What is a team and how is it effective? Teamwork rules.

Ten tips on how to improve the quality of teamwork

In this article..

Increasing team productivity
-Strengthening team unity

Teamwork involves cooperation and finding common ground with others. Interpersonal communication is at the core of effective team efforts. When you work independently, interpersonal skills are not as important. But when you are required to collaborate well with other people, as often happens in teams, the importance of these qualities increases many times over.

This article describes ten communication actions and tips on how to improve the effectiveness and quality of teamwork.

Help newbies get comfortable

Many team members find it difficult to accept new members. This is not easy for newcomers who need to get used to the new team and understand the hierarchy of relationships within the team. If no one helps them with this, this usually indicates discord within the group. Newcomers feel like outsiders at first, and if new forces continue to join the team, then two coalitions may arise as a result - the old and the new guard.

If you have been working in a team for a long time, be sure to help the new member join your group. Use your active listening skills to learn more about the new employee's previous work experience. Ask what your new colleague needs and try to help him meet his needs. Ask other members to bring him fully up to date. Include a newcomer in the lineup general meetings, for example, invite him to go to lunch with everyone else. If the group is committed to helping a new member integrate into the team, integration is much faster and more painless than when everything is left to chance. Not only the beginner, but the entire group will benefit from the assistance provided.

Share information

Team members must be aware of everything that is happening. Present information as a stream. You can control this flow and promote its proper movement.
As you carry out your duties, let your colleagues know what you are working on or what you have learned.

Take the initiative, without waiting for your colleagues to ask you questions, and promptly inform them of what would be useful for them to know.

Teach so others can learn

Newcomers to the team must be trained to perform certain tasks, and the remaining employees must constantly improve their skills. Learning is impossible without interpersonal communication. To teach effectively, remember that your mentee is not as good at the job as you are. Tell in detail, explain special terms that he may not know. In particular, ask open-ended questions so that your students can express their views on the subject being studied. Then you will know exactly what has already been learned and what still needs to be worked on. Don't limit yourself to demonstrating your skills and lectures, try to have your student actively participate in practical exercises and periodically report to you on your understanding of the material.

Offer your assistance

A good team player can be easily recognized by the words: “How can I help you?” or “Let me help.” Your colleagues need to know that they can count on you for help if they need it and that you are ready to provide it. Never refuse when you are asked for assistance. Even if you can't help now, promise to help later and keep your promise. A person who is always ready to help enjoys authority in any team.

Ask for help

One of the benefits of working as a team is that you don't have to do everything alone. You have colleagues who will come to your aid at any time. People often make mistakes that might not have happened if they had turned to others for help in time. However, instead they try to do something themselves that they do not understand at all.

By asking questions, you show interest and confidence, not ignorance, as some people mistakenly believe. The only unforgivable stupidity is not asking a question when you don’t know something or are not sure about something. Don't make excuses; simply and clearly formulate your thoughts and explain what you need. Listen to the response and, if necessary, ask for additional information or clarification (use the clarification method), then paraphrase the response to make sure you understand correctly. After this, you can apply the obtained data.

Speak at meetings

The more you work in a team, the more meetings you have to attend. Teams should come together to coordinate their actions and discuss things together.
Speak up at every meeting, offer ideas and voice your opinions to help the entire team move forward towards achieving their goals.

Also actively listen and show interest during meetings. Encourage meetings to be constructive, multi-party discussions.

Focus on results

Many teams make a common mistake: they get into arguments about how to do the work, and forget about the work itself, bickering over whose way is better (“Mine!” - “No, mine!”).

During discussions, focus on the end result, especially if your team needs to solve a problem or come up with a plan as soon as possible. Ask: “What goals need to be achieved?”, “What results do we need to get?” and “What customer needs should we satisfy?” Ask questions like these often during your discussion and your discussion will be fruitful.

Provide feedback and support

Provide feedback on the performance of other team members as needed. Feedback promotes open communication. The main thing is to express an objective, not a subjective opinion and report facts, not their interpretation.

Give a positive assessment of good work, but do not limit yourself to general words, but list the actions that made a good impression on you.

If you feel something is going wrong, communicate it directly and meaningfully. This will help team members think about their actions and take this or other steps. Feedback is not a criticism of other employees, but an attempt to improve their work behavior and productivity, which in turn ensures the effectiveness of team efforts.

Address problems to the right person

When working together on a task, team members inevitably encounter problems, the ability to solve which determines the effectiveness of the team. If, at the very first serious difficulties, employees begin to look for the culprits, gossip, and create groups, then the entire effect of team actions will be destroyed.

Team members must work together on problems to develop into an effective team over time. If any problems are negatively affecting the entire team, put them on the agenda for the next meeting so that the participants can work together to find a way out of the situation. If one team member becomes the source of problems, contact him and decide together what to do. In any case, it is useful to apply the communication tools and conflict resolution models described earlier.

Don't forget about humor

A reliable indicator of the effectiveness of your team is the presence of humor and jokes in daily activities. However, workers do not ridicule each other, but enjoy working together. Their humor will add ease to communication and reduce the tension that often arises during work.

It is not enough to group people; you need to properly organize teamwork. Read about the problems of relationships in a team in the article.

