What does it mean to be a team. Teamwork: key success factors

Recently, everything related to a team has become very popular: team roles, team building for any goals and objectives, team building trainings, etc. What is it connected with?

The modern world is rapidly developing and becoming more complex. The tasks that are put before people are becoming more and more difficult every year. Their solution requires special knowledge and skills. Moreover, the main difficulty lies in the fact that in order to complete the task, one must have a wide variety of personality traits, knowledge and skills.

Team is a small group of people engaged in a specific task. At the same time, the members of the group have a personal interest in the success of the entire group.

As a rule, one person cannot perform all the necessary functions on his own. This is due to the fact that requirements can be opposed to themselves. If the performer, in the course of solving a problem, switches between such conflicting subtasks, he will inevitably make mistakes. This will predictably lead to a deterioration in the quality of work, and often to failure altogether.

In this regard, the problem of creating effective teams that could solve the most diverse tasks in terms of quality and complexity has become very relevant. Teams are built on the basis of certain models of team roles, the choice of which in each specific situation must be approached with special attention.

What is teamwork?

At present, interest in small group psychology very large. Various areas of social practice receive a wide variety of requests from a dynamically changing world. Collective efforts of people are required to solve emerging problems. The specificity of modern labor is work in small associations.

In this regard, the term "team", which was borrowed from the sports lexicon, has become very popular. This was largely due to the practice of effective management.

Now this term is used to refer to small groups with a strong goal orientation, intensive interaction of members and high productivity. The ability to work in a team, combined with the ability to take initiative and defend one's opinion, is considered a sign of high professionalism.

What is the difference between teamwork and simple human interaction?

Simply, interaction in this context is a comprehensive cooperation of people, a positive attitude that extends to a wide variety of areas. Teamwork involves focus on a specific task to be performed. All the activities of the team one way or another is directed precisely at her. Thus, a team is a highly focused unit of work.

Such groups began to arise a very long time ago in the history of human development. One example is a group of hunters driving a wild animal. In the case of team interaction, the contribution of individual participants is combined into a single whole.

A team is not just the sum of its individual parts. People working together can produce work that can be quantitatively superior or qualitatively different from the work that can be done by individuals working separately. A team is a group of people who complement and replace each other in the course of achieving their goals. It must have a certain structure.

The team acts as a special form of organization of people based on thoughtful positioning of participants having a common vision of the situation and the strategic goals of the team, which must be clearly defined. Participants must share the tasks and be responsible for their implementation. Often the solution of tasks is directly related to official duties. They may have well-established procedures for interaction and coordination of work at their disposal.

Team members must be open and honest with each other, ready for confrontation related to the fact that group members have different worldviews. Team boundaries must be explicitly set.

The team must have a certain autonomy in managing the processes occurring within it. We need a way to interact with external objects, including management. The fulfillment of these conditions will allow creating a “healthy” atmosphere of interaction within the team, the group will constantly develop.

Examples of successful and well-coordinated teamwork:

What is team work?

Teamwork(Teamwork) is a joint purposeful work of specialists who solve a common problem based on the integration of knowledge in various professional fields according to the rules developed jointly.

Its effectiveness largely depends on how each member of the group is clearly aware of their tasks and the goals of the group as a whole, contributes to their achievement, and supports the efforts of their colleagues.

The team must consist of at least three people - this is the lower limit of the team size. The upper limit can reach up to 12 people or even more. Teams consisting of a small number of participants (three to four) work faster than large teams. However, teams of five to nine people can be more effective. This is due to the fact that they are more functional and have more resources: creative, intellectual, and so on.

It is worth noting that the larger the team, the more costs are required for the replay of its private players to be effective.

The most important for successful team building is the definition of ways to distribute team roles and the directly related assessment of personality traits team members to build effective compositions.

During professional work in a team, people combine their competencies and skills, which allows them to cope with a task that is beyond the power of an individual person. Competence is the basic quality of a person. It has a causal relationship to the effective performance of the duties assigned to a team member.

Competence is a stable part of the human personality and can predetermine a person's behavior in a wide variety of situations. The difference in abilities, features of the performance of work tasks lead to the fact that a fairly clear role differentiation can be seen in the team.

In order for a team to be successful, it must have a balanced role composition. If a team lacks a specific role, the team will be less efficient. Accordingly, this function should be taken over by someone else.

“Do you know how to work in a team” is a common question in interviews. There are two meanings hidden in it: what does it mean to be able to and what does it mean to work in a team?

There are two psychological portraits of a person. Which one would you take on your team?

First portrait: complaisant, smilingly friendly, non-scandalous, ready to concede, non-conflict, puts common interests above his own, ready to go against personal ambitions for the sake of a common cause, "does not stick out", always open to communication.

Second portrait: principled and ambitious, has and defends his own opinion on any issue, disobedient and wayward, always ready for conflict, expert and knows about it, bright and self-centered, not ready to harm personal interests, does not know how to give in.

Who will you choose? What is the correct answer?

