TEAM BUILDING, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

MBH402
MBA 4th Semester

UNIT 2

What do you understand by Team:

A team is a group of individuals, all working together for a common purpose. The
individuals comprising a team ideally should have common goals, common objectives
and more or less think on the same lines. Individuals who are not compatible with each
other can never form a team. They should have similar if not the same interests, thought
processes, attitude, perception and likings.

What are Examples of Team Building in the Real World?

– Faced with a crisis, a boss creates five emergency teams to handle different tasks that will
solve the crisis. These teams are required to act quickly, so have little time to get to know one
another. Before beginning to work on their assignment, they go around in a circle and
introduce themselves and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Before completing the work
they’ve been assigned, they practice a dry run.
– The coach of a soccer team suspends traditional practice for the day and has his players
complete a ropes course together to learn to trust one another
– A family who has been having a difficult time getting along dedicates a weekend to
camping and survival training to learn how to work together.

Team Development - Meaning, Stages and Forming an Effective Team:

Teams are becoming a key tool for organizing work in today’s corporate world. Teams have
the potential to immediately amass, organize, relocate, and disperse. But, teams are an
effective tool of employee motivation. It is essential to consider the fact that teams develop
and get mature over a period of time. Team development creates a captivating atmosphere
by encouraging co-operation, teamwork, interdependence and by building trust among
team members.

The four stages of team development are:

Stage 1: Forming

During this stage, group members may be anxious and adopt wait-and-see attitude. They will
be formal towards each other. There would be no clear idea of goals or expectations. Besides,
they may not be sure why they are there.

This is the stage where the team needs to write its own charter or mission statement as well as
clarify goals. The most important thing here is that goals must have a personal buy-in.
By doing this the team will be able to establish boundaries as well as determine what is
expected. Team members will get to know each other doing non-conflict laden task. This
builds the commitment towards one larger goal.

Thus, during the forming stage, the team members are in process of knowing each other and
getting at ease with them.

Stage 2: Storming

During this stage, team members are eager to get going. Conflict can arise as people tend to
bring different ideas of how to accomplish goals. At this time, they notice differences rather
than similarities. This leads to some members dropping out mentally or physically.

At this stage, communication is important. Tensions will increase. So recognizing and

publicly acknowledging accomplishments also become important. It becomes important to
participate in meetings and diversity needs to be valued.

Thus, during the storming stage, the team members begin showing their actual styles. They
start getting impatient. They try to probe into each other’s area, leading to irritation and
frustration. Control becomes the key concern during this stage.

Stage 3: Norming

This stage is when people begin to recognize ways in which they are alike. They realize that
they are in this together. Hence, they tend to get more social and may forget their focus in
favour of having a good time. This is the time to help with training if applicable. It becomes
important to encourage them in order to feel comfortable with each other and with systems.
Also, the group needs to stay focused on goal.

Thus, during the norming stage, there is conflict resolution. There is greater involvement of
team members. There is a greater “we” feeling rather than “I” feeling.

Stage 4: Performing

This stage is when team members are trained, competent, as well as able to do their own
problem-solving. At this time, ways need to be looked at in order to challenge them as well as
develop them. The team is mature now. The members understand their roles and
responsibilities. They would require more input in processes. The members would be self-
motivated as well as self-trained. Thus, their efforts need to be recognised. Growth has to be
encouraged. This is done by giving new challenges to the team.

Thus, teams at the stage of performing are self-controlling, practical, loyal as well as
productive. Focus is there on both performance as well as production.

Teambuilding techniques:
1.Investigate
Team building is an iterative process that requires the cooperation of everyone, and that's also
an ideal place to start. Get everyone on the same level. Use a website like Survey Monkey to
distribute an anonymous survey to find out where your team feels strongest and where it
needs help. Be clear that your intent is to build a happier, more involved team. You don't
want to inadvertently get rumors going.

2.Lay the groundwork

A strong team starts with a strong manager. It's everyone's responsibility to do good work,
but it's a manager, supervisor, or business owner who sets the tone.

3. Communicate, communicate, communicate

There is little that can destroy a team faster than gossip, and a lot of gossip is the result of
speculation. Don't let your team fall into this trap.

4. Value everyone
Happy employees equal happy customers, and one sure way to create a happy team is to
create an environment of value. Each person on your team has insight and a point of view to
contribute. Make sure they have that opportunity. Ask each person their opinion on strategies
and goals, and never downplay the response.

5. Set goals
A team needs direction. Whether that's bringing on three new clients each week, increasing
sales by 10%, or decreasing waste, every successful team has something they are working
toward.

6. Encourage, don't punish

Even the best teams and employees miss their goals sometimes. You aren't going to
strengthen your group by threatening people or embarrassing them. Sit down with everyone
and figure out what happened. Maybe the goals were too much of a stretch or perhaps
something out of your control impeded progress. Focus on what went right, address what
went wrong, and move on.

Likewise, be sure to publicly call out successes, and don't overlook the small points of
progress. Although success looks different in each situation, some possibilities are pointing
out good communication, excellent customer service, or a positive attitude in the face of a
challenge.

7.Empower your team

Give your team the tools they need to do their job well. If you're in the food service industry,
give your front of house staff the freedom to comp a customer for a mistaken order. If you
run a marketing agency, let your writers use their voices. To succeed, team building
techniques need to move from ideas to movement. The first set of ideas lays the foundation
for success, but building a team takes action.