From the article you will learn:

What does teamwork and teamwork mean?

A team is a circle of people who differ in criteria: gender, age, profession, goals, etc. But their main task is one thing - timely completion of the project through joint efforts.

The decisions made by the participants are traditional. Non-standard approaches to work are suppressed by individuals or rejected by the group. Innovative technologies are positively perceived by young and active employees who are eager to reconsider outdated ways of working.

Participants do not always work harmoniously, as they can pursue different interests. Take this into account at the stage of team formation, otherwise constant conflicts that can turn into real corporate wars cannot be avoided. To prevent this from happening, each person must know the algorithm for working in a team.

Team work algorithm

Don't think of groups as teams. They are formed spontaneously, so it is impossible to predict how the next project will end. Take the time to create a cohesive team in which roles, rights and responsibilities will be divided, and responsibility will be perceived by each participant.

Differences between a work group and a team

Effective teamwork is only possible if the participants perceive each other positively and try to find a compromise on difficult issues. When bringing people together, consider not so much the professional as the personal qualities of the employees. Do not try to reconcile warring parties by assigning them to work on the same project.

Teamwork organization

Forming a team is a long process. Start early, not just before you start the project. Managers who have a close-knit team of employees who have previously completed more than one project value it. This is due to the fact that it is easier to retain professionals who have gone through all the stages of establishing relationships than to create a new team.

If you are just forming a team, the participants will have to go through several stages until they become a single whole: habituation, grouping, unification, creating norms, observation and evaluation. When selecting employees, consider the skills that are needed.

Teamwork skills, without which you cannot achieve a positive result:

professional qualities needed to perform tasks;
ability to solve problems and make decisions;
developed analytical activity;
communication skills.

The ability to work in a team is affected by:

understanding of the general goals, objectives of the organization, department;
pursuit work together;
lack of personal goals not stated to the manager and colleagues;
the ability to integrate knowledge and skills with the potential of the team;
readiness to learn, change behavior if it contradicts the rules;
desire to communicate.

To organize team work quickly and successfully, take direct part in all processes. Guide the team, help take positions, distribute roles, but do not suppress employees. The psychological climate depends on your behavior. If the manager is tense, the participants become nervous and argue. They are trying to win the favor of the manager and take a leading position, which is fundamentally wrong.

Work in a project team is successful if the participants have equal rights, clearly know their responsibilities, and know how to redistribute work. Coordinate their actions. Make sure that an informal leader does not appear who can ruin relationships within the team or turn employees against you.

Don't give your employees impossible tasks, otherwise they won't appreciate the benefits of working as a team. In case of failures even in a united and strong team Disagreements are possible - employees spend a lot of effort, but do not see results. General discontent accumulates, because everyone blames the other. If the project cannot be completed in a month, do not limit the time frame to this period. Adequately assess the strengths of employees to avoid negativity.

Oksana Vilinskaya answers,
HR expert, deputy editor-in-chief of the HR magazine.

We are luring a top manager from another company. He is ready to accept the offer, but only if he is allowed to bring his team with him from his previous place of work. What should I do?

Teamwork technology

Keep it simple teamwork, which will allow you to quickly cope with the task. Do not use complex techniques if the team has only recently been formed. Otherwise, misunderstandings will arise and employees will become disoriented. The simpler the interaction principle, the fewer problems will arise.

Teamwork technology:

setting the task for the participants;
collecting the opinions of employees, including leaders;
discussion possible ways work, search for compromise;
drawing up an action plan;
work according to plan;
identifying shortcomings and eliminating them;
shutdown;
feedback.

Be sure to discuss each project. If you don't do this, team effectiveness will decrease. Highlight outstanding employees and tell them what they did right. Don't scold those who couldn't achieve a good result. Troubleshoot errors and guide participants.

Leonid Mazurik answers,
editor-in-chief of action-media.ru.

“It seemed like this team building craziness was a thing of the past. But no, during the crisis they started talking again about turning employees into a team,” a coach I knew was perplexed. He is convinced that the best ideas come not from groups, but from individuals. AND highest results Only a few individuals achieve it. There is no need to create a team, and it is an empty fiction. But I could not agree with this statement...

How to increase employee efficiency when working in a team?

Regulate the rules for working in a team, familiarize employees with them. Explain the norms of behavior, communication, clothing style, and way of interacting with clients. Stop conflicts and gossip. Develop a punishment system that is clear to participants. Don't forget about encouragement.

Explain to employees the essence of teamwork and the purpose. When changing projects, review the results of the previous one. If there were any flaws, identify the problems and fix them. Negotiate with colleagues, ask about the difficulties they have encountered.

When assigning responsibilities and tasks, keep the following points in mind:

whether the task is combined with the roles of the performers;
which member of the team has necessary knowledge, experience to perform the job effectively;
which employee will be able to develop skills and benefit.

If the task is urgent or important, trust it to the most experienced specialist. To other employees developed, appoint them as assistants. Make sure that experienced team members do not pass work onto newbies. Otherwise, the outcome of the project is unpredictable. Teach people to assign roles.

Create an environment of trust, without which it is impossible efficient work on the team. Employees must share best practices, valuable ideas, and new approaches to completing tasks. If there are omissions, team members become tense. They cannot unleash their creative potential.