Before voicing it, let me ask auxiliary questions:

What is the specificity of team interaction?
What is a team for?
Who does the team need?
How does a team differ from any other team, group, department, brigade?

And the collective, and the group, and the department, and the brigade, and the team solve some business goals. They can be short term or long term. But the difference between the team is that it always has its own internal goals related to the development of the team as a whole and each of its members personally.

Why does the team need it? But the fact is that a real team and its leader set such goals that cannot be achieved without the development of all its members. Therefore, teams are either developing or dead.

Hence the answer to the question: “who does the team need”? The one who will contribute to its development. What makes the team and business grow? Due to high-quality, thoughtful, balanced and timely decisions.

Is it possible for one person to consistently make the best decisions on everything? No. Because no matter how versatile he is, his view is still limited by his competencies and his ideas about the world.

For a qualitative decision, different, sometimes polar opinions are needed, good doubts and disagreements are needed, a heated exchange of opinions is needed. And for this we need people with their own position, ready to defend and disagree.

If you in a team think the same way, agree with each other, quickly find a consensus, catch on the fly, are “on the same wavelength” - it means that everyone except one is superfluous in it. They are useless clones.

But this is fraught with constant conflicts. Will it destroy the team?

Conflict is a clash of conflicting opinions. Can a clash of opinions in itself destroy something? Can phrases, words, letters in themselves have a destructive effect? Not! People make them that way. Destructive conflict comes not from the fact that people argue about something, but from the way they argue.

And the ability to work in a team by and large consists of the ability to conflict without destroying yourself and others. Judge for yourself, what can be stronger than a team in which very different and very strong people are able to work together to find strong solutions, becoming stronger each time?

In this case, a logical question arises: what does it mean to “be able to conflict”?

The ability to conflict is the ability to argue, prove, disagree, remaining constructive, not causing others to want to defend and attack, not offending the feelings of another person, remembering the goals of this discussion, without losing one's dignity and without detracting from the dignity of others. All this is summed up in one word: "Respect".

A team player is a person who is able to show respect to others and inspire respect for himself. Respect is a two-way thing.

How to test a person's capacity for respect?

This is manifested in how a person disagrees with you, how he reacts to disagreement with him, how he speaks of others and follows the rules.

It is clear that it is impossible to force someone to respect. It is also impossible to measure the degree of respect for each other. And what seems to be the height of respect for one, may seem like an insult to another.

But it is also possible to create a common culture of mutual respect in the team, based on accepted rules. These rules are formed together from the answers to the question: “What prevents us from feeling mutual respect”?

There will be many answers: we are late for meetings, we interrupt each other, we don’t listen, we are distracted by extraneous questions, we don’t try to understand the point of view of another, but we try to push through our own, we seize the initiative, we don’t give the floor to quiet people. These answers form the rules.

And what is the correct answer to the question of who would be taken to the team?

There are people who are comfortable and there are people who are useful. It rarely comes together. If you want to work in comfort and without conflict, then you do not need a complementary developing team.

If your goals and ambitions take your breath away, then you need good decisions and great helpers. The best helpers are people who disagree with you and are ready to respectfully defend their point of view without offending you. They will find flaws in your decisions, open other angles for you, allow you to look at the situation from different angles, see pitfalls and pay attention to details in advance.

Speaking about the ability to work in a team, I recall a parable about how a man, on the way to heaven, asked me to show him hell. And he was very surprised, because he saw a beautiful abundant place, full tables with untouched food and angry hungry people. When asked why they were hungry, he was told that here you can only eat with three-meter chopsticks. The man sympathized and ended up in paradise. There he saw exactly the same picture, only people were full and satisfied. He first asked what they eat here, and he was told that three-meter chopsticks. He was even more surprised until they explained to him that here, in paradise, people learned to feed each other.

Publications for personnel officers

Angelina Sham

Any leader strives to create a well-coordinated and well-functioning team. To do this, it is necessary to be able to correctly place accents, smooth out conflicts, and competently plan events. It is believed that teamwork on a project can bring more profit than working alone. Meanwhile, it is the first in practice that causes a lot of concern and a negative reaction. This is mainly due to the inability to properly organize such activities. Let's take a look at the principles of teamwork.

General information

What is team work? It is worth saying that not every group of specialists can become a friendly and highly professional team. A team is a small number of employees with complementary skills, connected by a common idea, striving for common goals and bearing equal responsibility for their implementation. In such a collective, individual interests are relegated to the background. Each member of the group must have a high professional level, the ability to make decisions and interact with the rest of its members. Teamwork implies the dependence of specialists on each other. In this regard, a constant exchange of information is carried out within the group.

