To know teamwork Has become, to this day, one of the qualities most sought after by those who hire staff. While is true that Years ago it was a skill that was only given importance in certain sectors, now it is being valued in places for which it would have been Totally unthinkable a few years ago, as in production chains or in factories.
In this article we offer you a brief theoretical explanation of the phases of the development of the working groups and seven tips to improve the teamwork In your organization / group. It does not matter if you are the leader of the work group or if you are trying to be hired by a company, what you are going to read Will be useful regardless of your work position.
Before we show you the advice, we'd like to ask you a question. Have you ever stopped to think why companies need people capable of teamwork? Because people who know how to do this greatly facilitate the achievement of a fundamental objective that is present in Any company: have a good working environment.
Why is teamwork important?
We can define the working environment as the environment in the place where you work. This depends on many different factors, such as the quality of Facilities, leadership style of leadership, fellowship, interpersonal conflicts or motivations and expectations Personal information.
The quality of the work environment directly influences the satisfaction of the workers. A good climate decreases the Absenteeism And the casualties By disease and increases the implication, the feeling of belonging to the company and, consequently, the productivity.
Think about how you would feel yourself if you had a great atmosphere in your workplace, you had all the necessary facilities to develop your Profession with comfort and you feel valued as much by companions as by managers. Would you work hard? Would you yield more? Probably yes.
In order for the work team that you are directing or of which you are part to be able to work together effectively, a series of Circumstances and develop a series of competencies.
There are some factors, such as the style of management and the quality of the facilities, for example, that will only depend on you if you are one of the Managers who are responsible for this. Others, like communication, will depend on you whatever the position you occupy.
Do not worry too much if at the moment the existing circumstances are not the most favorable or you or some of the people that make up the Lack any of the skills that are considered necessary; The group can be trained to enhance these skills and achieve So get to the target.
It is also important to understand the phases through which a work team must travel until it becomes effective as well. Bruce Tuckman Psychologist American specialist in the study of group dynamics, formulated a development model consisting of four stages (to which later Add a fifth) for which the teams must pass:
Training
It is the first phase of development, during which the members of the group seek to emphasize and become involved in the group's objectives. During this stage, the Role of the strategic leader is very important (we will speak more ahead of what the strategic leader is), since there are often doubts among the members that he Should resolve.
Conflict
During the second stage, also known as conflict, it is common to see doubts and confusion. Conflicts and disagreements may arise between Members of the group from which the leader will not be spared.
There are likely to be some power struggles and subgroups to form. Everyone is looking for their role within the group.
Standardization
The third phase of the development of the group, also named by various authors as the Integration phase, stands out as a period in which Conflicts and internal competitiveness has been placed in the background and all members work together to achieve common goals.
It is a good time to make decisions together, as members will feel more willing to make their opinion known and to give their opinion
Constructive about the ideas of others.
Realization
During the last phase of development, called Realization, the team works very well, allowing it to be on track to achieve the goals it Had proposed.
The members of the working group feel comfortable with each other and with the project itself, and when disagreements arise, they are resolved in a positive.
Termination
This is a phase that Tuckman himself added twelve years after developing his first theory, thinking mainly of the working groups that Are created to deal with a project and, once achieved, dissolve.
According to the own Tuckman , The group members who have been very close to and involved in the project can feel this stage as a threat for change That can come into their lives.
We have created a series of seven points that include personal / professional circumstances and competences that we consider vital for the achievement of A good team work As we always say, if you think we should add a point to this list, do not hesitate to add a comment in the section Reserved for it at the end of this text.
10 Tips for Working in a Team
1-Communication
The communication Is the fundamental pillar of teamwork. A working group with effective communication will be able to get the most out of Their abilities, thus multiplying their potential and reaching different goals and objectives . In addition, you will have more facilities to find solutions Appropriate to critical situations.
On the contrary, it will happen if people who work together do not communicate effectively between them: however much potential these people have for Will never achieve maximum performance as a team and will have more difficulty solving problems.
Clarity, concreteness and education are three fundamental characteristics that must always be present in your communication with the other members of your equipment.
Clarity : Your message must reach its recipients clearly, without giving any option to possible ambiguities that alter its meaning.
