Defining an Effective Team

Defining a team is not easy, even when a team has been specially assembled for a specific
short-term task. This is because each task requires support from many ancillary functions, who
may be considered to be part of the team.

Katzenbach and Smith defined a team as: “a small number of people with complementary
skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which
they hold themselves mutually accountable”. A team is not just a group of people working together.
Groups do not become teams just because someone refers to them by that name.

Stages of Development

A team goes through three distinct stages. This applies whether the team has grown
naturally or has been brought together for a specific task.

The first stage or drifting stage, individuals come together and get to know each other. The
official role which each individual plays within the team is defined usually by the team leader. The
team members may also size each other up for unofficial roles. There is very little synergy within
the team, or sense of belonging and purpose.

In the second stage, which can be referred to as gelling stage, like-minded individuals form
into small groups. Each group starts to develop its own identity under an unofficial leader. This is
a dangerous stage and one which needs to be passed through very quickly if the total team is to
survive as an entity under the official leader and not split into smaller teams.

The last stage, also known as the unison stage, the whole team is behaving as a single,
highly organized body, under a single leader. All team members work towards a common goal and
pull in the same direction, with a common purpose. The interest of the team match those of the
individuals and there is no goal conflict.

The Building Blocks of an Effective Team.

Clear objectives

There are mutually-agreed aims and objectives, and everyone has a clear understanding of these.

Balanced roles

There is a good balance of skills, abilities and aspirations. Team members have a clear
understanding of each individual’s role in achieving overall team objectives. (Find out more
about team roles).

Effective processes

There are good processes for making, communicating, implementing and reviewing decisions.
There are effective information systems and co-ordination of resources.

Good communication

Meetings are productive and there is effective communication up, down and across the
organisation.

Appropriate leadership

The team trusts the team leader and feels that it is led in an appropriate way.

Support and trust

People help each other by listening, evaluating, offering ideas, encouraging experimentation and
giving support.

Openness and conflict

People express themselves openly and honestly. There is a willingness to work through difficult
situations or conflict constructively.

Mutual co-operation
There is a readiness to be involved and committed. Individuals’ abilities, knowledge and
experience are pooled and used by the team. There is acceptance of each others’ strengths and
weaknesses.

Individual development

‘Mistakes’ are faced openly and used as a vehicle for learning. Individuals are given opportunities
to develop new skills and experience.

Sound inter-group relations

The team enjoys good relations with other teams, departments and agencies, each valuing and
respecting the other

Team Members

People play several roles within a team, depending on their personality. The number of
people within any one of these roles will vary depending on the task. Ten roles are identified:

Process Managers, who are usually managers or leaders of the team. They organize the teams, set
their goals, know the characteristics of the team members, draw on their strengths, and generally
keep things moving along.

Conceptual Thinkers, who are the team’s source of new and original ideas. They have imagination
and vision and can think logically. Conceptual thinkers test and develop ideas and see the impact
of the alternatives.

Radicals, who do not accept conventional thinking and solutions. They bring an unusual
perspective to problem solving, and propose new approaches to the team

Technicians. These are usually the specialist on the subject being considered by the team. They
are important members of teams, since without them the team would not have the knowledge to
complete their task efficiently. For technically oriented teams it is usual to have several
technicians, although many leaders make the mistake of filling their team with Technicians and
ignoring other team types.
Harmonizers, whose main aim is to ensure that there is good feeling and a sense of harmony
between team members. They are concerned with human behaviour within the team, and create an
atmosphere of cooperation and support, helping to resolve conflicts and ensuring that team
members enjoy each other’s company.

Planners or Implementors, who drive for completion of team goals. They may be autocrats and
very flexible, but they bring method to the team’s task and ensure that they strive for quality in
their work.

Facilitators, who are ready to provide help and support wherever needed. They are hard-working,
adaptable, and flexible in their approach and a bit of a jack of all trades.

Critical Observers stand back and observe the team, with the aim of judging their activities. They
look for problems, often advising caution. They may sometimes be considered as a ‘wet blanket’,
since they question and challenge every new idea. However, they are very objective in their
criticism and their activity is essential in keeping the team’s feet firmly on the ground, and stopping
it from pursuing misguided objectives.

Politicians or Power Seekers, who believe that they are always right and aim to influence other
team members into their way of thinking. They are usually responsible for taking the team’s views
and moving them towards their common goal.

Salespeople or Diplomats, who provide the link between the team and other teams and groups.
They develop contacts which are useful to the team, selling the team’s accomplishments, and
obtaining vital information for the team.

