Framework of a Successful Team
There are many criteria necessary in building an effective team. Specific steps can be executed for a productive team to emerge. We can examine the framework of a successful team to see how this can be achieved.
Critical Elements to Creating a Team
When establishing a team it is important to consider several attributes that help to facility a high performance team.
Effective Leadership - Every team needs a leader to drive the team to success. To be effective the leader must allow input from the team members. It is important to keep the individual input organized for everyone to keep the direction clear. An effective leader will need to make ...view middle of the document...
44). Many teams, such as those found in online learning, find it challenging to communicate with team members because of geographical locations and differing time zones. As important as acquiring important communication it is also imperative that the team establish guidelines for the ways in which the team is to communicate.
Charter and Ground Rules – Teams work better when they are organized. Gadeken (2012) suggests that “the first tool of team organization is a charter” (p. 45). A charter is a document that establishes the team’s purpose, identifies the team members, lists individual tasks, spells out communication, and conflict resolution plans.
Skilled Team- Regardless of the experiences and backgrounds of team member, it is imperative that the team identify what each member’s skill set includes. Every team member brings at a minimum one strength that can benefit the team. It will be the leader’s role to help identify these strengths and use them to the advantage of the team’s success.
Establishing the “We” in Team
For a team to be successful, they must learn to work as one unit. Individuals within the group must adopt a new identity. They temporarily must release the identity of “I” and embrace the identity of “we.” One should not be misled into assuming that team membership alone constitutes a working team. For a group to function as a team, the definition of a group needs to be considered. As Kreitner and Kinicki (2004) state, “Although other definitions of groups exist, we draw from the field of sociology and define a group as two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms and goals and have a common identity” (p. 410). For a team to form into one cohesive group the four criteria mentioned above (interacting individuals, collective norms, collective goals, and common identity) must be in place.
Interaction and communication – A team needs to have clear communication. They need to conduct regular meetings where they can discuss issues, projects, goals, etc. Without communication a team cannot function.
Roles and norms within the group – Roles and norms are essential in building team collaboration. According to Gratton and Erikson (2007) “Collaboration improves when the roles of individual team members are clearly defined and well understood” (p. 108). As soon as roles are defined, individuals will begin to have a sense of responsibility. In conjunction with rules, norms will need to be established. The group will need to establish expectations, for example, quality work, timely execution, mutual consensus, etc.
Collective goals- Groups will begin to think they are connected through a common goal. Once the goal has been established and roles take action, “group cohesiveness” starts to take place (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004, p. 415).
Common identity – Team members need to identify with other team members personally or professionally. They may be graduate students, have similar...
