Is There Anybody Out There?? ... Technology And The Dysfunctional Team

      
     Have you ever gone through the ping pong game of emailing someone back and forth until you can’t figure out where it started?  Death by email we have all seen it.  After several pings and a couple more pongs it loses translation.  Something we forget that there is another human being on the other end of the email.  Connecting just by picking up the phone and talking to someone is so important to solve the issue or just connect in a personal sense. 

      When working with a team just seeing a face once in a while or hearing a voice can do so much.  Inflection and non-verbal cures are a part of communication that the written word just can't replace. There are great ways to do this now that we have technology that puts a face on the screen. Sometimes I wonder if everyone looks like a powerpoint presentation that works remote or in another location. I have even seen team members that are two desks down write an email instead of taking the time to connect by talking.  Technology is great but we need to remember that humans bond through direct interaction.  We are connected to our family, our community, our organization through the emotional bonds we feel for them.  A team is not a thing but is made up of people and people need to bond to feel a part of something.

        Creating a productive team dynamic can be an issue in today’s world of technology.  More and more teams are relying on email, task initiators, shared data files and web chats as their primary communication.  The days of picking up the phone and asking the other person how they are and what’s been going on in their life has been replaced by task and a couple of quick sentences or words on a computer  We are taking the human out of human contact and with this can bring an impersonal disconnection of the team. 

       “New technologies help companies extend participation on a project to an ever greater number of people, allowing firms to tap into a wide body of knowledge and expertise. A decade or so ago, the common view was that true teams rarely had more than 20 members. Today, according to our research, many complex tasks involve teams of 100 or more. However, as the size of a team increases beyond 20 members, the tendency to collaborate naturally decreases, we have found.”  Research has shown that teams that are above 13 members tend to be more dissatisfied with the team.  This is due, to the most part, to lack of human connection.  The human factor is crucial to the success of the team.“

      Loyalty is built through the feeling of being a part of a group or team.  When leaders are managing teams it is important to remember that the team's interaction is as important as completing the tasks.  If  leaders create an environment that encourages human connection many of the issues and time drains can be eliminated.  Team connection creates motivation and breaks down the communication barriers.    

     Virtual teams can create more of this disconnection, that is why we need to remember that the human factor is critical in bonding a team.  “Working together virtually has a similar impact on teams. The majority of those we studied had members spread among multiple locations—in several cases, in as many as 13 sites around the globe. But as teams became more virtual, we saw, cooperation also declined, unless the company had taken measures to establish a collaborative culture.” With the technology today we should be connecting face to face with our virtual team members regularly and create a bond. 

     While I would agree that technology has taken business into an entirely different dimension, the need to connect is still a significant part of creating strong bonds.  Creating a collaborative culture is critical to the success of a team and individuals within the team.  If we remember to disconnect sometimes from technology and create human bonds we can move past many of the misunderstanding and become more productive. So get up from your desk and ask a question or pick up the phone and connect.  It is surprising what a little human interaction can do for productivity and teamwork.

Gratton, L., & Erickson, T. (2007). Eight ways to build collaborative teams. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 100-109. (Business Source Complete Accession Number:
         AN 27040494)

 

15 Steps For Effective Team Leadership

     Leading a team to become an effective and efficient group is an important part of any organizations framework.  Leadership in a team environment is essential for the team’s success.  Effective team leadership requires a leader to perform certain actions to be effective.  Team leadership is an essential part of creating an environment for success.  In order for a leader to move a team into effectiveness the leader must be effective in these fifteen areas of management.

Compose team - The leader must be a facilitator in composing the team so that they are effective in assigning the respective responsibilities within the team. 

Define mission - Defining a mission is crucial to the team understanding their directive and moving in the same direction to achieve the goals

Establish expectations and goals - A leader must be sure that the goals and expectations of the team and the individual team members are understood is iatrical to the success of the team. 

Structure and plan - With the team’s mission and overall purpose established, setting challenging but realistic goals for the team and outlining clear performance expectations based on those goals aids in accomplishing the team’s task

Train and develop team - Leadership actions directed at coaching, developing, and mentoring the team have been shown to enhance team processes and effectiveness across a wide range of formal and informal leadership sources

Sense making - Given the impact that disruptive events can have on team functioning, sense making is a particularly important team leadership function that satisfies important team needs.

Provide feedback - From a functional leadership perspective, feedback processes are an integral part of the team leadership process that allow teams to assess their performance, adapt as necessary, and develop over time

Monitor team - To ensure that the team performs up to its potential and is aware of external contingencies that may impact its functioning; the team must be monitored as it actively engages in task performance

Manage team boundaries - The leader must be involved in creating team boundaries and work as the peace keeper and manager of the team’s interaction

Challenge team - The team leader needs to challenging teams with regard to their task performance and confronting the team’s assumptions, methods, and processes in an effort to find the best ways of accomplishing the team’s work

Perform team task – Sometimes a leader needs to roll up their sleeves and help. A team leader may need to  perform the team’s task involves taking a more active role in the team’s work by participating, intervening, or otherwise performing some of the team’s task work.