Conduct “Teamwork” training. Invite an expert if you don't know what to focus on. By properly organizing the interaction of participants, you will be able to complete large projects in a short time. Remember that without your support, team members will not be able to achieve good results.

Any employer expects its employees to work together to effectively complete assigned tasks. Teamwork is required in almost every industry, from food services to business services. Even when a particular job seems better suited to an independent worker, it never hurts to have another person's knowledge, experience and skills.

Well-coordinated teamwork is essential in all areas of business

By combining the skills, strengths and personal qualities of several workers, you can achieve much best results than from the work of one person. But it is not so easy to get people with different personalities and views on their responsibilities to work together. In order for them to work for the benefit of the organization and for a common goal, and not for personal gain, it is necessary to be able to motivate them and create all the conditions for collective work. To do this, you need to know the principles and methods of creating group work.

What is a team

When talking about collaboration, it is important to first properly define the term “team.” Many people think that if they work together with other colleagues, then they are truly working as a team. But in reality, they work in so-called pseudo-teams - groups of colleagues gathered together and called a team, but without doing effective joint work. The main requirements for effective teamwork are:

sufficient team size (about 6–8 people is best);
clearly defined and measurable goals (creation of an innovative product, high patient survival in medical institutions, customer satisfaction with service-oriented services, etc.);
autonomy, authority and resources necessary to achieve the team's goal.

It is important that team roles are clearly defined. Then each participant will understand their responsibilities and interact effectively with colleagues. The ability to work in a team will increase your chance of success.

It is necessary that everyone takes their assignments responsibly and understands their importance. And also great value has experience in team work and availability leadership qualities from a leading person.

With such a boss, team work will move faster and more successfully. He must be able to rally team members and deliver for them common task, in the solution of which they will all be interested.

Teamwork process

Researchers suggest that the specifics of team work and its results should be considered as a series of processes that have their own duration, purposefulness of actions and lead to a specific result. These processes consist of action and transition phases. Action stages focus on activities that are directly related to achieving a goal, while transition stages focus on evaluating or planning activities to achieve goals. These phases can be divided into 10 different collaboration processes, divided into three higher-level categories:

Transition process (between validity periods):

mission analysis;
purpose specification;
strategy formulation;

Action process (when a group of people tries to achieve their goals and objectives):

monitoring progress towards goals;
systems monitoring;
team monitoring and backup behavior;
coordination;

Interpersonal process (present in both action and transition periods):

conflict management;
motivation and trust;
influence on management.

Scientists have confirmed that teamwork is more effective when team members are highly intelligent and have experience working together with enhanced coordination and communication. This is partly due to a chemical called serotonin, which helps a person communicate better and think positively. Serotonin is produced when a person is in a comfortable environment. Teams work more effectively when individuals interact with other team members.

The right strategy is important for successful teamwork

Features of teamwork

Some teams, especially those not constructed to the above standards, may perform poorly, that is, less effectively than should be expected based on their combined capabilities. This is partly due to the effect of social loafing. Group decision making appears to be less effective, and creativity may be lower in groups than the combination of individual efforts. This is also partly due to the loss of group energy (creativity, thought processes), which is necessary for team processes.

Sometimes there are some disadvantages in group work, but they still work with good result. Groups exceed expectations when they are based on poor combinations of their members.

These groups experience social labor (the opposite concept of social idleness). Social work occurs when there is high motivation to solve assigned problems, as well as a strong group identity. Successful teamwork is impossible without the following components:

Ability to solve problems collaboratively. Each group member is responsible for making equal contributions and offering their unique capabilities to solve the problem, resulting in the best outcome. possible solution. The quality of teamwork can be effective by examining the following six components of collaboration among team members: communication, coordination, balance of member contributions, mutual support, effort, and cohesion.
Healthy competition. Healthy competition in groups can be used to motivate people and help the team.
Relationship development. A team that continues to work together will develop an increased level of connection. This can help people avoid unnecessary conflicts since they are familiar with each other.
Totality unique qualities every person. Each team member can offer their unique knowledge and skills to help other team members. By working together, sharing these qualities will allow colleagues to be more productive in the future.
Increased motivation. Teamwork can lead to high levels of motivation within the group due to increased responsibility for individual performance. When groups are compared, participants become more ambitious to achieve high levels productivity and results.

The interactions of people on a team can have the unintended effect of fermenting hostility toward the managerial goal. It lies in the fact that teams are completely managed without the intervention of senior management. In this case, the manager or boss creates circumstances in which each employee monitors the work of his colleague, trying to control him in everything.

An American clothing company conducted a similar experiment. At first, work on the production line was individual and was rewarded with bonuses for exceeding the norm. However, then the company switched to team work, in which the income of each employee depended on the productivity of the team. Then the workers began to monitor each other and push each other to increase productivity. As a result, the company's operating efficiency has increased several times.

Types of commands

A team in an organization can be of several types, depending on who its members are and what mission they are called upon to accomplish. Participants in the process general work may be employees of one organization or enterprise, managers from one or different organizations, specialists in a certain type of activity, and even strangers. They may be connected by a common goal or problem. Any group of people united by such a goal has its own characteristics, rules and principles of work.

