team building

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Team development within the framework of personnel development

As part of work organization, teamwork has been tried out since the 1970s to increase productivity and curb the negative consequences of Taylorism . The phases and structures of the composition of small groups, which come into direct contact with each other in order to achieve a goal with responsibility for the division of labor, are referred to as team building or team development within personnel development and sport .

Definitions

Teamwork should not be left to chance ; For this reason, one of the goals of team development is to create a positive working atmosphere and to guarantee a trusting cooperation.

Team building / development can on the one hand be a process that work groups and teams automatically go through in phases over the course of their existence, on the other hand it can also be an active, controlled process that serves to improve the cooperation between employees, especially in the case of temporary projects .

The willingness to cooperate and team spirit should be promoted in order to increase the work efficiency of the team. It should be noted that not only efficient cooperation within the team is guaranteed, but also cooperation between the team and the superior. In addition, dissatisfaction in the teams should be eliminated.

Team development measures mostly consist of the analysis of the current situation and its processing (what is going badly and why ?, what needs to be improved? Etc.) and group exercises to clarify the mechanisms and dynamics of teams.

Often not only the competencies of individual team members or the whole group (e.g. communication) are optimized, but also the structures of cooperation are rearranged. In addition to training and coaching , moderated workshops , feedback techniques or outdoor training are used as methods .

Process of team development measures

In 1989, Francis & Young presented a prototype team development process:

  • at first there is a desire for change. If good cooperation in the team is no longer guaranteed, the superior must commission an internal or external consultant to support him in team development.
  • At the first contact with the consultant, it is important to clarify how the team is composed and how it has worked so far in order to develop a team development concept.
  • The consultant creates a preliminary concept and discusses it with the supervisor. This can be adjusted if necessary.
  • The team then first defines the problem together and the causes are analyzed.
  • The next step is to determine the future target state.
  • Then the problem is addressed and goals are set for the future.
  • Finally, the success control with regard to the goals takes place.

Definition of terms

The term team is often replaced by synonyms such as college, committee, committee, or body or equated with group work . A team is also a group , but not every group is a team. Teams can be differentiated from groups based on the following criteria:

  • A team is usually a small group in which all members directly, i.e. H. face to face, get in touch.
  • It is defined as a relatively permanent or at least long-term working group .
  • So this is a goal-oriented community .
  • The working style of a team is characterized by cooperative interaction and collective responsibility .
  • In contrast to a group, a team is a cross- hierarchy, small, functionally structured work group .
  • A team is characterized by a strong community spirit (teamspirit) and a relatively strong group cohesion .

General requirements

Teams should be formed especially when the task complexity increases, since information processing , control and responsibility can no longer be handled easily by individuals. It is important to ensure that the team members have as different qualifications as possible in order to complement one another optimally. On the one hand, team building can be seen as a life cycle that is the responsibility of each individual member. Education is a recurring process in which a clear and unique identity is developed.

On the other hand, a supervisor always bears the qualitative responsibility for the optimal combination of the required resources in a team. The individual wishes and ambitions of the team members must be taken into account in order to be able to recognize the contribution of each individual. Team building is therefore not a short-term matter and does not only apply to individual team members. Another reason for team building can be found in the democratization tendencies and in the social change in values of organizations. This led to a legitimation crisis of hierarchical-directive structures and favored the development of participatory forms of organization.

Tuckman phase model

Bruce Tuckman , an American psychologist, developed a phase model for team development in 1965.

Tuckman's model describes four successive development steps for groups ( Forming , Storming , Norming and Performing ). In 1977 the model was supplemented by a fifth phase ( adjourning ).

  • Forming - the initial and finding phase (contact)

The first phase is characterized by uncertainty and confusion. The first thing is that the team members get to know each other and ensure that they belong to the group. First goals and rules are defined and the group slowly turns to the task, but the relationships between the team members are still unclear.

  • Storming - the dispute and dispute phase (conflict)

In the second phase, storming , there are often disagreements about the setting of priorities when the team members pursue different goals. Power struggles arise over the leadership role and status in the group, which creates tensions between the team members. Relationships are rather conflict-laden, in the worst case even hostile, but initial coordination takes place on the organization of work. In this phase the group's performance is rather poor.

  • Norming - the regulation and agreement phase (contract)

In the norming phase , norms and rules are discussed or found and adhered to through tacit agreement. The team members have found their roles and there is more cooperation. The relationships are more harmonious, mutual acceptance increases and the team is increasingly turning to its task.

  • Performing - the work and performance phase (cooperation)

In the Performing phase , the performance of the team members levels off at a constant level. The team acts as one and is oriented towards the common goal. There is an atmosphere of recognition, acceptance and appreciation. The team members work together successfully. Roles can change flexibly between people. The team is open to each other, cooperates and helps each other. For this reason, the task processing runs successfully.

