Chapter 10 –High-Performing
Team Leadership
In this chapter, the students will learn to do the
following:
·
Establish an effective team.
·
Implement the necessary team work processes.
·
Manage the people side of teams.
·
Handle team issues and conflict.
·
Help virtual teams succeed.
The applications in this chapter call on students to
look critically at any teams they are part of to determine how well the team is
managing team processes and to assess and provide feedback to team
members. In addition, students will work
with scenarios to establish the most appropriate ways to resolve team conflict
and write an e-mail suggesting an approach to managing a virtual team.
The instructor will want to go through the PowerPoint
lecture with the students before doing any of the applications, which should
take ~ 45 minutes. Ideally, the students
should have read the chapter and heard the lecture before actually working in
teams so that they can employ many of the principles, such as creating a team
charter and developing action and work plans from the very beginning of the
team formation. However, if the teams
are already in place, the instructor can ask the students to look at their
current team processes in light of the instruction in the chapter and determine
if they need to make any changes. Application
10.1 would be very useful in helping them measure what they are doing against
what they should be doing.
Application
10.1: Assessing Team Performance
This application depends on students working in a
team for some period of time so that they have enough contact with the team to
have experienced the ups and downs of team dynamics and created approaches to
working together.
Approaches to Teaching
Most student teams
resist the kind of self-reflection and team process analysis called for in this
application; therefore, it is important for the instructor to ensure the teams
spend some time on the assignment, which may mean that the instructor will want
to dedicate some class time to this application. Instructors should break the students into
their teams and ask them to complete the assessment form, emphasizing that this
application is intended to help the team reflect on its performance so that the
team can make improvements if needed.
Once in their
teams, the instructor will want to ask the team members first to work
individually. After each person has had
time to complete the assessment form, they should then compare their
evaluations of the team and discuss any differences. The team should emerge from this discussion
with a clear idea of what they are doing that is working and what needs to be
changed, and they can then turn to developing the action plan to make changes
if necessary.
An alternative to
doing all of the assignment in class would be to have the students complete the
team assessment as homework but then meet in class to go over it. In addition to ensuring the students spend
adequate time on the assignment, having the students meet in class will allow
the instructor to observe the teams’ interactions. The students’ focus
throughout the application should be on ensuring future success for their
teams, either by initiating change or codifying current team processes.
Occasionally, student teams are
afraid to suggest that they are having any problems or not following the
guidelines for how best to work in a team because they fear it will reflect on
them as students and may affect their grades; therefore, if instructors plan to
grade this assignment, they will want to emphasize that they will be evaluating
the team performance plans to determine if the students have committed adequate
time and effort to establishing concrete steps to improve their team
performance, and not that they will be grading them according to the success of
the team.
Example
Responses to the Assignment
Student answers to Part 2 should resemble the
following:
Team
tools
|
Actions we have taken
|
Actions we plan to take
|
Team
objectives
|
-
Established overall objectives for team but not
specific ones for assignments
|
-
Review original objectives
-
Create objectives specific to team projects from now
on
|
Team
ground rules
|
-
Formed ground rules, but do not enforce all of them
|
-
Revisit ground rules to see which are working
-
Revise those that we are not following or determine
how to ensure we follow them
|
Team
tools
|
Actions we have taken
|
Actions we plan to take
|
Meeting
agendas
|
-
Talk in general at the beginning of each meeting
about what we plan to cover
|
-
Create an agenda for each meeting, rotating the
responsibility to each team member
-
Review agenda at beginning of meeting
|
Action
plans
|
-
Created list of actions
|
-
Divide actions into phases
-
Be more specific on actions
|
Work
plans
|
-
Discussed how to divide work and assign
responsibilities
|
-
Write out all specific actions
-
Assign responsibilities and set deadlines for each
|
Responses to Application
10.1 (continued)
Team
activities
|
What
has worked
|
What
needs to be improved
|
Meeting productivity
|
-
Ground rules to some extent
|
-
We tend to waste time and always start meetings late
-
Need better ground rules
-
Need agendas for all meetings
|
Project management
|
-
Taking time to discuss actions and responsibilities
|
-
Too often we underestimate how long tasks will take
-
Need action plans and work plans that are written and
maintained for each project
|
Communications
|
-
Do a good job keeping each other informed of meetings
|
-
We have encountered some team conflict over missed
information and bad timing for calls
-
Need a communication protocol so that we know when to
call and who is calling for which types of messages
|
Division of labor
|
-
Good at assigning tasks based on team member
strengths
|
-
Too often we have duplication of effort and people
not completing tasks as expected
-
Need work plans and need to be very explicit on
deliverables
|
Team
learning
|
-
Keep notes on most meetings
|
-
Notes are scattered, and we often waste time looking
for information we have already discussed
-
Need to keep minutes and create a file that all of us
can access
|
Application
10.2: Assessing Team Members and Providing
Feedback
This application calls on students to perform peer
evaluations on every member of their team, including themselves. The evaluations are most effective if the
team discusses them openly; however, often students are not comfortable assessing
their peers, and even more are uncomfortable receiving feedback from
peers. Therefore, the instructor needs
to set up this application so that it is as non-threatening as possible. One approach is to read the instruction on
giving and receiving feedback in Chapter 12, reinforce the “Approach to
Providing Constructive Team Member Feedback,” and make sure each team follows
the guidelines provided.