Concretion : Be specific with the idea that you are contributing or the request that you are formulating. Give concrete examples, propose specific solutions, Specifies the tasks to be performed or explains
Education : That clarity and concreteness do not make your education disappear. Good manners must always be present.
2-Exercise different types of leadership
For a team to work, there must be leadership. However, for us there is not a single Type of leadership . Following the theory of great Psychologist of the Catalan sport Pep Marí, there must be five types of leadership:
Psychic Leadership : The one that raises the spirits to the rest of the members of the equipment when the things do not go as you hoped.
Social Leadership : The one that is in charge of organizing the dinners, the partiditos of soccer hall, the excursions by the mountain, etc.
Commitment Leadership : The responsible, the employee who is an example to follow for their professionalism.
Strategic Leadership The one that Make the decisions And organize the team to work.
Leadership"magic" : Crack, who has a special ability to do their job and everyone knows.
These leaderships must be exercised by different team members. It is a way to involve more people and to take advantage of the skills and Characteristics of each of them. In this way, in addition, we will be preventing the damage that could be caused by having a single leader and that this Leave the equipment and work.
3-Develop individual and group goals
It has always been said that when working as a team everyone should share the same goal and, although it has some truth, it is not completely true. In Many occasions create conflicts between group objectives and individual objectives, which does not benefit the work climate and growth.
The world of sport can serve as an example in this case: imagine a football player who is an alternate and has as an individual goal to achieve headline. In order for this objective to be met, this player may need the equipment to go wrong and the results are not good so that they increase The odds that the coach will change to the players he is using, or even that there will be a change of coach. In this case, the Individual interests would conflict with collective interests.
To bring together all the members of the group to agree on the common objectives and, if appropriate, comment on the individual objectives, can be a Good starting point to start getting effective teamwork. The commitment of the people with the projects in which we are involved Is reinforced when we are given the opportunity to express our opinion and make important decisions.
4-Good organization
To get the most out of a team, it will be necessary to have a good organization. Managers and strategic leaders can be the Responsible for allocating tasks and setting up meetings and so on.
Team meetings should be held when they are really necessary and not because they are marked by the schedule stipulated previously, and using the Time essential, avoiding that they are lengthened until boring to the present ones.
If there is fluid communication and an adequate setting of both individual and group goals, group meetings should be something Punctual to draw new lines of action, solve problems or address a specific topic.
5-Effective conflict resolution
In every human group that spends much time together, different conflicts sooner or later appear. And in your case it will not be an exception, for That both you and your colleagues or employees must be prepared to effectively resolve these conflicts.
A good way to prepare the team to address these situations could be, for example, to undertake training by a specialist psychologist On the topic in which the team will be trained in conflict resolution .
We have already commented in the first point of this list the importance of having a good communication between the members of the team. Undoubtedly, it is the Which is more related to a resolution of potential conflicts effectively.
6-Freedom and flexibility
If you were given a choice, what would you rather have, having a boss who constantly watches over you and who does not allow you to move from your work area or have someone else Allow you to relax when you need it or go for a coffee, for example?
Surely you would prefer, like most people, the second option. Having freedom in your work is something highly valued by all that increases our Satisfaction and, consequently, our involvement and our work performance.
The same is true with time flexibility. One of the main causes of frustration in workers is the lack of possibility of reconciling work With other chores (family, sport or other hobbies).
What influence do freedom and flexibility have in teamwork? They influence the quality of work indirectly, in the same way as Satisfaction influences performance.
7-Variety
Some companies have made the mistake of forming a team with people of the same professional profile and with a way of seeing life very similar. This is not conducive to anything the creativity And the growth of the group, on the contrary.
If you want to create a team to achieve great goals, it is obviously very important that the members are highly qualified, but do not Everyone should have the same profile. Have people with different ways of thinking and seeing things.
And what do you think it takes to work well as a team?
References
- Weinert, Ansfried. 1985, 2nd Ed."Manual of Psychology of the Organization". Herder: Barcelona.
- Smith, M.K. (2005). Bruce W. Tuckman - forming, storming, norming and performing in groups, the encyclopaedia of informal education.
- Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) 'Developmental sequence in small groups', Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399.