Participation is the new mantra for team leaders. Gone are the days of the authoritarian boss whose orders ‘from the top’ were passed down a chain of management command until they reached the people who rolled up their sleeves up and actually got on with the job. Today’s managers are more likely to use words such as ‘consensus’ and ‘participation’, and seek to ‘engage’ not just their direct reports and peers, but other ‘stakeholders’ as well.
There’s a clear message for anyone who went into business with plans of being the all-powerful boss or for those still operating in the command-and-control style. It’s time to rethink.
Dr Tania Bucic at the Australian School of Business at the University of NSW, says the biggest shift in attitude towards managing people in businesses has been bonding people to form a sense of group membership – in other words, to be part of a team.
But a bunch of employees working on the same project or in the same environment is not automatically a team. “A team is different to a group of people,” says Bucic. “In a group, people have individual goals and there is not a significant degree of task-related interaction between members. In a team, members are more closely bound; they work towards common goals and are more interdependent in task activities.”
Building a strong team culture is critical to combating the biggest challenges for today’s business owners: staff shortages and high attrition rates. Yet previous approaches to team bonding – taking the team to extremes to build camaraderie while scaling a mountain – may no longer
be the answer.
“In our research, we are looking at the management predicament of staff turnover at a time where there is limited time for recruitment and training – because of the demands of business and customers,” explains Dr Bucic. “With competition at an all-time high and consumers being educated and demanding, it is imperative for businesses to be responsive. This can only be done with a well-trained workforce and developed capabilities.
“To achieve this, and at speed, it requires not only one person or separate individuals working on tasks, it requires dedicated, trained and willing teams of people. Teams are able to achieve faster turnaround and respond more quickly than individuals,” she says.
Under pressure, teams need to be managed in a certain way that meets the needs of the team and the individuals within it, in order to foster continuing willingness and dedication. “The management and motivation
of a team is different to other types of management,” explains Dr Bucic. “This is an area that is not well understood, but needs to be if the objective of a business is to keep teams and encourage responsiveness and commitment.”
HOW TO BUILD YOUR TEAM
In the first management study of its kind, Dr Bucic and her doctoral students are undertaking research in real-time, studying team building, performance and culture within a business setting. They’re investigating which issues promote collective beliefs and a subsequent commitment to the team and its work.
Importantly, team members need to believe in their team’s capabilities, achievements and potential in order for the team leader or business owner to motivate and achieve their participation and commitment.
This strong sense of belief in itself will lead to positive engagement, commitment, effort and dedication
to the team goals and also to the employer. And this applies to all
teams, whether it’s a team in a large
or small organisation, a sports team
or a university cohort.
In another study, researchers at the Davis Graduate School of Management in the United States have determined that office layout and design plays a major part in inspiring teams, encouraging group problem-solving and improving collaboration.
“Managers who understand and recognise these [issues] can create appropriate work spaces that will enhance worker productivity, loyalty and a sense of place [within the organisation],” say Professor Kimberly Elsbach and Associate Professor Beth Bechky. “One example is round, curtained meeting rooms with adjustable rolling white boards, storage cubbies, display shelves and a pivoting projector screen. Teams can customise such rooms to ease and improve their collaboration.”
The pace of business is one of the reasons why old approaches to
team-building – such as strategy meetings at offsite locations rounded off with an adventure activity or shared learning experience – have been cancelled. As the workplace gets more demanding and people work harder and longer, it’s become more difficult to ask employees to engage in offsites, says Dr Bucic.
Such activities are time-consuming and go against the trend for a more balanced lifestyle. Employees need to have family time and time away from the office to be more productive, so these days building up the team is increasingly being kept to the workplace, during work time.
Instead of involving people in specific ‘team-building’ exercises, research shows that employees respond better to motivational strategies, with recognition and reward built into their everyday tasks. This makes them feel involved, valued and respected – and helps to build a strong team.
“In the end, the main purpose of building team efficacy is to get the most out of employees, to keep employees happy and in the job,” says Bucic. “It is the old saying of ‘working smarter, not harder’ to foster this.
and reward built into their everyday tasks.
THE ESSENTIALS
Three simple rules for running high-performance teams:
- Communicate: team members must understand the work to be undertaken.
- Clarify: explain the expectations of the work,
how performance will be measured and what tools are available to complete the task. - Recognise: ensure individual team members,
as well as the team as a whole, are recognised for their work and rewarded for their performance.