Initiative groups/quick start teams

Unlike most teams, which develop over time and do not act directly, initiative teams come together to immediately accomplish a specific task. Their members are usually specialists who must work together and are often faced with unexpected events or emergency situations(aircraft and flight crews, special teams in healthcare organizations, crisis management teams). Unlike other teams in the work context, members of initiative teams have little or no familiarity and do not have time for typical team-building activities. This is not necessary, because after achieving the set goals, the participants stop working together.

As noted in the input-process-output model, the structure of a team's work evolves over time. One significant type in this context are early interaction patterns, which describe repeated sets of communication within a team.

Research has shown that more effective initiative groups are characterized by early forms of interaction, which can be characterized as more stable (allowing for improved predictability and coordination) and involving more than one actor (indicating better information exchange).

The quality of work in initiative groups is not related to the quantity or patterns of interactions, but to their quality.

Initiative groups gather quickly and work on one task

Senior management teams

A senior management team (SMT) is a special form of team that usually consists of some of the top managers in a firm. However, there is no clear definition of what an organization's senior management team is. It usually involves the chief executive officer to work on a specific task. When working on this task, the team usually has much greater responsibility and significant autonomy compared to other types of teams.

The way VUCs come together and work together can be very different from other types of groups. This is based on the fact that top managers are empowered necessary qualities and are able to quickly focus on functional team goals rather than interdependence with each other for a common goal. Senior management teams consist of top managers from different functional areas of the firm, so they usually have different areas knowledge. Diversity and heterogeneity in teams can have a positive impact on overall performance.

But there is also negative consequences that need to be overcome. In such a team, different opinions and perspectives are not valued.

The executive director, who models behavior and provides the team with everything necessary, has both clearly defined goals and options for solving problems. It also reduces the effects of social categorization because it causes team members to focus more on their common goals rather than their differences.

Sharing information during the work process is just as important for VUK as it is for all other groups of teams. To work effectively, a team needs to understand how to communicate, share information, set goals, give feedback, manage conflict, engage in joint planning and coordination of tasks, and solve problems collaboratively. General manager plays a key role in enabling the team to do this. He must take responsibility for educating the team and making them think about their work.

A virtual team is defined as a group of employees who come together using a combination of telecommunications and information technology to perform many important tasks. Employees should not be dispersed geographically or organizationally, although these factors make team participation in team virtuality more likely. There are basically three aspects to group virtuality:

the extent to which team members use virtual tools to coordinate or carry out team processes;
the amount of information value provided by such tools;
synchronicity of virtual interaction of a group member.

Each command can be described on a continuum regarding its virtuality, while virtuality is defined as the information value that the virtual instrument conveys. The second aspect means that the less valuable the information provided by the tool, the more virtual it is. This refers to the method of communication as well as the value of the data transmitted. When it comes to synchronous team interactions, we can distinguish between real-time interactions, called synchronous communication, and interactions that involve a time delay, called asynchronous communication.

Virtual teams are connected by modern means of communication

Conclusion

In any institution, in any organization or enterprise, a well-established teamwork is the key to the success and effectiveness of the tasks carried out. But for this, before the manager or responsible actor there is a difficult task - to unite the team, motivate them to act together, correctly distribute responsibilities, clearly explain the purpose of the task and provide employees necessary conditions for work. Having fulfilled these conditions, you can expect full commitment from the team and a positive result.

At the very start of my business, I once attended an event where a successful entrepreneur spoke. He was asked standard question: “What is the most important thing in business?” Without hesitation, he answered: “The most important thing in business is to create a Real Team. Cohesive, creative, competent, dynamic, well motivated. Everything else is secondary: ideas, resources, infrastructure, etc. If you have a good team, you can do any business, promote any idea, even an ineffective and banal one - the Team will still “pull” the business. “He’ll bite his teeth into it” and make the project a leader!”

First, let's define what we will call a team in this article. In a broad sense, a team is everyone who works in one company, and it’s good when, no matter the size of the business, everyone feels like one single team (few people succeed in this, good example Virgin or early Google).

At the startup level, the team is all your key employees and specialists.

With the growth of the business and the number of people involved in it, the team is now managers responsible for key areas of the business and key specialists who are directly involved in developing the strategy and tactics of the organization, on whom you can rely and with whom you move together towards the intended global goal . These are no longer employees, these are comrades. This is the team we are talking about in the article.

Is it possible to do without a team completely? Yes, sure. The project has not yet reached a certain scale. I myself have small (but quite successfully earning) Internet projects, where the entire team is myself. But in a serious project designed for a large audience, there is no way to do without a team. Here, for sure, one in the field is not a warrior.

Why do you need a team?

A team is needed, first of all, to develop strong solutions. The collective mind is always stronger and the collective experience is always wider. As a result, the team almost always makes a stronger and more informed decision than one person. Or it strengthens an already thought-up good solution by an order of magnitude. The larger the team, the more knowledge and experience it has, and the stronger the decisions it makes can be. But the larger the team becomes, the more difficult it is to manage.

And of course, the main members of your team will take over and oversee key areas of the business. Everyone will have their own areas of responsibility, but in fact you will become a single integral mechanism.

How to select people for your team?

