Managing Teams: Analyzing Team Roles

In an effective team, all members know their roles thoroughly. While having their own strengths, skills, and roles, they must also contribute to the “togetherness” of the team. It is the role of either team leader or senior manager to see that this happens.

Tip 12: Always choose leaders on merit, regardless of other considerations.

Tip 13: Look for a strong team commitment from a leader.

Tip 14: Always reward merit, but never let errors go unremarked.

ASSESSING LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

All leaders need strong personality traits to assert influence and function. Some of these attributes are internal, such as vision, but they always have to be complemented by external qualities, such as high visibility, to produce the utmost from team members.

A team leader needs to be both facilitator and inspirer — a business team depends upon its leader to provide it with the facility to make decisions and the support to grow.

EVALUATING LEADERSHIP QUALITIES: The analysis of leadership qualities shown below was developed by the UK Insights consultants and is influenced heavily by the example of famous sports stars The model indicates the five internal and five external skills that should be present in a successful leader of teams. Key: Inner strengths; Outer signs. Communication, Self belief, Visibility, Integrity, Teamwork, Attentiveness, Results-focused, Vision.

LEADING A TEAM

The performance of any team depends on the quality of its collective thinking. How good are its decisions? This reflects the quality of the decision-making processes. The leader should strive to achieve a positive atmosphere, free from rigidity and envy, in which people compete with ideas — not egos. Teamwork does not function if the leader consistently puts forward ideas before others have had the chance to speak. In the classic Japanese method, the leader listens silently until every team member has expressed an opinion before making the decision for the whole team. A true team leader will facilitate, inspire, and implement rather than control.

Facilitate >> Inspire >> Implement. GIVING INSPIRATION: Team leaders play several roles: they are there to facilitate the making of decisions; to inspire lateral thinking, motivation, and hard work within the team; and to implement decisions made by the team.

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS

The main task and function of a leader is to achieve the goals of the team. If you are team leader, ensure your team goals are achieved via these processes:

• Planning roles to be filled and selecting appropriate individuals;

• Leading the team in meetings, starting with a discussion of team objectives and values;

• Ensuring that targets are met and that values — above all, the values of working collectively — are observed by the team;

• Analyzing and correcting failures swiftly and surely — but always remembering to celebrate the successes just as enthusiastically;

• Carrying the responsibility of representing the team loyally to others, both inside and outside the organization.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Styles of leadership vary internationally Americans are accustomed to blunt, assertive leadership, and the Japanese to a consensus, in which unanimous agreement is reached through a laborious process. British managers often conceal firm orders behind apparently woolly statements, while German leaders invite the views of their teams but retain control of all decision- making. True teamwork may bring these styles closer together.

CONSIDERING ROLES

For a team to function most efficiently there are several key roles that should be filled. These include coordinator, ideas person, critic, external contact, implementer, team leader, and inspector.

It is useful to bear these roles in mind when you are considering candidates for team membership, although you should also look for people with the ability to perform the specific tasks on which your team’s operations depend. Never forget that the most important function of a team is to achieve the objective of the task in hand. Remember, too, that a friendly and open personality, and the ability and willingness to work with a group of people, are indispensable characteristics for a team player.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Do the potential team members have any relevant team experience?

Do the candidates fit readily into any of the key roles needed in the team?

How do candidates see their own potential within the team?

Do the candidates show enthusiasm and understanding for the team’s purpose?

Have any of them ever worked effectively with any other of the potential team members?

Tip 15: Remember that everyone in a team thinks in a different way.

DIVIDING UP ROLES

It does not make sense to fit anyone into a straitjacket. You may find a perfectly equipped external contact or critic; you may not. Try to match roles to personality rather than attempting to shoehorn the personality into the role. It is not necessary for each person to perform only one function. If the team has only a small number of members, doubling or tripling up the roles is fine — as long as all the needs of the team are truly covered and the members feel comfortable with their roles.

SMALLER TEAMS: Double or triple up roles when a team has only a few members, to ensure that all the key requirements for the successful completion of the task are catered for.

IDENTIFYING THE KEY ROLES WITHIN TEAMS

Next: Setting Up a Team

Prev: Matching Team to Task