NewBase 22 April 2024 Energy News issue - 1718 by Khaled Al Awadi (AutoRe...
How Staff Collaboration Strengthens Agencies and Achieves Goals
1.
2.
3. When staff use their skills and knowledge together,
the result is a stronger agency that can fulfill its
mission
“To provide accurate information that would assist
individuals in achieving a better quality of life.”
People working together can sustain the enthusiasm
and lend support needed to complete the work of
each program.
4. A Teams succeeds when its members
have:
a commitment to common objectives
defined roles and responsibilities
effective decision systems,
communication and work procedures
good personal relationships
9. Extraverts
› Need to think
aloud
› Great explainers
› May overwhelm
others
Introverts
› Need time to
process
› Great
concentration
› May not be
heard
10. iNtuitive
› Great at big
picture
› See connections
› May make
mistakes in
carrying out
plans
Sensor
› Great executors
› May miss big
picture, relative
importance
11. Thinker
› Skillful at
understanding
how anything
works
Feeler
› Knows why
something
matters
12. Judger
› Good at
schedules, plans,
completion
› Makes decisions
easily (quickly)
› May overlook
vital issues
Perceiver
› Always curious,
wants more
knowledge
› May not get
around to acting
13.
14.
15. Competitive relationships become more
cooperative.
There is a willingness to confront issues
and solve problems.
Teams develop the ability to express
criticism constructively.
There is a sense of team spirit.
16. Be descriptive
Don't use labels
Don’t exaggerate
Don’t be judgmental
Speak for yourself
17. Listen carefully.
Ask questions for clarity.
Acknowledge the feedback.
Acknowledge the valid points.
Take time to sort out what you heard.
18.
19. Commitment to shared goals and
objectives
Clearly define roles and responsibilities
Use best skills of each
Allows each to develop in all areas
20. Effective systems and processes
› Clear communication
› Beneficial team behaviors; well-defined
decision procedures and ground rules
› Balanced participation
› Awareness of the group process
› Good personal relationships
Editor's Notes
According to Bob Mendonsa and Associates’ web page
http://www. trainingplus.com on Team building :
Team Building is a process and not an event.
Team Building is about both willingness and ability. Sometimes teams problems occur because team members lack important skills. Sometimes there are trust issues.
Team Building must address individual and group issues. People do not “disappear” when they choose to belong to a group. Any team building effort must address the strengths and development needs of individual team members that impact the group as a whole.
Of course the corollary is true and groups or teams fail when they:
Think differently
Have poor leadership
Have communications difficulties
Have competition between members
As the team matures, members gradually learn to cope with each other and the pressures that they face. As a result, the team goes through the fairly predictable stages noted on the slide.
To help the students adapt to their team, it might be wise to have them to simple activities to build trust and establish communication between the members. However, in the context of the computational science project many of the forming actions are undertaken as the team determines what their project topic will be and narrows the focus to reach their project goal. Teachers can help students as they "form" their teams by making sure that they understand the process they will go through to get their topic.
You may want to include some activities to illustrate trust and/or communication skills in a team.
To be an effective team member:
Extraverts should
Be prepared to stop before you fall into redundancy and overkill
Control your tendency to speak
Make a special effort to listen carefully, avoid interrupting
Stop, Look and Listen
Introverts:
Share more quickly and spontaneously thoughts and ideas
Rule out nothing as being too trivial and meaningless
Don’t hold others to the first words out of their mouths. Push for meaning and clarity
To be an effective team member:
iNtuitive’s should:
Use your imagination to show others
Keep as many alternatives on the table as possible
Don’t let facts stifle your creativity
Sensor’s should:
Express the problem in real, tangible and specific terms.
Demand that terms be defined and described accurately and quoted facts are real
Continue to push for common sense
In order to be an effective team member:
Thinker’s should:
Help others sort out where and when they become too attached to the problem.
Continue to push for precision. Redefine and rephrase the idea
Feeler’s should:
Admit when your personal values are clouding an issue
Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak, is listened to and is affirmed in their ideas, but don’t overemphasize harmony.