The stage of selecting people for a team is very important for any manager. But, as you know, “Personnel decides everything.” Therefore, we must try to do as much as possible fewer errors. Here I can recommend the following:

1. It is best to invite people to your team with whom you have already had experience working or various kinds cooperation. It’s very good if you have seen this person at work (and on vacation), you know what competencies he has and what feats he is capable of :)

2. You should not start a business with close friends and relatives and, accordingly, take them into the team. Negative examples- weight. Close personal relationships will hinder business and joint business will pose a threat to the relationship itself. Take it better than people, with whom you know, whom you respect and who respect you.

3. On initial stage you probably won't have it big money to hire super-specialists with super-fees. But it is not particularly critical yet. It is important to find good and promising specialists in their fields and give them opportunities to constantly learn and build their competencies. And they will grow with you and with the business. If you still need a super-specialist, you can try to motivate him in another way (more about motivation below).

4. As the business grows, many managers begin to entrust the responsibility for hiring employees to the HR department and deputies, while they themselves best case scenario reviewing resumes. But good leader always controls the process and always conducts personal interviews with everyone key employees and even more so with leaders. And leaves behind last word. Twice in my life I have met with such leaders and I think that this is a very correct approach.

What kind of people should a business team consist of?

At first, I was confident that the team should consist of people similar to you (in character, temperament, reaction speed, etc.). Now I have reconsidered my views. This gives only one imaginary advantage - such a team is easier to manage. But a truly strong team must consist of different people, with different views and beliefs, with different positions, with different temperaments, with different life habits and priorities.

Risk must be complemented by caution, optimism by pessimism, creativity by pragmatism, “sloppiness” by administrative abilities. It is in such a seemingly “motley” team that those golden, average, balanced, strong solutions are formed. Main task The leader here will act as a moderator and collector of decisions.

But at the same time, team members must respect each other, be “saturated” with the idea and share it, have common values and, finally, be well motivated.

Each team member must be clearly positioned and solve a clearly defined range of tasks, for example, finance, sales, technical support, marketing and promotion, etc. But at the same time, all team members must always be in a single information field. The team must have a constant synchronization of understanding of current tasks, meanings and short-term/long-term goals. Everyone should have the same and unambiguous understanding: who we are and where we are going.

How to motivate team members?

Of course, one of the main motivators is worthy wages, i.e. good money, received regularly and with progression in size. At the stage of starting a business, this is not always feasible. Therefore, it is necessary to build expanded motivation. For truly smart, active (in short, people who are most useful to you), in addition to money, there are other significant motivators that can and should be actively used.

1. Interesting thing

If your project is interesting in itself and also includes interesting people is a strong motivator. This is generally very important - that the work is interesting and that you want to go to it.

2. Strong mission

If your project has a strong goal, a mission, this can be motivating in itself. Change the world for the better, solve a difficult problem, correct a significant mistake, etc.

3. Potentially large business scale

If your business can potentially go beyond the boundaries of one district or one city and the project can have a national or even global scale, all this is also a great motivator for work.

4. Increasing personal competencies

If participation in a project involves acquiring new knowledge, competencies, and new opportunities for professional fulfillment, this is a strong motivator. If a project provides a rare opportunity to gain or increase unique competencies, that’s generally good. This is the baggage that a person will need in life in any case, even if the current business does not work out.

5. Ambition and ambition

If a person can realize his ambitions (for example, as a leader), this is a good motivator for many. This also includes the fact that a person must see that his opinion is listened to in the team, his decisions are made by the leader and other participants, that he really influences the business and its development. And you also need to learn to give team members more independence in making decisions, using certain budgets, etc.

6. Flexible work schedule

If you want to increase the productivity of your team, give all its members a free work schedule. This will only make people work harder, more productively and with much greater impact. You just need to set clear tasks and give the person the opportunity to decide for himself when he will be engaged in their implementation.

7. Mobility

Another effective way increasing the team's performance and at the same time motivation - increasing its mobility. At a minimum, as soon as possible, buy good laptops for all team members. Then the work will “move” in space along with the person :). Plus, you will also increase loyalty, as you will show additional care.

8. Workplace

Create normal working conditions for people. A normal office with a place for lunch, for discussions and relaxation, a comfortable work desk, accessories necessary for work, kitchen utensils, etc. All this greatly affects loyalty and motivation.

9. Joint recreation

Have informal evenings together, celebrate birthdays and events, don’t forget about outdoor corporate events and clubs. All this brings people together and creates additional horizontal connections in the team.

10. Collaborative learning and strategy sessions

Periodically organize strategic sessions with your team, joint trips to conferences, and joint training. Firstly, this takes you out of the routine, secondly, it expands consciousness and competencies, and thirdly, it unites the team.

11. Include stakeholders

A very powerful motivator is the inclusion of key team members as owners. It is clear that this should be done only with the most important and trusted team members. The share may not be large, but after that the person already perceives the business as his own, the mood and degree of responsibility changes. At the initial stage of business development, this is sometimes the only way to attract a super-specialist to the project.

12. Give a percentage of profit

Key team members can also be well motivated by including a real percentage of the company’s profit in the salary and bonus formula, even if it is not at all large. But this is a very good motivator, as it potentially allows a person to receive an irregular and constantly growing salary. And he does everything possible to increase his contribution to the joint business and influence the increase in profits. I wish you good luck in creating strong teams! I will be glad to receive any feedback on additions and just thoughts on this topic!

