Understand How to Manage a Team

Teamwork may contribute to increased staff well-being as well as improved patient outcome. In order to effectively teach and reliably assess the quality of teamwork, it is necessary to identify the behaviours associated with effective teamwork and their interplay in relation to clinical performance ratings and ultimately to patient outcome. The main challenge to established teams is to maintain enthusiasm and momentum. This can be achieved by promptly overcoming workload obstacles, resolving conflict between individuals and giving timely feedback on performance. Staffs need to know when they do good work and once the momentum is built, it is easier to maintain and transfer across a number of activities. Overall team performance relies heavily on the individual commitment and contribution of all its established members. The effective established teams are characterised by team members who are enthusiastic, communicate trust to their time efficiently by concentrating on the most important work assignments.

Effective teams have regular meetings which takes place in my home every 6 weeks where we discuss policies and procedures, working together to understand our service users, to deliver the best quality of care. In these meetings we update team members and work together to ensure that key outcomes are achieved. The team interacts, shares advice, gives and receives constructive criticism and adapt practice as necessary. We also inform staff about available trainings. In between them, they ask for appropriate advice, support and information when required. Teams are groups of people that share a common purpose, to which they are all committed, and who are empowered to set goals, solve problems and make decisions. Without these common traits they are not a 'team' - they are a group of people who happen to work together in the same environment - a work group.

Effective teamwork has a number of benefits - to the organisation, to the team and, not least, to the individuals within the team. The way that people work in teams is just as important as their individual performance. This includes their capacity not only to work within their own team but also to have good inter-team relationships. Working in such an environment helps build high staff morale and improved work performance. In many organisations today we see a move towards flatter, leaner structures. Stripping out layers of management means that individuals have to be more willing to take on additional responsibility and accountability - achieved through team working. Teamwork can contribute towards:

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• Improved productivity
• Quality improvement
• Innovation and Creativity
• Capitalisation of technological advances
• Improved employee motivation and commitment

Effective teams are flexible, creative and responsive to the demands of the task. They demonstrate high levels of involvement, accept responsibility for team success and both recognise and value individual contributions made by team members. People value being part of such a team. The team capitalises on the skills and personalities of its members to achieve a high degree of synergy. (Synergy is that process in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts) - in other words there is a greater achievement from the team than would have been achieved by all of the individuals working separately. Kenneth Blanchard describes the characteristics of effective teams using the mnemonic PERFORM:

Purpose:

• Members can describe and are committed to a common purpose
• Goals are clear, challenging and relevant to purpose
• Strategies for achieving goals are clear
• Individual roles are clear

Empowerment:

• Members feel a personal and collective sense of power
• Members have access to necessary skills and resources
• Policies and practices support team objectives
• Mutual respect and willingness to help each other is evident

Relationships and communicationy:

• Members express themselves openly and honestly
• Warmth, understanding and acceptance is expressed
• Members listen actively to each other
• Differences of opinion and perspective are valued

Flexibility:

• Members perform different roles and functions as needed
• Members have responsibility for team leadership and team development
• Members are adaptable to changing demands
• Various ideas and approaches are explored

Optimal productivity:

• Output is high
• Quality is excellent
• Decision-making is effective
• Clear problem solving process is apparent

Recognition and appreciation:

• Individual contributions are recognised and appreciated by leader and other members Team accomplishments are recognised by members
• Group members feel respected
• Team contributions are valued and recognised by the organisation

Morale:

• Individuals feel good about their membership on the team
• Individuals are confident and motivated
• Members have a sense of pride and satisfaction about their work There is a strong sense of cohesion and team spirit

Team development phases - successful teams do not just come about ‘fully formed’ – Tuckman and Jensen identify five development stages. Not all teams go through every stage - and some never get to the stage of maturity described as 'performing', instead they may oscillate between any of the earlier, less productive stages.

Forming - the first stage, when the team meets and starts to work together for the first time - the immature group is characterised by:

• confusion
• uncertainty
• assessing situation
• testing ground rules
• feeling out others
• defining goals
• getting to know each other
• establishing rules

At this stage the group is dependent on a leader to provide the 'ground rules' and an action agenda. They tend to be polite and are focused getting to know each other and on understanding the task and their part in it. They need clear direction from their leader who should: give a specific outline of the task the team has to undertake clarify each person's role in the team task explain how the team has been put together and the reasons for each team member's selection openly discuss the way you work as a manager
discuss your expectations of the team and the individuals within the team get them to do the same
get the team involved in agreeing codes of conduct/team rules discuss how conflict will be managed and how the team will give feedback on each others' behaviour and performance discuss how the team will make its decisions

