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MER 439 - Design of Thermal Fluid Systems

Working In TeamsProfessor AndersonWinter Term 2012

Some Sources:http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/teamhint.htmhttp://www.effectivemeetings.com/

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Working In Teams

This is something you WILL do in “real life” Your career success depend not just on your

individual abilities but also on your team working skills.

This is something that you can learn about and improve at. Much of the info on this seems obvious or just common sense … but if you keep an open mind you may actually pick up something useful.

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Issues In teams

Team Goals / Purpose Team Structure Decision Making Process “Enforcement” Policies Measurement Techniques For

Effectiveness

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Types of Teams (Examples)

Task Teams – set up to accomplish a specific task or project.

Functional Teams – set up to complete a specific function

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Team members have very different abilities, motivations and personalities.

It is important to get an idea about what each person is good at, and what resources they can bring to bear.

When teams are new, each individual is wondering about their identity in the group

“Your Professional WorkStyle” Lecture will take place later this term.

Teaming Basics – Get to Know You!

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“What are we really trying to accomplish? Besides the explicit tasks, what are our real goals?"

Create a vision statement - a short paragraph that says what you're about, what your strategy is, what you are ultimately trying to accomplish.

The best vision statements usually synthesize each individual’s team-member's personal vision for what they are trying to accomplish, not just in the team but in their careers.  

Teaming Basics - Vision

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The team needs a Leader It is difficult for teams to succeed without a leader -

however, you don't need to make the leader omnipotent. There are certain task & maintenance functions that

need to be performed, and you can have one person do all of them, or you can split up the job among different people.

One key function is that of facilitator/coordinator. This is a person who calls meetings, keeps people on track, and pays attention to group processes.

Teaming Basics - Structure

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Here are some of the things that successful facilitators (team leaders) try to do: focus team on task engage participation from all members protect individuals from personal attack suggest alternative procedures when the team is stalled summarize and clarify the team's decisions

Teaming Basics - Structure

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How facilitators accomplish these goals: stay neutral don't let the meeting run too long, express out loud what seems to be happening don't let snide comments, put downs, etc slide by

without comment after a person has been quiet for awhile, ask them for

their opinion

Teaming Basics - Structure

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Effective Leadership

Coach, Don't Demonstrate Provide Constructive Criticism Back Off Try To Be Positive Value Your Group's Ideas

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Team Member Responsibilities

Communicate with your team Don't Blame Others Support Group Member's Ideas Don’t act like a Superstar Listen Actively Get Involved

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Effective Meetings

1. Be Very Clear on the Purpose of the Meeting

2. Begin Small Meetings with Introductions

3. Involve As Many People As Possible During the Meeting

4. Make Sure Everyone Understands What's Going On

5. Assign Action Items

6. End the Meeting with a Summary of Decisions and Assignments

. From Better Business Meetings by Robert B. Nelson and Peter Economy © 1995 by RICHARD D. IRWIN, INC.

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The Agenda communicates important information such as:   topics for discussion presenter or discussion leader for each topic time allotment for each topic provides an outline for the

meeting (how long to spend on which topics) Can be used as a checklist to ensure that all information is

covered Lets participants know what will be discussed if it's distributed

before the meeting. This gives them an opportunity to come to the meeting prepared for the upcoming discussions or decisions.

Provides a focus for the meeting (the objective of the meeting must be clearly stated in the agenda)

Effective Meetings

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1. Don't Meet - Avoid a meeting if the same information could be covered in a memo, e-mail or brief report.

2. Set Objectives for the Meeting - Before planning the agenda, determine the objective of the meeting. The more concrete your objectives, the more focused your agenda will be.

3. Provide an Agenda Beforehand - Your agenda needs to include a one-sentence description of the meeting objectives, a list of the topics to be covered and a list stating who will address each topic for how long. Follow the agenda closely during the meeting.

Meeting Tips Summary

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3. Assign Meeting Preparation - Give all participants something to prepare for the meeting, and that meeting will take on a new significance to each group member.

4. Assign Action Items - Don't finish any discussion in the meeting without deciding how to act on it.

5. Examine Your Meeting Process - Don't leave the meeting without assessing what took place and making a plan to improve the next meeting.

From: Meetings in America: A study of trends, costs and attitudes toward business travel, teleconferencing, and their impact on productivity. A network MCI Conferencing White Paper, 1998. (from effectivemeetings.com)

Meeting Tips Summary

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Don't evaluate immediately (wait until much later in the process) Accept all ideas!

Encourage mental hitchhiking – build on ideas. Don't stop at the first silence - wait. Summarize the problem - let people think on their own and

write down some answers, then get together and pool them on a blackboard

Take a Vote. After you get a bunch of ideas, ask each person to vote for two or three of them. Take all the ideas that get at least one vote, and start classifying them according to similarity. This will usually get you down to just a few basic types of ideas, which you can then make decisions about.

Brainstorming

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Decision making Processes

Authoritarian: Cases are Presented and the “Leader” decides

Democratic (Majority Rule): Decision is based on a vote

Consensus: Discussion continues until everyone supports a particular point of view (note: not everyone has to agree that its right, they just agree to support it)

Unanimity: Discussion continues until everyone agrees with one point of view.

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There will be many situations in which you need to give feedback to others in the team. avoid any negative comment that would seem to

be about the person, rather than the work or the behavior.

You should also focus on yourself and your objection rather than on them and their problem.

Teaming Basics - Feedback

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It is very important that teams assess their performance from time to time. Most teams start out ok, and then drift away

from their original goals and eventually fall apart.

This is much less likely to happen if from time to time, the team facilitator or leader asks everyone how they are feeling about the team, and does a public check of the performance of the team against the mission/vision statement.

Teaming Basics - Feedback

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Teaming Tips Source: www.effectivemeetings.com

Treasured Traits - Ability to meet deadlines (mentioned by 37%). Prized teammates also avoid politics (20%), are pleasant to work with (20%) and support the supervisor (17%). (Accountemps study)

Have a Second Chance Meeting Finding a Consensus - Everyone must be at least 70 percent

comfortable with the decision and 100 percent committed to its implementation." (Gary Dessler, Winning Commitment. McGraw-Hill, 11 W. 19th St., NY, 10011)

8 Basic Human Desires 1. Activity 2. Ownership 3. Power 4. Affiliation 5.Competence 6.Achievement 7.Recognition 8.Meaning (Bob Nelson, 1001 Ways to Energize Employees. Workman Publishing Company, 708 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003-9555) 

Communication and Motivation

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Teaming Exercise

You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother-ship on the lighted surface of the moon. Due to mechanical difficulties, however, your ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. During the landing, much of the equipment aboard was damaged, and, since survival depends on reaching the mothership, the most critical items available must be chosen for the 200-mile trip. The 15 items left intact and undamaged after the landing include a box of matches, food concentrate, 50 feet of nylon rope, parachute silk, a portable heating unit, two .45-caliber pistols, one case of dehydrated Pet milk, two 100-lb. tanks of oxygen, a stellar map (of the moon's constellations), a life raft, a magnetic compass, five gallons of water, signal flares, a first-aid kit containing injection needles, and a solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter.