Promote team effectiveness

1. Provide an example of a team purpose/objective/plan – using the SMART rule. (Bear in mind that the team purpose/objective/goals must relate to organizational goals/objectives and plans).

SMART rules helps the company to be successful. For example: Marketing officer for HM Rawat. Specific – Propose a specific marketing idea, an e-marketing plan, to the organization during a meeting. Measurable – E-marketing plan would cost around Rs75, 000. Achievable – Through this e-marketing plan, it will help to boost up sales within and outside the country. (PayPal) Relevant – The e-marketing plan would relate only to gadget, mobile phone, and mobile phones’ accessories. Time-bound – The e-marketing plan work will end in one and a half month, after that we will be able to see the benefits of this system. Some examples of smart objectives would be:

To reduce the rate of turn over from 35% to 25% by the end of financial year 2014 (June 2014). To increase the profit making in sales from 50% to 60% by the end of 2014.

2. Using the similar example as in (1) above to illustrate, outline how a team member can establish and document team purposes, roles and responsibilities, goals and plans for the team so that the team will be better able to achieve the outcomes it is set out to achieve.

It is important to acknowledge that all members of the business team have different strengths and skills. The team leader, if he can recognize those individual strengths, can assign the tasks that best suit each staff. This ensures that the team objective or goal can be more easily achieved.

Moreover, if communication is properly done, the team members will be more synchronized. This synchronization can therefore enable the team to function better and produce more consistent ideas.

However, it is necessary for a leader to identify the skills of each member and assign tasks based on his observation. If those guidelines are well respected, a team will most likely function well. Eventually, the objectives will be met and the outcomes will be positive.

3. What is the difference between coaching and mentoring and how could coaching and mentoring be effectively used to support team members to achieve the outcomes/goals of the team?

Coaching is a process whereby there is facilitation of self – improvement by systematically obtaining skills and tools to overcome the performance barrier. It usually last for a short term, focuses on performance and is task oriented. On the other side we have mentoring which is a process where a skilled and experienced person encourages, guides, listen and provides ways of working to a less skilled and less experienced person.

Coaching and mentoring help employees to focus on the tasks assigned and develop personal goals to be achieved. Those processes also help to monitor and manage teams in order to be effective. There should also be a good listening, observational and investigation in order for coaching and mentoring to be active.

An example of mentoring in a company is when a manager/supervisor sets a system of continuous monitoring throughout the year with the employees so as to help to employees to keep a good performance in their work. Coaching would be to provide training for the employee to perform a certain task.

4. Outline why it is important for the team members to participate actively in the team and to take responsibility (personally and for the team) for the work of the team.

A team is a long-term group of persons working together to achieve the same goal. Working together is an important fact in this definition as when you form part of a group you need to participate actively to attain goals. If one team member doesn’t participate this may slow down the team as each and everyone in the group has an important role to play as specific work and responsibilities are delegated to each person in the team so that the whole job could be properly accomplish.

Accept to take responsibility in a team is easier than to take a responsibility alone. For example when you have responsibilities in a team and realize that you can’t take such responsibility as it’s beyond your capability it would be easier for you to discuss of your problem in the daily meeting and you can be sure that the other team would be here to help as you all have the same goals. That why it is important for a team member to participate knowing that the group is here to help you could motivate you to achieve goals.

Once responsibility has been delegated the team member is engaged to the group and has to assume his/her role in the team. Having responsibilities make each member feel liable and important in the group. Thus they will certainly be motivated to work in their daily task but if one of the team doesn’t have any responsibility or does not participate this person will not be motivated to work he/she may not find his/her place in the group and on a long-term basis this will definitely cause issues to the team.

We must not forget that in a team group there is a leader who is here to listen, help and also observe the team members in their daily work. Taking responsibilities and show participation may be an advantage for them knowing that they will be evaluate on their task. This may open new career opportunities, because leader may see immediately what a great job they are doing. This is why learning to be a good team leader is important because showing that you are capable to take responsibility and participate in the day to day task might open some possibilities of new careers for them.