Organization specifics

Well-coordinated teamwork is the result of competent management activities. The team must go through several stages:

Adaptation. At this stage, mutual information and assessment of the tasks set is carried out. Group members communicate with each other carefully, threes or pairs are formed. In the process of adaptation, people in some way check each other, determine mutually acceptable behavior patterns. The effectiveness of teamwork at this stage is very low.
Grouping. At this stage, people converge on interests and sympathies. At the same time, discrepancies between individual motivation and the goal of team work are revealed. Group members can oppose the demands. This determines the degree of permitted emotional reaction. For example, the secretary throws papers and evaluates the reaction of the others to this action.
Cooperation. At this stage, the group members realize the desire to work on the task at hand. Constructive and open communication begins, the pronoun "we" appears for the first time.
Regulation of work. At this stage, schemes of interaction in the team are created. At this stage, trust appears, but moves to a higher level.
Functioning. At this stage, constructive decisions are made about the task. Each participant has his own role. The team openly manifests and eliminates conflicts. At this stage, true teamwork begins. A favorable climate is formed within the group. All participants understand the value of planned indicators, take actions aimed at achieving them. Teamwork at this stage is considered the most successful.

phenomena

Psychologists have described some of the effects that arise when working in a team. Among them it is worth noting:

volume phenomenon. The result of teamwork will depend on the number of group members.
The phenomenon of quality composition. The tasks of teamwork will be most successfully implemented if the members of the group are of different ages and genders, but with practically the same social characteristics.
Conformism. The change in participants' beliefs or behavior is driven by imagined or real group pressure. The value of public opinion is high enough for each member. Accordingly, all participants respect the norms developed jointly.
Deindividualization. It involves the loss of self-consciousness and the emergence of a fear of evaluation in conditions of anonymity that do not focus on a specific person.
Risk shift effect. The group makes the least or most risky decisions compared to those that would be developed by the participants individually.
"Rounding" of thinking. The group members are looking for a solution that would suit everyone. At the same time, quite realistic options are discarded.
public laziness. When sharing responsibility equally among all participants, they begin to worsen their performance indicators all together.

signs

Teamwork involves continuous discussion between the participants. It aims to improve cooperation. All specialists feel part of the working community. They feel competent, perform certain actions independently and are responsible for the consequences. Each participant freely proposes the ideas he has and criticizes the others. Members of the group are aware of the tasks of others, they have a certain idea of the abilities and talents of each. This means the presence of mutual respect and interest of all participants. At the same time, all members of the group strive for an open dialogue. Information quickly, constantly and purposefully passes from one participant to another.

Common Mistakes

Teamwork skills are developed over time. It is impossible to immediately create a successful and friendly team from a group of specialists. The leader has a special role in this. It is on him that the effectiveness of the team depends to a greater extent. Meanwhile, in practice, leaders make serious mistakes in organizing collective activities. They significantly reduce work efficiency. Among the most common are the following:

Discrepancy between the leader, the team and the type of task assigned to people.
Unsuccessful choice of specialists to create a group.
The absence of a clearly defined goal or criteria for its implementation.
Unfavorable socio-psychological climate.

findings

All of these mistakes can be avoided. Almost every person is motivated to work by three components: payment, interest and social significance. The first two components are given quite a lot of attention in practice. At the same time, the social significance of a person is often forgotten. Meanwhile, the team members must be sure that they are implementing an important project that will bring profit to the enterprise.

Team leader

He has a special role. In addition to direct leadership, planning and control, the leader must be able to motivate and organize the team, develop the foundations of self-government in it. Due to the human factor, it is quite difficult to implement these tasks in practice. The key criterion for choosing a leader is his idea of organizing the activities of the team. Positive and negative feedback will act as the main instrument of influence. Effective teamwork will largely depend on personal ones. He will represent the team in interaction with others, and eliminate external obstacles.

Reducing the number of conflicts

As mentioned above, at the initial stages, teamwork is accompanied by a certain tension. Often there are conflicts. The head of the enterprise must take into account their likelihood and treat the group members with a certain degree of loyalty during this period. You can reduce tension by using different trainings, work on creative tasks, during which the group will feel like one organism. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the development of clear rules of conduct. At the same time, they must be formulated and accepted directly by the members of the group. It is also necessary to approve responsibility for their violations.

Nuances

Usually the team feels like a team when they achieve the first success. This must be taken into account by the head of the enterprise. The first task for the team should be difficult, but at the same time quite feasible in a relatively short period. In some cases, it happens that the group becomes overly immersed in its activities and loses touch with the real world. This may have negative consequences. To prevent this phenomenon, the leader should organize the flow of external information to the participants and the outflow of information from them. This helps keep the team on track. It is impossible to learn and apply all the subtleties of the process. Any teamwork involves the presence of weaknesses. In successful teams, they are compensated by the strengths of the participants.

Very often in the summary you can find the phrase "the ability to work in a team." Of course, the applicant with these words wants to show that he is friendly, able to cooperate with colleagues, make common decisions.

To check whether a new employee has really joined the team well, the employer can only by hiring him. Although this can be indirectly determined already at the interview stage by posing a number of questions to the candidate regarding his actions in various situations. According to the applicant's answers, it becomes clear whether he really knows how to work in a team, as it is written in his resume.

