TEAM BUILDING

UNIT: FIVE
OBJECTIVES

Working with Groups

Definition of group

Group dynamics

Leadership

Qualities of a leader

Types of leadership
INTRODUCTION

• How would you define a group?

• In sociology, a group is usually defined as a number of people

who identify and interact with one another. This is a very broad
definition, as it includes groups of all sizes, from dyads to
whole societies. (Adrigola, 2011).
GROUP DYNAMIC

• Group dynamics are processes that occur between group members.

These dynamics are affected by each member’s internal thoughts and
feelings, their expressed thoughts and feelings, theory nonverbal
communication, and the relationship between group members.

• Group dynamics helps you understand how each person’s actions

make sense in the context of the group
Group dynamics theory

• Systems theory – this describes how individuals behave within

the group. It is best understood by combining the characteristics
of each group member, how each group members action affect
the group, how these group interactions affect each group
member (Kinder, 2016).
TEAM BUILDER

• To build a high-performing team, the quality of your teambuilding skills is

the key to success.

• Managing teams is a . . . .

balancing act
• The way you manage teams affects lots of people; it also affects
your standing in the world.

• Managing teams is therefore a huge challenge. It is also a

hugely rewarding career!
DEFINITION

• Massachusetts institute of Technology defines a team as:

• ‘People working together in a committed way to achieve a

common goal or mission’.
Characteristics of a Team.
• Teams have a common goal or purpose

• Teams have more than one member

• Teams have complementary skills & abilities

• Teams work together

Examples of a Team

• A sales team

• A customer service team

• A medical team

• A combat team

• A soccer team
Team Roles

• Belbin (1981) identified nine (9) clusters of team behavior,

termed ‘team roles’.

• Each role has its particular strengths and allowable weaknesses,

and makes an important contribution to the team.
CONT…

• Specialist

• Specialist. Positive contribution: provides technical knowledge

and skills, dedicated to his/her profession.

• Probable weakness: narrow area of contribution; often ignores

non-technical issues.
CONT…

• Plant

• Plant. Positive contribution: ideas person; creative and a

problem solver.

• Probable weakness: bored by detail and incidentals.

CONT…

• Shaper

• Shaper. Positive contribution: thrives on pressure. Dynamic;

driven and determined to overcome obstacles.

• Probable weakness: expects same level of drive from everyone;

prone to upset people who don’t have it.
CONT…

• Co-coordinator

• Co-coordinator. Positive contribution: A good chairperson, who clarifies

goals, keeps people focused and promotes decision-making. Good at
delegating.

• Probable weakness: can be perceived as manipulative and controlling.

Seen as lazy; gets others to the work.
CONT..

• Team worker

• Team worker. Positive contribution: Listens to others, builds

consensus, and acts as peacemaker and diplomat.

• Probable weakness: Indecisive when rapid action is needed.

CONT…

• Monitor/evaluator

• Monitor/evaluator. Positive contribution: sober, objective,

analytical.

• Probable weakness: Seldom inspiring to others; may be

perceived as negative.
CONT…

• Implementer

• Implementer. Positive contribution: Likes to get on with things;

good at turning ideas into actions, and plans/strategies into
realities.

• Probable weakness: Impatient; conservative in times of change.

CONT…

• Resource Investigator

• Resource investigator. Positive contribution: Enthusiastic

ambassador and communicator within and outside the team.
Keen on opportunities.

• Probable weakness: Can be over-optimistic, often fails to see

things through once everyone else is on board.
CONT….

• Completer finisher

• Completer finisher. Positive contribution: painstaking and

conscientious; always checking own and others work; finishes
on time.

• Probable weakness: Often worries; seldom delegates because

rarely trusts others.
An Effective Team (Features)-Produces
Powerful Performance
• Clearly Defined & Managed Processes
• Decisive
• Commitment & Involvement
• Clear, Shared purpose & direction.
• Energy & Enthusiasm
• Humor & Fun
 Cont…
• Questioning & Listening- Challenge & Support
• Focus & persistence
• Clear Roles
• Thinks and plans
• Learn from mistakes
• Creative and flexible
Leadership

• Leadership can be hard to define and it may mean different

things to different people. In the transformational leadership
model, leaders set directions and help themselves and others to
do the right things to move forward. To do this they create an
inspiring vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach
that vision, (Mind Tools, 1996)
Who is a Leader?
• Exerts Influence

• Exercise Power

• Shows Control
• In short, its about ACTION or similar to Power of a device, or
strategic advantage over others.
 Cont…..

• Leadership is influence, leverage.