This application does depend on the students having
some maturity to ensure the discussion remains open, honest, and
constructive. Otherwise, students may
become defensive or may simply compliment each other to avoid conflict. They need to be coached in providing negative
feedback constructively. If instructors
have any doubts about the students being able to manage the assignment
effectively, they may want to facilitate the team discussions themselves, which
would mean scheduling time to meet with each team. Instructors need to be aware that these kinds
of team discussions can be damaging to team dynamics if not managed carefully.
Application
10.3: Managing Team Conflict
All five of the scenarios in the application were developed
based on actual conflicts within student and professional teams. There is not one “correct” approach to
resolving any of the scenarios; of course, the approach relies on the
personalities of the individuals and the team culture that has developed, and
students may want to make some assumptions about team members as they begin
their discussion of the conflict scenarios.
Approaches to
Teaching
This application presents five different scenarios to help
students discuss how a fictional team should approach problem resolution;
perhaps in their discussions of how to resolve these issues, teams may uncover
some issues within their own teams. The application
allows students to discuss a variety of approaches and consider how to decide
which is best in a given circumstance. The sample answers below are just one
possible approach to the situations at hand; therefore, they are intended for
the instructor’s information and not to provide the “right” answer to give to
students. In fact, often students come
up with even better responses and the discussion surrounding the student
responses is where the real learning occurs.
Students should pre-read the applications and consider what
approach they think is best; allowing this time for independent work (either
before class or in-session) will foster individual thinking that can then be
shared with team members. Responses will
most likely reflect the emotional intelligence of the team members, their
aversion to, or acceptance of conflict, and their personal approach to conflict
resolution. When students meet in teams,
they should not only discuss their individual responses, but also examine why
their approaches differ and how (or if) that impacts their participation in
their current team.
Example Responses to
the Scenarios
1.
Scenario #1
seems at first as if it might be an analytical problem, but the team member’s
interpersonal style is really at the foundation of the conflict. She is probably a very intelligent person who
sees one clear answer to a problem.
Three difficulties arise: she may
or may not be correct, her interruptions of others may make them feel that
their input and ideas are not valued, and finally, her preemptory remarks
threaten to minimize the learning experience for the other team members who
need to work through the case/project problems.
She might feel threatened by a
team approach to resolution, so the students might choose first to offer a
one-on-one discussion with one member of the team who is willing to discuss the
matter. If a team charter is in effect
(which included an agreement not to interrupt others) the discussion might
include a reference to common team goals set out in the charter. If there is no charter, the discussion could
proceed according to the steps for one-on-one conflict resolution shown in the
chapter.
The team member initiating the
discussion needs to have specific examples of the disruptive behavior ready for
inclusion in the discussion. As a means
to raise the awareness of the interrupter, perhaps the two can agree on a
signal they could use during meetings when the behavior is occurring. If the team members can agree that the behavior
is counterproductive and then raise awareness about when it occurs, the team
has a good chance of solving the problem.
2.
Scenario #2
involves a number of problems with the team’s procedures and possible cultural conflicts
as well. First of all, the team needs to
develop ground rules for their meetings, or if they already exist, revisit them
to establish guidelines on the use of cell phones for calls and for text
messages during meetings. Even though
our phones are ubiquitous and many of us depend on them almost too much, they
can be extremely disruptive in a meeting and their use should be limited or
banned completely.
The food
issue is more difficult to manage since it could involve cultural bias. The member bothered by the garlic and curry
may not even realize that others may be bothered by the aroma of his food as
well. Also, he is creating a “us against
them” situation by singling Mary out with his complaint. Ironically, the team is meeting to work on
company morale, yet what Tom is doing is interfering with the team’s
morale. Tom may need some coaching on
cross-cultural differences and on the proper behavior in team settings.
The team
needs to discuss the food issue openly as a team. Some possible resolutions are to order food
for the entire team, to alternate team members bringing food for the entire
team, or to meet before or after work instead of during lunch. Another alternative is to manage up and
approach the supervisor who assigned the team this task to discuss having time
during the work day to meet since the team is addressing a company issue.
