TEAM BUILDING/ DEVELOPMENT TRAINING RESOURCES BOOK

Course Objective

By the end of the training session participants must be able to;

 Define, explain, elaborate and appreciate team building concepts.

 Design and staff effective teams
 Identify team building skills and models
 Apply the team building skills and models to use.
 Participate actively in team building exercises and activities.
 Undertake self evaluation of team performance

Team building basics

Overview

I. Did you know that the word TEAM is an acronym that stands for Together, Everyone,
Attains/ Achieves, More/Much?
II. Teams are at the centre and are a vital component in the process of change management.
III. Teams are both a natural phenomenon and an essential part of organizational work life.
IV. Abraham Maslow and Rensis Likert concur that teams serve a social function of
providing a sense of appreciation, recognition, influence, respect, belonging and
affection.

Conceptualization of team building

Team terminology

Group: Is a collective of people working together with common interest.

Team: Is a task oriented group of members working together and interdependent in action with joint

or mutual interest of goal attainment.

Comparison between group and team

criterion group Team

membership Voluntary Appointment
purpose Social function Social and economic function
size Varied and general Specific to task
Nature Largely informal Largely formal
Tenure Ambiguous Definite
Leadership Spontaneous Deliberate and by talent
unity Common interest Shared objective & interdependence of action
Survival Changing membership Adapting and acquiring new skills and
 behaviours
Outcomes Individual and indirect Collective, specific, measurable and
meaningful
Internal Unstructured, random Structured networks that are flexible to task
interactions needs
and processes both formal and informal.

Classification of teams

Figure 1
Primary team characteristics

 Have lots of face to face interactions

 Encourage association and co operation
 Influence social nature and ideas of members

Secondary team

 Large numbers of people

 Limited face to face interaction and co operation
 Declared common goal or objectives which are often of lower priority than individual
goals.
The implication of largeness is that communication patterns is less interactive meaning
discussions display less sensitivity to minority issues and decision making is not based on
consensus building but towards majority interest excluding minorities.

Formal teams (characteristics)

 Are structured, clear leadership and roles.

 Have a mandate or have specific purpose or desired outcome in mind
 Normally permanent but can also be temporary
 No changing roles but individuals
 Specific size
 Definite composition
 Regulated internal interactions and processes

Team development stages

Teams undergo a number of sequential stages in its natural life cycle. There are five distinct
stages which are;

Forming

The initial stage of first contact and interaction preoccupied by inhibited, guarded, watchful,
polite behaviour in which members learn each other

Storming

Constructive engagement occurs, confidence grows, and conflicts over personality, approaches,
standards and beliefs emerge giving rise to member to opt out or join in due to feeling of
demotivation or satisfaction respectively.

Norming

Standard behaviour develops procedures, systems, beliefs, values and expected outcomes.

Performing

Cohesiveness, mutual support, flexibility and productivity

Adjourning

Disbanding the team at completion of task characterized by uncertainty, discomfort and despair
Role

Is the expected behaviour pattern from a group or team member. There must be compatibility
between the team member role and task i .e. expectations held by people who interact with the
team member occupying the position (Gross et al 1958)

It also refers to the actual behaviour of the incumbent in a position (Davis 1949)

Lastly role refers to the normative culture patterns in a group or team (Znaniecki 1940)

Roles affect one`s work satisfaction I and involvement in the groups or teams. It is therefore
necessary to ensure that there is role attractiveness within team, which is a function of role
expectations, role load and self-role congruence.

Norms

i. Are the characteristic behaviour patterns, the expected value and system that are
acceptable to team members
ii. Are the unifying behavioural factor in groups and teams
iii. Are the established dos in the group to whip members to conformity
iv. Are distinct symbols of identification

Team cohesion

Refers to the social bonding or closeness between and amongst members in the group and their
willingness to self dispose to member’s problems, challenges and member preparedness to
jointly commit and fight any militating forces against the group.

Function of teams in organization

i. Employee participation and involvement

ii. Consensus building
iii. work performance (Brooks 1994)
iv. Organizational integration and co operation
v. Problem solving and joint decision making

Importance and benefits of teams

i. Improved industrial relations and harmony

ii. Quality improvement through quality circles
iii. Employee satisfaction, loyalty and commitment
iv. Employee empowerment
v. Effective work performance
Effective team building

 Any effective team must be;

 Rightly sized which is dependent on task and its mandate
 Correctly staffed or composition
 For a specific purpose or mandate
 With a structural design for better internal interactions and processes
 Well resourced and funded
 Led, coordinated and controlled
 Goal directed
 Flexibility and adaptation

Critical team skills

 Team leadership
 Team communication
 Team decision making
 Team planning and organizing and coordination
 Monitoring and control
 Innovation and creativity
 Reporting, presentation and writing skills

Team playing (expectations from members)

 Work knowledge
 Interest
 Assertiveness
 Decisiveness
 Direction
 Cooperation & support
 Communication

Team playing (self evaluation form)

Column Task attribute Rank Score

1 Job knowledge
2 Decisiveness
3 Assertiveness
4 Insight
5 Influence
6 Creativity
7 Supportiveness
 8 Cooperation
9 Closeness (distance)
10 Confidence
11 Goal affinity

Making teams effective (West 1994) approach

Key questions to be answered to measure effectiveness are firstly to do with achieving set
objectives i.e.

