Team Building Exercises 3-1

Chapter 3: Team Building Exercises

3.1 Human Relations • Manipulative behavior: playing politics
Human relations and its relevancy to coating and trying to maneuver people to suit a
personal goal
projects is vital to understand for two pri-
mary reasons: • Authoritarian, bossy behavior: for
example saying, “I’m the inspector here
1. Human relations are the oil that keep the and you’d better look sharp or I’ll shut the
wheels of the job running smoothly. job down.”
Without oil, the friction typically gener-
• Lack of concern or indifference: appear-
ated during a project could cause the ing not to care about problems on the job
wheels to burn up. Someone can be tech- that are beyond the control of the worker
nically competent but difficult to work
• Know-it-all attitudes: these may be
with if they lack human relation and
expressed as “Look, I’ve been doing this
team building skills.
for 15 years, and there isn’t anything I
2. Human relations skills are taught during don’t know about this subject.”
this course to help provide valuable
skillsets for job advancement. People Table 3.1: Bad News Response Options
who get along well with others generally In which case the
move up in their companies faster than The person
coating inspector
those who do not. might:
might:
3.1.1 Bad News • Work with the • Help with the solution
Table 3.1 gives response options for coating inspector to to the extent of their
inspectors when they must break bad news solve the prob- stated responsibility
to someone. lem and authority.
• Agree to do • Restate the problem and
3.1.2 Defensive Behavior something, work to get the other
It is important for coating inspectors to then not do it person’s commitment
understand what psychologists call “defen- to follow through on
the solution
sive behavior.” Defensive behavior may be
an unfamiliar term, but inspectors have cer- • Ignore the situ- • Advise his or her super-
tainly come across it at one time or another. ation entirely visor
It occurs when people feel they have to • Become hos- • As a last resort, shut the
defend themselves or, by extension, the peo- tile and defen- job down, if they have
ple working for them, rather than objec- sive, and may been granted the
tively address the issues at hand. Some argue authority to do so
behaviors that can cause defensiveness
To avoid behaving in a way that could pro-
include:
duce a defensive reaction try to be:
Critical or judgmental attitude: saying to
someone, “if you weren’t so careless, this mis- • Objective and descriptive; rather than say
take would not have happened.” “that’s the worst excuse for surface prepa-

