Teamwork

Teamwork

Now that you have learned from your mentor and taken a stab at writing a strategic plan, are you ready to promote some teamwork within the ranks? Certainly the term “teamwork” can be and is an overused cliché, but the bottom line is you provide a better product for students when working as a team. So, how do you accomplish this? First, there is so much information available both in print and online regarding teamwork that it is hard to discern between fact and fiction. We are going to focus on a few basic tenets and some quick tips that will help you assemble and keep a well-oiled machine going strong in your division.

The great football coaching legend Vince Lombardi once said this about teamwork: “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.” Teamwork will be crucial to your success as a new administrator. And why not? Teams and teamwork are great! When you utilize teams effectively, it helps to foster a sense of belonging for team members, assists in the completion of duties and tasks, contributes positively to the overall success of your division or area of the college, and perhaps, most importantly, promotes fun in the workplace. After all, shouldn’t work be fun? I will take a work environment that promotes healthy, professional fun over one in which workers resemble robots from some futuristic film. Bottom line: A fun, professional environment is a productive environment.

Like Vince Lombardi, you too can win if you promote team over self in your area of the college. However, don’t be naïve enough to think you can simply bring a group of people together, stir them up like ingredients in a recipe, liberally sprinkle meeting times throughout the week and come up with a cohesive, effective group. The best teams didn’t just spring up; they followed a building process. What are some reasons for team building? First, team building is an effort in which a team studies its own process of working together and acts to create a climate that both encourages and values the contributions of team members. Taking this a step further, the Fun Team Building website by Larry Lipman (www.funteambuilding.com) lists these as top ten reasons for team building:

To gain dynamic rapport among team members
To open the climate for streamlined communication
To stimulate creativity
To discover new ways of strategizing and solving challenges
To surface hidden problems and agendas
To appreciate individual differences and strengths
To learn trust
To welcome and handle change
To strengthen teamwork and motivation
To learn and have fun at the same time

Sounds like a process that anyone could agree on if you want to have a high-performance work team, doesn’t it?

How do you know you are building a good team? After all, from what you see, everyone attends, shows up on time, and participates in your meetings and team events. So you must be building a good team right? Sit down, grab a pencil, and let’s evaluate your team. Here’s a checklist of things that should exist in a good team environment. Does your team exhibit the following characteristics?

High level of interdependence
Team leader has good people skills and is committed to team approach
Each team member is willing to contribute
Team develops a relaxed climate for communication
Team members develop a mutual trust
Team and individuals are prepared to take risks
Team is clear about goals and establishes targets
Team member roles are defined
Team members know how to examine team and individual errors without personal attacks
Team has capacity to create new ideas
Each team member knows he can influence the team agenda

This checklist is a handy tool for assessing your team in relationship to what it is doing well and what it can improve upon.

One team process model every new administrator should be introduced to is the Tuckman Model, developed by Bruce Tuckman. Believe it or not, this model was developed in 1965. Tuckman invented a simple four-stage model of team development that has become an accepted part of thinking about how teams form. Here are Tuckman’s four stages:

Stage 1 Forming - The forming stage involves the introduction of team members, either at the initiation of the team or as members are introduced subsequently. Members are likely to be influenced by the expectations and desires they bring with them; however, they will be interested in how the group operates. Members will pay particular attention to understanding how the leadership will operate in terms of style and character. The forming stage is a transitional stage from a group of individuals to a team. As a leader you will want to find out what outside influences members bring with them so you can better understand how each member will interrelate to the group. Point to remember: The forming stage is where the personality of your group will emerge. Make sure you have the personality you want for this group! Conflict arises because the group leader does not understand, or foster, the type of winning personality it takes to have an effective team.
Stage 2 Storming - As your team members grow more confident, the team will most likely enter the storming phase. In this phase, team members will have different opinions as to how the team should operate. As conflict will arise in this phase, the storming phase is a difficult time for the team. The best teams learn to understand the conflict, actively listen to teach other, and navigate forward through a consensus-building process. This is the stage where most groups will disintegrate because individual members bolster their own opinions in order to weather the storms of the group. The leader’s skills in conflict resolution and consensus building will be key elements for your group surviving this stage. Consensus DOES NOT mean that everyone agrees one hundred percent with the direction. However, it does mean each individual group member sees the big picture, understands, and, more importantly, supports the decision as best for the group as opposed to what is best in his or her own personal interests.
Stage 3 Norming - As your team emerges from the earlier stages with an agreed upon method of operation, the team enters the norming phase. Team members have reached consensus on a common working method. Most likely everyone is willing to buy into the prescribed working method for the team. During this phase, team members are able to reconcile their opinions with the greater needs of the team. An air of collaboration will replace the conflict and mistrust of the storming phase. The norming phase is where the group really begins to become a cohesive unit in which individuals strive to reach a collective goal.
Stage 4 Performing - The final phase in Tuckman’s model is the performing phase. In this phase emphasis is placed upon the team reaching goals rather than working on group processes. Relationships are settled and team members are likely to build loyalty and trust with each other. At this stage the team is able to manage more complex tasks and cope with larger degrees of change. An important aspect to remember is that the performing stage can lead to:

o A return to the forming state as group membership changes
o A new dormant stage as the group becomes stagnated
o An adjourning phase as the group successfully reaches its goal

As the administrator or leader of the group, you will be responsible for leading the group through a consensus-building process during stage four that will determine the future viability of the group. The worst mistake you can make at this point is allowing the group to stagnate. This type of activity will cause decay within the group and will eventually lead to the end of the team - whether you want this to be the outcome or not. Always keep your team challenged and fresh. Ultimately you will only be as effective as your team. Therefore, it should be your personal goal to make the team as productive as possible.

To read more about Tuckman’s model, see the following website: http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htm
To read more about group dynamics, see the following website: http://www.stanford.edu/~mmorten/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Cartwright+Zander.html