Being in a team member is not always easy as they must adapt to others
sometimes and must also show participation as some members may not appreciate that they perform more task than others and reward the team finally. This may cause problems if it a team on a long term basis. In a team each members have to take responsibility and participate hundred percent as the others otherwise this situation will leads to clash and work will not be achieve on time.

Having responsibilities in a team may also create competition among the members. Every individual want to show what they are able to performs. This could be a motivation and also encourage us to participate and take more responsibilities to surpass themselves.

To conclude we can say that each member must help their team by using their strengths, clearly understand their responsibilities, be positive and helps others by participating as much as they can, be flexible and reliable until task has been completed.

5. Motivation and encouragement are an important part of any team. Explain how would you motivate your team members and build a team that is strong and has a strong sense of cohesion?

Having a team without motivation leads the group to failure, to ensure that each members feel at ease and is motivated to achieve goals we must go through the following steps.

To be able to create motivation, we must determine strength of each member to be able to allocate task according to the strength of each one. Thus everyone will contribute effectively to their task and will decrease weaknesses on the group.

Regular meeting has to be schedule to exchange their problems , found solutions to issues and more important show to each member that they have a support in case of any problem. If members know that they are supported by leaders or even by other members it would be easier for them to achieve their daily task.

Encouraging members to participate actively into daily meetings will make them feel that they could trust their team leader and also members in their team thus communication would be easier and will build a team that is strong.

To motivate the team we have to recognize the work done, give satisfaction to the members will therefore encourage them to ameliorate themselves.

Deadlines is an important facts as work has to be submit on time, they will be responsible and will of course stimulate them to report on time with a good job. 6. Having a wide range of people all working together inevitably leads to problems. List 3 of these problems and suggest on how to deal with each of them.

One problem is generally some type of personnel issue. People don’t like each other, there’s mistrust. This is harder because people issues are harder to identify and fix. Very few people relish working on personnel issues. However if the team and management really want to get the team moving, these types of problems can be overcome. Training on handling conflict, better communication skills, negotiation skills, and other people-time intensive efforts can handle most of these types of issues.

Another one is generally some type of organizational or structural problem. Goals are not clear, responsibilities are not clear, people with the wrong talents are on the team, the challenge may be too big for the team, and there is little or no communication. These are things that can be fixed with some work from the team and management. It may take some time and supervision to get it going.

One last problem could be the lack or no team spirit in a team. It can be solved by bringing a synergy creation to the team. This involves techniques that equip members to expand their thinking by generating many ideas, building on those ideas, and evaluating ideas to create synergistic solutions. These skills are essential as they encourage teams to expand their thinking first to harness all of the divergent opinions therefore bringing the team to work together.

7. Discuss on how to give positive and negative feedback and what both can achieve.

Feedback is communicating to a member or groups how their behavior has affected us or other people. Effective feedback, both positive and negative, is helpful to others. When you give feedback you are offering valuable information that will be useful to another person making decisions about how to behave. Feedback is not criticism. Criticism is evaluative; feedback is descriptive. It also allows us to build and maintain communication with others. It provides the individual with information that can be used in performing personal evaluation.

Delivery of positive and negative feedback.

Positive feedback
Do it now.
Positive feedback is too important to let slide.

Make it public.
Be specific.
Don’t just say “Good job, Sally.” Instead say something like “Hakim, that new procedure you developed for routing service calls has really improved our customer satisfaction. Thanks for coming up with it.”

Consider the receiver.
It is important to consider the feeling of the person receiving the recognition.

Do it often.
Don’t wait for the big successes. Celebrate the small ones too.

Do it evenly.
Big successes need big recognition; small successes need smaller recognition. If you throw a party for every small success, you diminish its effect for a big success.

Be sincere.
Don’t praise someone for coming in on time. Don’t congratulate someone for just doing their job. People will see right through you. Really mean it when you give positive feedback. Negative feedback

Get your emotions under control.

Find a private place.
No one wants to receive negative feedback in front of others.

Focus on their actions, not on the person.
You create an immediate barrier when you criticize the person. Focus instead on what you want to change. Focus on their performance.

Be specific.
You need to identify specific actions the person took or specific things they said if you want them to understand.

Be timely.
Negative feedback should be given as soon as possible after the event.