©NACE International 2011 Coating Inspector Program Level 1

July 2011
3-2
ration I’ve ever seen,” state the problem in
objective terms like: “that wall still has
loose mill scale and rust; remember the
specification calls for a near-white blast”
• Open and honest
• Oriented toward solving the problem
• Interested in the other person’s problem
• Open to suggestions
The key is to: concentrate on solving the
problem.
3.1.3 Conflict
There is no shortage of opinions or differ-
ences of opinion in the coatings industry.
Differences of opinion can, and frequently
do, lead to conflict. One person’s opinion
plus another person’s opinion equals con-
flict. Conflict is a daily reality for everyone.
Handling Conflict
There are at least three ways of handling
conflict:
1. Avoid it. Simply look the other way and
ignore substandard surface preparations,
or avoid the situation entirely by quitting
the job.
2. Smooth things over. Try to smooth the
issue over by delaying dealing with it;
resolve minor points while ignoring the
major issue; and/or postpone the con-
frontation until later.
3. Resolve it. Two resolution options are
power and negotiation
Resolving Conflict
Power can either be physical (like a punch
in the nose) or based on authority (like firing
someone or shutting the job down). Power
strategies are sometimes appropriate, but
should be used sparingly.
The problem with power strategies is that
they end up in win-lose confrontations in
Coating Inspector Program Level 1
July 2011
Team Building Exercises
which the losers may respond with sabotage,
attempts to get even, or being otherwise
nasty and disagreeable. The best use of
power is subtle. Knowing when and how to
use power must be developed by conscious
and focused effort.
Negotiation is working to arrive at a deci-
sion that is accepted by everyone involved,
thus arriving at a consensus. Successful
negotiation requires the ability to:
• Cut through ancillary issues to determine
the real problem
• Initiate a situation where everybody wins,
or at least no one walks away feeling
defeated
• Listen to the other person’s side of the
story; it is not necessary to agree, but at
least listen carefully to what the person
has to say
• Show you are listening; respond by sum-
marizing what the other person has said to
be sure you understand and to indicate
your interest in what the person has to say
Other steps to negotiate conflict success-
fully:
• Diagnose the real problem
• State the problem objectively
• Let every person involved have a say
• Discuss various solutions
• Decide together on the best solution
• Determine who is going to do what to
ensure that the solution is achieved
• Follow up to be sure that the solution is
carried out
The last item is usually the responsibility of
the coating inspector, because the ultimate
responsibility of the inspector is to ensure
that the specification is followed.
©NACE International 2011
Team Building Exercises
Improving Listening Skills
Since listening is such an important part of
successful conflict resolution, the following
are ways to improve your listening skills:
• Be prepared to listen
• Listen for main and supportive ideas
• Remain objective
• Be prepared; know your subject
• Concentrate
• Take notes
• Don’t argue
• Read between the lines (nonverbal lan-
guage)
• Put yourself in the speaker’s place
• Restate what you think you heard; make
sure that what you think you heard, is
what you actually heard or what the other
person said.
Some people are very uncomfortable with
conflict and attempt to avoid it whenever
possible, but conflict, or a difference of
opinion, can be useful.
When people work together as a team to
solve a problem, the solution can turn out to
be better than any one individual could have
developed alone. This team effect is some-
times call “synergy” from the words synthe-
sis and energy. Team work is the key to
any successful project completion!
3.2 Team Building Exercise —
Desert Survival
This section contains other information on
team building for consideration.
3.2.1 Team Building
A team is an energetic group of individuals
committed to achieving common objectives
and to produce quality results. This should
©NACE International 2011
July 2011
3-3
be the commitment of all those involved in a
coating project.
3.2.1.1 Characteristics of a Team
As an inspector, working with a team is the
most effective approach to completing a
project on time, according to specifications,
and within the budget. Some characteristics
of an effective team are members that:
• Share a common vision/overall view of
the project
• Understand the clear objectives and out-
comes
• Use open communication to facilitate
effective listening and discussion about
issues
• Know the specific roles of each team
member for the specific tasks at hand
• Approach the task with energy and enthu-
siasm
• Participation and demonstrate leadership
as they work together
• Use appropriate and effective decision-
making methods
• Trust and support team members
• Feel significant, which is highly motivat-
ing
• Know that cohesion is valued by their
leaders
• Feel comfortable on the team
3.2.1.2 What is Team Building?
Team building is molding many diverse
individuals into a cohesive group that shares
or agrees on common objectives to complete
the assigned task. Team members should be
comfortable with each other; the more they
know and appreciate each other as contribu-
tors, the better they work together. Team
building techniques may include:
• A common vision or goal
Coating Inspector Program Level 1
3-4 Team Building Exercises

• Stated objectives to achieve the vision or

goal
• Defined roles for each team member
• Open information flow
• Shared commitment among team mem-
bers

3.2.1.3 Team Building Process

Each team member has a responsibility to
share information with each other (i.e., who
you are, what you think about the organiza-
tion, how you expect to fit in). The purpose
of team building is to listen and discuss
things to grow together into a team. Take the
time for each member to answer the follow-
ing good questions:
• Why are you interested?
• What do you expect to learn?
• What is your biggest asset?
• What is your biggest fear?
• How do you see yourself?
• What do want to accomplish?

3.2.1.4 Team Building Exercise

During inspectors’ careers they find that
working within a team is essential to getting
the job done. The following exercise is to
help understand the team building process.

Coating Inspector Program Level 1 ©NACE International 2011

July 2011