the following:
– Departmental Teams
– Cross-functional Teams
– Cross-company teams
–
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 Why Build Teams?

• Team building is necessary because;

– Organisations are composed of individuals
responsible to different supervisors,
– Staff have different interests, from different
educational and experience backgrounds.
– Staff may or may not interact harmoniously and co-
operatively.
– Experiences and expertise need to be harnessed to
produce synergy for effective and efficient
processes.

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 You must take head…
• Before a company begins a push into establishing teams in their
offices, time and attention should be paid to building the teams
that will eventually work together.
• When that does not occur, team members are absent of the
foundation that is critical to success.
• And in this hyperactive world we live and work in, teams are easy
ways to bring divergent ideas and personalities together for the
express purpose of leveraging those exact qualities to paint a
dynamic picture.
• A team that is excelling is doing so because of the work that went into
bringing them together.
• Do not be found guilty of marrying personalities without developing a
culture of teamwork.

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Critical Factors in Team Building

• The work at hand and the time to

accomplish it.
• The mission and objective of accomplishing
the work.
• The background, skills and knowledge of
the members pertaining to the mission.
• The commitment of members to the
mission.
• The spirit of collective responsibility.
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 Team Building Process
Obtain
Set commitment
organisational of team and
objectives individuals

Agree on individual
and team
objectives

Provide
feedback
Plan activities
and set targets

Evaluate performance
in current environment
Training and
Monitor development activities
activities
against
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 Individual Roles in Team Building
• It is also important to note and take care of individual roles including;
– Aggressor; Destroys or deflates the status of other group members; may try to take credit for
someone else’s contribution.
– Blocker; Is generally negative, stubborn and disagreeable without apparent reason.
– Recognition Seeker;Seeks the spotlight by boasting and reporting on his or her personal
achievements.
– Self-Confessor; Uses the group as an audience to report personal feelings and
observations.
– Loner; Lacks involvement in the group’s process; lack of interest may result in cynicism,
nonchalance or other behaviour that indicates a lack of enthusiasm for the group’s
activities.
– Dominator; Makes an effort to assert authority by manipulating group members or attempting
to take over the entire group, may use flattery or assertive behaviour to dominate the
discussion.
– Help Seeker; Tries to evoke a sympathetic response from others, often expresses insecurity
or feeling of low self-worth.
– Rarefor
Special Interest Pleader; Speaks Konsult Ltd.group or organisation that best fits his or her
a special
own biases to serve an individual need.
 Team Building and Maintenance Roles
• In building and maintaining teams, it is important to note and
take advantage of some critical roles exhibited by members
of the team, including;
– Encourager; Offers praise, understanding and acceptance of others.
– Harmoniser; Mediates disagreements among group members.
– Compromiser; Attempts to resolve conflicts by trying to find an
acceptable solution to disagreements among group members.
– Standard Setter; Helps to set group standards and goals.
– Group Observer; Keeps records of the group’s process and uses the
information later.
– Gatekeeper and Expediter; Encourages less talkative group members to
participate.
– Follower; Basically goes along with the suggestions and ideas of other
group members; serve as an audience in group discussions and
decision making.
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–
 Team Building Techniques
• Delegate; assigning authority and accountability to others while
retaining responsibility for results).
• Set specific goals in cooperation with team of members;
• Set up feedback and communication procedures (control
procedures);
• Train members in group dynamics, meeting skills and problem-
solving process.
• Minimize the tendency to continually look over the team's
shoulder to make sure team members are doing things the
manager's way; and
• Empower employees, i.e., give them the freedom to decide the
hows and wheres of completing specific tasks as long as the
goals are accomplished on time.
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 Types of Tasks

• Conjunctive Tasks.
– Task is not completed, unless the
members of the group, as a whole,
have completed it.
– Team performance decreases with
increasing team size.

•
• Disjunctive Tasks.
– Requiring an either or decision, or a
choice among two or more
alternatives.
– If one team member can complete the
task then the team Rare
can Konsult
complete
Ltd. it.
 Team Task Check-List
• Do Team members;
– understand the task?
– they have the skills to accomplish the task?
– they have appropriate/adequate tools and
methods?
– they have sufficient facilities and supplies?
– Are they committed?