Be calm.
Don’t yell and scream. The other person will become defensive & won’t hear what you are trying to tell them.

Reaffirm your faith in the person.
This reinforces step three, but here you tell them that you still have faith in them as a person and in their abilities; it’s just their performance you want them to change.
Define positive steps.
Agree on what future performance is appropriate for the employee.

Get over it.
After you have given the negative feedback and agreed on a resolution, move on with the job.

Feedback need to be balanced. Balanced feedback is not a one-sided process where managers or supervisors give or receive a pat on the back for a job well done, but rather both the positive and negative elements of a situation need to be discussed. When the feedback process is carried out appropriately, there are many benefits to be realized, but every effort must be made to ensure that feedback is not used as a means of verbal assault or criticism. Feedback is a valuable tool in building employee confidence, boosting morale, and enhancing the reputation of the business. 8. Comments among team members and colleagues are an inevitable part of working and it is important that these conflicts are managed well. Outline the various conflict management strategies and for each possible conflicts management strategy ad explain when each strategy could be used appropriately. Use examples of possible conflicts and composition of the team (members) and other factors as appropriate to illustrate the use of the various possible conflict management strategies.

Accommodating
The accommodating strategy essentially entails giving the opposing side what it wants. The use of accommodation often occurs when one of the parties wishes to keep the peace or perceives the issue as minor. For example, a business that requires formal dress may institute a “casual Friday” policy as a low-stakes means of keeping the peace with the rank and file. Employees who use accommodation as a primary conflict management strategy, however, may keep track and develop resentment.

Avoiding
The avoiding style of conflict management is a non-confrontational approach to problems. This approach is best used when disagreements develop from minor unimportant issues. This is a useful technique when time is needed in order to gather additional information for informed decision making. It is often employed when the negative impact of the confrontation out ways the benefit of a quick positive resolution. Unfortunately, problems that are not quickly addressed tend to grow over time. Relationships can be damage by unresolved issues.

Collaborating
This is where you partner or pair up with the other party to achieve both of your goals. This is how you break free of the “win-lose” paradigm and seek the “win-win.” This can be effective for complex scenarios where you need to find a novel solution. This can also mean re-framing the challenge to create a bigger space and room for everybody’s ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board and to synthesize all the ideas.

Compromising
People who prefer a compromising style try to find a solution that will at least partially satisfy everyone. Therefore everyone is expected to give up something and the compromiser him also expects to hand over something. Compromise is useful when the cost of conflict is higher than the cost of losing ground, when equal strength opponents are at a standstill and when there is a deadline. Competitive

People who tend towards a competitive style take a firm stand, and know what they want. They usually operate from a position of power, drawn from things like position, rank, expertise, or persuasive ability. This style can be useful when there is an emergency and a decision needs to be made fast, when the decision is unpopular or when defending against someone who is trying to exploit the situation selfishly. However it can leave people feeling unsatisfied when used in less urgent situations. 9. How would you encourage team members to participate fully, to freely communicate their concern and to be accountable for their actions/contributions?

A team comprises a group of people linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks. Therefore, to encourage members to participate fully, we must establish the following measures:-

Encourage Ownership
Team members contribute more and work harder for any project if they feel a sense of ownership in its success or failure. If they don’t identify with the success of the project on a personal level, you can expect them to offer the minimum of effort. To motivate the team members to see the project as their own, communicate openly and honestly so they understand just as much about the project as management do. There must no hold back information about expected difficulties or any other aspect of the task. When problems arise along the way, the whole team must participate to help solve the difficulty. Give them the freedom to experiment with different solutions.

Give Everyone a Chance to Speak
Some team members are naturally assertive and self-confident, while others are naturally shy and quiet. An assertive and self-confident person does not necessarily have better ideas than a shy and quiet person, but assertive people are a lot more likely to be heard and to have their ideas acted upon. To get the best out of your quieter team members, management may structure the meetings so that everyone has an equal opportunity to speak. Time must be given people to fully articulate their ideas. Try to assess each suggestion as objectively as possible based on the idea itself and not the personality of the team member proposing it.