• Real Leadership is being the person others will gladly &

confidently follow.

• If a leader doesn’t have leverage –or influence then he or she is

ineffective.
Qualities of a Leader

• According to University of Notre Dame, online learning identified

some leadership qualities which are;

•Self-assessment – Effective leaders periodically take stock of their

personal strengths and short comings. They ask the following questions;
“What do I like to do? “What I am I good at?” “What are my areas of
weakness, and what do I like doing” Knowing ones weakness helps to
delegate some roles that a leader my not find time to attend to.
 Cont…

•Sharp perception – This can be achieved through receiving

feedbacks from the subordinates concerning how they feel about
you. They have an easy level of honest communication with their
teams and their peers, and a thorough understanding of how
they are perceived.
 Cont…

•Responsive to the group’s needs – Being perceptive can also

help a leader be more effective in knowing the needs of them.

•Knowing the organization- Effective leaders know the

organizations overall purposes and goals and agreed upon
strategies to work effectively. (University of NOTRE DAME ,
2016)
 Types of leadership

•Leaders and their styles affect everyone and everything within an

organization.

•Some of this influence comes indirectly, but it works much like

what we call the ripple effect.
CONT…

• There are different types of leadership styles in

working different working places and each one of
them have advantages and advantages Johnson
and Media identified some of the leadership and
these are:
Relationship-Oriented
•Production is incidental to good human relations.

•The leader focuses on the development of harmonious group relations so that

work Organization is pleasant.

(“Try to win friends.”)

 
 Laissez-Faire

• Laissez – Faire leader lacks direct supervision of employees and

fails to provide regular feedback to those under his supervision.
This so because of employees would require very little
supervision. People would work without being forced as such
supervises thinks that employees have responsibility.
Task-Oriented

• Good relations are incidental to high production, the leader

emphasizes production goals by focusing on the planning,
direction, and controlling of all activities.

• (‘Produce or perish)
• Autocratic

• This leadership allows managers to make decisions alone without the

input of others. Managers’ possess total authority and impose their will
on employee.
• The main difference between management and leadership is that:

• Leadership is about influencing people to follow, While

• Management focuses on maintaining systems & processes.

• Examples of autocratic are: Queen Elizabeth 1, Napoleon and Vladimir

Putin
Participative

Participative

• Often called the democratic leadership style, participative

leadership values the input of team members and peers, but the
responsibility of making final decision rests with the
participative leader.
Transactional

Transactional

• Managers using this method receive certain tasks to perform

and provide rewards or punishments to team members based
on performance results.
Transformational

Transformational

• The transformational leadership style depends on high levels of

communication from management to meet the goals. Leaders
motivate employees and enhance productivity and efficiency
through communication and high visibility (Johnson J )
Roles of a Team Leader

• As a Team Leader you should balance your workload & manage the team
without becoming stressed.

• You should create tasks & give instructions, generate team spirit & find
time to manage people.

• Avoid being a ‘ Monkey Manager’.

Create a team vision
Build Inter-dependencies

• When you are a leader of the team you have or it is your

responsibility to create

• ‘espirit de corps’ this is a French term

• meanings ‘a spirit of belonging in a group.’

Delegate To Support Your Team

• As a leader one of the secrets of a successful team is to delegate

tasks and responsibilities.

• Delegation is an essential part of managing your team. You

must make sure the team member you delegate to has the four
STAR elements of Skill, Time, Authority & Responsibility
 Reasons to Delegation

• Good delegation utilizers people’s strengths

• Weeds out weaknesses

• Spreads the workload equitably

• Maximizes output

• Develops a multi-skilled team

• Shows trust in people

• Encourages responsibility
Avoid Being A ‘Monkey Manager’

• When a manager takes unresolved work from a team member, a

figurative monkey leaps from the team member’s back to the
manager.

• If you have too many monkeys, you can’t work effectively.

Leadership Has Many Facets that Include:

• Respect

• Experience

• Emotional strength

• People skills

• Discipline

• Vision

• Momentum

• Time
Conclusion

• It is essential to note that one of the hallmarks of an effective team

is that the members think and plan together before effective action.

• When you are the team manager: Recruit great people to

accomplish great things.

• A real team manager works for the team. Without a team there is
no job for a manager, so the manager’s role is to be a ‘servant
leader’ to the team.
TASK

Q1. Compare and contrast the following leadership styles:

A. Democratic and Autocratic leadership styles

B. Laissez-fair and Task oriented leadership styles

Q2. If you are to be a team leader, which leadership style would

you choose and why?

Q3. Why is leadership important in a team?