Collective and team

To begin with, it is necessary to separate the concepts of "collective" and "team". A team is usually called all employees of a structural unit or the entire company. But the team is several specialists united by some specific common goal, for the achievement of which they distribute responsibilities among themselves. Very rarely there are more than 10-15 people in the team, while there can be more than 100 people in the team.

Of course, not every position necessarily requires the ability to work in a team. For example, journalists, teachers, doctors most often work relatively autonomously, but marketing department employees are a team, since they have a common goal - the promotion of specific products, and each has specific tasks to achieve it.

How to work in a team

Working in a team, you need to be able to listen to your colleagues, clearly explain your point of view, listen to the opinions of others, make concessions, seek compromises and not bring discussions to scandals. All team members are connected to each other. This is a single mechanism, the work of which depends on them.

To become a team player, one should have such qualities as resistance to stress, mutual assistance, the ability to work effectively and sustainably over a long period of time, and the ability to plan. If at least one member of the team does not turn in his part of the work within the agreed time, he will let the whole team down. Therefore, it is so important to be able to help each other by sharing information and securing.

How to prove the ability to work in a team

As you can see, the applicant will be able to show himself as a truly team player only in practice. But this does not mean that during the interview you should not try to prove your ability to work in a team. What is needed for this? Give concrete examples from business practice when you successfully completed a team task. At the same time, the overall result of the entire team and your own participation in the common cause should be emphasized.

In addition, you should think in advance what you will answer the recruiter if he offers a fictitious situation and asks you to tell what you will do in this or that case. Moreover, the examples can be completely different.

Of course, you never know in advance what you will be asked at the interview, but you can think over the general directions of answers to such questions. To do this, you need to clearly define for yourself what qualities are important for teamwork, what a team leader should be like, how to prevent the development of conflict when discussing a project, etc.

What to include in a resume

Be sure to include more details about your team skills on your resume (especially if you are applying for a leadership position). For example, you can write “The experience of creating a team of PR managers from scratch” or “Managing the project for the introduction of innovative technologies - creating a workable and efficient team, distributing responsibilities, setting goals and objectives, current control.” In other words, emphasize the ability to organize a team.

Teamwork has many benefits. Such qualities become especially noticeable in contrast with the appearance of leaders who, showing a high level of individual qualities, brilliantly cope with their tasks, but at the same time demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of team interactions.

You will learn:

What is a well-coordinated team
Advantages and disadvantages of teamwork
How is the organization and management of the team
What roles do team members play?

What is a team

In order to achieve a certain effectiveness of collective interactions, it is necessary to create a team. Not every team can become a team of like-minded people. What is meant by the term "team"? This is a team of specialists who complement each other with their skills, knowledge and qualifications, united by one desire to solve collective problems, and at the same time bearing personal responsibility for the result.

When working in a team, personal aspirations fade into the background. All team members, having a high level of personal qualifications, must have the skills to interact with partners.

All team players feel dependent on other team members, realizing that the results of personal work depend on the precise performance of their functions by other participants in the process. In this regard, one of the important team properties can be called equal rights for everyone and a continuous process of information exchange. You can also highlight such a feature as mutual accountability of team members. The undertaken obligations determine the trust within the team and serve as the foundation for the successful solution of the tasks set.

Basic principles of teamwork

1. Collective decision making. In situations where one participant in the team process expresses a point of view that differs from the collective one, it is necessary to find compromise solutions during the negotiation process. If it is not possible to reach mutual agreement, then decisions are made in the course of voting. In other words, the team in its activities is guided by the opinion of the majority. At the same time, none of the team members can step aside from collective decisions if it turns out that they are so effective.

2. For the formation of team decisions, the positions held are not important, therefore, the desire to push through one's own view on problematic issues using the level of one's position in the structure of the organization is not welcome here. All participants have the same rights, and therefore their views and responsibilities are of equal importance. For teamwork, such moments as mutual respect and tolerance are important, but at the same time, none of the participants in the process should be afraid to make mistakes.

3. Working together to solve team problems should be understood as a unique opportunity to improve personal skills, as well as to improve skills and gain invaluable experience. Such activity gives each member of the team an opportunity for self-realization and manifestation of their best qualities.

4. In conflict situations, one should refer to the rules of normal communication between people, regardless of the situation. Excessive emotionality harms teamwork. You can not be guided by personal dislikes or preferences regarding team members.

5. Team members must develop the ability to constructively perceive criticism, as well as the ability to recognize and analyze mistakes made. But, on the other hand, team members should be advised to professionally and thoughtfully present the information received when they discover other people's mistakes. This option will contribute more to productive work than simple criticism.

6. For many people, the issue of curbing their own ambitions is especially difficult. Excessive ambition and "star disease" must be pacified in a timely manner in order to achieve high team results. It is necessary to convey to each member of the team the idea that in case of team success, satisfaction will be much greater.

