Task 1

Why are teams so important?

• A team is more than just a random group of individuals. A team has an identity all of its
own, it has shared goals, it is co-operative, the team shares its endeavours, it gives
recognition to its members of their individual efforts and for their contributions to the
team no matter on the size of the team

• A good team benefits from SYNERGY, the idea that people working collaboratively
together achieve more than the sum of what they would achieve as individuals.

• Teams are formed for a number of reasons, sometimes as a permanent measure and
other times as a short-term measure to solve a particular problem.
ASDA – case study
• Think about Asda as an example. Can you think of an example of a temporary team?
Give a full explanation
Packaging is a temporary team as the assist the permanent team with their tasks.
Temporary team lose their importance when the task is complete.

• Asda is an organisation that believes strongly in teamwork. In its employee handbook

Asda sets out that “We are Colleagues One Team”. The list below are what Asda excepts
all colleagues to do: -
From the list below how would you say these points contribute to team building? Please give a
full explanation.
They contribute to team building as it builds a relationship between the people in the
team, leading to better communication between one another and a more efficient work
rate. For example, treating people with respect will make people more comfortable
around you and won’t be shy to ask for help when help is needed as they rely on you and
have their trust in you. Trust is a big part in team building because if a team lacked trust
it would work as people wouldn’t trust one another to complete their tasks properly.

• Wear name badges at all times

• Use first names for everyone in Asda

 • Treat others with respect

• Communicate relevant information

to relevant colleagues
• Offer to help others

• Ask for help if you need it

• Think company and not just

department

• Give praise and recognition to

others

• Treat people equally

• Listen to and respect others’ ideas

and opinions
• Own problems, don’t leave them for
someone else
• Give extra help to new colleagues

• Be open and approachable to

colleagues and customers

• Treat others as you would like to be

treated yourself.

• Why is team work so important to Asda? What are the main characteristics of the team?
To ensure deadlines are met and that the quality of the work is high. The main
characteristic for teamwork is to have clear goals set out with a plan and that the team
communicates openly with each other.

• Suggest reasons whilst people starting work at Asda might benefit from this teamwork
approach
Gives them experience of what it feels like to be in a team, this could help them when
applying for a new job as they will know how to communicate and work effectively. It
gives the employees a confidence boost and knowledge on how a team works and some
leadership skills.

Task 2 – Research a team within an organisation

Choose an organisation of your choice (e.g. Next, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury, John Lewis). You
will need to research the organisation on the internet and also use the PPT. The team should be
one of the following:-

• Functional – e.g. a particular department in a business such as sales or Marketing

• Task – e.g. to serve customers on a certain shift at a restaurant.
• Project – e.g. to launch a new book or CD onto the market.

• What type of team is it? Is it temporary or permanent and horizontal or vertical? What
are the benefits of these types of teams?

My organisation is Tesco. The team I have chosen for my organisation is HR which makes
it a functional team. Tesco is horizontal because of the way they have their structure.
The team is made up from a lot of hierarchy due to the massive size of the business. The
benefit of the team is that they have an eye on competitor prices and can change their
prices in order to match their competitors.

• Does the size of the team allow it to be formal or informal? Why is this?

HR is an informal team because they are created in a less structured way and made up of
members who see the benefits of working together to achieve a common purpose.
Informal teams aren’t as highly structured as formal teams or as rule bound as them.

• What are the purposes of your chosen team? Why are these so important to the
organisation?

HR is an important part of Tesco as they have many roles to do such as choosing the
correct people to recruit for the job and giving them and induction to the role by
explaining the rules and regulations, employee rights and benefits, their responsibility
 towards the job and the organization and also the health and safety policies

• What are the main benefits and characteristics of your chosen team? How does this help
your team within the organisation?

Main benefits:

• HR looks at the business value and try to find ways to increase the value of the
business.

• They have strategic objectives and are always on the look for competitors price
change so they can compete with their prices.

