Effective Team-Working | SkillsYouNeed

Belbin's team roles can be divided into Task and Process roles. ... The most effective team-workers are those who can see what skills are available within the ... INTERPERSONALSKILLS TeamWorking,GroupsandMeetings EffectiveTeam-WorkingSkills SearchSkillsYouNeed: InterpersonalSkills: TheSkillsYouNeedGuidetoInterpersonalSkills SubscribetoourFREEnewsletterandstartimprovingyourlifeinjust5minutesaday. Subscribe You'llgetour5free'OneMinuteLifeSkills'andourweeklynewsletter. We'llnevershareyouremailaddressandyoucanunsubscribeatanytime. EffectiveTeam-WorkingSkills Seealso:BuildingRapport OursectiononWorkinginGroupsandTeams,startingwithWhatisaGroup?,definesgroupsandexplainssomeoftheissuesandchallengesofworkinginagroup.ItexplainstheGroupLife-Cycle,andhowgroupscanchangeovertime. Thispagebuildsonthose,andsetsoutsomeofthespecificskillsthatyoumayneedwhenworkinginagrouporateam. EffectiveTeams OurpageonGroupRolesexplainsthatthereareanumberofrolesthatanyonepersoncantakeoninateam. Insummarytheseare: Belbin’sTeamRoles Shaper–drivesworkforwardandgetsthingsdone,hasaclearideaofthedesireddirectionoftravel; Implementer–alsogetsthingsdone,lookingforwaystoturntalkintoactionandgeneratepracticalactivity; Completer-Finisher–focusesoncompletingtasks,andtidyingupallthelooseends; Coordinator–managethegroupdynamics,ofteninaleadershiprole; TeamWorker–helpstheteamtoworkeffectivelybysupportingpersonalrelationships; ResourceInvestigator–gathersexternalresourcesandinformationtohelptheteam; Plant–generatesideasandcreativesolutions,notallofthempractical; Monitor-Evaluator–goodatcriticallyassessingideasandproposals,andatmakingdecisions;and Specialist–bringsexpertknowledgetothegroup,notalwaysnecessarytoeffectivefunctioning. Researchshowsthatthemosteffectiveteamshavesomeonewhocantakeoneachoftheninekeyroles.Thatdoesn’tmeanthatateamhastocontainninepeople,asmostpeoplecantakeontwooreventhreerolesatatime. Teamsthatstruggletooperateeffectively,however,tendtolackoneormoreoftheninekeyroles. Taskvs.ProcessTeamRoles Belbin’steamrolescanbedividedintoTaskandProcessroles. Taskrolesfocuson‘what’:thejobinhand,andgettingitdone.Thekey‘task-focused’teamrolesareShaper,Implementer,Completer-Finisher,Monitor-Evaluator,PlantandSpecialist. Processrolesfocuson‘how’,andparticularlyonthepeopleinvolved.TheyincludeCoordinator,ResourceInvestigator,andTeamWorker. Themosteffectiveteam-workersarethosewhocanseewhatskillsareavailablewithinthegroup,andusetheirownskillstofillanygaps.Peopletendtobeeithertask-orprocess-focused,ratherthanamixture. Itisperfectlypossibletolearntotakeontheotherfocus,ifyouwanttodoso,andthiswillmakeyouahighlyeffectiveteammember. KeyTask-FocusedTeamSkills Theskillswhichareneededtotakeontask-focusedteamrolesinclude: OrganisingandPlanningSkills Beingorganisedisessentialtogettingtasksdone. Ifyoudon’tknowwhatneedstobedone,andbywhen,it’squitehardtomakeithappenbyyourdeadline. Shapers,ImplementersandCompleter-Finishersareallcharacterisedbygoodorganisingskills,andcanusuallybereliedupontoputinplacestrongsystemsformanagingprojectswell. Somepeoplearenaturallymoreorganisedthanothers,andifthisisanareainwhichyoustruggle,takealookatourpagesonOrganisingSkillsandTimeManagementforsomeideas.Forlargerprojects,havealookatourpagesonProjectManagement,ProjectPlanningandActionPlanning. Decision-Making