8. Daily download
Part of building trusting work relationships is getting to know each other. Try getting your
team together once a day for five or ten minutes to share goals, milestones, or challenges.
They don't need to be work-related. Perhaps someone started taking piano lessons. Maybe a
coworker's son made the honor roll. Sharing with each other makes us more human.

9. Lunch together
As much as anything, meals are a social experience. Get together weekly for a team lunch.
The informal environment gives your team a chance to bond.
10. Volunteer
Sometimes, team building techniques do require you to get out of the workplace. That doesn't
mean you have to spend the day playing games that no one enjoys. There are plenty of
opportunities for volunteer work in any community. Help out at a soup kitchen, clean up your
local park, or engage a local nonprofit to help with a letter writing campaign.

Purpose & Need of Team Building:

1. Facilitates better communication – Activities that create discussion enable open
communication among employees, and between employees and management. This can
improve office relationships and in turn, the quality of work done.
2. Motivates employees – Team leadership and team building go hand in hand. The more
comfortable your employees are to express their ideas and opinions, the more confident they
will become. This will motivate them to take on new challenges.
3. Promotes creativity – Taking a team outside of an office setting and exposing them to new
experiences will force them to think outside of their normal routine. Working together with
other team members can ignite creativity and fresh ideas, which are great qualities to bring
back to the office.
4. Develops problem-solving skills – In public relations a crisis can happen at any time. Team
building activities that require coworkers to work together to solve problems can improve the
ability to think rationally and strategically. Teams that are able to determine when a problem
arises and know what they can do about it, can then effectively take charge when a real crisis
occurs.
5. Breaks the barrier – Team building increases the trust factor with your employees. Often in
corporate settings there is a disconnect between the leadership team and employees because
the employees sense too large of a gap between the two. Team building exercises give
leadership the opportunity to be seen as a colleague rather than a boss, which can do wonders
for employee morale.
Overall, team building in the workplace enables better communication, better relationships
and ultimately increases productivity.
Meaning of Quality Circles:
Conceptually Quality Circles can be described as a small group of employees of the same
work area, doing similar work that meets voluntarily and regularly to identify, analyse and
resolve work related problems.
This small group with every member of the circle participating to the full carries on the
activities, utilising problem solving techniques to achieve control or improvement in the work
area and also help self and mutual development in the process.
The Quality Circle concept provides an opportunity to the circle members to use their wis-
dom, creativity and experience in bringing about improvements in the work they are engaged
in by converting the challenging problems into opportunities and it contributes to the
development of the employees and in turn benefits the organisation as well. The concept
encourages the sense of belongingness in circle members and they feel that they have an
important role to play in the organisation.
Characteristics of Effective Quality Circles:

1. The atmosphere should be informal, comfortable and relaxed. The members should feel
involved and interested.
2. Everyone should participate.
3. The objectives should be clear to the members.
4. The members should listen to each other.
5. The group should feel comfortable even when there are disagreements.
6. The decisions should generally be taken by a kind of consensus and voting should be
minimum.
7. When an action is required to be taken, clear assignments should be made and accepted by
all the members.
8. The leader should not dominate the group. The main idea should not be as to who controls
but how to get the job done.
9. Until a final solution is found and results are attained feedback is necessary.

Objectives of Quality Circles:

Some of the broad objectives of the Quality Circle are:

(i) To improve quality, productivity, safety and cost reduction.
(ii) To give chance to the employees to use their wisdom and creativity.
(iii) To encourage team spirit, cohesive culture among different levels and sections of the
employees.
(iv) To promote self and mutual development including leadership quality,
(v) To fulfill the self-esteem and motivational needs of employees.
(vi) To improve the quality of work-life of employees.
Self-managed teams:
Individual team members may have the opportunity to use their skills and experience outside
their specified remit (or job title) within an organisation. Since team roles within self-
managed teams are much more fluid than in hierarchical teams, team members may have
increased discretion over their work, which can lead to greater motivation and improved
performance. Team members may also have greater freedom to complement each other’s
skills. Finally, team leaders can act more strategically, resulting in fewer surprises and
purposeful team development, since they are freed from some of the management tasks
required of team leaders in hierarchical teams.
The benefits of self-managed teams include (based on Howell, 2001):
 Cost savings: Organisations such as RCAR Electronics in the USA reported annual
savings of $10 million following the implementation of self-managed teams.
 Innovation: Team members have the freedom to review and improve working
practices.
 Effective decision making: Self-managed teams can develop quicker or more
effective decision-making skills.
 Increased productivity: Teams work towards a common goal and are responsible for
their own actions. When successful, self-managed teams can be 15–20 per cent more
productive than other types of team.
 Improved customer satisfaction: Self-managed teams benefit organisational
performance through improved sales figures and customer service. Companies have
reported significantly lower customer returns and complaints.
 Commitment: Team members can become more involved in projects as a direct
result of having increased autonomy and responsibility.
 Motivation: Team members have shared or equal responsibility so members are
accountable for their actions.
 Increased compatibility between employers and employees: Self-managed teams
can relieve stress for the leader, who is then able to concentrate on other tasks. The team
is mutually supportive and members learn from each other instead of approaching the
team leader for advice.