This and other topics are discussed in more detail in my books in the series "The Phoenix Code. Technologies for changing lives."

People are the core building block of any organization that uses . The only time true responsibility for quality can be assigned to an individual or group is through the responsibility of those doing the work or carrying out the process.

The complexity of most processes occurring in an organization takes them out of the control of any one individual, and the only one in an efficient way process improvement or redesign is the use of collaboration.

Why teams?

Teamwork has many benefits:

a huge variety of complex issues can be solved by pooling knowledge and resources;
problem solving requires a wide variety of knowledge, skills and experience;
this approach increases morale and ownership through participation in decision making;
improving opportunities to create connections between departments and functions;
recommendations are more likely to be implemented if they come from individuals.

Employees will not be able to participate in activities without some commitment from senior management, a culture of improvement, and an effective mechanism for leveraging people's individual contributions. Teamwork, must be driven by strategy, structure and implemented thoughtfully and effectively.

When properly managed and developed, teamwork quickly and economically improves processes and results through the free exchange of ideas, information, knowledge and data. It is an important component general organization quality, building trust, improving communication and developing a culture of interdependence rather than independence.

Team Roles

After years of researching teams, Dr Meredith Belbin has identified eight roles that, when all present in a team, give it a greater chance of success. These are the roles:

Coordinator
Shaper
Specialist
Evaluator
Executor
Thinker
Communicator
Collectivist

Coordinator group clarifies goals, sets the agenda, defines priorities, highlights issues, summarizes results, is decisive, but does not dominate the discussion.

Shaper gives shape to collective efforts by looking to the heart of the debate and practical considerations regarding the feasibility of a particular project. It may put pressure on the team, but it gives some results.

Thinker is the source original ideas, wishes and proposals, which, as a rule, are original and radical.

Evaluator measures and analyzes impartially, and with the help of objectivity, stops the team and takes responsibility for identifying the erroneous task.

Executor converts decisions and strategies into specific and achievable objectives by considering goals logically.

Communicator reaches beyond the team, bringing ideas, information and events. He is a salesman, diplomat, communicator and researcher.

Collectivist helps maintain the integrity of the team, prevents its disintegration in case of pressure or stress

Specialist has a constant sense of deadlines.
All of these features matter, and it's an oversight when any of them aren't represented on the team: there are no stars or extras. A person's team role can be determined by using the Belbin Inventory.

It is not necessary for the team to consist of eight people, each of whom performs one of the roles, but people who are capable of performing these functions must be present on the team. In small groups, people can, and do, presumably perform more than one role. In addition, analyzing existing teams, their creation or behavior, using these team role concepts can provide improvements, for example:

low efficiency requires a good coordinator or collectivist;
conflict requires a shaper and a strong coordinator;
error-prone team teams need an evaluator.

Different roles play an important role in different circumstances, for example, new groups need a strong shaper to get started, competitive situations require a thinker with good ideas, and in high-risk areas it is necessary good rating. Teams must therefore be analyzed in terms of what roles team members can play, as well as what skills the team needs most.

Despite clearly defined roles in the team, the interaction between different personalities can be a frequent source of friction. However, this can be largely avoided by understanding the differences between people. The Myers-Briggs Inventory (MBTI) is a powerful tool for team and personal development, providing a well-structured framework for understanding these differences. It is based on identifying a person’s behavioral preferences on four scales:

4 MBTI scales represent two opposing preferences (dominants) - most people can use both boundaries in different times, which will indicate preferences on each of these scales. There are a total of eight possible preferences and the MBTI type of a person contains 4 - E or I, S or N, T or F and J or P. The preferred (dominant) type must be determined by the time the questionnaire is completed, its analysis, subsequent feedback and discussion with a qualified MBTI administrator.

If each preference is represented by a specific letter, personality type can be expressed by a four-letter code, of which there are sixteen. Those. ESTJ denotes an extrovert (E), preferring to receive information through sensory (S), make decisions through thinking (T), and make judgments (J) in relation to the outside world. A person with opposing preferences on all four scales will be coded INFP; an introvert (I) who prefers to gather information intuitively (N), make decisions based on feelings (F), and perceive outside world through sensations (P).

16 MBTI types:

ISTJ	ISFJ	INFJ	INTJ
ISTP	ISFP	INFP	INTP
ESTP	ESFP	ENFP	ENTP
ESTJ	ESFJ	ENFJ	ENTJ

Extrovert prefers action and the outside world
Introvert prefers ideas and inner peace
Sensory-thinking the type is interested in facts, analyzing them impersonally and using step by step process to form conclusions
Sensory the type is also interested in facts, but analyzes them personally from the point of view of himself and others.
Intuitive Thinker The type is interested in patterns and possibilities, making decisions based on impersonal, logical analysis.
Intuitively-feeling the type is also interested in schemes and opportunities, but makes decisions based on personal values and their impact on people.
The type that prefers judgment is perceived by others as living in an orderly, planned manner, capable of regulating and controlling.
Perceiver the type is perceived by others as flexible, spontaneous, demonstrating a willingness to understand and adapt easily.

