Team Selection
If you were deciding on the basketball team, What criteria would you apply to the selection of the players? If you were a couple of academics being picked, What would your criteria be? In the event that the choice of a process improvement group was the goal, What measures would you consider to be the most appropriate?
It’s easy to believe. However, businesses often create a mess. Paying too much attention to control and politics can destroy the team’s spirit. There are some basic guidelines. However, that will make the process easier and more efficient. The initial structure of a team is likely to shift a bit during the stages of improvement. The team will consist of a primary group of participants throughout. However, there could be shifts of others based on what the team’s needs in the present.
There are three primary kinds of members which are: regular, ad hoc as well as resource members. The regular members are present at all meetings, unless they are advised otherwise, and take part in every team activity. Ad-hoc members are only involved when the team needs their knowledge. There are also resource members. Meeting attendance is determined by their team’s leader. They are the source of information or resources (time and money. ) or even coaching.
The third rule concerns the special talents of members. A team for process improvement should comprise a process manager as well as a process expert, accounting and budget member and engineers (if relevant), or a stakeholder (customer). It is also beneficial to add people to the team who could hinder your efforts if you leave them out. Membership in the club will grant them access to the club.
A team must be united in their goals. The reason for this is developing a common identity. The team needs to know what the business wants from them, in addition to the most common roadblocks and constraints. It can be a sticky situation. What can a team leader take action if there is someone who is attempting to undermine the team’s performance? This isn’t a rare scenario.
Team Dynamics
Positive team member behavior requires respect. Respect is based on an ability to show respect and appreciation to others in the group. Respect for others is the foundation of a healthy society. In this respect, there is advancement in harmony (alignment). Without it, there’s stagnation and even disintegration.
The environment of the team is an individual micro-society. If a team respects others and of the whole team has the greatest chances of success. A willingness to accept the opinions of different people is the foundation of positive team interactions. The reason for having a group together is to be able to enjoy a variety of viewpoints. Every opinion and thought has significance and can contribute to the development of the best solution or outcome. To succeed, team members must acknowledge and appreciate the diversity of opinions. This involves looking for the beneficial positive aspects in all comments and concerns. The ability to agree is a mature way of resolving conflicts.
This is how a group can reach a consensus. It’s also a method to allow for a variety of opinions to prevail and push the team to move forward. In the event of a disagreement, members are not required to abandon their beliefs to advance.
Another crucial aspect of respect in a group in attendance. All members must be present physically and mentally to be a part of the success of the team. If a person is absent, he/she doesn’t contribute and can hinder the progress of the group. A member who is not engaged presents similar issues. Participation is tied to the accomplishment of actions. Because teams utilize timelines and tasks to plan their success, action items are the means of progress for the team. The group assigns the action items to the person responsible, and the due date is established. The team’s progress is consistent, and the distribution of resources is much easier to manage. If members don’t consider actions as a priority, The team is unable to function.
When a group is functioning well, everyone is contributing. Contributing involves participation in voicing your opinions and contributing your knowledge to the team’s work. At one point, you’re giving details, then you’re listening, and then you’re conducting negotiations. The high level of energy increases the speed of progress for the team. Additionally, it is more fun.
Team Leadership
The leader of the team has an important part in ensuring that the members of the group are contributing. This could mean asking for the opinion of someone else or even easing down the team member who is overbearing. In any case, each person’s integrity is paramount. The person in charge of the team is referred to as”leader” because of an explanation. The reason is that the leader’s role is to manage and lead rather than supervise the team efforts. This means that leadership abilities are required for anyone who is responsible for the management of any improvement group.
A leader is more efficient than a supervisor in this situation. This is due to the fact that leaders get their strength from those who are eager to obey (a group environment) while supervisors receive their authority from higher management levels (a controlling system). Actually, a supervision-based method of team management could make it difficult for teams to succeed. Process improvement is a “What do you think?” exercise, not a “Do as you are told” action.
Team Member Behavior
Certain types of behavior among team members can hinder the team’s progress. One example is someone who is present as part of their performance assessment. The person who is there is not for the sake of the team. They are there to serve their personal requirements. They usually take delight in delaying the progress of the group by making arguments without substance or not supporting actions items.
“card player “card player” is another instance of an unproductive team member. The person who is silently watching the flow and ebb of power. They tend to be on the most successful side of the issue and seldom express their true views. It’s all about staying on the right side (the dominant perception) of the problem. Participation in this kind of way is more politically motivated than constructive. In the end, their participation can influence the outcomes of team-based actions like brainstorming, scoring matrices, and multi-voting.
Particularly dangerous behavior is that of the employee who acts as their boss. The person who is in charge follows orders. They are expected to express the opinions of their boss, not their own views. If this is used as a method to control the team, there are bound to be issued. The opinion of the boss can be beneficial, provided it’s not subversive. The biggest risk to your team members is when the truth is buried or when ideas are distorted because someone with influence is trying to defend or undermine something they are involved in.
Conflict
Conflict management is a crucial team task. Conflict is not only inevitable in a team setting, but it’s even beneficial. A team should embrace the war that is a result of differences of opinion. The team leader has to intervene when the situation is personal or damaging. The majority of the task falls to the leader of the team. However, there is a certain amount of responsibility for the other members of the group also.
An established set of rules can aid the team in preventing conflicts from taking away from their purpose. First, the law states that any dispute should be remediated when it becomes an issue in a meeting that could be stopping for breaks or changing the subject or either. This lets the conflict be separated from the other members of the group. Before reuniting, the conflicting sides must be able to reach an agreement or come up with a plan to settle their differences at a later time.
Another tip is to seek an agreement among everyone on the team to adopt the collective view in times of conflict. The idea is that the focus of the group is not focused on the individual. If you’re an adult with a level of comprehension, it should be evident that most of the time, what’s best for the team is beneficial to the individual. It’s not about, “What’s in this for me?” Instead, it should be “What’s in this for us?”
The team must also have the rules of engagement for conflicts in between meetings. Unruly behavior outside meetings could cause problems for the team, just as disagreements during sessions. Inflicting harm on members, or the team’s efforts, by involving people who aren’t members of the group could undermine the team’s effort for personal goals. Team problems are the team’s responsibility unless the team’s leader believes it is getting out of control. The leader of the group can seek outside help for assistance.
The process of resolving conflict is about respect. Teams that have members who don’t show respect for each other are not effective. From the perspective of a leader, it could be the time that they have to remove someone from the group. This is an extremely serious move and should be considered a last resort. The act of making an enemy of the former team member could result in external and internal repercussions for the entire team.
The key to all of this is that teams must be focused on the goal. The team that stays in focus will have the greatest chances of being successful. Focusing on their goals means limiting the pressure to concentrate in the political or personal world.
Walter McIntyre has spent 30 years working in the field of business in various positions, as an apprentice, through Vice-President. In that time, he’s been involved in both the transactional and manufacturing aspects of business operations. In the present, he serves as the Chief Operating Executive and Director at National Parts, LLC, located in Jacksonville, Florida.