Rights and obligations of team members

Responsibilities:

All members of the team must direct their efforts and skills in order to realize the goals that the team faces. Against your selfish motives, you must share all new ideas and solutions that can benefit participants in their permanent place of work.
All participants are free to express their thoughts and opinions on current issues to the management of the place of main activity, regardless of these obligations.
None of the team members should question the value of the activity in the team, even despite the general position in relation to his proposal. Also, each member of the group must be like-minded of his team and be guided by the opinion of the majority, even if it contradicts his beliefs. An exceptional case can be considered a situation in which one of the members does not want to be responsible for the consequences of the decision taken. In this situation, such a position is displayed in writing in the protocol.
All team members must be lenient towards their colleagues. Strict confidentiality regarding information about discussions and decisions made, as well as the restriction on its use for personal purposes, is welcomed.
In the team, everyone is considered equal participants and therefore must be objective in judgments and statements about the ideas of their partners.
Condescension and respect for each other are considered the key to successful and fruitful work in a group.
No one should hide information that may be useful to group members for the further implementation of the tasks set.
Mutual cooperation should not be influenced by personal sympathies or dislikes for individual members of the group.
For a favorable atmosphere in the team and fruitful cooperation, all team members must establish civilized business relations among themselves.

Rights:

Be free in your statements and judgments, demand confirmation of facts and detailed consideration of the issue.
Require confidentiality and obligations not to publicize thoughts and statements that were voiced during group work.
Receive reliable and objective information from all team members.
Demand protection from the disclosure of their thoughts and statements, which can harm the individual and professional activities, as well as negatively affect the work of the team.
Demand during cooperation compliance with the established rules of conduct and correct attitude.

Game scenarios that will help you "pump" your teamwork skills

In an hour of playing, you will learn more about a person than if you spent a year talking with him. This truth was noticed by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, and now it is just as relevant.

During the game, you will find out what salespeople are strong in, and what skills they should “pump over”. The editors of the magazine "Commercial Director" told what business games should be played in the company.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of working in a team?

Working together, you can solve issues that are beyond the control of one team member.

Team activity is a guarantee of decisions in which the interests of each of the participants are maximally respected.

The interaction of professionals from different departments makes it impossible for a unilateral influence of a higher management authority on the team's activities.

Group work will minimize the risks of making a wrong decision and missing important facts. This can be expressed by a popular proverb: "One head is good, but two are better."

What one partner may not notice is sure to be noticed by the other, so teamwork is, first of all, the prevention of “industrial blindness” and the ability to solve unnoticed problems in your area.

Teamwork is able to involve management at various levels in interaction.

A specialist with experience in teamwork will have a minimum of problems with his colleagues and other departments of the enterprise.

Teamwork contributes to the formation of business qualities that are important for interaction in a team. It helps to get rid of selfish views, teaches you to listen to the opinions of others and correctly conduct a discussion. Acquired qualities have a great influence on the overall success of the company.

A colleague who manages to behave like a team player receives a significant promotion, significant not only for him, but for the entire organization.

The company has the opportunity to implement non-standard ideas, the occurrence of which in a normal situation is unlikely. In a familiar workplace, an employee is deprived of the opportunity to go beyond his thinking and narrow specification.

Team activity is an opportunity both for one employee and for the whole team to realize their creative abilities to the maximum.

For large organizations, collective work makes it possible to single out specialists capable of a non-standard and rational approach to tasks with the help of ideas that are not related to their direct functions.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the work of specialists in a group is an opportunity to fully use their knowledge, experience and capabilities. Also, the overall potential of the group allows you to replace specialists and save on vacancies that the company cannot afford to maintain.

– Working in a team takes time to adjust and build relationships between the participants, which takes time. In the process of joint work, a certain form of cooperation is also developed.

- Sometimes in teamwork one can observe sluggishness, which is primarily due to the number of employees and the combination of functions of some participants. The lack of punctuality and organization negatively affects the team's activities.

– Discussions that arise at work and develop into a dispute, due to the inability of individual employees to discuss certain issues, take time and lead to team disagreements.

- Different views and opinions of team members on the same problem lead to lengthy disputes and delay in resolving the issue.

– The general encouragement of an employee for the work done based on the overall results stimulates other colleagues to show diligence and rivalry. The anonymity of indicators affects low performance and the ability to hide behind the results of more successful colleagues.

- When assigning any duties to an employee in a team, one must take into account his overall employment and demand in other activities. Unbearable workload can negatively affect the overall work of the team. The volume of tasks should correspond to the opportunities and responsibilities assigned to each member of the group.

- The saying: “The camel is the horse that the team portrayed” does not always indicate the inefficiency of team work and the waste of time, since it will be illegal to constantly demand the right decision from the group.

How is team work organized?

Stage 1. Adaptation includes the exchange of information and discussion of existing problems. At first, the team members communicate with caution, there is a formation of cells of two or three people. In the course of such “grinding in”, the formation of rules of conduct acceptable to everyone is formed. During this period, high results of teamwork cannot be expected.

