1. By: Tyler Howlett twh875@mun.ca
Team Development
By: Tyler Howlett

2. Overview What is a Team? What is Team Development?
Benefits of Team Development
Key Steps and Traits Required for Success:
Team Building
Favorable Traits
Four Stages of Team Development
Three Possible Strategies for Development
Challenges:
How to know when it’s over
Sources

3. What is a Team?

4. What is a Team?
All Pictures From: Google.ca

5. What is a Team? Many Definitions:
A group of players coming together on one side in a game or sport.
Group of Firefighters battling a burning fire.
Two or more people coming together to complete a goal or task.
"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable." (Katzenbach and Smith, 1993)
Table from: Team Building- A Complete Guide

6. What is Team Development?
“Team Development’s purpose is to help a team in the process of self-examination to gain awareness of those conditions which are the source of it’s strength and those conditions that keep it from functioning effectively.”
“Through the team development process, the group learns how to make decisions and take those actions that will lead to better efficiency, productivity, product quality, and quality of work life.”
Source: Neddermeyer, n.d

7. Benefits of Team Development
Allows for different perspectives in reaching a goal.
Increased potential for information gathering.
Learning from other team members.
Improves the chances of problem solving.
When a team works on achieving a goal, there is more discussion and increased chance for success.
Team bonding can lead to friendship.

8. Team Building
Team building is a very important part of successful team development.
It can make or break a team.
Can be achieved in many different ways:
Meetings
Activities
Team Motivation
Bonding trips

9. Benefits of Team Building
Improves morale and leadership skill
Finds barriers that conflicts creativity
Allows for a more clear definition of objectives and goals
Improves organization, productivity and process
Identifies strengths and weaknesses
Improves problem solving ability
Source: The Team Building Directory Picture from: Google.ca

10. Traits for Success
In order for a team to be successful it must possess certain qualities:
Capable Leadership
Team leader must be active within the team:
Motivate team members
Ensure a positive team attitude
Help with solving problems
Must be dedicated to both team and project goals
Must monitor teams progress
High amounts of motivation and team dedication
Teams must always stay focused on the goal of the project
Teams must always work together

11. Four Stages of Team Development
There are four main stages of team development, known as Tuckman’s Four Stages of Development.
Forming
Storming
Norming
Preforming

12. Stage 1: Forming
Involves the team members getting to know one another.
Members learn exactly what it is they are doing and how the team leader plans to run things.
Team building is very important in this stage.
Stage ends when members begin to see themselves as part of the group.
Source: Salas, 2007

13. Stage 2: Storming
Is a sorting out period where members begin to find their place in the group.
This stage is the start of intragroup conflict.
All about exchanging ideas, good or bad on how to reach the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007

14. Stage 3: Norming
Team members use past experiences to solve their problems and pull together as a cohesive group.
Results in team handling procedures in solving conflicts, decisions, and methods to reach the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007

15. Stage 4: Preforming
Team has achieved harmony, defined its tasks, worked out its relationships, and started producing results.
Members have learned to work together and contribute their resources to achieve the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007

16. Strategies for Team Development
GRPI Model
Group Dynamics
Open-ended Meetings
Picture from: Google.ca

17. GRPI Model
Goals, Roles and Responsibilities, Processes and Procedures, and Interpersonal Relationships
Shortens the amount of time teams spend in their storming and forming phases, thus improving team effectiveness, ensuring productivity, efficiency, and quality and at the same time enhancing the way members work together (Tang & Wenzlik, 2008).
Source: Tang & Wenzlik, Picture from: Google.ca

18. Group Dynamics
Social process that involves the interaction and working together of people in a group environment.
Influences personality, power and behaviour.
Helps with the team building process and forming stage.
Source: Karki, Picture from: Google.ca

19. Open-Ended Meetings
Holding open-ended meetings allows for complete interaction and participation from any member of the team.
It can develop problem solving strategies, establish objectives, focus on team contributions, promote team ideas and team motivation.
Picture from: Google.ca

20. Challenges
Major challenges related to Team Development occur as a result of the dependence on a team.
Trust is a major issue
Choosing the right team
Keeping the team on track
Space challenges
Knowing when it is over

21. Internal Barriers to Teamwork
Occur when team members do not set appropriate goals for the team and do not implement a plan for reaching them.
Results in the team falling apart from the inside because their goals are not clear, therefore they do not know what to do.
Can be overcome by setting achievable goals and implementing a solid plan for succeeding. Team leader must also motivate the team members so they don’t lose track of the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007 Picture from: Google.ca

22. Trust Trust is an extremely important aspect of any team or group.
To overcome the challenge associated with gaining trust one could:
Implement team building activities
Allow involvement of all parties on the team
Provide help to those who need it

23. External Barriers to Teamwork
Occur when team members are required to work on the team project, but also have to work on outside projects such as school work or family issues.
Results in team members being unable to dedicate their time to the project.
Can be overcome by only choosing team members that can be 100% dedicated to the project.
Source: Salas, 2007

24. Choosing the Right Team
Choosing the right team is also important. The choices you make have the ability to make or break your project.
To overcome this challenge you can:
Choose members that are diverse, dedicated, and have knowledge of the project.
Members should not be selected based on their position within the system because, while they may be knowledgeable, they may not be dedicated to researching information and collecting raw data.
Source: Salas, 2007

25. Keeping the Team on Track
If a team loses track of their projected goal, problems will begin to occur. To prevent this:
The leader must maintain the groups concentration as workload increases.
Motivation can be used to boost the teams morale.
Clear stated goals and objectives also keep the team on track.

26. Space Challenges
A challenge of team development that is not directly related to team performance is the matter of space; where the team will meet.
This can be overcome by a team member providing a meeting area or room for the team.
If a team member does not have access to a sufficient meeting area, the team can look to outside sources for help; donation of room by outside businesses or organizations.
Electronic sources are also available.

27. Electronic Resources
Technologies are also available to assist with team work, including webinars or computer programs like Skype.
This can solve the problem of where a team meets by providing options that you can choose from the comfort of your own home.
Team members who cannot attend a meeting due to transportation issues, inclement weather, or any other reason can stay home and by using one of these techniques, can still be in contact with other members.
This is a great way for teams to combat the challenge of where and how meet.

28. Groupthink
When team members attempt to conform their ideas to what they believe to be the consensus of the group.
Emerges when the view of a few members dominates the discussion.
Can be overcome by the team leader. The leader can spot this and make changes that will discourage the domination of discussion.
Best ways to avoid is to have small group sizes, give everyone opportunity to speak, and encourage the challenging of other ideas.
Source: Salas, Picture from: Google.ca

29. Knowing When It’s Over
Knowing when a team is over or failing is extremely important in Team Development.
If a leader or team does not recognize that the team is no longer working towards the desired goal, team morale is low, or things are just not working out, it will result in a waste of time, effort, and money.

30. How to Know When It’s Over?
There are three ways that can lead to the demise of a team:
External Barriers to Teamwork
Internal Barriers to Teamwork
Groupthink

31. Sources
Suk-Han Tang & Claas Wenzlik. (2008). The GRPI Model: An Approach for Team Development. Systemic Excellence Group. Pp. 1-14
Ines Salas. (2007). Team Building Tool. World Health Organization. Pp 1-19
Dorothy M. Neddermeyer (n.d). Definition: Team Development.
Kedar Karki. (2009). Group Dynamics. PowerPoint Presentation
Images from

32. Thank You!
Questions?