What is Teamwork?

Teamwork occurs when team members live up to their collective accountability for goal accomplishment. Individual performance, social and technical, is crucial to the performance of teams.

What is the Purpose of a Team?

Better understanding of decisions, More support for and participation in implementation plans Increased contribution to problem solving and decision making More ownership of decisions, processes, and changes.

How Are Teams Created?

Teamwork vs. Individual - Advantages

Advantages of working as a team More creativity leading to more ideas and better results Increased employee satisfaction The opportunity to develop and acquire new skills The speed at which things can be achieved A sounding board for testing out ideas and thoughts A support network that you can draw on Advantages of working individually Freedom to work at anytime/time management Do not have to depend on others Complete control Self satisfaction Great for specialists

Teamwork vs. Individual - Disadvantages

Disadvantages of working as a team Opposing views could cause arguments Unequal workloads = arguments Different personality types clash Limiting Creativity Disadvantages of working individually Less ideas More work No one to blame

Group Activity
Team vs. the Individual In a given challenge What are the expectations? Who is more likely to be successful? What the disadvantages/advantages?

Activity Review
1. How many of the objects in black can you name? 2. What shape did the objects in black collectively make? 3. What was the color of the background text?

Activity Review
1. How many of the objects in black can you name?

Bird Butterfly Paperclip Fire Recycle Sign Snowflake Mr. T. Dice

Umbrella Lips Cherry Flower Start Plane Gears

Activity Review
2. What shape did the objects in black collectively make?

A Triangle.

Activity Review
3. What was the color of the background text?

Red.

Successful Team Must Consider

Goals Diversity Engagement Clarity Size Relationships Dynamics

The stronger the foundations, the better the chances for longer term success.

Goals
Goal: A desired result an individual or team plans and commits to achieve Focused on the group-level rather than individual-level accomplishments

They must be "SMART" Specific Measurable Attainable Reasonable Timely

Diversity
Can include: age, race, ethnicity, experience, connections, style of thinking, personality, training, etc.

Homogeneous Groups Find it easier to quickly build social relationships and interact Tend to have narrow viewpoints Limit creativity, perspectives, and ideas Comfort can lead to underperforming
Diverse Groups (Heterogeneous Groups) Are more resourceful Benefit from extended viewpoints Excel in problem solving Take time to develop group dynamic

Engagement
Communication Build Ownership Help people Believe

Clarity
Clear and well defined expectations make it easier for members to both know the objective of: The individual The team Team effectiveness is hard to achieve when the task is highly complex

Team Size
Larger group = more people to divide up work Too large of a group may cause communication and coordination problems. Good size would be between five and seven members. Fewer than five may be too small to adequately share responsibilities. Larger than seven would make it harder for all members to join in discussions, contribute their talents, and offer ideas.

Relationships
Relationship problems can occur from: Needs Personality Experience Age Other background characteristics.

FIRO-B Theory examines differences in how people relate to one another based on needs to express and receive feelings of inclusion, control, and affection. Suggest teams whose members have compatible needs are likely to be more effective than those who are more incompatible.

Group Dynamics
The forces operating in teams that affect the ways members work together. Required Behaviors Formed and expected by the team Emergent Behaviors Those the team members display in addition to any requirements

"Getting good players is easy. Getting them to play together is the hard part."

Work Cited
"6 Benefits of Team Working | Goals and Achievements." Leadership and Management For Accountants and Health Professionals. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://goalsandachievements.com/teams/6-benefits-of-team-working/>. "Creating SMART Goals" Top Achievement: Self Improvement and Personal Development Community, August 2011 <http://topachievement.com/smart.html>

Eikenberry, Kevin. "How to Get Your Work Team Fully Engaged ." hodu. The Kevin Eikenberry Group, 2006. Web. <http://hodu.com/full-team.shtml>.

30 Nov 2011.

Heathfield, Susan M. "Team Purpose Purpose of Teams." Human Resources - Business Management Development Jobs Consulting Training Policy Human Resources. About.com. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://humanresources.about.com/od/teambuilding/f/teams_purpose.htm>. Joseph, Chris. "The Disadvantages of Teamwork in the Workplace." Small Business - Chron.com. Hearst Communications Inc. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-teamwork-workplace-1937.html>. Klein, Cameron. "Does Team Building Work?" Small Group Research 40.2 (2009). Small Group Research, 6 Jan. 2009. Web. <http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/40/2/181.short>. Patel, Harshada, Michael Pettitt, and John Wilson. " Factors of collaborative working: A framework for a collaboration model." Applied Egronomics. 43.1 (2011): 1-26. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://0www.sciencedirect.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/science/article/pii/S0003687011000573>.

Scarfino, Deborah. "Focus on Teaching: Team-Building Success: It's in the Cards." Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Sage Journals Online, 27 Jan. 2009. Web. <http://bcq.sagepub.com/content/early/2009/01/27/1080569908330375.extract>