Beingabletomakedecisionsisalsocrucialtomovingthingsforward. Itisoftenimportanttotaketimetogatherinformation,andensurethatthedecisionisright.However,theremaycomeatimewhenanydecisionisbetterthannone. Groupdecision-makingoftenrequirescompromise,andsometimesawillingnesstogiveupone’sownpointofviewinfavourofthegroup’sshareddecision. However,asourpageonGroupDecision-Makingmakesclear,groupdecisionsarenotalwayscorrectsimplybecausetheyareagreedbythewholegroup. ShapersandMonitor-Evaluatorsarebothgooddecision-makers. Shaperstendtomaketheirowndecisionsquicklyandthenmaystruggletocompromise.Theyshouldtrytoallowotherstospeakfirsttoavoidbiasingthegroup.Theirwillingnesstoarguetheirpointregardlessofviewsexpressedbypreviousspeakerswillbehelpfultothegroup’sdecision-makingprocess. Monitor-Evaluatorstendtolookfortherightdecisionfromtheavailableevidence,andmaybeslowtomakeadecisionifthereisashortageofevidence.Theymayalsoleantooheavilyonevidenceknowntomorepeople,andontheviewsofmoreseniorgroupmembers. Formoreaboutthisarea,seeourpagesonDecision-MakingSkillsandGroupDecision-Making. Problem-Solving Task-focusedpeopleareoftenadeptatproblem-solving,especiallyiftheproblemrelatestothetask. Plantslookforinnovativeideastosolvetheproblem,andImplementerswillturnideasintopracticalaction. Shaperswillseethe‘bigpicture’andtheoverallplan,makingsurethatthesolutiontotheproblemdoesnotresultinachangeofdirection. Formoreaboutgoodproblem-solvingskills,seeourpagesonProblemSolving. KeyProcess-FocusedTeamSkills Process-focusedskillstendtobeaboutpeople,andaboutbuildingrapportwithinthegroupandmakingitworkcohesivelyandeffectively.Thosewhotakeonprocess-focusedgrouprolestendtohaveverygoodinterpersonalskills,andinparticular: CommunicationSkills GoodCoordinators,Team-WorkersandResourceInvestigatorsaregoodatVerbalCommunication,Listening,andQuestioning.Theyworkhardtoensurethatthegroupcommunicateswell,helpingtomakesurethattherearenomisunderstandingsorunexpresseddifficultiesbetweenteammembers. Formoreaboutdevelopingtheseskills,seeourpageonImprovingyourCommunicationSkills. AbilitytoBuildRapport Thesepeoplearealsogoodatdevelopingasenseofharmonywithinthegroup.Theyhelptobuildrapportwithothers,creatingacoherentteam. PersuasionandInfluencingSkills Oneofthekeyareasofprocessskillsisinpersuadingandinfluencing.Ifthegroupistocometoashareddecision,forexample,severalmembersmayneedtobepersuadedofthemeritsofaparticularcourseofaction. SeeourpageonPersuasionandInfluencingSkillsformoreonthis,andforanexampleofaparticularlyadeptpieceofinfluencinginagroupsituation. FacilitationSkills Managingaprocessisbasicallyaboutfacilitatingit,ormakingiteasier.Goodfacilitationskillsarethereforevitalinteam-working,althoughtheyareoftenwronglyseenascrucialonlyformanagingworkshops. Formoreaboutthis,seeourpageonFacilitationSkills. FeedbackSkills Givingandreceivingfeedbackwellisessentialinanyteam-workingsituation.Beingabletogiveclearandeffectivefeedbacktoothersisvitaltokeepthegroupprocessrunningeffectively,andtoplan.Italsohelpstoensurethatyoudonotgetirritatedandangrywiththewaythatothersarebehaving.Itfollowsthatyoualsoneedtobeabletoreceivefeedbackgracefully,andthenactonitcalmly. SeeourpageonGivingandReceivingFeedbackformore. SkillsinChairingMeetings Groupworkofteninvolvesmeetings,whetherthosearecommitteemeetingsormuchbiggerandmoreformalmeetings.SkilledCoordinatorsoftenhavehighlydevelopedskillsinchairingmeetings,andusetheminsmallandlargegroupsalike. Formoreaboutthis,seeourpageonConductingaMeeting. Conflictresolution Finally,youhavetorecognisethattheremaybesituationswhenyouneedtodealwithdifficultpeopleorsituations,orevenresolveaconflict. Formoreaboutthis,seeourpagesonDifficultGroupBehaviour,ConflictResolutionandonCommunicationinDifficultSituations. AndFinally… …itisimportanttorememberthatallteam-workingsituationsarefundamentallyaboutworkingwithotherpeople. Ifyouhavegoodinterpersonalskills,andareopentoreceivingfeedbackandimprovingthemasaresult,thenyouwillbecome,andbe,agoodpersontoworkwithinateam.Ittrulyisassimpleasthat. Howgoodareyourinterpersonalskills? InterpersonalSkillsSelf-Assessment Seealso: WhatisCharisma? UnderstandingOthers ManagingaRemoteTeam:HowtoStayProductiveandSecureOnline BuildBetterRelationshipsWithCo-Workers SixSkillsYouNeedforLeadingVirtualTeams TheSkillsYouNeedforMountaineering     TOP