Team work – what it is… Zsuzsanna Szabo, Ph.D.

What is a Team Anyway? A team is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Groups vs. Teams  Groups = individuals working together to accomplish a given task  Teams  a group that has reached a higher level of quality  has developed cohesiveness among its members  strive for a magnified impact of results  members are collectively responsible for the performance outcome

Groups vs. Teams  Groups  Roles evolve in time  Goals developed in discussions  Members interact and develop methods of working  Relative interdependence among members  Rules and norms evolve as the group meets  Teams  Assigned roles  Clearly defined goals  Members formally collaborate and coordinate their efforts  Members are interdependent  Rules and norms are explicitly discussed and developed in order to coordinate the work

Why Teams? Do you remember?  Working in groups enhances activities in Active/Collaborative Learning.  Team skills are valued by industry.  Engineers work in teams.

Team development stages  Forming  Storming  Norming  Performing  Adjourning

Forming  Know each other  Define the task  Decide on information resources  Determine how to begin

Storming  Emergence of conflicts  Sacrifice of personal needs  Resistance to leadership  Experience of negative emotions  Conflict

Norming  Feelings of belonging  Increase of cohesiveness  Groupthink = too high cohesiveness!  Development of norms (informal rules)

Performing  Members work synergistically  Time management very important!!!  Teamthink

Adjourning  End of task  Unexpected member withdrawal  External constrains (organizational, downsizing, etc.)  Perception of loss

Team members – The Process of Transition Anxiety Can I cope ? Happiness At Last something’s going to change ! Fear What impact will this have? How will it affect me? Threat This is bigger than I thought! Guilt Did I really do that Depression Who am I? Gradual Acceptance I can see myself in the future Moving Forward This can work and be good Hostility I’ll make this work if it kills me!! © J M Fisher. Not to be sold or published. Sole risk with user. A free resource from Denial Change? What Change? withdraw I’m off!! … this isn’t for me!

Important Team Roles  Facilitator - The facilitator is responsible for leading the discussion, keeping focus, and moving the meeting along.  Recorder - The recorder is the person responsible for doing the writing of the team whenever group work is being done. This should maximize participation by the rest of the team, since no one else needs to worry about it.

Important Team Roles  Time Keeper - The time keeper has the responsibility of keeping track of time, as well as keeping the team moving so that they can finish the task at hand. The time keeper is also responsible for making sure that team members are on time.  Gatekeeper - The encourager/gatekeeper has the task of giving encouragement to all the other team members. The person also has the responsibility of maintaining a balanced level of participation for all the members. They will encourage the silent members and try to hold back the verbose, dominate members.

Important Team Roles  Devil's Advocate - The devil's advocate takes a position opposite to that held by the team to ensure that all sides of an issue are considered. This responsibility should be undertaken by all team members.

Common Team Problems  One of my teammates never comes to class.  One of my teammates never participates.  No one comes to our meeting prepared to work.  One of my team members is very rude.  Most of my teammates just want to rush to accomplishment. REPORT TEAM PROBLEMS EARLY!!! CONFIDENTIAL PEER EVALUATION!!!

Code of Cooperation The agreed upon rules governing the behavior of team members, as well as any appropriate rewards and sanctions.

Exercise  INDIVIDUALLY, based upon your experience as part of a team, use 2 minutes to write down the following:  What 2 elements would you like to see in your teams Code of Cooperation?

Items to Consider  Team Attendance in Class  Team Communications  Individual Attendance at Team Meetings  Team Meetings  Additional Items

Exercise  AS A TEAM use 5 minutes to discuss your individual Code of Cooperation elements and come to an agreement as to the ones everyone would like to include in your team’s Code of Cooperation.

Code of Cooperation Team Attendance  The team will make a concerted effort to attend every class and be on time. Team Communications  The team members will communicate with one another via /phone/BlackBoard. Individual Attendance  Each team member will attend every team meeting outside of class. Team Meetings  Team meeting will normally take place in ____________ during the ___________________ hours.