Solve problems - As a leader it is necessary to solve problems that surface in the team’s directive.  There are times that problems suffice that must have the assistance of the leader to solve in these instances a strong leader is required to solve the issues so that the team can progress in the team’s directive

Provide resources – As a Leader it is important to provide resources for the team. This includes obtaining and providing informational, financial, material and personnel resources for the team.

Encourage team self-management – A Leader needs to encourage team members to resolve task and teamwork related problems themselves, and by relying on their own resources rather than seeking expertise from outside the team, the team becomes more adaptable and resilient.

Support social climate – A Leader must help to solve conflicts, building cohesion, setting the team climate, demonstrating consideration, and empowering team members. They found a positive relationship between supportive team leaders and team performance.

     As a Leader it is essential to be proactive in the formation and facilitation of the team that they lead.  A leader is the facilitator and with this monitoring, solving issues and moving the team forward are essential parts of their responsibility.  Without all of the elements of effective leadership a group could falter.  Effective leadership in a team can create success for the organization overall and produce a highly effective team.  They must have an open communication with the members of the group to assure that the directives are being met. When all of these directives are met the leader can create an effective team.

Morgeson, F., DeRue, D., & Karam, E. (2010). Leadership in teams: A functional approach to understanding leadership structures and processes. Journal of  Management, 36(1), 5-39. (Business Source Complete Accession Number: AN 47241619).

© copyright 2013

Team Communication

Teams can be found in many different environments in the world. Some of the best examples of communication and success are in sports, politics and hospital settings.  We can see that the top teams work because of their ability to communicate and this ability can create a win or lose in sports teams, a government working for the people and people getting upstanding medical care. 

When working in a corporate environment team communication is just as important.  Reviewing the types of communication characteristics that make up an effective team member and effective teams.  Review if a team can be effective in their collective communication if an individual member does not communicate effectively.  Finally, explain why effective communication is a determinant of a team’s success. Using the model to encourage teams to formalize perspectives and methods creates an environment for good team communication.  It gives a team structure and can elevate the likelihood of team conflicts and potential team pitfalls. 

Teams must establish a climate for communication; this is where the individual team member, organization and individual team members must contain an open communication message.  Rules must be created to mediate appropriate behavior within the group.  Communication needs to be done regularly in meetings with set agendas.  Team members need to understand other team members “styles” of communication and their strengths or weaknesses.  “Communication involves an observable interchange of information and subtle interactions of power, attitudes and values (Loxley 1997). Effective teams require reliable communication processes, with clearly defined responsibilities and appropriate delegation (Husting 1996). Individuals need to listen frequently to each other and collaborate in order to develop mutual knowledge, which enhances communication. Joint decision making and formal and informal interchanges can also enhance communication (Headrick et al. 1998). As a major

form of communication, meetings need to have clear agendas, and be managed so that all members contribute (Loxley 1997). In addition, clear two-way communication channels across team boundaries and with the organization ensures the relevance of the team’s functioning (Firth-Cozens 1998).” Mickan, S. (2000)

When creating a team it is essential to have a deep understanding from all members on the importance of communication and the other team member’s styles of communication.  Many assessments have been created to understand these styles of communication including D.I.S.C. and Situational Communication Style Assessments.  These tools can help others to understand how they and other team member’s best give and receive information.  “Consider an effective communication system to be one of the four necessary features of team structure. The communication system must focus on accessible information, utilize information from credible sources, provide opportunities for informal communication and have a way to document decisions in planning for communication. Leaders must take care to structure the team and interactions in such a way that these four elements are a part of the system.” Larson and LaFasto (1989, 55-57)

 Communication breakdown in the collective team communication process can impact the team environment and potentially affect the corporate bottom line.  In today’s competitive marketplace it is essential to stay competitive and good team dynamics are an important part of this equation. Communication is a cohesive bond between the team members and creates a trust factor important to the team’s effectiveness.  Trust is eroded by a lack of effective and opens communication; the historic relationships in SA; cultural issues, including a poor interpersonal understanding; poor perceptions of management initiatives and failure to "walk the talk". "You have to do what you say you're going to do or you will lose staff trust," says Steinmann. Yvonne Fontyn (2009)

 Effective communication is as essential as communication.  If communication by team members is ineffective it can create issues within the group and ultimately breakdown the group’s ability to perform.  There has been significant research done over the connection between communication satisfaction and success in the workplace or organizational teams (Cummings& Worley, 2009). That research shows people can be more successful when they are satisfied with the communication that is taking place in a situation at work.

  Teams must create rules for communication that keep the team on track and moving in the same direction.  A team needs consistent communication to stay effective in the workplace.  Individual team member’s communication abilities can affect the team and create issues with the success of the team.  Team communication can create a sense of satisfaction and can increase the effectiveness of an organization.  The communication skills of a team are a large part of the dynamic of a team and are essential for the success of that team