Management: Setting up Effective Teams

Rabat – Everybod talks about “teamwork”, but rare are the managers or entrepreneurs who understand how it works. Of course, working in teams is not always necessary; if there is a fire in the workplace, you do not need a team to decide how to react, but rather a “dictator” shouting orders to show people what to do and how to get out of the building.

But if you want to set up a work plan or a strategy, you will need the ideas and the input of all those who have something to say about the subject. You will need a team.

A team is a small group of people who rely on each other’s skills and work together to achieve a result for which they all feel responsible. However, setting up an efficient and effective team requires substantive work: choosing the right people, appreciating the diversity of opinions, resolving conflicts, working on internal communication, and making decisions collectively.

The first thing you need to decide as entrepreneur or manager is whether you really need a team for the task at hand. There are tasks that require just one person or task force with well-defined technical skills. If you do not have the time, or if it is a technical or routine issue or quantitative work, you do not need a team.

But if you need a multitude of skill-sets, or if you want to mobilize your staff around a common cause, to motivate them to make a collective decision, to encourage them to share their ideas and experiences, to ensure that the proposed solution is the right answer to a complex problem, teamwork is the best method.

This means that you will first need to understand the nature of the problem and understand its degree of complexity. Then you must determine in a clear and simple manner the expected results. This preliminary work will help you decide whether you need a team or not.

The establishment of a real and effective team goes through five stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and transforming.

Forming

setting up a team often lasts quite long, but it necessary for the members to know each other and share their ideas and opinions. It is also time to test the leadership skills of the team coordinator. This is an important transformative period: members will have to adapt to a new situation that requires them to act, reflect and decide as a group.

Storming

The team is not moving forward; members are frustrated; differences of opinions and personalities arise; conflicts appear. People are blaming each other. Everyone stands aloof and tries to do the maximum in his or her little corner. While this may be frustrating, it is important to remember that this is a normal phase in the “life” of a team. Instead of panicking in these moments of tension and conflict, the leader and the members must recognize these problems and work to analyze and overcome them

Norming

The members begin to understand their differences and to respect contrary opinions. They recognize each other’s roles and they strive to reconcile their different positions. They set rules for speaking, punctuality, respect for opinions, the decision-making process, report making, and minute-keeping. Professional and personal relations are starting to develop. The leader tries to keep the team focused and professional despite differences of opinion. Diversity is recognized as a wealth of the group.

Performing

Once the team is able to solve its problems and set up working rules, it starts the performance phase. They diagnose problems, analyze them, and propose solutions. The techniques of brainstorming and collective decision-making are adopted. Solutions are proposed. The team is highly motivated! They work hard, but in return, they start to see the end of the tunnel. The compliments and the recognition of the contributions of each other are sources of motivation for everyone.

Transforming

The goal is achieved. The work is satisfactory. Team members must move on. It is also a difficult time. A winning team does not disappear in nature easily. The affective and intellectual attachment of each and everyone ensures that nostalgia remains and severage is hard. But transformation is necessary. They have to move on.

Teamwork is one method of decision making among others. Use this approach in an effective manner. Do not confuse “team” with “committee” or “commission” or “task force”. The members of the “committee” or the “commission” do not interact with one another in order to reach a collegial decision. The task force is more technical and operational. The team is a more complex group and deserves all the attention you can give. Choose your teams well and do not forget to give them all conditions of success. This is how you can get the best results possible. Good luck.

Translated by Kaoutar Benchouk