By doing this the manager will have provided his/her team with an opportunity to share their concerns, express their opinions and ask questions. Team members will feel that they have been listened to, encouraged to contribute, know their colleagues better and both understand and are committed to agreed team standards of performance and behaviour. Individual contributions are recognised and appreciated by leader and other members Team accomplishments are recognised by members

Group members feel respected. Team contributions are valued and recognised by the organisation a) STORMING - the second stage is characterised by a feeling of 'fragmentation' often arising because goals, roles and rules have become confused or unclear. This can result in:

• disagreements on priorities
• leadership struggles
• tension
• hostility
• clique formation

This phase, when team members are jockeying to establish their position within the team, can be quite difficult - and this may lead to conflict. Team members differing agendas can be a cause of conflict and antagonism as they become known. Some team members may resent the perceived control of others and this is another source of potential hostility. Relationships started in the ‘Forming’ stage may now come under pressure. The team needs a great deal of direction at this stage, particularly to help with the management of conflict and to get them to focus on how to organise themselves to achieve the team objective. The manager should revisit the agreements made in the Forming stage and make sure that everyone is clear on what is required.

Norming- during the third stage things are becoming more focused and positive, people understand the goals and their roles in achieving them. The team has identified its strengths and weaknesses and where in the past disagreements may have led to conflict, now they are consciously making sure that grievances, complaints and suggestions are listened to - conflict is beginning to be managed. Rules and standards of behaviour have been agreed so that team members relate openly with each other and are able to agree on what is expected and how failure to meet expectations will be managed. This phase is characterised by:

• consensus
• accepted leadership
• trust
• standards agreed
• roles set
• co-operation

Members now feel more part of a team and better able to deal with conflict. There is a feeling of 'team spirit' - cohesion. Communication is more effective as they become more open about their goals. At this stage the team responds well to a more participative, coaching/supporting leadership style.

Performing - the fourth stage is the mature, effective, performing team. Not every team will reach this stage but may get stuck in the norming stage where although there is a feeling of agreement, there is not yet the drive towards effective problem solving that characterises an effective team. Some teams also experience oscillation into the earlier stages - for example when a new member joins the team. It's crucial to make new members aware of the team goals, roles and rules before they join, together with the way that the team gives and receives feedback. Failure to do so can cause the team to destabilise and fall back into the storming stage. Performing is characterised by:

• successful performance
• flexible team members, clear task roles
• openness
• helpfulness
• interdependence
• collaboration

The team has an effective structure and is getting on with the job and achieving its objectives. It is a mature team where members display interdependency. Members are capable of working individually, in smaller sub-groups or within the larger team. The team is highly committed to clearly defined tasks and is engaged in effective problem solving. At this stage leadership style should be more supportive/delegating, as the team may well be capable of working with minimal supervision. Adjourning -the final stage is that of 'disbanding' and comes about either because the task is complete or because members have left the team. When this happens there may be reflection on their time together. It is often a time of reflection, 'mourning' what has passed but should also be a time for celebration.

Compare the models used to link individual roles and development with team performance. Hiring a new member of a team can be time-consuming and costly – so it is very important to settle in and start working productively as soon as possible. It is important to have a well-thought out induction process that helps ensure that new staff feel comfortable in their new job and start working effectively as soon as possible. An effective, carefully-planned induction program will not only teach new staff members technical skills, but also educate them about our workplace values, goals and provide valuable information about "who is who" in our workplace. Each new staff is asses individually and base on their performance, if they feel comfortable and confident in the work environment. An important aspect of induction is to ensure the new employee is aware of our workplace policies and procedures which we explained where to find and make available to read. On the first day of new member we allocate an experience person to guide new staff members, introduce them to the team and explain their roles and responsibilities within the team.

That ensure the new team member that is valued. During the induction period we establish the training needs of new staff and arrange the mandatory training and also explain our expectations of them and their role within the team. This will ensure they feel both confident in their practice and are able to contribute to the team and be a productive member quicker. Each new staff is handed an induction book which need to complete in 2 weeks time with a help of different designated persons such us experience carer, senior carer, manager or administrator. Effective induction helps new employees to settle into their new job faster and become productive within the team, sooner.

aDevelop the Team. Design team building programs and experiential workshops that provide guidance on issues such as team behaviour, cohesion and teamwork. There are various stages in team development. It all starts with breaking the ice and getting the communication going. Then various team effectiveness issues have to be addressed through ongoing team building activities. There are issues such as building trust, goal setting, decision making, accepting and managing change, creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, cohesion, and so on.  Develop the Individual. Facilitate ongoing job training, upgrade skills regularly, and offer scope for personal growth. When you build the individual you simultaneously strengthen the team. The investment that an organisation makes in an individual in the area of training and development could range from teaching proprietary techniques and upgrading job related expertise, to skills development or soft skills training.

