TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I.
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Introduction…………………………………………………………………….....
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1
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II.
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Part One ¾
Why………………………………………………………………...
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2
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A.
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Defining The
Purpose Of The Team……………………………………
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2
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B.
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Leading The
Team………………………………………………………..
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3
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C.
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Summary Of
“Why”…………………………………………………….…
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4
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III.
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Part Two ¾
What………………………………………………………………..
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6
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A.
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Building And
Developing The Team…………………………………….
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6
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B.
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Tool #1 — The Skill
Of Delegation……………………………………...
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10
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C.
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Tool #2 — Managing
People And Performance During Change…….
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32
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IV.
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Part Three ¾
How……………………………………………………………….
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37
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A.
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Tool #3 — Team
Building Exercises / Initiative Games………………
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38
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V.
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Closing Reflection
— Maintaining Team Spirit……………………………….
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39
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VI.
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Bibliography………………………………………………………………………
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42
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I. Introduction
This thesis / project supports the
current literature provided by the Boy Scouts of America and is intended to
enhance not only the presentation topics of this literature but create
alternate paths of instruction to meet the needs of the home units.
This thesis / project will contain
three parts and experience two phases. The first part is the “why” part and
will review how the methods of team building has benefited other levels of the
home unit. This part will discuss why team building is essential as a ‘method
of instruction’ that supports the methods of Scouting to achieve Scouting’s
aims.
The second part is the “what” part
and will discuss the importance of team building and the expected results. This
part will describe the basic skills a
leader or group facilitator needs to build a team and those skills needed by
the team to be successful in accomplishing the goals of particular tasks or
projects. This part will focus on the specific skill of delegation — a vital
tool in strengthening the relationship of the team while reinforcing the team’s
longevity of existence.
The third part is the “how” part and
it is here that a door to limitless, creative learning is explained as well as
how to design a “Team Building” syllabus adaptable to all levels of Scouting,
both within and outside of the home unit. This part will explain how
‘initiative games’ provide an atmosphere that creates the desire to learn while
conceiving cooperation from individuals.
The first phase of this thesis /
project is the application phase. The application phase is the writing of this
thesis / project and the development of a “Team Building” syllabus adaptable to
all levels of Scouting. The development of this syllabus laid the framework to
the development of this thesis / project. The research conducted and resources
acknowledged are the by-product of this effort.
The second phase of this thesis /
project is the practical phase. Results of a one day course of training at the
committee level will be recorded, evaluated, and available at the completion
and submission of this thesis.
Postscript: I have always believed
strongly that talent and skill in all organizations, whether it is sports,
business, or Scouting, are not gender-related. So for the sake of clarity only,
I use the pronoun “he.” Please be aware that it refers in all cases to either
gender. Many references to the appendix will be noted throughout the body of
this thesis. The appendix is where the majority of the research is documented
to provide the conclusions to this thesis / project. I have also included quotations,
some that are anonymous, and some from well known people to help emphasize the
parts in the body of this thesis.
II. Part One —
Why
team,
a
group of persons joined together in an action; build, increase and
strengthen
—Webster Dictionary
“Teamwork divides the task and doubles the success.”
Teams come in many shapes and sizes,
for various purposes and with many different ground rules. The popularity of
the word “team” used in the various organizations of the 1990’s give us the
impression that “team” is synonymous with the word “good.” However, teams are
nothing new. They are organizational groups capitalizing on the athletic team
analogy.
In order to understand how a
successful team is effective, we need to look at what makes them work, where
they work best, and what effort is required to truly get team commitment,
synergy, and productivity. A group of people does not a team make. A
high-performing team, much like a good relationship, requires communication,
commitment, behavior change, and continuous feedback. All of these activities
are hard work and require skills that are not easily learned, especially within
the context of a crisis, whether it’s business corporation, a sports team, or a
specific unit level in Scouting. These skills are better learned within the
context of everyday work or experiences of learning teams.
A.
Defining The Purpose Of The Team
“We
aren’t where we want to be, we aren’t where we ought to be, but thank goodness
we aren’t where we used to be.”
—Lou
Holtz, head football coach, University of Notre Dame
When defining the purpose of a team,
four questions should be answered:
¤ What is our
purpose?
¤ What do we stand
for?
¤ Where do we want to
go?
¤ Who are we?
