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Once an organization has decided to create internal teams and to
have them as the major contributor to problem solving opportunities,
it must then take time out to study the behaviour and development
of the workings of a team in order that it is not surprised when
something appears to go wrong. Teams develop as individuals do;
they pass through learning and developmental stages; they move from
childhood to adolescence to adulthood. There are many growing pains
along the way. But just as you cannot, generally speaking, throw
out your children because you dislike or lose hope at a stage in
their development, so you must have the same belief and attitude
to your working teams. It will all come out right in the end as
long as you understand the journey it must make. The foolish manager
is the one that disbands the team because he has not appreciated
the necessity for growing pains to be worked through and does not
recognize a difficult stage in the development of a team, rather
believing that the team itself has failed.
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The first stage in the development of a team is that of ORIENTATION.
The team begins its work with members feeling moderately eager to
commence activities and having high expectations of their success.
Individual team members may feel a little anxiety as they wonder
just what will be expected of them and where will they fit in the
team. Inevitably all teams will possess central or dominant characters
that test the situation to see how far they can impose their individualism
upon other team members. At this stage the team will have a high
dependence on authority and still respond to hierarchy. This may
be termed the "sniffing" stage when clarification of mission,
goals, roles and responsibilities takes place.
The second stage in the development of teams is the DISSATISFACTION
stage when the discrepancy between hopes and reality takes a mighty
blow. Members begin to feel dissatisfaction with their own dependence
on authoritarian figures and become very frustrated as the goals,
tasks and plans they had prepared seem to be going nowhere. A general
feeling of incompetence and confusion surrounds the team and much
interpersonal interaction is negative. Members may compete with
one another for power and attention and polarities will occur. The
wise leader will be one who has studied the cause and management
of conflict and able to turn negativism into positivism by channeling
the energy created along constructive lines. Conflict may be managed
in different ways. It may simply be avoided by ensuring that all
meetings are non confrontational and where it seems that a conflict
might occur to simply ignore or pass over that particular issue.
A simple denial that a problem exists avoids conflict. Obviously,
this is not a constructive or healthy way for the organization to
move forward. A more amenable means of dealing with conflict is
by accommodating it. This approach may find some support in the
compromising culture of Thailand, as cooperation and the desire
not to risk damaging relationships, even at the expense of personal
goals, is sufficient justification. Competing is another way to
manage conflict, where essentially the attitude becomes, "survival
of the fittest' and winning at any cost. This can often be
assumed to be the Western way in business and it has certainly worked
in the past; but not any more. Companies need teams, teams need
compromise and internal competition takes energy away from defeating
external competition. Thus, the way forward in today's really
successful companies is to approach conflict from an attitude of
structured problem solving in a climate of compromise. This demands
that the needs of all parties are regarded as legitimate and important,
that there is a high respect for mutual support and that all parties
will openly discuss issues. A mutually beneficial solution must
be found without anyone being forced into a corner and having to
make a major concession. The fusion of Thai and Western culture
when led by exceptional individuals understanding both cultures,
can form the model of how the very best and most effective teams
can work in industry today. When conflict is dealt with constructively,
people can be stimulated to greater creativity, leading to a wider
choice of action and better results. All team members and especially
the team leader, must understand that no team development stage
is bad and that each stage is an integral part of the journey toward
effective production.
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Differences in rank must be buried to achieve team effectiveness,
listening skills must be improved and the ability to interpret non-verbal
clues and body language must be improved. Dissatisfaction eventually
decreases as the team moves to the stage of RESOLUTION and discrepancies
between expectations and reality are resolved. Harmony begins to
develop, together with trust, support and respect; responsibility
is shared and confidence and self-esteem become of paramount importance.
At this stage the leader begins to disappear as the team asserts
its own independence. This brings us to the PRODUCTION stage of
team development where the strength of the team is beginning to
be felt and there is high confidence in accomplishment of tasks,
leadership responsibilities are shared as the original leader has
already begun to disappear, realizing that to remain would be counter
productive to the further development of the team.
Let us summarize the four stages of team development, ORIENTATION,
where there is low productivity and high morale, DISSATISFACTION
when the honeymoon is over and the goals are difficult to achieve,
RESOLUTION where the team is really learning to work together and
difficulties are resolved whilst at the same time confidence and
cohesion are developing. Finally the team moves to its PRODUCTION
stage where both high productivity and high morale exist in concert
together. Each of these four stages demands a different kind of
leadership, thus the leader must become a situational leader. In
effect, the outstanding team leader adjusts his or her style to
provide what the group cannot provide for itself.
One key element of the successful developments of teams is the
tough call of having to retire a player if inadequate performance
persists; failure to perform this difficult act is one of the unforgivable
mistakes a leader can make. Others, and there are many, include
the failure to understand team dynamics and the inability to alter
leadership styles to match the developmental stages of teams. Above
all, if a leader is unable to control conflict then he or she is
lost and the team will fail. As the team progresses through its
stages of development, from directional through support to minimal
interference, the leader has to learn to stand aside. He or she
passes from the initial directing stage, through coaching to supporting
and finally, delegating. However, there cannot ever be an empowered
self-directed team unless the team leader is willing to share control.
There has to be a fundamental management mind shift from decision
making and maintaining control to helping people and teams develop
to enjoy competence, commitment and the ability to share in making
decisions. Teams really feel empowered when they are involved, contributing
and productive and all leaders have to realize that it is much more
exhausting to lead and develop a team than to manage by "my
way or the highway". Fundamentally, empowering and leading
teams is all about letting go, so that others can get going.
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