Team (Part 4)
“Teamplayer: One who unites others toward a shared
destiny through
sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust.”
- Dennis Kinlaw -
We concluded in Team (3) that in order to have a successful team or teams, management must place more emphasis
on leadership than such things as control, coordinating and directing. A variety of driving forces have begun to
provoke changes in the management paradigm. Increasing diversity of workers has brought in a wide array of differing
values, perspectives and expectations among workers. Many organizations are abandoning the traditional top-down,
rigid and hierarchical structures to more “organic” and fluid forms.
Today’s leaders and/or managers must deal with continual, rapid change. Managing change does not mean controlling
it, rather understanding it, adapting to it where necessary and guiding it when possible.
Managers can’t know ‘it all’ or reference resources for every situation. Managers must count on and listen more
to their employees. Consequently, new forms of organizations are becoming more common and often necessary. We know
these organizations as teams and order to be successful; they need a new kind of leader, a leader whose combination
of characteristics could produce the following traits or tendencies.
A leader who is multi-focused; can keep several issues going at the same time because he/she may be involved
in more that one team situation. A leader who may present a dichotomy; Enjoys finding new ways of doing things
while remaining skeptical about new ideas until logically proven otherwise.
A leader who is turned off by bureaucracy and/or hierarchy and believes power and authority are granted by competence,
not title or tenure. A leader who demonstrates energy, enthusiasm, and humor in the tirelessly pursues goals. A
leader that admires efficiency and effectiveness as well as heated discussions but who also may be outspoken and
impatient with errors, excuses, lack of will power and redundancy.
Such a leader understands that his/her team or teams are made up of people who also demonstrate combinations
of characteristics and that these combinations are what make us uniquely different. Those characteristics have
been identified as;
Extraversion (energy directed outward)
[General population is 45-53 percent.]
Introversion (energy directed inward)
[General population is 47-55 percent]
Those members on your team who share the Extraversion preference will be comfortable in face to face
dialogue, small talk, thinking on their feet, talking about the process, dealing with or confronting conflicts
as they arise. Introverts tend to be reserved and questioning. They like quiet for concentration and dislike
intrusions and interruptions.
Sensing (gathers information in a precise and exact manner)
[General population is 66-74 percent.]
Intuitor (gathers information in a novel or inspired manner)
[General population is 26-34 percent.]
Those members on your team, who share the Sensing preference face difficulties with realism, keep discussion
focused on the present, tend to bring up the pertinent facts in discussions and stay aware of the joys of the present.
Intuitors face possibilities with excitement, are interested in reaching general conclusions and inferring
the overall meaning as soon as they have enough information about the reality of what happened to support their
views and conclusions and finally they anticipate the joys of the future.
Thinking (seeks general truths and objectivity when making decisions)
[General population is 40-50 percent.]
Feeling (seeks individual and interpersonal harmony when making decisions)
[General population is 50-60 percent.]
Those members on your team who share the Thinking preference want to work toward solutions that are fair
and based on principles that can be applied in similar situations. The emphasis will be on business-oriented factors.
They accept that conflict is a normal part of work, don’t necessarily expect or need it to be resolved, often are
unaware that others are experiencing strife and may be uncomfortable dealing with the people aspects of conflict.
Feelers can provide valuable insight to the human elements: team harmony, relationship, want to include
people-oriented concerns, are often the first to be aware that there is conflict on a team, will urge resolutions
that feel right to those involved and respond to the particular situation, and want to resolve it so that the team
can get on with its work.
Judging (want to come to closure and act on the decision)
[General population is 54-60 percent.]
Perceiving (prefers to remain open and adapt to new information)
[General population is 40-46 percent.]
Those members on your team, who share the Judging preference work best when there is a plan and the plan
is followed, like things settled and ordered, consider deadlines serious. They may decide things too quickly and
then stick to it with little indication that they are willing to compromise. Perceivers like things flexible
and open, consider deadlines elastic, have a preference for creative ideas, new methods, and processes. Action-oriented
and quick, they are open to various viewpoints and evaluating alternative solutions before moving to conclusions.
This series has taken a look at teams and those individuals that make them up. Teams are becoming more and more
prevalent in all segments of the business world and Timeshare / Vacation Ownership Resorts are not an exception.
In Team (1) we attempted to establish that a group of people (in and of itself)
did not make a team and that the management style of command-and-control must give way to one of coach-and-collaboration
in order to supports a team environment. In Team (2) we presented the six
key learning points necessary to convert a group into a team and used an analogy of football to help understand
the ‘get back to basic’ ideas. In Team (3) we looked at the stages group members
go through to become a team and again pointed out management change needs. In this, [Team (4)] final part
of the series, we identified what a new leader looked like as a result of these management changes and that such
leaders understand the complexities which exist in individuals what make up the general population and thus their
teams. Armed with these understandings, the challenge becomes how to maintain an environment that will sustain
teamwork synergy and collaboration.
The old management style would typically look within a team situation to identify what wasn’t working and attempt
to find a quick fix. The metaphor here is that the team is similar to a machine and if all of its parts are in
good working order it will continue to function. The new style of management looks within the team situation and
attempts to identify what’s working and enhance it. The metaphor here is the team an evolving, expanding mystery
with untapped possibilities. Instead of just regaining its previous level, the process dares to aim for unprecedented
breakthroughs, which will expose the highest potential.
In (Team 2) we introduced Teambuilding, Inc. and at that venue we also discovered Dr. Jay K. Cherney
a psychologist, consultant and mediator who is a co-owner and coordinator of the Teambuilding Alliance.
In an article featured on the Teambuilding, Inc web site, Dr.Cherney put forth the belief that when
using this more appreciative approach of management we will be able to frame the agenda affirmatively. To avoid
delving into the cause of conflict, diagnosing the causes of turnover, seeking the sources of great cooperation,
and looking for causes of low morale we begin to seek the sources of greater cooperation, improve retention by
expanding the elements that enhance team engagement and search for the root causes of greatest team excitement
and energy. Dr. Cherney indicates that by applying the Appreciative Interview Tools - DISCOVER /
DREAM / DESIGN / DELIVER in our team reviews we: Through discovery inquire about the best of what is,
dreaming envision how the team might be, then design how the dream can become reality and, deliver
by putting in place new roles, procedures, and processes.
FINAL THOUGHT
If you have teams in your organization and they are working efficiently and effectively it is probably because
you understand how to lead people, manage tasks and facilitate decisions. If you don’t have such teams you may
be mired in the traditional top-down, rigid, hierarchical structures of organizational management and be looking
for a way out. The intent of this series was to expose many of the complexities of teams in order to dispel the
mysteries and thus, any hesitancy about changing to some form of the team approach.
It was Henry Ford that said: “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working
together is success”. It was my Pop who led me to understand that in my life it would be the feelings of teamwork
that I would remember. That I would forget most of the plays, many of the shots, and most likely all the scores,
but I would never forget my teammates. That the hill I climbed alone would hardly be worth the effort, however
the hills I climbed hand and hand with others would always present reason to celebrate both the journey upward
and the exhilaration of reaching the summit.
TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves MoreJS 9/05
JS 09/05