Answering these four questions
defines the purpose of the team, hence, creating a team mission statement. A
mission statement is important because it sets forth in general terms the broad
intent of the organization. It does not refer to anything specific such as
plans or project details. A mission statement is a powerful tool that can
provide a purpose for people to focus their attention and energy and enables
them to accurately and consistently—resisting distractions—work and move in the
same direction. (see appendix B-1)
B. Leading The Team
“Leadership is an attitude before it is an ability.”
Leaders in the not-for-profit arena,
as in the corporate world, need to view each challenge with a view of possibility. The very nature of the
resource—the volunteer—demands that a leader be a nurturer. A leader’s main function is to show appreciation.
Volunteers work for ‘good feelings’, not paychecks, perks and parking spaces.
A clear vision is important. A
demonstrated commitment is essential. A sense of team is basic. But unless a
volunteer leader continually recognizes and acknowledges the contributions of
their volunteers, the success of their projects is likely to be limited. No
task is more important than the people involved.
Positions of leadership create a
certain potential for power and control. The challenge is to remember that the
misuse of these will drive people away. People want to be ‘asked’, not ‘told’.
People expect to be asked to think, not just listen and obey.
“A
Leader is best when people barely know he exists.”
—
Lao Tse
The misuse of leadership and its
power will lead to three predictable outcomes. Followers will fight. When pushed they will push back.
Those who do not like fighting will take flight.
They will simply leave. And, finally, the meek will submit. Chances are they will not contribute enthusiastically, they
will simply follow orders and wait for the task to be completed. They may leave
at the first opportunity they encounter.
“The
reason you don’t understand me, Edith, is because I’m talking to youse in
English and you’re listenin’ to me in Dingbat!”
—Archie
Bunker
Effective leaders listen. Effective leaders tune into and
care about the views, biases, values and perspectives of those they work with.
Effective leaders realize that these are their
realities. The views of some may not be based on facts, but they affect
people’s responses. An effective leader will confront differences without using
accusations. The aim of an effective leader is to clarify misconceptions.
“We
have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak
less.”
—Diogenes
The ultimate success of any
organization, unit, team, community or corporation, will hinge on the skills of
those in positions of leadership, how they execute their power, how loose their
rein, how empowering their control. An effective volunteer leader can control
the balance of power between the relationship, whether its between the chairman
and committee or the leader and staff. If one or the other tends to gain more
power and this becomes conspicuous to the other, productivity drastically
declines. The power one has over the other is dependent on each person in the
relationship receiving his or her needed degree of satisfaction and
gratification. That, is what volunteer work is all about.
C. Summary of Why
“Each
time we ask more of ourselves than we think we can give . . . and then give it
. . .
we
grow.”
—Cicero
All people are
team players, whether we realize it or not. Our significance arrives through
our vital connections to other people, through all the teams in our lives.
Family life is a central team experience. Career teams may be a newly hatched
company or a department in a very large corporation, an industry leader or a
struggling contender, a team of scientists or doctors, or the faculty of a
school. A neighborhood community action group is a team, and so is a
congregation.
There is always someone who is the
key player. The effective leader. The one who lifts the team, who sets the
stage for its greatest accomplishments. He knows how to blend the talents and
strengths of individuals into a force that becomes greater than the sum of the
parts. He knows how to create an environment in which the talents can flourish.
In Scouting, “building the team” is
initiated in the Scoutmaster’s Junior
Leader Training Kit, no. 3422 — page 79, with advanced team
building training literature offered by BSA national supply in Outdoor Skills Instruction —Team Building,
no. 33004. Initiative games and patrol activities provide on-going team
building experiences for the youth under the supervision of the Scoutmaster,
but there is no literature specific to team building at the adult level with
the exception of the Outdoor Skills
Instruction — Team Building manual, which provides a seminar outline that
is both mentally and physically intense.
Team building at the troop level using the patrol method is not
structured to be mentally and physically intense but is formatted to be an
on-going learning process. Scouting, at the adult level, or we should say that
the adults in Scouting, are creating new types of committees to deal with the
new challenges that global change bring on an almost daily basis (or it seems
like so). Team building is not specific to be so mentally and physically
intense for achieving the goal or objective of the assigned task. This thesis /
project will attempt to provide an alternative path or resource that is neither
mentally or physically intense. The topics, skills, and tools discussed can be
utilized at any level in Scouting.
You can teach skills. You can even,
to some degree, teach people to think. But you can’t teach attitude. People who
have participated on any teams understand the give and take necessary to
succeed in an environment that demands teamwork. They have both cooperative and
competitive experience. They are comfortable with leading as well as following.