  • Adjourning - the dissolution phase

The fifth phase, adjourning , was added to the phase model by Tuckman in 1977. The fifth phase is not relevant for all teams. The adjourning phase refers to the groups that work together for a longer period of time but go their separate ways after completing their assignment. For example, members of a project team who move to another project team after completing a project or who take care of their day-to-day tasks are affected by the adjourning phase. Often times, team members feel sad about the upcoming end and worry about the time after they finish working on the team. Organizations are advised to create a final documentation about the work of the team, which will also help the other employees at a later point in time to find and correct possible errors or to transfer successful processes to other tasks.

It should be noted that the individual phases can also be repeated if a new team member joins an existing team or if there is a change in the task. By participating in a team, team members feel that they are doing something bigger and that they belong. This feeling increases the self-esteem and the motivation of the members, which in turn has a positive effect on the work. We can only speak of a well-functioning team when the collective effort exceeds the sum of the individual performances.

Tuckman's phase model is a simplistic description. The representation suggests an automatism that is by no means effortless, but the result of intensive work by the team members. The defining influences are manager, employee, task and environment. Some groups never reach the stage of work, others do not seem to have a conflict phase.

composition

The composition of a team, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous, also influences team building. Although homogeneous teams tend to have fewer coordination conflicts, they only have a lower diversity of resources . While heterogeneous teams have performance advantages , they are somewhat unstable. The increased coordination effort to use the diversity of resources and the excessive integration in the sense of the group think phenomenon, in which a team hastily and selectively, ie by neglecting essential information, reaches consensus, is a hindrance to the team's performance.

Team interventions to the west

According to West (1994), team interventions can be divided into five main forms:

  1. Team start-ups,
  2. Regular formal reviews,
  3. Addressing known task related problems,
  4. Identifying what the problems are,
  5. Social process interventions

These measures each require different procedures, which are explained in more detail below.

  • The interventions, known as “team start-ups” , target teams that are just starting their work. Questions like the goals, strategies, work processes and roles are in the foreground. The beginning has a significant influence on the later development and effectiveness of the team, especially in the event of a crisis.
  • A review or a review of the work in the team should take place at regular intervals. Such interventions are referred to as “regular formal reviews” . West recommends spending one or two days outside of the usual work environment and reflecting on the goals, roles, strategies and processes with regard to an effective way of working. A reasonable time is when the team has completed an essential work item. In addition, if possible, all members of the team should take part in this measure and structured planning should be drawn up in advance. The focus should be on a selection of topics in order to be able to reflect on them in depth.
  • The machining task-related problems is the third intervention. If such a problem has occurred, a so-called problem-solving workshop should take place. A condition of a problem-solving workshop is a precise definition of the task-related problem on the part of the team members. The team members should be released during their work for the problem-solving workshop so that they can jointly discuss the problem and develop measures for improvement / solution measures. In addition, the team can be supported by an expert. Additional measures during the problem-solving workshop can be the mediation of measures of the continuous improvement process by an expert.
  • The fourth intervention is used to identify team problems . This intervention can be used when the team is working ineffectively but no reason for ineffectiveness can be identified. During this intervention, the team members should identify the problem and its cause and work out a corresponding solution strategy together.
  • Within the fifth intervention on social relationships in the team , the main goal is the creation of a positive social climate and the well-being of the team members. The content of the intervention focuses on interpersonal relationships, social support, the team atmosphere and conflict management. For this purpose, the team members can learn techniques for conflict management such as questioning techniques or moderation techniques. In the event of a dispute, they should be able to intervene through certain questions. In addition, the team members are supported in developing their skills. A suitable measure in this case would be the mutual identification and analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each team member as well as the development of individual improvement measures.

Team design / structural model

Within human resources management , the resource-oriented composition of teams based on the tasks to be performed and existing or additional competencies is used. Assuming that an ideal work team should combine all the skills required to complete a job in line with requirements, suitable aptitude diagnostic measures can be used to determine which resources are lacking or are overrepresented. The example of a team in which there is more than one informal leader and one formal leader who is not the same person as the informal leader is known. If a constant, conscientious or mediating authority is missing at the same time, conflicts are often triggered by accident , which adversely affect the work result.

