Hints and Tips

A team is a group of people who come together to achieve a common goal or objective. 

The power of teamworking is that the output from the team is greater than the sum of the individual efforts of the team members.

Standard types of teams in organisations:

• Management teams

• Project teams

• Production teams

Roles in effective teams:

• Need members with the right mix of strengths

• Nine roles that team members need to fulfil for team success Belbin

• Each role is associated with strengths and allowable weaknesses

• A member can take on more than one role providing it suits their abilities or personality

Team members are equal partners and every member must:

• Contribute their fair share of effort

• Take a fair share of the blame if things go wrong, and most of all

• Take a fair share of credit for the team’s successes

Responsibilities to other team members:

• Listen to other team members points

• Think before criticising

• Do not forcefully put your point

• Don’t exclude any views that do not support your argument

• Resolve any differences between you and another team member outside the team meeting

• You may need to accept a role or responsibilities which are not your choice but which you need to do to make the team successful

• Take actions or deliver outputs at the agreed time

• Turn up for meetings on time and prepared

• Support team decisions even if you do not fully support the decision

Virtual teams use technology for communication and transfering of information and data.

Team development stages:

• Forming - getting to know you stage

• Storming - conflict and challenges

• Norming - defining ways of working together

• Performing - getting on with achieving objectives

• Adjourning  - achieved objectives and so dissolved

< Previous page > | < Start module 2 >