Stage 2. Associations are formed, including several people, depending on interests and mutual sympathy. In parallel, a process is underway to determine the inconsistencies between personal motives and the tasks of the team. Some participants in the process may make attempts to counter the general requirements. This determines the acceptable level of manifestation of moods and emotions. An example is the emotional throwing of documents and the analysis of the response.

Stage 3. Cooperation is the stage when the team members realize their own desire to carry out activities aimed at solving common problems. Here for the first time there are moments of openness and constructiveness in the dialogues, as well as the use of the pronoun we in relation to the collective.

Stage 4. Rationing of activities implies the development of rules and norms for team activities. As a result of the emerging mutual trust, the level of interpersonal relationships increases.

Stage 5. Functioning is the stage when it becomes possible to collectively make effective decisions aimed at achieving the set goals. At this moment, each team member receives and realizes a personal role in the overall process. In the team, conflict situations are manifested and resolved in an exclusively open way. At this stage, the real face of the team appears with common tasks for all participants. This process is accompanied by an attractive psychological microclimate and the formation of an objective organizational system. This stage can be considered as the completion of the creation of a workable team.

What influences the effectiveness of teamwork

Optimal volume. The result of teamwork depends to a certain extent on the number of participants (the effectiveness of a team that is too small or too large is minimal).

Quality composition. The homogeneity of the team pays attention to the final result (in practice, the best results are shown by teams made up of participants of different sexes and ages, but coinciding in social criteria).

Conformism. The opinions and activities of team members are subject to change under the real or imagined influence of the team. Public opinion is a valuable benchmark for each participant, so there is a complete acceptance of collective principles.

Deindividualization. The process of reducing the level of self-awareness, as well as an emotional attitude to evaluation, even in conditions where attention is not focused on a specific member of the team.

The phenomenon of shifting the level of risk. The team is able to make decisions with a higher degree of risk than each member separately from the group.

"Group" thinking. Team members concentrate on solutions that are guaranteed to suit the team, while quite effective options may be discarded.

public laziness. Taking into account the principle of dividing responsibility for everyone equally, it is possible to perform their functions with the least effort.

What roles do participants play when working as a team?

1) "Working bee". This category includes responsible and hardworking people. They are disciplined, have good self-control, which is very important in interpersonal relationships. They put the achievement of common goals above their own, they are always ready to work in a team. In the team they show themselves as conflict-free, tolerant of shortcomings and trusting employees. It is this category of employees that determines the team's work strategy based on the goals and objectives set and builds a logical sequence to achieve them. But even with a high working capacity of the "working bees", the indicators of the results of the work done will not be higher than average. The reason for this is the lack of flexibility and valuable ideas in decision making. This deficiency is observed even in intellectual "worker bees", since they are conservative and prefer to act more according to the scheme, any changes lead them to a dead end.

2) "Head". The qualities of a "leader" suggest self-confidence, emotional stability and stability. Such people are always calm about the problems that have arisen, because they always have a strategic vision for solving them. The “leader” is able to organize the team and coordinate its efforts to achieve the set goals. He is always ready to listen to the opinions of all parties, evaluate the prospects of each proposal and form a general opinion of the team based on them. The lack of creative thinking is made up for by his determination and strong character.

For the "leader" the main motivation in work is the achievement of the goal. People with leadership qualities of a "leader" do not have high intelligence, usually it is in the range of 116 - 130 IQ. Higher rates indicate excessive reflection, which is incompatible with the manifestation of strong-willed and strong qualities in character. The leader is always able to adequately assess the situation, see all the strengths and weaknesses of his subordinates, he is an excellent communicator and speaker. The “leader” knows how to listen to people, but at the same time can fall under the negative influence and not show due flexibility in resolving the issue. Psychological disadvantages include the lack of qualities of a motivator and the ability to act quickly in critical situations.

3) "Motivator". These people are distinguished by high energy potential, they practically skip. Energy supply for such a person is overcoming obstacles, this is the goal in his life. To achieve the goal, he has all the qualities - pressure, dynamism and courage. But at the same time, such people are quite restless, irritable, prone to constant discontent and intolerant of others, which sometimes leads to conflict situations with colleagues and bosses. "Motivator" has leadership qualities for the target audience, he can easily be entrusted with the implementation of a separate project.

4) "Generator of ideas". Possessing a rich imagination and creative potential, he is able to solve any tasks assigned to him. He looks at the solution of the problem as a whole, and not at its individual details. Able to easily come up with and organize a new project, but will develop new ones along the way. He constantly needs the support of management, as he is subject to emotional instability due to criticism and attacks from colleagues. Often this comes from an unwillingness to take into account the needs of the team, to promote effective interaction and the achievement of common goals.

5) "Supplier". This is an enthusiast aimed at communication and exploration of resources. His sociability makes it easy to manage contacts and push a business conversation in a beneficial direction. After communication outside the team, the “purchaser” delivers new ideas and information materials that are useful for common activities.