Team building creates a group attitude.
“Coming
together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together
as
a team is success.”
III. Part Two — What
“It is your attitude, not your aptitude, which determines
your altitude.”
Teamwork is the product of spirit,
attitude, and enthusiasm. It’s about how you can get everyone to work together
toward the same goal. The teamwork philosophy promotes camaraderie and a
win-win situation for all concerned.
In
Scouting, the troop committee as well as those committees at the district and
council level, present many opportunities for teams to develop. Once a mission
statement is developed, the ‘main’ committee divides into sub-committees that
establish the task / project objectives or goals. As these objectives / goals
are achieved, the team’s performance reflects the commitment to the ‘shared vision’ or mission statement.
In order to understand how an
effective team achieves excellence, we need to look at the steps of action
planning by the team and the stages of development related to the themes and
behavior of the team.
A. Building and Developing the Team
Six Steps of a
Working Model for Team Excellence
Step 1: Individuals
map tasks / functions.
Step 2: Team members compile master map.
Step 3: Team
creates quantified statements of
excellence (lists application of skills, resources, tactics) for each task
/ function.
Step 4: Team creates measuring systems.
Step 5: Team assesses current levels of
performance against statements of
excellence.
Step 6: Team creates action plan to achieve model of excellence.
These six
steps create the four areas of basic or initial level of performance (current).
For example:
Function:
Statement of Excellence:
Measure by:
Self-Assessment:
Five Steps of
Action Planning for Excellence
The team then ‘fine-tune’ its action
plan by creating a series of time-framed action steps that will move the team’s level of performance from the
current level to model of excellence.
The method: “WWWWWH” : Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. Using these questions
to compare each task / function against the corresponding statement of
excellence establishes the five steps of action planning:
Step 1: Identify barriers.
Step 2: Brainstorm action steps for removing
barriers.
Step 3: Brainstorm other steps, besides
removing barriers.
Step 4: Prioritize action steps.
Step 5: Assign deadlines, responsibilities
and next progress check.
These five time-framed action steps
help define the six areas of action planning for excellence. The six areas are:
Function:
Statement of Excellence:
Barriers:
Steps to Remove Barriers:
Other Steps:
What, by Whom, by When:
Five Stages of
Team Development: Themes and Behaviors
Teams follow a specific,
developmental sequence. Understanding the sequence of development will provide
introspect to where you / your team is and at what stage. Once a team
accomplishes its goals / objectives it does not vaporize or cease to exist. The
team or newly created team establishes new goals / objectives to continue to
participate in achieving the ‘shared vision’ or mission statement.
Cyclical: Stages occur naturally and in
order. Timing is dependent on nature of group, membership and group leadership.
Developmental: Each stage contains an issue /
challenge that must be resolved for the group to move to the next stage.
Thematic: Themes for each stage fall into
task (getting the work done) and relationship / maintenance (keeping group
together; helping it work effectively).
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BEHAVIOR
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STAGE
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THEME
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TASK
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RELATIONSHIP
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1.
FORM
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Awareness
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Orientation
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Dependency
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2.
STORM
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Conflict
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Resistance
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Hostility
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3.
NORM
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Cooperation
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Communication
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Cohesion
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4.
PERFORM
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Productivity
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Problem Solving
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Interdependence
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5. ADJOURN / REFORM
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Separation
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Closure
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Celebration
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MANAGEMENT VS. LEADERSHIP
• Positional
power • Personal power
•
Administers • Innovates
• Complexity •
Change
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Processes (how? what?) • People (why? what for?)
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Transactional (exchange) •
Transformational (empowerment)
• Does things right • Does the right thing
ROLE OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN TEAM BUILDING
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STAGE
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MANAGEMENT
SKILLS
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LEADERSHIP
QUALITIES
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TASK &
RELATIONSHIP
OUTCOMES
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1. Form
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Organizing
Teaching
Setting
accountabilities
Setting
standards
Goal Setting
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Being open
and honest
Vision and
values-driven
Solutions-oriented
Trustworthy
Listening
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Commitment
Acceptance
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2. Storm
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Counseling
Active
Listening
Assertiveness
Job analysis
Performance
assessment
Conflict
management
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Being
patient
Being
flexible
Being
creative
Kaleidoscopic
thinker
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Purpose
Belonging
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3. Norm
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Communicating
Giving
constructive
feedback
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