Teamwork

Teamwork:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qzzYrCTKuk)

Sugarman (2004) discussed that "the concept of teamwork is extremely important to the success of any group."  A group can be defined as a number of people or objects that are  considered or classed together (Online Dictionary, 2013). Sugarman (2004) continues to suggest that people who are a team have a common goal and work as one unit. Members within a team recognise that their accomplishment is dependent on the actions of others. He explores that people within the team are aware of their individual purpose and are able to contribute to specific skills. The team working as one cohesive unit is  the key in their own success. 
For example within a sports team it can be said that coaches will talk about working as a unified team. “Teamwork and unselfishness create the backbone of a great team, without them a team cannot realistically compete nor succeed (Sugarman, 2004). It is apparent that anyone can have a group of experts however, if they do not work well as one unit,  they are not going to be as effective in reaching the common goals. 

Payne (2000) also suggests that a productive and successful team has players that share common goals and have some level of interdependence that requires both verbal and physical interaction. Teams may form for a number of  reasons, but the goals within the team are the same; to achieve peak performance and experience success, to enjoy the reason they came together, their shared attitude, job or their hobby. Individual personalities within a team and their reasoning may differ however,  the means by which one gets there is the same this in principle is ‘teamwork.’ 

Sugarman (2004) explains that to succeed at the 'task' (this can be a sports event or a job role) everyone involved needs to combine their efforts. If everyone does their ‘task/role’ well, then it increases what the team can accomplish. He suggests that teamwork has to be recognised by everyone within the group and everyone is knowledgeable about the positive outcomes that can happen if individuals work together as one whole unit. Throughout his literature the message embodied is that of "Everyone has their own unique role, but each person's individual role must be recognised and appreciated by both themselves and other people within the team "(Sugarman, 2004).

Teamwork is something that must be a high priority and given constant attention, in relation to a sports team this may be from a coach (Happy Manager, 2013). 
A leader/ coach should recognise how important it is for an individual player to understand their role in order to work smoothly together if they want to be successful. Each player must be dedicated and be willing to act unselfishly. When challenges arise (as they always do in any environment), a team must have the resources, accountability and commitment to deal with them in a constructive and positive manner. A sense of teamwork will play an integral part in this.

       

Just remember T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More!

It can be said that teamwork can improve productivity within teams, working as a whole can achieve better outcomes. Mullins (2010) supports this when he says “teamwork can improve quality and encourage innovation and can improve members' commitment and motivation.”

       “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success” - Henry Ford (1939)

 The above proverb by Henry Ford highlights the importance of working together in teams.

 Social Work and Teamwork

Levin and Herbert state that "The need for teamwork is built upon the idea that not one discipline or profession has all of the necessary skills and knowledge to meet the complex needs of clients."(Levin, Herbert, 1997. P.93).  Mariano (1989) supports this perspective when he says: “(human problems) result from the interaction of a number of physical, psychological, spiritual, and environmental factors, and thus cross the traditional boundaries of helping disciplines.” (1989, P. 287). He follows on to say that “effective teamwork seeks to serve the whole person by integrating the knowledge and skills of various professional disciplines.”  ( Mariano, 1989, P. 287) This would suggest that as social workers we must work within a multidisciplinary team to meet the needs of our service users. The published research regarding teamwork, Garner (1994) suggests that by helping professions to work independently we can provide inferior services to the same client because clinical decisions are made based upon incomplete information. The information is gathered from only one source and thus based singularly on their own opinion. This irregularity can confuse clients and act as a barrier to their therapeutic goals especially as social work is often helping vulnerable people.

 Tuckman’s Theory (1965)

Bruce Tuckman first published his model in 1965 this was name ‘Forming Storming Norming Performing model’. He later added a fifth stage to this model in the 1970’s, Adjourning. We can use this theory to explain roles of team development and behaviour. Other models such as Tannenbaum’s model of delegation and team development and Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership model, show many similarities to Tuckmans theory these theories were also developed in the 60’s around the same time as Tuckman's theory of teamwork.  

Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style to which best suits that particular team.  This process begins with a guiding style (from the leader), continuing onto a coaching style, moving on to participating, finishing in a delegating and almost detached style of team workings. At this point Tuckman says that the team may produce a successor leader and the previous leader can move on to develop a new team. (Teambuilding, 2013)       

As explained by the title of Tuckman’s theory forming storming norming and performing is a four staged model each stage of this theory provides an insight into how a team functions.

Below are the features of the 4 key stages as defined by Tuckman (1965) these processes of team development can be seen within the film Coach Carter. Although the team had already been placed together as a basketball team by a previous coach they were not experiencing success with only 4 wins throughout their previous season. As Coach Carter is introduced to the team it can be seen throughout the film that the team experience different stages, to achieve success. 

         Forming - Stage 1

Within this stage Tuckman recognises that there would be a high dependency on the teams appointed leader for primary guidance and direction. An example in a sports team this could relate to basic rules of the sport and tactics. Many individuals within the group may have different opinions on what they see the team aims should be and their own role within the team; they will be guided by the leader. There may also be little agreement on these team aims other than received from leader. At this stage a successful leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team's purpose, objectives and external relationships. Within this primary stage a leader should be clear and concise, directive and patient; as members of the team may test tolerance of the new system and the leader.

        - The new coach; Coach Carter is introduced for the new basketball season. Coach Carter brings to the team a contract he expects the team members to uphold, setting out the aims of the team, which were above the expectation of just basketball, including; attending classes, achieving specific grades, punctuality and discipline. These aims were unknown to the team previously and due to this many questions were asked by the members about their relevance towards the team’s overall success. This highlighted the difference in opinions about the overall teams’ aims and values, and as a result of this led to 3 team members leaving due to this disagreement in values. The members went on to test the tolerance of the leader to assess his expectations.

         Storming - stage 2

Decisions don't come easily within the group. Within a sports team members compete for positions as they attempt to establish themselves in relation to other team members and the leader, they might receive challenges from other team members with a shared wish to gain the same position. Throughout this stage Tuckman suggested that clarity of the purpose individually within the team increases but plenty of uncertainties will still persist. For example within a sports team friendship groups and cliques could begin to form resulting in a power struggle. It is important for the leader to remain focused and keep the team focused on their goals to avoid becoming distracted by such relationships and emotional issues (this could include a friend being dropped from the team.) The leader will need to make sure that the team are aware that compromises may be required to enable progress.

         - This can be seen later into the film as conflict is witnessed between the team members; some members worked to meet the team’s aims with upholding good school grades and attendance, whilst others failed to meet these expectations. This resulted in the whole team being banned from training or playing any further games until these aims were met by all team members. The conflict came about as it was felt by certain members that although only some were failing to meet these aims, all members were being forced to suffer and preventing the team from succeeding in basketball.

         - Conflict was also seen between the team members and the leader; Coach Carter. This was due to a growing value within the team that he was not in fact part of the team, and that the success they had achieved so far was down to the team players rather than the coach. This conflict was overcome by the coach highlighting the aims of the team again with emphasis upon creating a ‘better life’ for the players by setting them up for college and a career, rather than just playing basketball. He introduced a long-term aim to the team, opposed to just that years basketball season.

         Norming - Stage 3

Teams who respond well to enablement by the leader, often do this by agreement, acceptance and consensus. Individual and team roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted. Big decisions are made by group agreement not just by the leader or coach. Tuckman recognised that smaller decisions may be given to individuals or small teams within group for them to sort out. Within this stage the team should be committed to the goals and responsibilities and unity is strong. The team may engage in fun and social activities out of their normal working environment. During this third stage a leader facilitates and enables.

        - Following Coach Carter emphasising the aims to the team members again, unity was seen by the team members who agreed as a team to cease playing until their school grades were adequate.  During this period of the film common values across the team could be seen, and the members who had achieved their grades adopted a different role within the team than that they had previously adopted to help the members who were struggling. 

        - Following the achievement of grades the team returned to their aim of winning that year’s basketball season. Commitments to practice and developing their own team tactics returned, but this was joined by a new emphasis upon working as a team.