Obviously, there are more than 16 personality types in the world, and it is important to highlight what we can do to accommodate all 16 types in everyday life. Each person has a dominant type in which he feels most comfortable.

For team work, dominant types and their interpretation are very important and can be used with individuals, or considered with a group as a means of improving processes.

It is imperative that the team does not skip these steps, i.e. It is better for persons with dominant functions (S or N) to collect information and make decisions (T or F). Thus, a strong ST type will prefer to gather facts (S), think logically through the decision-making process (T). With a lack of time and the need to pay attention to new schemes and opportunities - (N), to influence people - (F).

Problems and solutions can be improved by using all dominant types; if team members do not have experience using the traits of another dominant type that are not common to them, they should consult other people with the opposite type. But if a team does not have a member with, for example, a dominant (F), its members should pay special attention to the consequences of their decisions on people, rather than acting on their natural preference to ignore or avoid the problem.

Personality differences are often the result of conflict between two opposing types. For example, ST may think that colleague NF does not pay enough attention to detail and is illogical, so his decision is unreasonable. The NF may feel that the ST is "picky" and cannot see the big picture, and may be offended by his apparent insensitivity to others.

Using the MBTI gives you the understanding that there is no “right” or “bad”. These differences and strengths allow you to work more efficiently. This is of great importance for teamwork, and real benefits can be achieved if all team members know their dominant MBTI type and use this within the team.

Team development

You can define four stages through which all commands pass over time:

Formation
Storm
Rationing
Execution

At the stage formation (awareness) feelings, weaknesses and mistakes are suppressed, and there is no common understanding of what should be done. People don't show special attention to the views of others and their values.

Stage assault (conflict) more risky as personal issues are revealed and the group becomes increasingly inward-looking. The values, views and concerns of others on the team become increasingly involved.

At the stage rationing (cooperation) trust and faith come to the fore, with a more systematic and open approach, resulting in clearer and more methodical work. The value of people is increased, goals are clarified, goals are set, information is systematically collected, taking into account all options, detailed plans are prepared and an understanding of the need for improvement is developed.

Criteria effective (productive) stages are flexibility, situational leadership, no protocol, harnessing everyone's energy, considering basic principles and social aspects organization decisions.

Teams that move through these stages successfully should achieve increased team improvement effectiveness and demonstrate:

defining clear goals and agreed performance indicators
openness and free expression of opposing opinions
support and trust
cooperation and conflicts
satisfying decision making process
relevant manual
team process analysis
significant intergroup relations
opportunity for individual development

In developing his model for teamwork, John Adair used the understanding that any team, in response to leadership, needs a clear definition tasks , and the achievement of these tasks must be related to the needs teams and individual persons inside her.

The team leader or facilitator should be focused on a small central part of the model, consisting of the intersection of the three circles of "action for change", and there are three related but separate requirements for the team leader:

define and achieve work results or tasks, such as process improvement
create and coordinate a team
develop and satisfy individuals and teams

In order to perform these tasks, the team leader or facilitator must perform the following functions:

Planning
Defining team goals and objectives. Creating a real plan.
Initiation
An explanation of why this plan is necessary. Assign tasks to team members. Setting Team Standards
Control
The influence of tempo. The belief that all actions are aimed at a goal. Support ongoing discussion. Managing team actions and decisions.
Support
Encouraging and disciplining teams and individuals. Creating team spirit to relieve tension and smooth out differences.
Informing
Providing new information to the team. Receiving information from the team. Summarizing proposals and tasks.
Grade
Examination possible consequences proposed solution. Assessing team effectiveness.
Helping the team measure their own productivity using standards.

The team process, like any other process, has inputs and outputs. A highly productive team has three main characteristics - high degree task completion, significant maintenance of team relationships, and low self-orientation.

Improvement of team members can take place by assigning additional responsibility and authority to represent the interests of the team in the process. This allows the team to gain respect.

Real work over the team includes several factors:

Team selection and leadership
Team Goals
Team meetings
Team assignments
Team dynamics
Team results and analysis.

Most important element the team is its members, people with knowledge and experience are needed, their number should be within 5-10 people in order to maintain the manageability of the team when good conditions to exchange views. Selection of members may include people from groups outside of processes if their inclusion makes sense, but sometimes a team starts with one or two people and grows along the way.

Team Goals should be agreed upon at the beginning of the process and should begin every team meeting. This will help focus the thoughts and efforts of team members on goals, and distract them from other problems.

Before everyone team meeting An agenda must be prepared and distributed. It should include the location, time and duration of the meeting, a list of expected participants, a list of topics that will be covered at the meeting, any assignments to be prepared by members or groups, and supporting materials that will be discussed at the meeting.

It is impossible to solve problems alone in a meeting. These should be reflected in an action plan with specific tasks for team members - team assignments. There should be a decision when the team gets together, an agreement on personal responsibilities and time frames, and all of this should be clearly stated in the minutes of the meeting.

Interaction between team members is vital to its success. The group leader should ask team dynamics and create a culture of creativity, remove barriers to idea generation, encourage all members to contribute and support all team members.