3.
Scenario #3
is a classic task conflict, as the various members did not have a clear idea of
what work product was expected. The
leader should raise his or her concerns with the team, and as a group they
could clarify their work plan for all projects going forward. The team work-plan should include a timeline
with a very definitive work product, perhaps even specifying graphic standards
and formats.
4.
The task conflict in Scenario #4 is exacerbated by the fact that Gary did not understand
his part of the work. The team had
agreed to check in with each other every few days, but it appears as if they
did not do this; otherwise, Gary’s problem would have been discovered
sooner. Their present concern is that
Gary’s next assignment will be a repeat of the past performance. As a team, they should discuss the
assignments and perhaps work in pairs. Gary
needs to be encouraged to voice his concerns earlier, and the team needs to
formalize their “check-in” procedures so that work proceeds at the pace agreed
upon in the work plan.
If Gary’s problem is being overworked
or overwhelmed by his other work responsibilities or they may need to have a coach
work with Gary to help him manage his time more effectively. If, on the other hand, Gary’s is a personal
problem he would not want to share with the group, then perhaps Gary needs to
be reassigned until the problems are past.
In this case, the team leader would need to talk to Gary one-on-one to
determine the problem and suggest Gary talk to his supervisor about obtaining
additional support or being reassigned.
5.
Scenario #5 most
likely represents a personality or cultural conflict. Bashirah
does not seem concerned about arriving late and has even taken the time to stop
for donuts on the way. If students refer
to the Myers-Briggs profile discussion in Chapter 8, they may remember that
“Perceivers” typically have a relaxed attitude toward time and may often be
late. However, Bashirah’s lateness could
also suggest she comes from a culture where time is viewed as flexible and
relative.
Whether the cause is one of
personality or of culture, the team should not necessarily take her behavior as
any sign of disrespect for them. Nevertheless,
the behavior is disruptive to the team and needs to be addressed. If there is a team charter in effect, which
includes a ground rule on promptness to meetings, the problem may be helped through
a team meeting to revisit the team ground rules to remind Bashirah of the expectations.
If this approach does not work, Bashirah
may need one-on-one coaching to help her come up with steps she could take to
ensure on-time arrival.
Application
10.4: Launching a Virtual Team
This application calls on students to apply what they know
about audience analysis as well as their understanding of team dynamics,
particularly when dealing with a virtual team.
Students should have read the last part of Chapter 10, which discusses
virtual teams, and the instructor may want to review the PowerPoint lecture on
teams, which concludes with pointers on working in virtual teams.
Approaches to
Teaching
This application works best as an individual assignment,
although a variation would be to have the students work in groups in class to
discuss the issues in the case and brainstorm on approaches, and then write the
e-mail individually. Students will
probably need more time than a 90-minute class would allow to write the e-mail,
so the instructor will probably want to assign this application as
homework.
Example Response to
the Assignment
Date: March 21, 2010
To: Sales Group Members (listed by name)
Joseph Hernandez, Director,
Training & Development
Tony Padula, Director,
Internal Communication
Subject: Team launch for Project Leapfrog
Dear Sales Group Members:
You have been selected to be a
member of the newly created, Leapfrog Project Team. I am writing to invite you to dinner at
Antonio’s Restaurant, on July 11, 2013 at 7:30 p.m., and to the team’s 1½-day
official launch, July 12-13, 2013 in our corporate offices in Chicago. I am hoping that by sending this invitation
several months ahead of the date, I am providing adequate time for you to make
your travel plans since it is very important that you attend this meeting.
I want to provide a little background
on this new team and project, called “Project Leapfrog.” We selected the name to suggest that we aim
to leap ahead of the competition. We are
going to achieve this goal by being the model of how companies can increase
productivity and performance by working in virtual teams. Senior management feels that we need to
improve how we as a company communicate across distances, how we share and
capture company information, and how we make use of computer technology for
client and team meetings. They want us
to look closely at better leveraging our technological capabilities and at how
we could establish more opportunities for telecommuting.
Senior management has identified
several challenges to working virtually.
Our culture emphasizes personal interaction with each other and with our
clients, which means we meet frequently in person. Few of us would want to change this
culture. Since we are scattered across
all of the offices and in several countries, it costs us in time and people to
meet so often. These frequent meetings
have caused us to have extremely high travel budgets quarter after
quarter. Also, they mean we are on the
road more often than we are home. We
cannot help but ask if it is practical and cost efficient for us to meet in
person so often. Obviously, we need to
meet in person some, but do we need to do so as frequently as we do? Are we taking full advantage of the
technology available to us? Are we
meeting more out of habit than out of necessity?