 How clear are the objectives of the team?

 How much agreement is there within the group about the objectives?
 How realistic are the objectives?
 What is the level of commitment to the objectives?
 To what level are member concerned with reaching high standards?
 How often are objectives reviewed?
 Is feed back given about its results, work methods?

The second aspect is to check the issues to do with member well being i.e.

 Is everyone understood and accepted?

 Is everyone listened to?
 Do members support each other when things are difficult?
 Is conflict brought out in the open and dealt with?
 Do members have a good working relationship with each other?
 Is there support for new ideas?
 Do team members help each other to develop?

Therefore effective team (McGrath 1984)

 Carry out the task assigned

 Generate ideas
 Generate plans
 Solve problems
 Make decisions
 Resolve conflicts of interests
 Resolve conflicts of power

Philip Baguley (1994) adds the following

 The team makes best use of its resources

 Resilience and ability to bounce back from disappointments
 Displays adaptability
  Creative ability
 Limited dependence on key members

Belbin adds that members must,

 Be chosen for their interpersonal skills as much as functional skills

 Adjust their team role and function to complement others in the team
 Provide a balanced range of both external and internal roles

Measuring group processes and interaction (Schein 1987)

 Check how clarity of purpose

 Establish who sets the objectives and extent these objectives are shared
 What action helps and what actions hinder team effort and performance
 How are differences of opinion handled?

Process model

task Interpersonal
Content 1. formal agenda, goals 4. who is doing what to whom
Process 2.How is the task done 5. how many members relate
Structure 3.recurrent processes, standard 6. recurrent interpersonal
operating procedures relationships, roles

Box1. Why is the team there? What is its task? What are the goals of the meeting?

Box2. Do they listen, misunderstand, interrupt? Do they spend time on trivial issues, have side
conversations? How the group is chaired? How decisions are made

Box 3. What procedures are used? Who is allowed to interrupt whom? Do members have roles?

Box 4. Who tries to dominate and control? Who argues? Who supports whom? Who initiates?

Who maintains consensus? Who summaries and checks consensus?

Box 5. Do they build on each other? Do they confront each other or are polite? Who persistently
attack who?

Box 6. Have they developed a special, common language? Is there an informal reward system?
Is there rituals and procedures for unpredictable events?

Team process exercise (dimension of evaluation)

 Clarity of purpose of team

 Openness
  Encouraging new approaches and innovation
 Focus on usefulness and relevance
 Managing digressions and interruptions
 Time management
 Paraphrase understanding
 Ensure that key themes are recorded

What participants should actual do? (Activity)

i. Record what one hears from one is saying

ii. Summarize what one mean in your way
iii. Contrast that with your view
iv. What does the rest of the group think?
v. What other ideas do members have?

Enhancing team success what must be done (Philip Baguley 1994)

 Give challenging assignments and tasks

 Introduce urgency through deadlines
 Specific and attainable goals and objectives
 Recognition and reward
 Autonomy
 Support and understanding
 Right people with interpersonal, functional, problem solving and decisional skills
 Balancing task and team needs

Team building skills

1. Task function

 Initiating, harnessing collective effort and abilities

 Decision making and taking
 managing, giving and seeking information, testing, understanding and summarizing

Evaluation exercise check list of task skills

Tick the appropriate answer Yes No

Do you contribute to make a difference in the team
Do you pursue team goals as a priority
Are you decisive
Are you a risk taker
Do you possess the skills needed in task accomplishment
Do you enjoy team work
Do you set example for others
Do you share task information with team members
Do have clarity on team objectives

2. Team maintenance and morale

 Peace keeping i.e. harmony and cooperation

 Giving feed back i.e. knowledge of results and outcomes
 Encouraging and motivating others

Evaluation exercise check list of team maintenance and morale skills

Tick the appropriate answer

Yes No
Are there supportive team members in the team
Is there any closeness and sharing in the team
Is there any encouragement in the amongst members
Are there members who listen and appreciate other members
Do members believe in the team
Is there any warmth, sympathy and sensitivity amongst members
Is there conflict management mechanisms in the team