Team Members Recruitment

It is important that the managers get the best people to fill the positions in their teams and
that they make the effort to keep them once they have been recruited. A project team needs a mix
of skills and experience.

Defining the Job

 Defining the content of the job, and from that arriving at a description of the ideal
candidate, is probably the most important task of recruitment. Tasks are related to the
organization’s needs and it is important to define each job to achieve these tasks, not to expect the
job to change to meet the candidate. The managers should, however, correctly structure the team
so that the job meets two important criteria:

 It is not so difficult to perform that it can be done by the top 5 per cent of employees.
 The job is big enough to stretch the job holder. This means that the job should be enriched,
allowing scope for creativity, and not just be made more difficult.

As a minimum a job description should cover the following:

 Purpose of the job

 Scope and limits of authority
 Relationship within the job
 Duties and responsibilities
 Salary
 Job title

Selection Criteria

During the selection stage it is important to have a set of defined selection criteria against
which to measure candidates. Six factors have been suggested:

General Health and Physical Fitness. This is of more relevance in manual job. It is generally
assumed that for an office position a candidate will be fit enough not to have excessive time off
from work due to sickness, and to be able to work the required number of hours per week.

Impact on Others. This is related to how other people are likely to react to the candidate. It is
determined by factors such as manner, social behaviour, speech, and appearance. It also determines
how confident candidates are in the company.

Acquired Knowledge and Skills. It relates to how well candidates can perform the technical
elements of the job. It can be determined from their educational achievements; work experience,
both general and specific to the job being considered; and achievements outside work, such as
membership of committee and service with professional institutions.

Innate Abilities. This is a measure of the special aptitude which candidate may possess. Examples
are quickness in adapting to new situations and how quickly they can learn new tasks.

Motivation. This is measure of the drive which candidates exhibit to achieve results. It is the
effectiveness with which they apply their abilities to meet those goals which they set out to
complete. It is also an indication of their initiative in overcoming obstacle.

Emotional Adjustment. This is indicated by several factors, such as the ability of candidates to
stand up to stress at work; their outlook on tasks; their ability to adjust to difficult people eat work;
and whether they are continually moaning about things, such as the organization in which they
work.

Selection Process

The selection process is usually in to stages. The first stage consists of sifting through
application forms to short-list the most suitable candidates.

Several techniques are available to help the manager in the selection process, as defined in
the following sections

Application Process

This is useful vehicle for providing basic factual information on the candidate, such as
name, address and family status. Unfortunately, most other information is not very useful on its
own, and needs to be explored further using other techniques. Most jobs, unless they are highly
technical, can be learnt by the job holder after some time in the position. So in addition to raw
qualification, other things need to be considered. Selection are also often made on the basis of a
candidate’s past experience and career progression. The assumption is made that if candidates held
jobs and did these well, then they will likely to do equally good jobs in similar positions in other
companies.

Psychological Testing
 Psychological tests are becoming more reliable and are more widely used today in
candidate selection. These provide an indication of the candidates’ personality types and roles
which they are most likely to adopt within a team. However, these tests must only be used as an
aid to selection, and the results obtained are open to interpretation and must be verified during the
interview. The results of the tests should therefore be available to the interviewer.

Assessment Groups

The basic principle in this method of selection consists in putting groups of candidates
through simulated work conditions and using trained assessors to observe their performance.

During the assessment the candidates go through group and individual exercises. Group
exercises are designed to measure abilities such as decision making, persuasion, leadership, and
competitiveness. Individual exercises include making a presentation and the in-basket, where the
candidates go through a pile of mail and separates the critical from the trivial.

Although assessment groups provide more information about the candidates than a simple
interview, they have disadvantages. They are expensive to run, both in terms of money spent and
assessor’s time.

Selection Interview

Interviewing, in conjunction with the application form, remains the most widely used
method of candidate selection. The application form provides facts about the candidates; the
selection interview should be used to verify these facts, check for inconsistencies, and to determine
the candidate’s temperament and attitude.

Listening is the key to good interviewing. Usually candidates are interviewed by a

representative from the human resources department and then by the person who has the vacancy.
If necessary it is better to short-list candidates at the first interview and then to bring them back
for further interviews. Panel interview techniques are also used, where the panel may consist of
two or more people.

After the interview the interviewers should make careful notes about the candidates, while
the facts are still fresh in their minds. They should compare the candidates against their ‘musts’
and ‘wants’ list of job requirements, since this will help them later when they are selecting from a
number of potentially suitable candidates, who may have been interviewed over a number of days