ISSUE 01 : 2004

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Different outcomes require a different approach It may seem a strange question for the Managing Director of Team Focus to ask but I think it’s worth asking. In today’s market there are a host of activities being offered as “Team Building”. For instance, you can fly a jet aeroplane (designed for one), fire paint balls at each other or paint you own coffee mug just to name a few. The value of "Team Building" in these events I would question and yet they are marketed and sold as such. There are so many activities promoted as "Team Building" events, that finding your way through them can be challenging to say the least. How do you know what to choose? It begs the question what is Team Building? To help you through this process we believe the answer is to find a better question. Experience tells us that, critical to the successful outcome of any corporate event, the question must be ‘what do you want to achieve?’ For over 15 years Team Focus has provided services from traditional “Team Building” events that are principally for fun and provided at a company conference, right through to deep levels of learning and behaviour intervention that is provided through training and development programs. During this time, one of the significant things we have discovered is the need to be very clear about the outcomes you seek. Different outcomes require a different approach. While we could not possibly summarise every situation and permutation of outcomes, we have found some very consistent elements. The conference or what is referred to as “Team Building” market tends to be dominated by larger groups with a focus on fun that will create a common and bonding experience. In general and often, the outcome the client seeks is for their participants to feel good, feel rewarded, enjoy each other's company (the shared experience) and talk to each other back in the office after the event. This market tends to engage in what is referred to as “Team Building” and can include all manner of activities. Our observation is that these events rarely achieve any lasting behaviour change, but does that matter? In the “Team Building” market where fun and bonding is the main objective they very strongly have their place. However, if you want to achieve true behaviour change you need to choose a more appropriate and specific intervention. The other end of the continuum is the learning and development market, where the outcomes are much more specifically targeted at the individual and the smaller teams that are involved. This market includes experiential activities, training and presentation, personality and other profiling tools, feedback instruments and other learning and development models and tools. In this market great levels of behaviour change are achieved, mainly because of a more focussed and targeted approach. In this issue of In Focus, and over following issues, we are privileged to publish the results of detailed research conducted at the AGSM (Australian Graduate School of Management). Team Focus has the pleasure of working with the AGSM and co-facilitating one component of their MBA program. This research has been conducted with the MBA students and puts some common assumptions about teamwork on trial. Importantly, this research has supported our anecdotal observations that the purpose of the team, and the organisational context that they work in needs to be taken into account. That is, organisations need to be very clear about what they are hoping to achieve with any event they are planning. For lasting change to be realised through team building, then a more detailed and focused approach is required to achieve the best results. Our response to our own observations, and now this research, is to continue asking the question “what do you want to achieve?” Only by having clear outcomes can we choose the right activity, exercise, or intervention for your training or conference needs. Ross Judd, Managing Director, Team Focus