To be an effective team member:
Judger’s should:
Keep the process or task oriented
Help bring definition to the process
Make sure that the goals are turned into action
Perceiver’s should:
Help keep everyone from going with the first solution
Play the devil’s advocate
Don’t keep offering new ideas once the group has defined a solution
This is probably the most difficult stage for the team. They may be floundering trying to find a project topic that is narrow enough to study or a mentor to help them. They begin to realize that this project is different than other ones that they have done in the past. Teachers can help students through this stage by encouraging members to use their individual skills and assume more responsibilities.
Understanding how personality types interact can ease some of the tensions in the storming stage.
During this stage, team members begin to work out their differences and now have more time and energy to spend on their work. Thus they are able to start making significant progress.
In the context of the computational science project, the students have probably found a mentor who is helping them and have narrowed their project focus.
During this stage, you should encourage team members to:
do detailed planning
develop criteria for completion of goals
build on positive norms and change unhealthy norms
encourage continued team spirit
Now that the team is working well, it is important for team members to learn to communicate with each other including how to constructively criticize when necessary.
Be descriptive -- relate what you saw or heard the other person do. Give specific recent examples
Don’t use labels -- Be specific and unambiguous. Don’t use words like immature, unprofessional, irresponsible which are labels attached to behavior. For example, say “ You missed the deadline we had agreed to meet rather than, “You’re being irresponsible and I want to know what you are going to do about it.
Don’t exaggerate. Be exact. To say, “You’re always late for deadlines” is probably untrue and unfair. It invites the receiver to argue with exaggeration rather than respond to real issue
Don’t be judgmental. Don’t use words like good, better, bad, worst or should which place you in the role of controlling parent. This invites the receiver to respond as a child.
Speak for yourself. Don’t refer to absent, anonymous people. Avoid references like “A lot of people here don’t like it when you…” Encourage others to speak for themselves
Listen carefully. Don’t interrupt. Don’t discourage the feedback-giver.
Ask questions for clarity. You have the right to receive clear feedback. Ask for specific examples.
Acknowledge the feedback. Paraphrase the message in your own words to let the person know what you have heard and understood what was said.
Acknowledge the valid points. Agree with what is true. Agree with what is possible. Acknowledge the other person’s point of view and try to understand their reaction. Agreeing with what’s true or possible doesn’t mean you agree to change your behavior or mean agreeing with any value judgment about you. You can agree that your reports are late with out thereby agreeing that your are irresponsible
Take time to sort out what you heard. You may need time for sorting out or checking with others before responding to feedback. It is reasonable to ask the feedback-giver for time to think about what was said and how you feel about it. Don’t use this time as an excuse to avoid the issue.
During the performing stage, the team is now an effective and cohesive unit. As a team, the emphasize quality work; utilize each member’s talents; meet deadlines; and continue to work on team commitment.
Examples of the results of good team work can be seen on the Video tapes and CDs from the National Expos. The presentation itself is an example of team work.
The duration and intensity of these stages vary from team to team. Sometimes Stage 4 is achieved in a meeting or two; other times it takes months. Understanding the stages of growth will keep you from overreacting to normal problems and setting unrealistic expectations. Don’t panic. With patience and effort the assembly of independent individuals will grow into a team.
To summarize, even though these points are addressing teams in the workplace, they are applicable in the classroom setting. They can also form part of the rubric to evaluate the team’s performance.
Clarity in team goals: has a clear vision and can progress steadily toward its goals.
A work plan: helps team determine what advice, assistance, and other resources they need from teachers, mentors or research
Clearly defined role: Uses each member’s talents and involves everyone in team activities so no one feels left out.
Clear communication: Speak with clarity and be succinct. Listen actively; explore rather than debate each speaker’s ideas. Avoid interrupting.
Beneficial team behaviors: Should encourage all members to use the skills and practices that make discussions and meetings more effective; suggest procedures for meeting goals, clarify or elaborate on ideas; keep the discussion from digressing
Well-defined decision procedures: discuss how decisions will be made; use data as a basis of decisions; explore important issues by polling
Balanced participation: Everyone should participate in discussions and decisions, share commitment to the project’s success and contribute their talents
Established ground rules: Establish ground rules for what will and will not be tolerated in the team
Awareness of group process: Be sensitive to nonverbal communication; be aware of the group process and how the team works together
Use the scientific approach: Of course this is the underlying assumption in a project development, but in team building it helps members avoid team problems and disagreements. Opinions must be supported by data
