The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

38 / MANAGING A TEAM

Achieving good teamwork

To help your teams perform to the best

of their ability, create clear goals. All

team members need to have a thorough

understanding of the goals of the team

and a belief that these goals embody

a worthwhile result. This encourages

team members to sublimate personal

concerns to those of the team. Members

need to be committed to the team’s

goals, know what they are expected

to accomplish, and understand how

they will work together to achieve

these goals.

However, these goals must be

attainable; team members can lose

morale if it seems that they are not.

To avoid this, set smaller interim

milestones in the path to your overall

goal. As these smaller goals are

attained, your team’s success is

reinforced. Cohesiveness is increased,

morale improves, and confidence builds.

As the manager of a team, it is your

job to provide the resources and support

that the members need to achieve

success. Offer skills training where

needed, either personally or by calling

in specialists within your organization

or outside training services.

members is the ideal

number for a team to work

at optimal effectiveness

6–12

Steering your team

Team members should all share in

the glory when their team succeeds,

but also share in the blame when the

team fails. However, members need

to know that they cannot ride on the

backs of others.

Identify what each member’s

contribution to the team’s work should

be and make it a part of his or her

overall performance appraisal. To help

monitor performance, select members of

the team to act as participant–observers.

While a team is working, the role of the

participant–observer is to focus on

the processes being used—the sequence

of actions that takes place between team

members to achieve a goal. Periodically,

the participant–observer should stop the

team from working on its task and

discuss the process members are

engaged in. The objectives of the

participant–observer are to improve

the team’s functioning by discussing the

processes being used and creating

strategies for improving them.

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