         Performing - stage 4

During this stage the team is more strategically aware; the team knows clearly why it is doing what it is doing and hopefully with successful outcomes, if this is not achieved however the team will understand and be aware of these downfalls. The team now has a 'shared vision' and is able to stand on its own with no interference or participation from the leader. The leader’s role requires delegating tasks and projects to the team. Individual team members might ask for assistance from the leader with personal and interpersonal development. But mainly the leader delegates and oversees the workings of the team as a whole. There is a focus on over-achieving goals, pushing and striving to be better by the team as a whole. The team has a high degree of autonomy. Disagreements may occur but now they are resolved within the team positively and necessary changes to processes and structure are made by the team.

- A shared vision of the teams aims and values can be seen across all team members. In the final basketball match it can be seen that the team members pull together to work as a team, with each member fulfilling their role/position. This was emphasised following a motivational speech by Coach Carter, about the importance of playing their own game with the tactics that they had established and not falling into playing the game their opponents wished them to play.

Bruce Tuckman refined his theory around 1975 and added a fifth stage called it “Adjourning”. Adjourning is seen more as a personal assistant of the original model not extension. This phase is very relevant to the people in the group and their well-being, but not to the main task of managing and developing a team, which is clearly central to the original four stages above.

           Adjourning – Stage 5

Tuckman's fifth stage, Adjourning, is the break-up of the group, in example when a sports team no longer plays together for instance a school team finishing the academic year, its purpose fulfilled and the team have reached the end of their time playing the sport together. Everyone will move on to new things, hopefully feeling good about what's been achieved. From an organisational perspective, recognition of and sensitivity to people's vulnerabilities in Tuckman's fifth stage is helpful, particularly if members of the group have been closely bonded and feel a sense of insecurity or threat from this change. Feelings of insecurity would be natural for people with high 'steadiness' attributes and with strong routine and empathy style. 

          - The adjourning of the team came at the end of the basketball season and the end of their school academic year, when the team would no longer continue to play together. The purpose of the team to win the basketball season for that year, was not achieved following loosing a match against the top seed team. However, this did not prevent the team and leader from feeling proud about what had been achieved across the season.

          - The other aims of the team which Coach Carter introduced by which the team members could continue into further education and ultimately have a career were fulfilled with 6 of the team members going onto college; Lyle, Cruz, Kenyon and Damien Carter. As well as this Junior and Worm achieved college scholarships to continue to play basketball at college.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doNUHd7uPO0)

Although Tuckman suggests that through his model of team development the leader will adapt his leadership style, to suit the team’s dynamics and personalities, it can be seen in the film that this is not the case, and he in fact continues to adopt the Transformational leadership style.

This may be the case for other leaders, but Coach Carter sticks firm to his own values surrounding coaching and that there is more to his team than just playing basketball. Carter does not sway from this value, and remains firm with his expectations of his team. He remains positive that his aim of transforming the team into having a successful future, and not only successful in that basketball season alone is achievable, and therefore remains consistent in his leadership style. 

Belbins Team Roles

Belbin.com (2013) 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLIAPLOeF5c)

“A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.” (Belbin, 1981). 

Belbin Team Roles theory can be used within teams to identify people's own behavioural strengths and weaknesses. This can be helpful within a team as it can

- Build effective working relationships between team members.
- Select and develop high-performing teams.
- Raise self-awareness and personal effectiveness knowing your strengths and floors can make you a better team player.
- Build mutual trust and understanding within teams.

Belbins Team Roles theory measures behaviour, not personality, and so can be defined as:

“A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.” Dr. Meredith Belbin (1981). Belbin also carries on saying that “By identifying our Team Roles, we can ensure that we use our strengths to advantage and that we manage our weaknesses as best we can. Sometimes, this means being aware of the pitfalls and making an effort to avoid them.” She suggests that by knowing what role we have within a team it can work to the teams advantage as we all perform our own roles. The Team Roles that Meredith Belbin identified are used widely in thousands of organisations all over the world today.  

