HR Toolkit


Workplaces That Work

Work Teams and Groups

In a voluntary or non-profit organization, think about all the people that you come into contact: colleagues, board members and other volunteers, donors, clients, the general public and so on. With this large network of people connected to your organization, learning how to work well together is vital.

 

In this Section:

Why develop teams?

A team brings together individuals with similar interests and objectives. Teamwork originates with, and builds relationships among, a group of people who share a common interest or purpose. Working in teams allows individuals from different areas (e.g. programs, fund raising, marketing) with different roles (staff, volunteer, client/consumer/customer) and perhaps from different organizations to work together on issues of interest to team members.

A team focuses its work on common objectives and finding solutions to shared problems. It uses formal processes such as record keeping, facilitation and scheduled meetings to achieve its objectives.

 

Why develop teams?

  • To keep employees and reduce costs related to employee turnover (severance costs, hiring, training expenses)
  • To hold on to valuable organizational knowledge that comes with the continuity of staff and sharing of information
  • To enhance the power and feeling of satisfaction of individuals working on the team
  • To build organizational competence and stability
  • To establish trust relationships that lead to better sharing of knowledge and understanding
  • To achieve objectives because individuals are working together
  • Team members hold one another accountable
  • There is power in combining the talents of many individuals and strong teams contribute more than the sum of their parts

 

A team promotes communication and shares knowledge and skills by:

  • Creating an environment where the input from people at all levels is valued
  • Providing a process and place for multiple perspectives to be applied to complex problems and issues
  • Supporting shared decision-making
  • Turning knowledge into practical results that improve the organization's services
  • Sharing knowledge among board members, volunteers and staff, creating intellectual capital for the organization
  • Using a variety of communication processes (including technology) to support the sharing of information, knowledge and experience

 

A team supports change by:

  • Generating new ideas and insights
  • Creating new knowledge through working and learning with others
  • Creating a climate where innovation and new ideas are supported and members listen to diverse points of view
  • Multiplying impact while maintaining or reducing the resources needed to do the job
  • Promoting a culture that questions the status quo and looks for innovative ways to improve services and reach goals
  • Empowering individuals, the team and the organization

 

 

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Tips for successful teamwork

 

Be clear about your objectives

What do you want the team to achieve? Consider the potential roadblocks and opportunities and be realistic about how a team will help you find solutions. Make sure that all team members are aware of the objectives and how the team will reach them (and don't forget to celebrate when the team achieves a milestone!). Identifying a team leader can help the group stay on task.

 

Determine who needs to be on the team

Once you know your objectives you can decide who needs to be involved on the team. Consider whether you need to include staff members, board members, volunteers and/or clients/consumers/customers. Choose people who have a good understanding of the issue. You may also want to include people who have limited knowledge because they will bring new perspectives and ideas and will learn from this process. Also consider politics. Who is connected to management or leadership? Who can clear the way of organizational obstacles? Who gets along with whom? Who will be disruptive or uncooperative? Don't be afraid to add new members as the process continues.

 

Establish a time frame for completion of the team's work

Remember that group work often takes considerably longer than individual work.

 

Empower the team to work well together

Be sure the team members have the skills and resources they need to work well together - for example, facilitation skills, finances, support staff, executive support, access to technology and the skills to use it.

 

Identify how the team will communicate

You will need to establish a process for the team to report on its efforts and results. The team will have to establish how they will communicate among themselves and how they will communicate their work to others (for example, minutes of meetings, e-mail, web site and list-serves).

 

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Group dynamics overview

One of the main sources of stress in the workplace has to do with work relationships. As most of the work we do in the voluntary/non-profit workplace has us working with other people, understanding group dynamics is important for a well-functioning workplace.

Group dynamics is the study of groups and a general term for group processes. Bruce W. Tuckman first described the four stages of group development back in 1965. Ten years later, he revised his theory and added a fifth stage.

 

Stage 1 - Forming

  • Individuals desire to be accepted by others so they avoid controversy, conflict or serious issues
  • Group members focus on routines
  • During this stage, group members are assessing one another and the scope of the task and how to approach the task

 

Stage 2 - Storming

  • Important issues start to be addressed
  • Minor confrontations can arise about the group, the task, responsibilities, etc.
  • The issues may be dealt with quickly or ignored
  • Some group members will like the fact that real issues are starting to surface while others will feel uncomfortable

 

Stage 3 - Norming

  • The group becomes more established
  • Roles and responsibilities become clearer and are agreed upon
  • Confrontations help group members know each other better
  • Group members are now listening to each other better and identify themselves as part of a group
  • In some groups, the fact so much work was invested in reaching this stage may mean group members become reluctant to change anything

 

Stage 4 - Performing

  • At this stage, the group is interdependent and flexible
  • Group members know and trust each other well and the focus turns completely onto the task
  • Roles and responsibilities can change as needed
  • Not all groups reach this stage

 

Stage 5 - Adjourning

  • It is a natural part of group development that some groups will wind down
  • Group members may move on from the group or from the task
  • Group members will have a sense of achievement and a sense of loss

 

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Encouraging positive and productive groups

There are a number of ways to encourage positive and productive group dynamics:

  • Effective groups need to focus on both the group and the task
  • All group members need a clear sense of their collective task
  • Encourage group members to set and take ownership of goals
  • Write down and regularly promote the group's task so everyone remains focused
  • If individual conflicts arise, review and negotiate them in terms of the task that needs to be completed
  • Encourage all group members to participate
  • Keep a written record of group decisions to avoid returning to the same discussion
  • Establish group norms that everyone feels comfortable with and hold group members accountable
  • Handle feedback and debate fairly and look for alternative strategies that still fit with the group's task
  • Recognize group effort instead of individual effort
  • Focus on solutions - it's easy to identify the problem but more positive to focus on finding a solution
  • Be mindful of verbal and non-verbal communication
  • Affirm the importance of keeping commitments made to the group and by the group
  • Have clear expectations and communicate them throughout the group
  • Recognize positive contributions to the group
  • Affirm that constructive conflict is ok but personal attacks are not
  • Provide training in problem solving and conflict management to group members

 

 

Next Section: Managing Workplace Conflict