Unit 5 Activity 1: Team Effectiveness
The two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance and development (Northouse, 2016, p. 368). Performance refers to the quality of the work produced by the team and development refers to the level of cooperation between the team members (Nadler as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 368).
The six components that support group effectiveness are (Hackman as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 368):
- Compelling purpose
- Right people
- Real team
- Clear norms of conduct
- Supportive organizational context
- Team-focused coaching
The eight characteristics consistent with team excellence are (Larson & LaFasto as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369):
- Clear, elevating goal
- Results-driven structure
- Competent team members
- Unified commitment
- Collaborative climate
- Standards of excellence
- External support and recognition
- Principled leadership
A clear, elevating goal needs to be present so that team members can measure their success by whether or not the team objective has been accomplished (Northouse, 2016, p. 368). When goals are vague, teams have difficulty trying to figure out what their mission is. Goals should be motivating so that team members feel that they are important and worth pursuing (Northouse, 2016, p. 368). Different teams have different purposes so they must find the best team structure to accommodate their needs and tasks (Northouse, 2016, p. 369). Larson and LaFasto describe this as having a results-driven structure (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369). Some teams emphasize trust, while others focus on clarity or creativity. Hackman equates this to having a compelling purpose (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369).
Hackman and Walton agree with Larson and LaFasto in that teams need competent team members (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 370). It is important to have the right people who have the training, education, and people-skills for the task (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). I currently work as a teacher at Coquitlam Open Learning (COL), the online program for the district. The team that I work with consists of teachers who are trained in both their academic subject area and the online systems and procedures. It is important that each teacher has the skills and technical knowledge needed to maintain their online courses for maximum program efficiency.
A real team has unified commitment and a collaborative climate (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). In order for a team to work together effectively, the team must have a sense of unity and team spirit (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). As well, the culture of the team should be one that encourages honesty, openness, and trust (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). Before I became a teacher, I worked at the British Columbia Dental Association as a statistical analyst. On several occasions, I worked closely with different project managers on different teams. Some project managers encouraged openness, trust and creativity within their teams while other were authoritative and demanded perfection. It became obvious after several projects that the teams with project managers who fostered a culture of collaboration produced outcomes that exceeded expectations while the teams with project managers who restricted group morale had outcomes that merely met expectations.
Standards of excellence should be set so that clear norms of conduct are communicated to team members (Northouse, 2016, p. 371). When team members understand that excellence is expected from them, they are more likely to meet these expectations. I am currently taking another leadership course where students have been placed in groups to complete assignments. At the beginning of our first assignment, we discussed our expectations and academic goals for the project. Knowing what my teammates were willing to contribute and expect from me has made me more diligent and careful with my portion of the work because I want to ensure that it meets their expectations.
External support and recognition need to be provided for each team in a supportive organizational context (Northouse, 2016, p. 371). Teams need to be able to to draw on external resources in order to function effectively as part of the organization. They cannot be isolated.
Principled leadership is related to team-focused coaching. Effective leadership helps teams reach their full potential by influencing the team through four processes: cognitive, motivational, affective, and coordination (Zacarro et al. as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 371). My department head provides leadership to our staff at COL. Recently, we have been tasked with new curriculum implementation for the program. Using coordination, she has delegated tasks based on our skills. For example, she tasked me with managing the budget for purchasing new teaching material because I am mathematically inclined. She asked another member of our team to reach out to other teachers for resources because she was more connected to other programs. The Ministry of Education has changed the new curriculum roll out dates several times and as such, our department head has adjusted our timelines and expectations accordingly.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.