1 How effective is your team?
Having an understanding of how effective your team is at any point can help indicate which stage of development you are at and also which aspect of communication you may need to focus on to improve team functioning.
In Week 3, you considered some of the things you might need to do in order to enable a team to move effectively from one stage to the next. The stage that probably stands out to you at this point is the Storming stage and it should be relatively easy for you to be clear on the communication skills that you may need to develop in order to successfully pass through this challenging stage.
Before you take a look at how to develop skills in feedback, conflict management and decision making, it will be helpful for you to reflect on a team that you have had experience of, or are part of now, and consider how effectively your team is functioning. Understanding where the issues lie within your team communication can be a helpful starting point to know where you need to direct your focus at certain times.
Activity 1 Assessing a team you are familiar with
The checklist below is adapted from Levin and Kent (2001) and asks you to assess whether you are working as a team or not. Type in Yes or No next to the statements that accurately represent a team you are currently part of, or one you have had experience of previously.
Then reflect on the statements that you have added No to and consider what kind of skill you may need to develop in order to improve this.
| Statement | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| We all show equal commitment to our objective. | |
| We all take part in deciding how work should be allocated. | |
| We are committed to helping each other learn. | |
| We acknowledge good contributions from team members. | |
| We handle disagreements and conflicts constructively within the team. | |
| We are able to give constructive criticism to one another and to accept it ourselves. | |
| We all turn up to meetings and stay to the end. | |
| We are good at making sure that everyone knows what’s going on. | |
| When one of us is under pressure, others offer to help him or her. | |
| We trust each other. | |
| We remain united even when we disagree. | |
| We support each other to outsiders. | |
| We feel comfortable and relaxed with one another. |
Comment
You may be surprised at how many of these actions depend on the ability of the team to provide effective feedback. If one member of the team is failing to show commitment or not pulling their weight, then it is essential that you feel confident in tackling this. While it may feel easier to avoid the issue, what you are really avoiding is conflict within the team and although no one enjoys conflict, it can be necessary for a team to progress effectively. You’ll explore some of these key issues in more detail as you progress through this week.
Communication skills are obviously key to effective teamwork – enhancing your ability to resolve conflict and give effective feedback to those around you. In the next section you’ll consider your own communication skills and how to build them.