• They also check on employee behaviour and reward people if you go over their
expectations

Main characteristics for my team are:

• They are always looking at ways to improve work rate and efficiency at the Tesco

• HR looks for different organizational strategies that benefit the organization

Task 3 – Research – Team Building Techniques

Use the same Organisation and Team you used in Task 2. Write in full sentences

• For the responsibilities/dynamics/techniques: select a minimum 2 from the following

and discuss what they mean giving clear examples:

• clear lines of authority

• mixture of complementary skills

• clear leadership; common goal

• collaborative decision-making

• Individual responsibilities.
1. clear lines of authority- it is a clear chain of command that is unbroken from top to
bottom and creates unity of command. Every person receives orders from one person
who is the boss, this cancels out any confusion or creating any accountability.
2. Individual responsibilities- it’s when you take personal responsibility and engage in a
process of anticipating threats, risks and capitalizing on opportunities.

• Discuss a minimum 5 examples from the communication list below and 1 example from
the rewards list that is important to your Team

Communication Give examples

Vision/objectives/targets are Setting team goals keeps
shared
Work proceeds more
smoothly and efficiently
Members support and
respect each other
Team is led by example
everyone on the same page
and keeps things open. Giving
employees team goals means
they have their own tasks, but
they also know what the rest
of the team is working on, so
they never feel overburdened
by the team's goals.
Workplace performance and
productivity are both
influenced by time
management. It will increase
staff productivity, aid in
meeting deadlines, and result
in higher-quality work. For
businesses to prioritise all
work duties and reach their
objectives more quickly, time
management is critical.
Workplace stress, issues, and
confrontations are reduced in
a courteous setting. It aids in
the improvement of teamwork
and communication. Respect
contributes to the
development of a positive
culture, which boosts
employee satisfaction by
making them feel pleased and
motivated while at work.
Those that lead by example
may expect their team to
appreciate and trust them.
Superiors regard them as
capable team leaders, while
employees regard them as

Good work ethics and
mutual respect are
established
Reward- regular positive and
supportive feedback
trusted mentors. A
dependable leader can
motivate teammates to
respect and trust one another.
Reducing workplace stress,
conflict, and issues can be
achieved through encouraging
mutual respect. As workplace
peace soars, an increase in
workplace respect will help to
improve communication
between coworkers, increase
teamwork, and reduce stress.
Positive feedback motivates
people, enhances their
confidence, and shows them
that they are valued. It aids
people in comprehending and
honing their abilities. All of this
has a favourable impact on the
performance of individuals,
teams, and organisations.
Giving positive feedback
should be a natural part of
your job as a manager.

Task 4 – Theories of Team development

Tuckman Model
Research this model and ensure you understand how it works and the stages it goes through
• What is the Tuckman Theory and why is it important to team development?
Tuckman’s theory is developed of 4 stages: FORMING STORMING NORMING
PERFORMING. Teams’ growth is defined clearly through these stages, from learning
together to figure out a plan to work to as a team that knows what to do without
instructions persistently being given to them.

• Fill in the below table in full sentences

Explain what each stage means

STAGE 1: FORMING It’s the stage of group development when

the team discusses purposes and figure
out a deadline and start forming personal
relationships with their team members.
STAGE 2: STORMING This stage is when the team have ideas of
their own and directions, they want to go
in. They feel more comfortable to critique
team members on areas that might need
improving so they can come to a final
agreement on what is the best course of
action for what they are trying to do.

STAGE 3: NORMING This stage is when the team establishes its

values and how to interact with other
team members and can collaborate with
them and give opinions on ways you could
get tasks done and have no negative
reactions.

STAGE 4: PERFORMING Performing is the last stage when the

team members have come to a stage
where they know each other well enough
to get tasks done without hesitating to ask
for help and get work done efficiently.

• Using the same Organisation and team you have used in the previous tasks say what
stage you believe your chosen team works in and why. How do you think your team has
got this stage?

My team is performing because they have the same roles so they can help each
other in areas where their team members are struggling. HR is usually made up of
professional employees who know how to communicate and have experience in
that are area before and people who think ethical to improve the business

Belbin Model
• What is the Belbin model and why is it important to have these different roles?
 Belbin suggests that understanding your role in a team helps build these skills and
develop upon them, it will also help you manage and sort out your weaknesses.
Team leaders often use Belbin’s theory to create more balanced teams.

• Which role could be the ‘Leader’ and how would this work with the team?

Role Type What Strengths Weakness

characteristics do
they possess?