See also

literature

  • Ralf D. Brinkmann: Personnel development techniques, training and seminar methods. IH Sauer Verlag, Heidelberg 1999.
  • Dave Francis, Don Young: More success in a team. 5th edition. Windmühle Verlag, Essen 2002.
  • Christoph V. Haug: Successful in a team. Munich 1994, ISBN 3-423-05842-0 .
  • Helmut Kasper, Wolfgang Mayrhofer (ed.): Personnel work, leadership, organization “work in and with groups”. 2nd Edition. Wirtschaftsverlag Ueberreuter, 1996, ISBN 3-7064-0248-3 , Chapter 2: The importance of group work.
  • Jon R. Katzenbach, Douglag K. Smith: The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-performance Organization. Harvard Business School Press, Boston 1993, ISBN 0-87584-367-0 .
  • Simone Kauffeld: Team diagnosis. Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie, Göttingen 2001.
  • Peter Knapp (Ed.): Solving conflicts in teams and large groups. managerSeminare-Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-941965-49-2 .
  • Bernd-Wolfgang Lubbers: Team Intelligence: An intelligent team is more than the sum of its competencies! Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-8349-0124-5 .
  • Armin Poggendorf : Applied team dynamics - methodology for trainers, consultants, educators and team developers. Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin / Düsseldorf 2012, ISBN 978-3-589-24204-7 .
  • Armin Poggendorf, Hubert Spieler: Team dynamics - Training, moderating and systematically setting up a team. Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn 2003, ISBN 3-87387-531-4 .
  • Jay Ros: Team building is the secret of success. Falken-Verlag, Niedernhausen 1998, ISBN 3-8068-7361-5 .
  • Bernd Schmid, Petra Fauser: Team development from a systemic perspective. EHP, Bergisch Gladbach 2004, ISBN 3-89797-059-7 .
  • JM Schmidt, H. Köppen, N. Breimer-Haas: Team-oriented approaches. In: J. Ryschka, M. Solga, A. Mattenklott (Eds.): Praxishandbuch Personalentwicklung. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2005.
  • Eberhard Stahl: Dynamics in groups, group leader manual. 2nd Edition. Beltz, Basel 2007.
  • Siegfried Stumpf, Alexander Thomas (Ed.): Teamwork and team development. Hogrefe, Göttingen 2003.
  • Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann Jensen: Stages of small-group development revisited. In: Group and Organization Studies. 2, 4, Dec 1977, pp. 419-426.
  • Bruce W. Tuckman: Developmental sequence in small groups. In: Psychological Bulletin. 63, 1965, pp. 384-399.
  • Rolf Van Dick, Michael A. West: Teamwork, team diagnosis, team development. (= Practice of Personal Psychology. Volume 8). Hogrefe, Göttingen 2005.
  • Achim Weiand: Personnel development for practice, tools for implementation. Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2011.
  • Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Achim Weiand: Personnel development for practice, tools for implementation. Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2011, p. 151.
  2. JM Schmidt, H. Köppen, N. Breimer-Haas: Team-oriented approaches. In: J. Ryschka, M. Solga, A. Mattenklott (Eds.): Praxishandbuch Personalentwicklung. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2005.
  3. Dave Francis, Don Young: Better Team Success. 5th edition. Windmühle Verlag, Essen 2002, p. 39ff.
  4. Helmut Kasper, Wolfgang Mayrhofer (ed.): Personnel work, leadership, organization “work in and with groups”. 2nd Edition. Wirtschaftsverlag Ueberreuter, 1996, ISBN 3-7064-0248-3 , p. 295f, Chapter 2: The importance of group work.
  5. a b Gerd Wiendieck: teamwork. In: Erich Frese (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of the organization. 3rd, completely new edition. Verlag Poeschel, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-7910-8027-X , pp. 2375-2382.
  6. ^ Bruce W. Tuckman: Developmental sequence in small groups. In: Psychological Bulletin. 63, 1965, pp. 384-399.
  7. Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann Jensen: Stages of small-group development revisited. In: Group and Organization Studies. 2, 4, Dec 1977, pp. 419-427.
  8. ^ Simone Kauffeld: Team diagnosis. Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie, Göttingen 2001, p. 30.
  9. ^ Rolf Van Dick, Michael A. West: Teamwork, team diagnosis, team development. (= Practice of Personal Psychology. Volume 8). Hogrefe, Göttingen 2008, p. 23.
  10. ^ Rolf Van Dick, Michael A. West: Teamwork, team diagnosis, team development. (= Practice of Personal Psychology. Volume 8). Hogrefe, Göttingen 2005, p. 23.
  11. ^ Simone Kauffeld: Team diagnosis. Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie, Göttingen 2001, p. 30.
  12. ^ A b Rolf Van Dick, Michael A. West: Teamwork, team diagnosis, team development. (= Practice of Personal Psychology. Volume 8). Hogrefe, Göttingen 2005, p. 24.
  13. ^ Rolf Van Dick, Michael A. West: Teamwork, team diagnosis, team development. (= Practice of Personal Psychology. Volume 8). Hogrefe, Göttingen 2005, p. 24.
  14. ^ Eberhard Stahl: Dynamics in groups, manual of the group management. 2nd Edition. Beltz, Basel 2007, p. 46.
  15. ^ Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994, p. 98.
  16. ^ Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994, pp. 99f.
  17. ^ Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994, pp. 101f.
  18. ^ Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994, pp. 103f.
  19. ^ Michael A. West: Effective Teamwork. BPC Wheatons, Exeter 1994, pp. 104f.