3. Individual member needs and goals

 Defending personal interests, status and power

 Achievement and goal attainment
 Withdrawing if not happy

Evaluation exercise check list Individual member needs and goals

Tick the appropriate answer

Always Seldom Rarely

Seek to do things right
Compare your self with others
Seek to attain recognition and praise
Avoid and fear failure
Seek to achieve

Leadership in teams (effective team leaders) Salas& McIntyre 1995

 i. Serve as models for their teams
ii. Monitor and give feed back
iii. Engage members constructively
iv. Are knowledgeable able the work or task in question
v. Listen and learn from members
vi. Set clear goals and objectives
vii. Define team tasks
viii. Allocate roles to team members
ix. Review team processes
x. Feel secure and are confident of their ability and knowledge
xi. Respected by team members

Team leadership assessment check list

Leadership attribute Rank Score

1 Judgment
2 Decisiveness
3 Analytical
4 Resourceful
5 Goal orientation
6 Self control
7 Self confidence
8 Job/ task knowledge
9 Innovation/ creativity
10 Communication
11 Organizing
12 Coordination
13 Monitoring and control
14 Influence
15 Autonomy
16 Exemplary
17 Courage
18 Ambition
19 inspirational
20 Honesty and integrity

Identifiable team building roles for successful team performance

i. Strong fighter role (Philip Baguley 1994)

ii. Logical thinker role
iii. Friend/ helper role
iv. Comedian needed to defuse conflicts and tension (Charles Handy)
v. Organizer, one who analyze, arrange team chores and allocate tasks and resources
 vi. Commenter, one who gives constructive remarks and evaluate action
vii. Deviant, one who challenges and disagree with the group

Balanced team has the following characters (Meredith Belbin)

I. Chairman personality, one who is calm, self confident, self contained and achiever (co-
coordinator)
II. Company worker, a practical and hard working organizer (implementer)
III. Sharper, an outgoing and dynamic task leader, specialist who plays the devil`s advocate,
initiating ideas.
IV. Resource investigator is a fixer of the team, communicative and social acceptable
V. Monitor evaluator is an analyst of the team, sober and unemotional and prudent
VI. Team worker is mild and sensitive and able to listen and give feed back
VII. Completer- finisher is a perfectionist who has to check every detail.

Role- member fit exercise

Are you a team leader or team member?

Strong Moderate Weak

Domination
Presence of power(ability to force, intimidate and charisma)
Drive to change things
Are you a mover
Influence and inspiring
Response to challenge
Ability and level of self introspection
Level of sensitivity to team member feelings

If four of the answers are in the strong category then you are a team leader

Team building Models

1. Goal setting model

The team building effort is aimed at establishing group goals and action plans to accomplish the
goals

2. Interpersonal model

Focuses is on improving interpersonal relations in the team, assuming that an interpersonally

competent group is more effective than that is not. Team development is intended on increasing
communication, sharing, collaboration and cohesiveness within the group. Attention is on
internal processes.
3. Role model

The role model consists of meetings to clarify team members` roles. The focus is on a set of
interacting roles and attempts to increase effectiveness by better understanding and allocation of
these roles. The two sides of each member contribution are assessed i.e. functional role
(professional side meaning one`s knowledge in technical way) and the team role (one`s
contribution towards meeting objectives.) A team can only function effectively when members
recognize the use of their strengths.

4. Managerial Grid model

The managerial grid model designed by Blake and Mouton 1964 and at phase 1 level is a
comprehensive organization development strategy that includes team building among other
activities. The grid has 6 phases, with the second phase involving team development in which
managers examine both task and interpersonal problems in their work teams. The model relies on
standardized instruments rather that a third party consultant to facilitate the diagnosis and
resolution of problems

Team building- Problem Solving Model

This model is both practical and relevant for our team building exercise. It refers to a series of
meetings facilitated by a consultant targeted on a group of people having a common
organizational relationships and goals that are designed specifically to improve the team`s task
accomplishment by developing problem solving procedures and skills and then solving the
team`s major problems.

i. Planned activity or intervention

ii. Facilitated by consultant
iii. With an intact work group
iv. That develops the problem solving capacity of the team and
v. Solves major team problems

The most widely used problem solving model is the quality circles used in quality improvement
assignment or in new product development project. The QC volunteers to address a work related
problem. It is sanctioned by the organization and meets in the firm`s time and

 Brainstorms the problems

 Agrees priorities
 Selects and defines the problems to be tackled
 Works together to collect data e.t.c
 Agrees possible solutions to problems
  Presents proposals to management

Zenger and Miller 1974 uses two dimensional approach tries to balance two forces in team
dynamics of change in one direction and restraining forces that push the system to change in the
opposite direction. To change the system one can simply increase or decrease the forces on either
side of the present balance point. The driving forces are;

Personal motivations

This is the force directed towards achievement, growth and personal fulfillment. People do
possess a tendency towards work and production.