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 Team Task Roles

• Initiator-Contributor • Co-ordinator
• Information Seeker • Orienter
• Opinion Seeker • Evaluator Critic
• Information Giver • Energizer
• Opinion Giver • Procedural Technician
• Elaborator • Recorder


•
• Rare Konsult Ltd.
 Task Tools and Techniques

• Task tools and techniques for team

performance include:
– Planning Tools
• Gantt Chart
• PERT (Performance Evaluation Research
Techniques)
– Problem-solving Techniques
– Decision-making Techniques
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 Mission-Specific Task Skills
• Market research
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• Statistical analysis
• Business process improvement
• Business process management
• Process engineering
• Benchmarking
• ISO-9000
• Information technology

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 What Makes Teams Function Effectively
• Communication of members’ roles and consensus
formation.
• Understanding source of power.
• Acknowledgement of organisational change
• Conflict management and collaboration.
• Final decision on area of responsibility.
• Mutual trust and support.
• Leadership and authority sharing.
• Intensive communications links among members.
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 Solving Team Performance Problems
• Describe the problem in a friendly manner.
– Be specific and sincere and focus on the problem not the person.
• As for team mate’s help in solving the problem.
– Let team members take an active part in the solution.
• Discuss causes for the problem.
– Ask for team members’ ideas, using open-ended questions.
– Summarize the cause.
• Identify and write down possible solutions.
– Make sure you write the team members’ solution first.
– Offer your solution as an alternative if the employee’s solution is not workable.
• Decide on actions each of you should take.
– Developing a plan that incorporates the team members’ ideas reinforces the team
members’ commitment to change.
• Agree on a specific date and time for following up on the action plan.
•
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 Need to Balance Team Dimensions

Mission
Objectives
Relationship

Task
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 Measures of a Team’s Performance
• Two chief measures of a team’s performance are its;
1. Technical Efficiency, and
2. Allocative Efficiency.

• Technical efficiencyis the ability to produce an output

without waste.
• Allocative efficiency is the degree to which a team produces
the level of output that is expected of it.
– It is estimated that losses due to team’s allocative inefficiencyare very
small in most industries.
– Losses due to team’s technical inefficiencymay be much higher.
– Both types of team inefficiency may be greater in government-owned or
government-regulated industries than in other industries.
– Some of this team inefficiency in the public sector results from
accomplishing task at higher cost than it is done in the private
sector. Rare Konsult Ltd.
 Communication in Teamwork

• Centralised Network
– Effective Leadership.
– More Control and Coordination.
– More Efficient Performance.
– Slow Response.
• De-centralised Network
– More Message and Satisfaction.
– High Degree of Independence.
– Provide for a lot of Initiative.
– Requires Less Time to Solve Problem.
–
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–
 When Not to Use Team
• When there is no time for discussion. When there is a fire, people don’t form teams to
determine the cause, they get out of the burning building.
• When the problem is not important. No one gets enthusiastic about solving a problem
that is not important, not even as a practice exercise in team training.
• When the solution is already known. Teams have been formed to get buy-in to
predetermined solutions. This is a waste of time and does not work.
• When the subject is someone’s job assignment. Giving a problem to a team after it
has already been assigned to someone to solve is no different than assigning the
same task to two different people. It is a poor management practice.
• When one individual has greater expertise. When one person is an expert and has the
ability to solve a problem and when other team member do not bring anything to the
table, the team is redundant.

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 This is a Challenge
• I think women as a group are
better team members than
men. We communicate
better and are more
compatible. We're also more
perfectionist and take
instruction better.
– Sue Dorrington British rugby
player The Times (London), May
3, 1994.
• http://encarta.msn.com
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 Conclusion
• Teams are not appropriate for everyone or in every situation, but
virtually every organization can benefit from expanding its use of
teams.
• Organisations can apply teams in almost every combination of scope,
size, mission, authority, and duration.
• Teams build on the synergy of the team members, improve
communication and buy-in, increase productivity, raise employee
morale, and provide a forum for personal development.
• To achieve these benefits from teams, organizations must be prepared
to address both the critical success factors and the issues unique to
teams.
• When they do, they have taken another major step toward an open
organisation culture.

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 Better, Team Playing, But Better

• Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.

– Attributed to Michael Jordan (1963Ltd.

Rare Konsult - ) U.S. basketball player
• http://encarta.msn.com