The aim should be to effectively develop the individual so that the team performance is sustained in the long run. c) E: Enable the Team Process. Steer a team in the right direction by clarifying roles, specifying business objectives and encouraging discussion and good productive conflict to optimise the team output. Poor role clarity and poor understanding of organisation objectives are two key factors often cited as reasons why a team becomes ineffective. The starting point in enabling good teamwork on a consistent basis is to ensure that there is absolutely no ambiguity what so ever. Whether that is in the team’s understanding of their roles and responsibilities or their understanding of the overall organisational goals that the teamwork has to support. The other concern area that is usually assumed to stand in the way of effective teamwork is conflict and improper conflict resolution. There is good and bad conflict Divergent viewpoints and disagreements during the course of discussing a strategic issue can actually be classed as productive conflict. This can be healthy for the team since disagreements often provide a means to explore various ‘problem–solution’ alternatives. When there are differing perspectives within a team it helps the team examine the issue thoroughly before arriving at recommendations. An important aspect of enabling good teamwork is to encourage frank and open discussions so that the output from the team is truly based on the collective thinking and experience of all the team members.

Recognise and reward both the individual effort and team effort. Good teamwork deserves a pat on the back and so does outstanding individual contribution. It is importance for the top management of an organisation to recognize and reward individual contribution in order to encourage each individual to do his or her best in contributing to the team effort. Rewards are motivators and provide a psychological stimulus that can drive people to strive harder and aim for excellence. When a team does well at a task, a word of appreciation can work wonders for team spirit and enthusiasm. Team recognition boosts team morale and heightens motivation levels on future projects. It creates a sense of camaraderie among the team members and the collective thrill that the team feels reflects positively in their work. Therefore, both types of recognition are important and give you the same result, i.e. they enhance motivation levels and provide a stimulus for a better team performance.

A Team is a collection of people who act in response to a common goal or outcome. The team is only as good as its members and how they interact with other. When managing a team it is helpful to have a diverse group of people from different demographics to ensure ideas are from a variety of viewpoints. A diverse workforce offers a pool of talents, ideas and viewpoints which are useful in problem solving. A diverse team will improve the services the organisation can provide. Team formation takes time, and usually follows some easily recognizable stages, as the team journeys from being a group of strangers to becoming a united team with a common goal. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman first came up with the memorable phrase "forming, storming, norming and performing" back in 1965. He used it to describe the path to high-performance that most teams follow.

Teams initially go through a "forming" stage in which members are positive and polite. Some members are anxious, as they haven't yet worked out exactly what work the team will involve. Others are simply excited about the task ahead. As leader, you play a dominant role at this stage: other members' roles and responsibilities are less clear. This stage is usually fairly short, and may only last for the single meeting at which people are introduced to one-another. At this stage there may be discussions about how the team will work, which can be frustrating for some members who simply want to get on with the team task. Soon, reality sets in and your team moves into a "storming" phase. Your authority may be challenged as others jockey for position and their roles are clarified. The ways of working start to be defined and, as leader, you must be aware that some members may feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do, or uncomfortable with the approach being used.

Some may react by questioning how worthwhile the goal of the team is, and by resisting taking on tasks. This is the stage when many teams fail, and even those that stick with the task may feel that they are on an emotional roller coaster, as they try to focus on the job in hand without the support of established processes or relationships with their colleagues. Gradually, the team moves into a "norming" stage, as a hierarchy is established. Team members come to respect your authority as a leader, and others show leadership in specific areas. Now that the team members know each other better, they may be socializing together, and they are able to ask each other for help and provide constructive criticism.

team develops a stronger commitment to the team goal, and you start to see good progress towards it. There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming behavior: As new tasks come up, the team may lapse back into typical storming stage behavior, but this eventually dies out. When the team reaches the "performing" stage, hard work leads directly to progress towards the shared vision of their goal, supported by the structures and processes that have been set up. Individual team members may join or leave the team without affecting the performing culture. As leader, you are able to delegate much of the work and can concentrate on developing team members. Being part of the team at this stage feels "easy" compared with earlier on.  Identify barriers to success and how these can be overcome

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