Thinking
They tend to be highly • Creative • might be too
creative and good with preoccupied
problem solving • Free-thinking
• might ignore
• imaginative incidentals

Provides a logical eye • strategic and • can be over

and impartial discerning critical
judgements when
needed and weigh up • sees all options • slow to come to a
the teams’ options in a and judges decision
dispassionate way accurately

brings in-depth • single-minded • tend to contribute

knowledge of a area to on a narrow front
the team • self starting and
dedicated • can dwell on the
technicalities
• provide specialist
skills and
knowledge

Action
nthey need a workable • practical • can be a bit
plan to carry out as unflexible
efficiently as possible • reliable
 • efficient • slow to respond
to new ideas

they make sure the • thrives on • can be prone to

team does not lose pressure provocation
focus and momentum
• has the drive and • may sometimes
courage to offend poeples
overcome feelings
obstacles

most effictively used at • anxious • reluctunt to

the end of the tasks. delegate
they overcheck on your • searches for
work to see if errors • can be incline to
everything is correct worry unduly
• polishes the work
and perfects it

Social
Helps the team gel by • dipomatic • can be indecisive
identifying the work in crunch
that needs to be done • co-operative situations
and completing it on
the team's behalf. • try to avoid
confrontation

Focused on the team's • confident • can be seen as

goals, drew out team manipulative
members, and • identifies talent
delegated tasks well. • might offload
• clariflies goals their own share of
the work

Uses their curious • outgoing • over-optimistic

nature to come up with
new ideas to share with • explores • can lose interest
the team. opportunites and once the initial
develops contacts enthusiasm has
passed

• Using the same Organisation and team you have used in the previous tasks apply the
relevant roles of Belbin to the recognised roles in this team with business examples.
Task 5 – Conflict
Bell and Harts
• What is the Bell and theory and why is it important to businesses to sort out conflict?
Link your example back to your Team and organisation you have used for your previous
Tasks.
bell and harts theory is made up of 8 different factors: conflicting, resources,
conflicting styles, conflicting perceptions, conflicting goals, conflicting pressures,
conflicting roles, different personal values, and unpredictable policies.

• In full sentences explain what each cause is

Cause Explain in full what it is and how this type
of conflict can be resolved. Use examples
from your chosen Team.

• Resources The simplest and most usual option is to share

that resource, allowing each project half-time
access to the resource. If a third project
requires the same resource, it can be provided
by granting each project access to one-third of
the resource's capacity.
• Styles When a person needs to take quick action,
make unpleasant judgments, deal with critical
concerns, or be protected in a scenario where
non-competitive behaviour can be abused, the
competing style is adopted.
• Perceptions Two or more workers can have opposing styles,
just as they can have opposing views. They
may have very diverse perspectives on the
same event.... When one department is
perceived as more valuable to the business
than others, resentment and conflict can arise.
• Goals Conflicting aims are those that prevent the
implementation of others. Explanation: A
person, for example, has a number of
objectives in mind. However, certain objectives
are mingling and becoming a burden to one
another. Conflicting goals are what they're
called.
• Pressures Conflicting goals will lead to failure, and
conflicting employee pressures will lead to
conflict. Serious issues develop when one
management wants an employee to do one
 thing and another asks for something that
disagrees with that.
• Roles No matter how knowledgeable you are in one
area, someone will ask you to do something
you don't know how to do at some point.
Nobody knows why this occurs. But it happens
on a regular basis. Worse, there could be
someone sitting two desks over who is an
expert in the task you were assigned. Now he's
furious because you're doing it incorrectly, and
you're upset because you shouldn't be doing
this task in the first place. It's a complete
disaster.
• Personal values Personal values are a difficult and sensitive
topic to discuss. People from various
backgrounds, upbringings, and beliefs are likely
to come together in close quarters at work.
These values can rub up against one another
and cause a conflagration. And the goal
shouldn't only be to assemble a group of
people who have the same viewpoints or come
from similar backgrounds.
• Unpredictable Policies Misunderstandings are likely to develop
whenever corporate policies are amended,
inconsistently applied, or non-existent.
Associates should not have to guess about
corporate regulations and policies; they should
know them.