These are some of questions I want
our team to address. And, despite my
questioning meeting so often in person, I do want this first meeting to be an
in-person meeting so that we will have a chance to get to know more about each
other as people and can thus work more effectively in the virtual team mode,
which will become our norm. We all know
working virtually presents challenges, but with careful planning, strategically
timed interactions, and frequent communication, we can be a model of how the
entire company can better use the technology available to us. We can indeed become a high-performing
virtual team.
Our overall objectives are (1) to
find ways to improve how we communicate across distances, share and capture
company information, and use technology for client and team meetings, (2) to
figure out the best approach to motivating the sales group to adopt a new way
of working and look at how we might do more telecommuting, and (3) to determine
what is needed in terms of training to ensure all of us use virtual technology
effectively.
I have attached an agenda for the
meeting (Attachment 1). Please come with
ideas on how best to accomplish our objectives.
Our session will include creating a team charter for our team,
participating in open brainstorming to uncover the best approaches to achieving
our objectives, performing from/to analysis, and then establishing an action
plan for moving forward.
In addition, please read the
enclosed articles on working on virtual teams.
They discuss some of the best practices for working virtually, which I
have summarized in the Attachment 2.
I look forward to meeting with you
and working with you over the next year to design and implement a “best
practice” approach to virtual teaming at Zarate. Please confirm you attendance with my
assistant, Jerry Seinfield at j_seinfeild@zarate.com,
and if you have any questions, contact me at r_patel@zarate.com.
Sincerely,
Ravi Patel
VP, World Wide Sales
Zarate Tech
Attachment 1 – Zarate
Agenda
Agenda for Launching
Zarate’s Leapfrog Project Team
Date: July
12 - 13, 2013
|
Location: Chicago 10th floor conference
room
|
|||
Meeting called by: Ravi
Patel
|
Attendees: See
distribution list
|
|||
Facilitator: Maria Hernandez
|
Please read: Virtual
team articles
|
|||
Note taker: Tony Padula
|
Please bring: Lots
of ideas
Calendars and lists of meetings and purposes for the meetings over the
last year.
|
|||
Objectives
|
||||
·
Establish
a team charter and communication protocol
·
Brainstorm
how best to address each team objective and consider if we need to modify the
ones outlined by Ravi so far
·
Complete
a from/to analysis of where we are now and where we need to be
·
Determine
possible approaches to overcoming any obstacles or barriers
·
Assign
tasks and establish deadlines
|
||||
Agenda
– July 12, 2013
|
||||
Time
|
Topic
|
Responsibility
|
||
8:00 – 9:00
9:00 – 9:30
9:30 – 10:00
10:30 – 12:15
12:15 – 1:30
1:30 – 2:30
3:00 – 5:30
7:00
|
· Continental breakfast and welcome
· Review of agenda and establishing of
meeting ground rules
· Creation of team charter
· Break
· Brainstorming
Lunch
· Brainstorming continues
· Break
· From/to analysis
· Dinner
|
Ravi
Ravi
Ravi
Maria
Hernandez
Maria
Maria
Ravi and Maria
Hosted by COO, Jan Ciampi
|
||
Agenda
– July 13, 2013
|
||||
Time
|
Topic
|
Responsibility
|
||
8:00 – 9:00
9:00 – 9:30
9:30 – 10:30
10:30 – 11:30
11:30 – 12:15
12:15 – 1:30
1:30 – 6:00
7:00
|
· Continental breakfast
· Review of yesterday’s results
· Discuss obstacles and outline plan to
overcome them
· Establish action items
· Assign action items
· Lunch
· Golf and tennis
· Closing dinner
|
Ravi
Maria
Tony
Tony
|
||
Attachment 2 – Some Best Practices for Working Virtually
1. Meet
in person initially to launch team if possible.
Build in some time for informal conversations and activities.
2. Ensure
all members have diversity training and training in use of technology.
3. Establish
ground rules, team charter, action plan, and work plans.
4. Work
out a team communication protocol, including when team meetings will occur.
5. Over-communicate,
ensuring all members are included in communication.
6. Create
an electronic workspace (virtual team room) with word processing, data
analysis, planning software, and chat and net meeting capabilities.
7. As a
virtual team member, do everything possible to meet deadlines and deliver work
as expected by team. Remember,
commitment and trust are critical for a virtual team to succeed.
8. Finally, when meeting virtually (phone, video,
or net conferences), use the following ground rules:
· Send out an agenda ahead of time that
includes exactly the information the team will be discussing at the meeting
· Introduce yourself when you join the meeting
· State your name prior to your comments if on
a conference call
· Avoid any side conversations since not all
participants can hear them
· Keep the speaker close to the speaker phone
to avoid background noise
· Avoid tapping pens or shuffling papers since
these sounds may be exaggerated on the other end