The latest research puts common assumptions about teamwork on trial. Authors: Catherine Collins (PHD Student & Research Fellow) and Professor Sharon Parker How do you get a good team? Tradition suggests either engage in team building OR choose the right personalities. Team building is not the way – much research demonstrates that at best, people feel good after the traditional team building exercises (and some don’t), but that doesn’t translate into any new behaviors back in the work place. Whilst personality does play a part, the problem is if you have an existing team, it is not easy to change personality. Researchers at AGSM are showing the value of a ‘third way’ – improving the way teams actually work together by providing “rigorous, real, and results-focused” feedback. BACKGROUND This research involves an in-depth and innovative investigation of 140 teams of executives at the AGSM. Teams worked together, and were tracked across, a period 8 months. The research has been conducted by Catherine Collins and Professor Sharon Parker at AGSM. When asked what is unique about the research program on teams Collins highlighted four ways that her research with Parker differs from the vast literature on teams. “First, most research on teams takes a snapshot of the team’s lifespan. The problem with that approach is that it doesn’t reveal the complexities of teamwork. We track teams over the entire roller coaster ride of teamwork.” Sharon Parker added, “It’s not only researchers who have neglected to look at teams over time. A big mistake that organisations often make is that they put a great deal of effort into setting up good teams at the outset, but then they neglect them and just expect the teams to work. It is important to recognise that teams need continued support. Our research will help organisations with this as we look at what supports might be needed as teams develop”. Collins continued, “Our research is unique in a second way. Of the few studies that investigate how teamwork develops over time, most investigate how teams develop ‘on average’. However, we look at each team separately to determine whether teams vary in the way they develop. What we find is a surprising array of different team development tracks, with some teams on a positive spiral and others on a downward spiral”. “Third, we do not rely on a few individual’s informal views of team working, but we systematically gather quantitative data about team working from all team members, rigorously analyse this data and feed it back to the teams, and then repeat this exercise so that teams can reflect how they change, and so determine how best to support these changes. Finally, our research is unique in that we link team members’ perceptions about how their team is working with bottom-line outcomes (in the case of study teams, we look at grades achieved for group projects)”. Finding 1: Teams don’t all develop in the same way, even when they are in the same environment, with the same resources and levels of support. Although ‘on average’ teams improve their ability and motivation to work together as time progresses, when we look more closely we find some teams dramatically improve their ability to work together, some teams don’t change much, and some teams get on a negative spiral and deteriorate over time. Figure 1. Team development trends. Implication: This means that when introducing team working within an organisation, managers should be aware that teams will not all develop in the same way and at the same speed. A very useful tool for managers and for teams, therefore, is detailed information about how each team is progressing. This team-specific information can be used to design interventions that work for the particular team. Blanket interventions introduced across all teams (e.g., sending all teams on a course for conflict resolution) could be cost-inefficient because some teams won’t need this support and will benefit more from other interventions. Finding 2: It is not always a case of ‘the good teams get better and the bad teams get worse’. Surprisingly, when we look in detail at how different teams develop over time, we find no evidence that the ‘good teams’ simply get better and the ‘bad teams’ get worse, which is a common perception held by managers. Instead a team can start out with all the right signs (strong motivation, good communication skills, high initial performance levels etc) but then get de-railed, perhaps as they get complacent about their abilities so don’t put in the effort required to maintain effective team working. At the same time, a team that got off to a rough start can recover, and even surpass other teams that were effective to begin with. Implication: When introducing teams, organisations often put a great deal of effort into setting up ‘good teams’ (e.g., focusing on selecting the right mix of skills and personalities) and then providing them with some training in team work to get them started. However our research suggests this will not be enough because a team can start out well, but then come off the rails. Our research shows the importance of continuing to review and support teams beyond the initial start up phase. Further findings will be published in the next issues of InFocus, including questions such as: Does having a team with members who are experienced in team work make a successful team? Team members’ personality or team processes: which is the more important determinant of team success? What are the critical success factors for team building? Learning lessons from a success story. Do you want to know more about the research? Alternatively, do you wish to understand how data feedback in your organisation can assess how change programs (e.g. team building, organisational restructures) impact employees (e.g. turnover, commitment) and bottom-line organisational performance? If so, please contact Professor Sharon Parker on (02) 9931-9316 or at sharonp@agsm.edu.au.

Make a note in your address book, we have changed our phone number and mailing address. The new phone number is 1300 551 274 and the post details are GPO Box 2837 Sydney NSW 2001. Our original phone and address will still be available for some time until the change-over is complete. On a more personal level I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Hayley Sharkey, the newest member of our team. Hayley joined us to take over the role of Administrator. No doubt, when you call into the office, Hayley's will be the first voice you hear. Hayley's colleagues at Team Focus are all very envious as she finalises plans to take extended leave over July and part of August to travel to Europe with some friends. Visiting 12 countries, the highlight of her trip (among many others) will be great seats at the European Soccer World Cup in Portugal.

As always, we welcome suggestions on how we can provide better information to you. Additionally, if you have any requests or suggestions on topics you would like to read, about please give us a call on 1300 551 274 or email cathy@teamfocus.com.au