The disadvantage of this type of team members is the low efficiency of single actions, since for the "purveyor" an important motivating factor is the high ratings of others. He is also inclined to spend working time on extraneous matters and is completely unsuitable for painstaking, monotonous activities, which is why conflicts with "working bees" are not uncommon. At the same time, this type serves as a factor that gives a sense of reality and protects against stagnation in work processes.

6) "Critic". Such a member of the team constantly analyzes the situation. For him, the effective organization of the process is more important than its participants - people. "Critics" perfectly predict the development of events and are distinguished by reasonableness. It is noteworthy that criticism from such people does not look offensive to other members of the team, since it is based on the principle of "nothing personal". The most important task for "critics" is the analysis of the ideas put forward. Their insight allows them to accurately identify weak and strong points, as well as soundly express their opinion.

7) "Analyst". He has the ability to take into account various factors, and can reasonably lead the team to make an effective decision. The lack of "analysts" in the absence of an attentive attitude towards people, and, consequently, in motivating them to perform certain actions. In addition, an excessive interest in details often leads to a loss of strategic understanding. It is undesirable to make a team from the group of "analysts". Their interaction with “motivators” and “generators of ideas” seems to be more effective.

8) "Inspirer". There are such well-established expressions as a team player, the soul of the company, and so on. All of them are characteristics of "masterminds". These are responsive and balanced people who know how to listen to others, prevent conflict situations and contribute to the normal state of the moral and psychological climate within the team. The inspirer can not only reconcile the conflicting parties, but also give the team additional energy to overcome crisis situations.

Interacting with such people is easy for all team members. Among the shortcomings inherent in this type, one can note a low level of determination, susceptibility to the influence of others. In addition, the goal of the team itself may be less important for the "mastermind" than people. "Inspirers" are not very good leaders, but effective motivators.

9) "Controller". This role is inherent in disciplined team members who feel a high level of responsibility for the result. Such people can be called closers to projects. They have qualities that allow you to bring things to their logical conclusion. They are distinguished by endurance in conditions of intense activity. But, if the "controllers" are visited by perfectionist ideas that a better result can be achieved, then the completion of the work may be delayed indefinitely. Such people interact well with "motivators", "suppliers", "working bees", but do not find understanding among "analysts".

10) "Specialist". This role belongs to team members with narrow or rare knowledge. Being experts, they are very important for solving certain problems. Such people are more passionate about professional features and small details than a common cause, and in a team they can be considered boring.

Distribution of roles according to the "Celtic wheel" method

Alexander Morozov, commercial director, Center

To form a team, I suggest using the “Celtic wheel” technique, which is often used to diagnose a team. It is based on conditional typing, depending on the correlation of the employee with one of the cardinal directions, each of which corresponds to a certain set of qualities. So, “people of the north” are able to manage and lead, “people of the south” unite the team, are responsible for the mood in it, “people of the east” generate ideas and build a strategy, “people of the west” put the plan into practice.

It is assumed that an effective team must maintain a balance of all four sides. Of course, it is difficult to find a person who strictly corresponds to one type - you can gravitate towards two or three types at the same time. However, the qualities inherent in one type may dominate, while the properties of another will be less noticeable.

As a rule, if an employee combines several roles, they will be located sequentially on the Celtic wheel. The functions of a leader and a team driver are quite feasible for one person. If, however, an employee is delegated responsibilities inherent in opposite roles (for example, a financier and a product developer), stress is inevitable for him. The most effective ratio of functions associated with roles following each other in a circle is 33:33:33 (for example, 33% is a salesperson, 33% is a product developer, 33% is a leader).

Thus, the optimal composition for a creative team is two or three people with different functions on the "Celtic wheel". However, in practice, teams of more than ten participants are more often obtained.

Assess the likelihood of errors in team formation. A typical miscalculation when recruiting employees for a project is a bias towards a single role. In my practice, there was a case when 11 people gathered in a team: eight product managers, one manager, two salespeople. There was no driver and financier in the group. The leader coordinated all the product managers, who worked only an hour a week, while he himself worked around the clock. At the same time, everyone wanted the same preferences.

Managing a team according to its form

Team management identifies the following organizational and cultural components of team activity:

1) External context, which includes elements such as:

- organizational component;

– qualification of higher levels of the main company in matters of team management;

– the complexity and structure of the external environment;

– presence of controlling structures and their quality;

- the level of uncertainty of team actions;

frequency and level of stressful impacts.

When describing the culture of a particular organization, the following factors should be taken into account:

- the level of formality in the process of carrying out activities;

- the level of subordination and initiative of subordinates;

- defining the basic principles for the implementation of activities or attaching importance exclusively to results;

- the established importance of compliance with the requirements for the working day, uniforms and other points;

– fundamental nature and duration of activity planning.

2) The internal context is described taking into account the following indicators:

- generally accepted command norms;

– options for the distribution of power;

– general cohesion of the participants;

- distinctive ways of organizing and implementing managerial interaction (processes such as coordination, establishing internal communications, actions to resolve conflict situations, decision-making, establishing external relations);

- distribution of roles.