Make Everyone a Leader
Create a team full of leaders by using a collaborative rather than a strictly hierarchical model. The leader in any context is the responsible person, so leaders are highly motivated for the group to succeed. In a collaborative structure, every member of the team has a leadership role in some part of the project. Assign each team member personal responsibility for some aspect of the project based on that team member’s strengths and talents. Give team members a degree of authority over their own aspects of the project.

Be a Good Example
Model the behaviours that are expected from the team members. Contribute to all aspects of the project. Keep their attitude positive and their motivation levels high. Contribute new ideas and solutions, listen to the ideas and suggestions of the team members and make it clear that management are always available to help work through any problems. Taking team members out for lunch or some other social event sends the message that you value their efforts and builds a cohesive group. Team members look to the project manager to set the tone for the entire project, so all your words and actions need to contribute to the project’s success.

A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his/her strengths and minimize his/her weaknesses.

Team members need to learn how to help one another, help other team members realize their true potential, and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond their limitations.

10. What kind of support do you think should be given to help a team solve a problem?

There are many ways to solve problems, and it will depend on the situation, the experience, the knowledge, attitude, and the problem to determine the best approach.

Goal
Defining a clear goal is important so the group understands what it is trying to achieve. Without a clear goal or purpose, the team may not be able to identify when the task has been completed or finished. With a clear goal, the team can unify and focus on the objectives rather than determine what the objectives should be.

Timeline
It is important to establish a timeline for group selection as well as project finish date. While selecting members of a group, one must not lose track of the date by which the group must be formed.

Experience
Identifying experience is important for group confidence. Experience in particular areas can help the group identify with individuals and allow individuals to shine in their appropriate areas.

Attributes
Identify attributes are important as this can either help or hurt the group cohesion. Identifying whether potential members are aggressive, passive, compassionate or motivated can directly influence the speed and accuracy of the completion of team objectives. It is important to have a well-rounded team so they can effectively challenge and complement one another.

Specialty interest
Identify passions or non-passions which can help to identify motivation. If a team member does not care about the outcome of the project, their motivation and contribution may be limited. On the other hand, someone with extreme passion may be overbearing and inhibit team success. Finding individuals with the appropriate interest levels must be balanced.

Skills
The necessary skill level is important so highly skilled individuals aren’t bored with the project at hand. However it is important to have appropriately skilled individuals to be able to accomplish the task at hand.

Personalities
Are ideas going to be challenged? If you have a group of individuals that behave in the same manner, will the ideas presented in the group be challenged sufficiently to be identified as the best possible solution? Allowing individuals to be challenged, or defend particular point of views can allow healthy collaboration.

11. Discuss on how the team leader can serve as a positive role model to
others

To become an authentic, respected and transformational leader, a leader must be able to face challenge and deal with complex situations. A leader must be an exemplary ways to lead, to guide and to manage and the leader must be considered as a role model. A leader must be able to bring or to take other along with them to a desired destination.

The leader must be aware of every single action or step that they do and practice to the day to day interaction. The leader has to contribute to the creation of positive environment so that it can motivate others. The leader needs to use exemplary practices so that other can accept him or her as a positive role model in order that other pursuit his or her role model.

Leaders should be self-aware about who they are and what they believe and acting with sincerity and integrity so that it can be translate into a sense of trust. Leader has a special responsibility to carry out the organization’s purpose and core value. Leaders must know how to implement creative practices that can encourage others feel motivate or passionate and he or she must know what motivate his or her team.

Leaders must be a great follower. Team leader provide an open communication in the team as it is an absolute requirement for successful teamwork. Communicating by giving constructive feedbacks, listening to point of views and suggestions is a good way to manage a team. They will feel concerned by the leader who will make them involved.

12. Why is it necessary that team leaders maintain a strong line of communication with line management at all times and how could this strong line of communication with line management be maintained?

It is important that team leaders maintain a strong line of communication with line management because it encourages productive teamwork. Keeping line of communications between team leaders and line management open and working properly is one challenge that all business face. Communication skills can be addressed through ongoing training and by listening and responding to feedback.

Maintaining strong line communication with line management encourage foster good relationship and to bring a successful business by having a good skills of communication. To create this strong line of communication is to be a good listener which will encourage them to come to you and to feel comfortable without reaching out, avoiding question.