Team Role	Factors that facilitate	Factors that impede
Plant	Free thinking, creative, generates ideas and solves challenging problems.	Too preoccupied in own  thoughts to communicate effectively.
Resource investigator	On-going, animated, explores every opportunity and develops contacts.	Can often be over-optimistic and can easily loose interest once the enthusiasm has passed  once the situation is ‘boring’.
Co-ordinator	Confidant, mature, identifies talents within the team. Clarifies goal s and delegates effectively.	Can be seen as manipulative. Offloads own share of the work. Not doing their own equal share of the work.
Shaper	Challenging, Dynamic thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles.	Offends people’s feelings  harsh and to the point.
Monitor evaluator	Strategic and discerning. Judges and sees all options accurately.	Can lack drive and ability to  inspire others within the team. Can be over critical.
Team worker	Co-operative, diplomatic and discerning. Averts fiction and listens to others.	Within tough situations  can be indecisive and  avoid confrontation.
Implementer	Practical, reliable and can turn ideas into actions and  organises work that’s needs to be done.	Somewhat inflexible.  Slow to respond to new possibilities.
Completer finisher	Polishes and perfects  everything. Conscientious, anxious and searches out the errors within the team.	Can worry unreluctant to delegate others.
Specialist	Lone minded, committed  and knowledgeable. Has skills that are in demand and rare.	Contributes only narrowly. Inhabits on the technical aspects of tasks and the team.

This table shows each role in Belbins team role theory (1981). It shows each team role there specific contribution and the weakness of that role, thus highlighting the positive and negative factors of that role.

Interested in Belbins theory?

Why not take a short, free online test to discover which is your preferred role just click on this link.. Team Roles Test.

The individuals each play a different role within the team; they have a different position within the basketball team but they also each have a role and way of behaving within the team off the court to contribute to it’s effectiveness.

•Coach Carter   - The Co-Ordinator - Coach Carter is the leader of the team and co-ordinates what tasks need to be completed by each individual team member. He also dictated the aims of the team, and what values will influence the team's methods of working. 

•Kenyon Stone   - The Resource Investigator- Kenyon was able to get his mother’s consent to agree with the coach’s aims and methods. His mother went on to be an influential factor in his success in remaining within the team, and ultimately his team’s success.

•Damien Carter - The Implementer- Damien is the son of Coach Carter, and has always been aware of his father’s values and aims in coaching. He influences the teams ideas into practice that will meet the Coach’s aims and ultimately to achieve success.

•Timo Cruz - The Shaper – Cruz appears to have the highest social status amongst the team members. Due to this the other team members value his decisions regarding the team 

•Junior Battle - The Completer- Junior was one of the few members who kept to the contract by attending classes and achieving good grades, he went on to motivate and tutor the other team members to allow them to achieve the grades before the end of the season.

•Worm - The Team worker – Worm is a key team player, he provides support and humour to the other members when appropriate.

•Jason Lyle - The Plant- Lyle was behind the decisions that have meant that team members come together to help one another. For example; instigating that the team should continue to study and increase their grades, before resuming playing basketball. 

Diagram from (Muses + Things) 2013

Honey (2001)

Honey proposes an alternative framework to the roles within a team, compared to that of Belbin. Although Belbin proposed 9 different team roles, Honey has built upon the research he gathered and has suggested that there is in fact only 5 different team roles instead.

•       The ‘Leader’ is the member within the team who ensures that there are clear objectives set out and makes sure everyone is involved and committed.

•       The ‘Challenger’ will question the effectiveness of the team and press for improvement and results, which will contribute to the success of the team.

•       The ‘Doer’ will encourage and urge the team to complete tasks effectively and within time limits.

•       The ‘Thinker’ presents carefully considered ideas and weighs up ideas from other team members.

•       The ‘Supporter’ eases any tension within the team and ensures that harmony remains. 

Looking at the proposed roles put forward by Honey, these can be applied to the main characters in Coach Carter and what part they play within the team and it’s effectiveness.

·      The Leader -> This role is fulfilled by Coach Carter, who is the coach of the team and sets out the aims and values, through the means of a contract by which he expects his teams to conform to.

·      The Challenger - Junior Battle is one of the few members who upheld the contract introduced by Coach Carter. On discovery that not all members had done the same, he questioned the other members on why this had not been the case and mentored and motivated them until these aims had been completed.

·      The ‘Doer’ - Lyle was behind the decisions to work together as a team, for example assisting Cruz in completing his target before he could return to the team, as well as instigating that the team should continue to study rather than play. He gained agreement from other team members, and urged that these tasks be completed within the set time frame.