Interpersonal

Is the degree of co-operation on the part of supervisors, colleagues and subordinates that
reinforces positive personal motivation?

Organization pressures

The power of the organization to give or withhold compensation, status and responsibility

Task related forces

Is affected by clarity of expectations, goals and job requirements with respect to task

Secondly is the individual`s knowledge, ability and skills to perform a specific task.

Thirdly the nature of the tools available to perform the task

Counter forces

The three forces are personal, interpersonal and organizational, this is illustrated below.

DRIVING FORCES RESTRAINING FORCES

Personal Motivation Personal

Task related Forces Task

Interpersonal Forces Interpersonal

Organizational Organizational
Pressures

Current Desired Performance

Performance Level Level

Fig 2: Force field diagram of forces affecting performance

The above forces interact to affect team performance in a measurable way. The PDM concept is
improved then applied to check effect as demonstrated below.
 CAUSES INTERVENING MECHANISMS EFFECTS

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
Cognitive

Motivational
GROUP PROCESSES
Norms / goals

Decision Making

Communication
TEAM BUILDING
PROBLEM Co-operation TASK PERFOMANCE
SOLVING TASK FORCES
Co-ordination
Nature of task

Task goals / Expectations

Task knowledge, skills etc

ORGANISATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS
FACTORS
Tools / technology

Organizational structure

Resource/ Technology

Reward systems
Fig 3: Proposed Model of Mechanisms of team building – problem solving that affect performance

Brainstorming process

It has two stages of the generation and recording of ideas and assessment of these ideas.
Step 1

Identify who is to act as group recorder, this involves making sure all rules are observed and
make sure all ideas are written down on flip charts or board.

Step 2

Write the problem down clearly for everyone to see

Step 3

i. The recorder spells out the rules and makes sure that everyone understands them by;
ii. Generate as many ideas as you can
iii. All ideas will be recorded accurately and without editing and censoring or comment
iv. Ideas can relate to or triggered by the previous ideas or can, at any time, start a new chain
of thought.
v. All ideas are accepted including the unconventional, weird and bizarre ones.

Step 4

All of the ideas are written down in a numbered list so that everyone can see them all of the time

Step 5

Everyone is free to state their idea and it must be written down (no comment is allowed)

Step 6

Gather all ideas generated and number them and categorize them into good, possible, bad, and
unusual

Step 7

For all the good and possible ideas further categories of similar ideas is created.

Step 8

Fit the unusual ideas into these categories or create new one

Step 9

Check to see if the group has any further ideas under each of the above categories

Step 10
Ask each group member to pick the category which they think is the most promosing and say
why

Step 11

Discuss the various options and choose the one(s) to proceed with

Organizational role in quality circles (Hackman 1990)

I. Set clear objectives, goals and targets

II. Provide information needed, present policies and future plans to allow team
integration
III. Provide adequate resources i.e. personnel, financial and material
IV. Training must be provided to team members in relevant work areas both technical
learning and awareness
V. Provide technical help when require and if sought
VI. Give regular feed back on performance always

Group exercise

Productivity improvement project

Participants must design an ideal work team to address a quality problem (Productivity
improvement along quality circle approach). The solution i.e. quality improvement must be
broad based and organizational in nature. It must take into consideration the cost, funding,
technological implications, human and material aspects of productivity improvement project.
Feasible solutions must be articulate in terms of benefits, underlying principle/s and justifications
of option proposed must be reported and evaluations done on all alternative options followed by
strategic decision making. This must be communicated to relevant stakeholders and consensus
for implementation sought.

Collective bargaining negotiations

Participants are to be divided into two groups, the management committee and employee
committee and negotiate an outcome that is a win- win situation that enhances relations,
integrity, honesty and trust while at the same time bringing about harmonious industrial
relations. Persuasive, resolutive and listening skills must be evident and take centre stage.
Reasoning, rational, arguing and debating abilities must be demonstrated. Patience and tolerance
must characterize the process. Interpersonal skills come handy in the activity. Consequence of
action has a bearing in any decision taken. Transactional analysis evaluation is then possible and
sensitivity training. Furthermore member let role behaviour and attitudes.

Strategic planning session

Participants will be divided into two group and undertake a strategic decision making exercise in
which each group will clearly layout its strategic objectives and strategic action plans and
programmes. The effect and impact of the environment and resources must be well articulated
and strategic plans must be in line with organizational purpose and mission capitalizing on
strategic opportunities and strengths. Each group will have the opportunity to critique the
opposite group plans and attempt to integrate the two sets of plans. Interpersonal and decision
making is put to test.

Game (sporting discipline of choice)

A sport game will be undertaken and a joint evaluation done of the exercise thereafter as a
measure of the impact of team building training session. Deductive conclusion will be then done

Facilitator led discussion and briefings