It should be noted that the work of creating a team is a process of forming its cultural context, that is, its subculture.

The passage of team processes is also influenced by the characteristic features of the personal interaction of the leader with the members of the team. Some characteristics can be identified that relate to the type of leader. The concept of the type of leader can be attributed to the distinctive features that determine the relationship between the leader and subordinates.

Collective disputes: how to eliminate conflicts between employees

According to the most modern concepts of leadership, it is customary to highlight the importance of such a feature as the development of personal abilities for self-government by subordinates. A leader who has such traits can be defined by the concept of "superleader".

Leader types:

2. Transactor. Such a leader, using information systems and communication principles, forms special relationships with subordinates that contribute to work efficiency and maintaining their own status;

3. A visionary hero is a leader who influences subordinates by the power of personal conviction;

4. Passionate personalities - leaders who are distinguished by the ability to lead the team behind them, offering its members high goals.

The ratio of the main parameters of the team (the type of collective interactions, the organizational and cultural component and the type of group leader) make it possible to determine the following forms of teams:

1) "Combine". The format of such a team provides for unquestioning obedience to the leader of all members of the group or work team. This is due to the general fear of being left without a job or the possibility of exclusion from the group, since the leaders of such a team usually have great influence within the team.

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The team has a clear hierarchy system that determines its stability and strength. The action of each team member here is predetermined by his position in the internal hierarchy. The leader has all the powers of authority and independently makes decisions that can be quite tough. It defines the rules and boundaries of group interaction. The last word in resolving any issues always remains with the leader of the group.

2) "Clique". Working in such a team is based on absolute trust in the leader. A high quota of trust of the group members is given to the leader for his competence and commitment to the organization at the stage of its development. Team members not only trust such a person, they are ready to be followers and follow him as a leader with a clear vision of the future.

The team does not have a rigid hierarchy, which affects the instability of the system and the blurred boundaries of the leadership itself. The presence of a “visionary hero” in the group can help strengthen the authority and charisma of the leader. The creation of such an additional internal leadership helps to rationally distribute the resources of the team, to provide assistance to its members, but with the full and final consent of the leader himself. Each member of the group tries, first of all, to realize their own interests, without being guided by common goals and objectives. Therefore, there is a lot of competition within such a team.

In crisis situations, the team can easily break into small groups. These moments can negatively affect the activities of the group and the achievement of goals. The advantage of this type of managerial activity contributes to the development of individual creativity, the readiness of all members of the group to make innovative decisions, to set new tasks and create new projects. All information received by the team is considered common knowledge and is stored within the group.

3) "Circle". Within the team there is a strict distribution of available powers, taking into account all the formalities and standards. All activities are based on established rules, which practically do not change. Status is the main source of influence. The criteria that determine whether a team belongs to this category are predetermination, parallelism and synchronism in actions. Here everyone performs tasks according to the prescription and moves in the same direction.

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The task of the leader is to involve each member of the group in the process until he identifies himself as part of the team. Each member of the group feels secure and is therefore ready to show interest in deepening knowledge and automatically practicing skills. All team members are diligent and responsible, which makes it possible to practically exclude management interference in the work of the group. Daily activities are carried out without any control.

4) "Team". The work of the team is based on an open and confidential discussion of all problems, there is a constant exchange of information. The solution of the tasks and goals is carried out as needed. Concentration of the team on achieving certain results, for this purpose the appropriate employees and resources are selected, which allows achieving the goal in the shortest possible time. All stages of solving the problem and the timing of its implementation are controlled by the leader of the group. Direction and leadership here is based on facilitating interactions between all team members.

Teamwork rules

Rule 1. Working meetings and their punctual attendance are an important priority. In the absence of urgent matters and tasks, attending the meeting is mandatory for everyone and without delay.

Rule 2. Obligations must be fulfilled. Be sure to solve the problem if you took it upon yourself. If you know you can't do a certain job, then you shouldn't agree to do it. If there are difficulties with the fulfillment of the undertaken obligations, it is necessary to notify the team members as soon as possible.

Rule 3. It is important to be receptive to new ideas. Before expressing skepticism that someone has already tried, but did not work out, a constructive discussion of the issue should be held from the position of how this can be implemented.

Rule 4: Don't point the finger or name the culprits. Any success is the result of team actions, and failures are a chance to gain new experience, skills and an opportunity to correct the situation.

Rule 5. Confidentiality must be maintained. When situations happen that something does not work out, this is an internal question of the team. It is impossible to discuss the team and its members with outsiders, and even more so to bring disputable situations within the team for discussion by others.

Information about the author and company

Alexander Morozov, commercial director, Center. Has been in business for over 12 years. The portfolio includes more than 25 completed projects, 14 of which are in the IT field, the rest are in related areas. In more than 80 projects attracted external funding at the launch stage. Specializes in business modeling and industrial prototyping. Center is a design laboratory that manages the PRE-inc business accelerator, the Center consulting company, the Business as Creativity Club experimental design laboratory, and several startups. Official site -www.center-game.com

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