·      The Thinker- Damien Carter is the son of Coach Carter which means he has a full understanding of his aims and values when coaching. Due to this knowledge he presented the team with ideas, and shaped their ideas in order to meet his father’s aims.

·      The Supporter - Worm is the supporter of the group, he provides the team with humour when tensions and stress are high. 

Dysfunctions that teams need to avoid

(Lencioni, 2002)

Patrick Lencioni published the Five Dysfunctions of a Team in 2002.  According to Patrick Lencioni there are five common pitfalls that make up a team’s dysfunction. These dysfunctions interconnect and build off each other and can either encourage success of a team or hinder achieving common goals. The five characteristics of a team include;

1.    Absence of trust,

2.    Fear of conflict,

3.    Lack of commitment,

4.    Avoidance of accountability,

5.    Inattention to results 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dRKa700RaQ)

Absence of trust:

The fear to be vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust within the team.

Teams require trust for team work to be effective. The absence of trust begins where team members are unwilling to be vulnerable within the group (being open about their successes and failures in order to build upon and form trust). When team members are able to move away from being defensive and show acceptance and willingness to want to learn then the team will become more effective in achieving their initial aims. If just one member of the team has a problem with trust it affects the whole team.

When building trust the role of the leader is the most important role within the team. The leader must be able to demonstrate vulnerability so that the team members feel comfortable in doing this.

If there is a lack of trust the team is likely to not conflict properly (leading to stage 2).

In relation to Coach Carter, he shows his vulnerability when his decision to close the gym is overturned by the head teacher as she disagrees with his decision. As a result of this Coach Cater decides to resign. However as he goes to inform the team he finds out that they are going to carry on working to improve their grades.  The team begin to build trust within Coach Carter and believe in his values.

Fear of conflict:

Once trust within a team has been established the team members can constructively and respectfully engage in conflict. For effective teamwork members must feel comfortable to voice their opinions and know they have been listened to and respected. Conflict is essential to achieve commitment with the team.

The role of the leader is to be positive role model in constructive conflict to issues, perspectives and opinions being open rather than underlying issues that do not get resolved. The leader has the role of ensuring that informed decisions are made that the team members will support.  

Not having conflict within a team can be dysfunctional.

During the film Cruz stands up to Coach Carter and voices his opinion ‘deepest fear speech’. Coach Carter listens to Cruz’s speech and shows that he has listened to and respected what he has said. Therefore, issues are no longer underlying and in the open. The team then feel comfortable to being open and honest with Coach Carter.

Lack of commitment:

Having trust and healthy conflict allows compromise within the team. The lack of clarity or fear of being wrong prevents team members from making decisions.

Decisions are made and this identifies roles within the team.

Following Cruz’s ‘deepest fear speech’ promotes clarity within the team and shows that conflict can enable a team to move forward. The team no longer have fear of standing up to Coach Carter and Coach Carter is open to listening to conflict within the team to move forward and make decisions. The team develop and understanding of where they fit within the team. (See Belbin theory).

Avoidance of accountability:

At this stage accountability is not only about the leader of the team being accountable but it is also about the team members holding each other accountable by reminding each other of commitments that were agreed to and when they agreed to their completion.

At the beginning of the film Coach Carter presents each team member with a contract of his expectations of the team. This demonstrates that Coach carter is being accountable for the team and the goals in which they wish to achieve but also enables the team to support each other and promotes motivation to team members to encourage their team mates to comply with the contracts.

Inattention to Result:

Two things that get in the way of achieving results are self-interest and self-preservation. Team members who put their individual needs above the common goals make it difficult to achieve better overall results. The overall team performance should come first.

This is not to say that individuals should not look out for themselves but there needs to be a connection between self-interest and getting results.

The role of the leader must set the focus on results. If team members sense that the leader values anything other than results, they will take that as permission to do the same for themselves.

In the film Cruz walks out of the gym as he disagrees with Coach Cater and does not wish to comply with his strict discipline. This in effect has an impact upon the whole team as he has put his own opinions and needs above the team and the common goals. Coach Carter has to motivate the team to comply with his values and discipline in order to achieve.

Therefore, when teams build trust and engage in constructive conflict there is the potential for building commitment and accountability. When these are formed the team can focus on meeting the goals. 

(Lencioni, 2002)