Institute of Leadership & Management

Good to know

Helping you to understand team building and dynamics

Groups
A group is two or more people who meet regularly and influence one another over a period
of time, understand themselves to be a group, and share common values and objectives.
Groups can be formal, with a specific purpose, such as a committee, maintenance crew or
task force, or informal such as an interest group. Group members may share information,
make decisions and help each other but produce individual work. The groups performance
is the sum of the work of individual members.

Teams
Katzenbach and Smith (1993) describe 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 teams result is more

Principles of people management

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Institute of Leadership and

& Management
Management

Successful high performing team

Belief in

Sense of

shared

commitment

aims and

to the team

and

Free

Acceptance

Feelings of

Full

The open

The

flow of

of group

mutual trust

participation

expression

resolution of

information

values and

and

by all

of feeling

conflict by

turnover,

norms

dependancy

members

and

members

absenteeism,

objectives

communications

and decision disagreements themselves

A lower level

accidment,

making by

errors and

consensus

complaints

Building your team

A successful team has individuals with a wide range of skills and they tap into each
others strengths. Belbin (1981) identified nine team roles which need to be filled for
a successful team. Understanding them can help you allocate work according to
peoples preferences which will help motivate your team and get work done.

Principles of people management

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Institute of Leadership & Management

Team role

Strength

Weaknesses

Challenging, dynamic, goal-oriented,

has drive and courage.

peoples feelings.

ideas into actions.

Somewhat inflexible, slow to respond

to new possibilities.

Accurate, conscientious, meticulously

prevents errors.

Inclined to worry, reluctant to

delegate.

Task-related team roles:

Shaper

Implementer

Completer/finisher

Social-related team roles:

Resource investigator

Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative,

explores opportunities, develops
contacts.

Co-ordinator

Calm, confident, clarifies goals,

promotes participative decision making.

Team worker

Co-operative, caring, diplomatic,

sensitive, a good listener, averts
friction.

Over-optimistic, loses interest once

initial enthusiasm has passed.

personal work.

Indecisive when faced with tough

decisions.

Thinking-related team roles:

Plant

Creative, imaginative, unorthodox,

Monitor/evaluator

Logical, analytical, discerning,

Ignores incidentals, too preoccupied

judges accurately.

Specialist

Principles of people management

Single minded, motivated by the

Contributes on a narrow front,

pursuit of knowledge.

dwells on technicalities.

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Institute of Leadership & Management

Manage personal performance and development

L2ML1LO2

Groups dynamics
Teams develop through stages which Tuckman (1965) describes as Forming, Storming,
Adjourning. This process, group dynamics, can help you to understand how you need to

Principles of people management

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Institute of Leadership & Management

Manage personal performance and development

L2ML1LO2

Adjourning
Performing

Norming

Storming
Forming
Team acquaints and
establishes ground
rules. Formalities are
preserved and
members are
treated as strangers.

Members start to
communicate their
feelings but still view
themselves as
individuals rather than
part of the team. They
resist control by group
leaders and show
hostility.

People feel part of the

team and realise that
they can achieve work
if they accept other
viewpoints.

The team works in

an open and trusting
atmosphere where
flexibility is the key
and hierarchy is of
little importance.

The team conducts an

assessment of the
year and implements a
plan for transitioning
roles and recognising
members
contributions.

Leaders Tasks
Give clear
direction

Open up conflict

Let team assign

own tasks

Get members
acquinted

Move towards
negotiation and
consensus

Provide direction

Create a positive
atmosphere
Assign straight
forward tasks
Be sensitive to
teams need for
direction

Get members to
assume more
tasks
responsibility

Hold celebration
Encourage team to
review own goals
and progress
Listen and
facilitate
Give feedback

Consult
Inspire

Celebrate
completion of
tasks

Provide vision

Reduce
dependency

Participate

Celebrate
successes

Keep
communication/
information
flowing

Acknowledge loss

Reinforce
Celebrate
achievement

Communicating clear targets and objectives helps a team get through the Forming
stage. People are generally motivated by having challenging targets and belief in
shared objectives helps create a high performing team.

Principles of people management

L3 ML24LO3 GTK

Institute of Leadership & Management

Manage personal performance and development

L2ML1LO2

Motivating Teams
To motivate your team, you need to give individual attention and recognise them as a team.
If you...

Find out what motivates individuals

Get them working on whats important

Explain and train - make sure people have the knowledge and skills to do their
work well

Let them do the work

Appreciate and praise people

Expect excellence

Treat people with respect and care about them

Lead by example

.. you will soon have a motivated team.

Principles of people management

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Institute of Leadership &

and
Management
Management

Conflict in teams
should, be avoided. Some of the most common reasons for misunderstandings are:
Goals

Policies

Well, who should

I please - the
customer or
finance?

I didnt know the

purchasing policy
had changed.

Style
Why do you
always leave
everything to the
last moment!

Principles of people management

Pressures
I cant get both
things done by
midday.

Perception

Resources

Nobody told me
the project is no
longer a priority.

My laptop is old.
Everyone else
has the latest
model.

Roles

Values

But whose job is

it to get a proof
to marketing on
time?

I really dont
think thats the
right thing to do.

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Institute of Leadership and

& Management
Management

What do you do when team members fall out?

Techniques to manage conflict within a team

Dont talk about the
problem when
everyone is angry.

Encourage everyone
to talk even when
the topic is an
uncomfortable one.

Ask people how

they would like the
problem to be
solved.

Dont hurry to a
solution - consider
different possibilities
first.

Find a solution that

is good enough for
everyone rather
than ideal for some.

Agree a way to
stop the same
situation happening
again.

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Principles of people management

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