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A colony of ants provides a perfect example of teamwork
and the synergistic benefits that can be realised when individuals work
together selflessly for a common purpose, in this case the good of the
colony!
Although foraging ants provide an excellent example it is much more difficult
to develop a teamworking culture within an organisation. Humans, unlike
ants, have very large well developed and powerful brains that are capable
of thinking and feeling and this presents unimaginable problems and amazing
opportunities.
It is possible to make giant improvements by utilising people through
involvement and teamworking. However, it must be understood that involvement
and teamworking are not quick fix solutions; they take time to develop,
require investment and senior management must take an active interest.
Payback is usually relatively slow, but if teamworking is implemented
as a coordinated and fully supported programme it can be the most cost-effective
method of expediting lasting improvement within an organisation.
An Introduction to Employee Involvement
and Teamworking
The article provides an outline of the structures, methods, tools and
techniques required to implement and manage a successful employee involvement
and teamworking programme. The content is based on the experiences of
many companies...
Bob
Boddy Quality Through Teamwork
The Continuous Process Improvement Environment
on the Manufacturing Floor
A well written, amusing and enlightening article on how to drive continuous
improvement through the involvement of employees...
Karl
Walinskas
Understanding Work Teams
In the last fifteen years, organizational structure has undergone a shift
from the individual climb up the corporate ladder to an increasing emphasis
on work teams and groups. The shift to work teams is largely due to factors
such as globalization, downsizing and the need for technological efficiency...
By Asim Khan - Business
Management Group, Inc.
Coaching
Process Improvement Teams
Put a group of people in a room with a problem to solve. Give them a basic
method for problem solving and they will solve the problem. Right? Not
always...
Lori
Silverman Partners for Progress
Use Values to Pull Your Teams
Together
Effective teams create an environment where learning (and therefore
some failing) is encouraged as well as rewarded. Effective teams have
a clear, shared purpose and a vision of the future, they share a set or
code of values. JoAnna Brandi explains how to develop "Team Values"...
JoAnna
Brandi "The Customer Care Lady"
Ensuring
Success: A Model for Self-managed Teams
Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about the benefits
of self-managed teams (also known as self-directed teams, natural teams,
or semiautonomous work groups)...
Lori
Silverman Partners for Progress
Harnessing the Power of Teams
Despite all the team talk of the last few years, few groups are real teams.
Too often they're unfocused and uncoordinated in their efforts. In the
following article Jim Clemmer outlines a simple team assessment and planning
framework, which helps newly formed teams come together and get productive
quickly or it assists existing teams to refocus and renew themselves.
Jim Clemmer
Authentic Communication: Dealing with Moose-on-the-Table
Imagine a team meeting around a conference-room table. They are reviewing
progress and making plans. Charts are reviewed, slides are projected,
documents are handed out, and calculations are made. Now imagine that
standing in the middle of the conference-room table is a great big moose...
Jim Clemmer
Culture Change Starts with the Management
Team
An organization's behavior ripples out from the management team leading
it. So why is it that attempts to improve an organization rarely start
in the boardroom with the management team? That's like hiring a contractor
to renovate the kitchen but refusing to move anything in the cupboards
and insisting that the work not disrupt any meals or family gatherings.
The fact is that when change fails, it can almost always be traced to
dysfunctional management. So before your company institutes a company-wide
improvement program, take a tip from one executive who showed up at a
team retreat with folders printed with the company logo and the words
"Change Kit: Change Begins Here." Inside, each manager found
a large mirror. Don't know where to start? Here are five common management
team problems and suggestions on how to deal with them...
Jim Clemmer
| Further reading |
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The 17 Indisputable
Laws of Teamwork
John C. Maxwell
Everyone who works with people is realising that the old autocratic
method of leadership simply doesn’t work. The way to win is
to build a great team. John C. Maxwell has been teaching the benefits
of leadership and team building for years. Now he tackles the importance
of teamwork head on, writing about teamwork being necessary for every
kind of leader, and showing how team building can improve every area
of your life. Written in the style of Maxwell's best-seller 'The 21
Irrefutable Laws of Leadership', this new book not only contains laws
that you can count on when it comes to getting people to work together,
but it tells them in such a way that you can start applying them to
your own life today. And it’s illustrated with great stories
of team leaders – and team breakers – from history, business,
the church, and sports.
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Links
Belbin
Roles
Dr R. Meredith Belbin's research showed that there are a finite number
of behaviours or TEAM ROLES which comprise certain patterns of behaviour
which can be adopted naturally by the various personality types found
among people at work. The accurate delineation of these TEAM ROLES is
critical in understanding the dynamics of any management or work team.
The self-scoring paper Self-Perception Inventory (SPI) was originally
published in Dr Belbin's book 'Management Teams Why They Succeed Or Fail'
(1981). If you've never taken the test, it's fun and you can now complete
the latest version online...
Teamworks: Skills
for Collaborative Work
Teamworks is a superb resource and should be your first stop if you
want to learn about team development in a structured way. The Teamworks
'Virtual Team Assistant' leads you through a series of modules from team
building basics to teaching with teams...
Organizational
Development and Change Library
The Team Building library is just one section of the Free
Management Library lovingly prepared by Carter McNamara of Authenticity
Consulting, LLCA...
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