The team function is effective when the team's results are realized. Team overview and analysis keeps its members focused on goals and promotes progress, as well as helping to identify problems.

Education

A unique characteristic that indicates improved teamwork is when people voluntarily express a desire to be part of a group. Training of team members and leaders is the foundation for all successful improvement programs, ensuring that people understand the concept of teamwork and the tools and techniques that should be used in the improvement program.

Training must be ongoing to meet not only changes in technology, but also changes in environment in which the organization operates, its structure and, most importantly, people. The quality of training can be considered in the form of an improvement cycle, the elements of which are:

Providing training as part of the quality policy
Assigning responsibility for preparation
Defining training goals
Creating a learning structure
Determining Training Needs
Preparation curricula and materials
Implementation and control of the preparation process
Evaluation of results
Analysis of training effectiveness.

Even if the quality policy remains unchanged, there is a need to ensure that new targets are set for improving the quality of teaching, or areas for improvement and raising standards if targets have already been achieved.

Investors in people

This is a British national standard (Investors in People (IiP), which sets the level of good practice for training and developing people to achieve business objectives. This standard was developed in 1990 by the National Training Working Group in partnership with leading organizations, staff, professionals. It provides the basis for improving the organization's effectiveness and competitiveness, through a planned approach to developing and presenting goals and developing people to achieve those goals. The process is iterative and should generate a culture of continuous improvement.

The Investors in People Standard is based on four key principles, as shown in the following table:

Principles	Indicators	Proof
Liabilities An investor in people is fully committed to developing its personnel to achieve goals and objectives.	1. The organization is committed to supporting the development of its personnel	Top management can describe the strategies that need to be in place to support people development to improve organizational performance. Managers can describe specific actions that have been taken and are being taken to support people's development
	2. People are encouraged for their own improvement and work with other people.	People can provide examples of how they have been rewarded for their own improvement and the improvement of others.
	3. People believe that their contributions to the organization are recognized.	People can describe how their contributions to the organization were recognized. People believe their contributions are recognized
	4. The organization is committed to providing a balance of opportunities for people to develop.	Management must create strategies to ensure equal development opportunities for people. Managers must create concrete actions that they can and do implement to create equal opportunities for people to develop.
Planning Investing in people is open about goals and what people need to do to achieve them	5. The organization has a plan with clear goals that everyone can understand.	The organization has a plan with clear goals. People can coherently explain the goals of an organization at the level of their roles within it. Groups consult on the goals of the organization
	6. Development of people in accordance with the goals and directions of the organization	The organization has clear goals that link the development of people, the goals and directions of the organization, its teams and at the individual level. People clearly understand their actions to develop themselves and the organization as a whole.
	7. People understand their contribution to achieving the organization's goals.	People can explain their contribution to achieving organizational goals
Actions Investing in people effectively develops people in order to manage their productivity.	8. Managers are effective in supporting people's development.	The organization must ensure that managers have the knowledge and skills to develop people. Managers at all levels understand what they need to support people's development
	9. People learn and develop effectively	New people or people on new job, must confirm that they have received effective adaptation. The organization must show that people learn and develop effectively.
Grade Investors in people understand the impact of investing in people on their effectiveness	10. People development increases the effectiveness of an organization, its teams, and individuals.	The organization must demonstrate that developing people improves the effectiveness of the organization, its teams, and individuals.
	11. People understand the impact of the development of the organization’s people on the effectiveness of the organization itself, its teams, and individuals	Top management understands that all the costs and benefits of developing people affect the effectiveness of the organization. People can explain the impact of development on the effectiveness of organizations and teams.
	12. The organization does everything possible to develop people	People can provide examples of relevant improvements that have been made to support their development

The four principles of the circular process are broken down into 12 indicators that must be met by organizations that want to be recognized as Investors in People.

Recognition as an "Investor in People" requires a number of steps:

understanding of the Standard and its strategic implications for the organization
Conducting a compliance analysis to identify gaps in current practice
planning and carrying out activities to implement changes.
planning and taking action to bring about change
bringing together efforts to evaluate evidence against a standard
achieving recognition as an Investor in People
working towards maintaining a culture of continuous improvement.

Significant business benefits can be achieved by organizations that comply with the standard, and these can begin to emerge as they move towards the standard.

Practical benefits of working towards compliance include:

Increase revenue, productivity and profitability. Qualified and motivated people perform better and better. Productivity increases.
Reduce costs and losses. Qualified and motivated people constantly monitor their work to identify opportunities to reduce costs and losses.
Improving the quality of investment in people significantly improves quality program outcomes. Investors in people add significant value to themselves with BS 5750, ISO 9000 and others.
Increasing motivation through improved personal development and recognition of achievements. This results in improved morale, reduced absenteeism, more positive acceptance of change and identification with the organization outside of work.
Satisfying customer needs. Investing in people is key to aligning employees with customers. Thus, it allows the organization to effectively meet the profit needs of customers.
Public recognition. Being a People Investor brings public recognition of real achievements in accordance with strict national standards. By being an Investor in people, an organization attracts more potential employees. It can also serve as an incentive for customers to choose specific products and services.
Competitive advantages by increasing efficiency. Such organizations gain a competitive advantage.

Article prepared by Andrey Garin
based on materials from foreign publications
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