Whetten David A., Cameron Kim S. Developing management skills

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BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER 9 507

scholarly literature as critical factors in leading almost

any kind of team (Edmonson, 1999; Hackman, 1990).

The first is developing credibility and influence among

team members. The second is establishing a motivat-

ing vision and goals for the team.

DEVELOPING CREDIBILITY

Effective leaders have the respect and commitment of

team members. That is, they develop credibility (Kouzes

& Posner, 1987). Establishing credibility and the capacity

to influence team members are the first key challenges

faced by leaders of teams. Except in rare circumstances

(e.g., in a crisis), leading a team by command or direct

control is much less effective than leading through influ-

ence and indirect control (Druskat & Wheeler, 2000;

Hackman, 1987). Consequently, we focus on ways that

you can be effective by working with team members

rather than working on team members. Giving direc-

tions, articulating goals, or trying to motivate team mem-

bers are all wasted efforts if you have not established

credibility and respect. General Pagonis described this

leadership challenge in the following way:

I have found, time and time again in commands

around the world, that my troops are more

invested in their work and better motivated

when they understand and buy into the ulti-

mate goals of the operation. Reason counts for

far more than rank, when it comes to motiva-

tion. And motivation is the root of all organiza-

tional progress. Over the years I have developed

a very distinctive leadership style. Gus Pagonis’

command style, like everyone else’s, is unique.

This meant that I had choices to make. Would I

rather have the world’s best port operation offi-

cer, if he was someone who didn’t already know

my style? Or would I rather have the world’s

second best port operation officer who knew

my style intimately and was comfortable with it?

The answer was obvious; we couldn’t waste

time fighting our own systems. Equally impor-

tant, we couldn’t afford the time that would be

wasted as a new person tried to impress me, or

get on my good side. We needed an instant

body of leaders, strengthened by a united front.

We needed to know that we could depend on

one another unconditionally. We needed the

confidence that the mission, and not personal

advancement, would always be paramount

in the mind of each participant. (Pagonis, 1993,

p. 78, 84)

In earlier chapters we identified ways to enhance a

manager’s influence (Chapter 5) and trust (Chapter 8),

which are components of credibility. In this chapter we

highlight additional behaviors you can use to help

establish leadership credibility in a team. Team mem-

bers, of course, will not follow a person whom they

don’t trust, who is hypocritical or dishonest, or whose

motives appear to be personal aggrandizement instead

of the welfare of the team. In fact, Posner and Kouzes

(1987) identified credibility as the single most impor-

tant requirement for leadership effectiveness. Once

credibility has been established, then goals for the team

can be articulated and the team can move toward high

performance. The seven behaviors summarized in

Table 9.4 are keys to building and maintaining credibil-

ity and influence among team members. Whereas they

are simple and straightforward, much scholarly evi-

dence exists that support their efficacy (see Cialdini,

1995; Druskat & Wheeler, 2000; Hackman, 2003;

Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; Kramer, 1999; Manz &

Sims, 1987; Turner, 2000).

Table 9.4 Ways to Build Team Leader Credibility

Team leaders build credibility with their team members by:

• Demonstrating integrity, representing authenticity, and displaying congruence.

• Being clear and consistent about what they want to achieve.

• Creating positive energy by being optimistic and complimentary.

• Building a base of agreement among team members before moving on, with a focus on task accomplishment.

• Managing agreement and disagreement among team members by using one-sided and two-sided arguments

appropriately—one-sided in situations when all team members agree, two-sided when consensus is not preexisting.

• Encouraging and coaching team members to help them improve.

• Sharing information about the team itself, providing perspective from external sources, and encouraging participation.

508 CHAPTER 9 BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK

1. Demonstrate integrity. Chief among the behav-

iors that create leadership credibility is the

demonstration of integrity. Integrity means that

you do what you say, you behave congruently

with your values, and you are believable in

what you espouse. Some people call this “walk-

ing the talk” or “talking the walk.” Credibility

is dependent on having team members believe

that the leader is trustworthy, that hidden agen-

das or unspoken motives are absent, and that

the leader demonstrates justice and fairness.

Individuals who appear to say one thing and do

another, who are not honest in their feedback,

or who do not follow through with promises

are perceived to lack integrity and are ineffec-

tive as leaders of teams.

2. Be clear and consistent. Expressing certainty

about what you want and where you are

going, without being dogmatic or stubborn,

helps produce confidence on the part of others.

Being wishy-washy or inconsistent in your

viewpoints inhibits credibility. The electorate

in most countries throughout the world rate

their politicians as very low in credibility

because most candidates appear to be inconsis-

tent in their statements, changing perspectives

depending on the audience (Cialdini, 1995).

Credible people, on the other hand, can be

trusted to be consistent and predictable. A pas-

sionate point of view, it is said, is worth 50 IQ

points. That’s because being clear about what

you want reduces uncertainty, fosters clarity,

and creates consistency that leads to trust of

the part of team members. Articulating and

reinforcing an unwavering and persistent point

of view is much more effective than changing

opinions or preferences depending on whether

or not others agree with you.

3. Create positive energy. Stay optimistic and

complimentary. Most teams do not perform

effectively when there is a climate of criticism,

cynicism, or negativity. Criticizing team mem-

bers, past leaders, others outside the team, or

even being critical of the circumstances in

which the team finds itself are usually not

effective ways to help a team perform well.

Individuals and teams perform better when

positive energy exists—optimism, compli-

ments, celebrations of success, and recognition

of progress. This does not mean being unrealis-

tic or a “Pollyanna.” Instead, it means that

when you are seen as a source of positive

energy and enthusiasm, you have more credi-

bility and influence among team members.

People are more attracted to positive than neg-

ative forces for the same reason they are more

likely to say “yes” to a request if they have said

“yes” to previous requests (Cialdini, 1995).

Team members are more likely to be agreeable

and committed to your agenda if you, as the

leader, are agreeable and optimistic.

4. Use commonality and reciprocity. If you

express views in the team that are held in com-

mon with team members, they are more likely

to agree with your later statements. If you

want to foster team change, or move the team

toward an outcome that appears to be risky or

uncomfortable, begin by expressing views with

which other team members agree. It can be as

simple as “I know you all have very busy

schedules.” Or, “We have a lot of diversity of

opinion in our team on this issue.” These kinds

of statements work because of the principle of

reciprocity. Team members have a tendency to

agree with you more if they have received

something from you in advance, even if that is

merely your agreement with their point of

view. After you have expressed agreement

with them, you can then lead them toward

goals or targets that may stretch them or that

may be uncomfortable or uncertain. Your cred-

ibility will have been established if your initial

statements are seen as consistent with the

values and perspectives of other team mem-

bers. This is also a fundamental strategy in

effective negotiations.

5. Manage agreement and disagreement. When

team members initially agree with you, you are

more effective if you use a one-sided argument.

That is, present only one point of view and

support it with evidence. When team members

tend to disagree with you at the outset, use

two-sided arguments. That is, first present both

sides of the case and then show how your own

point of view is superior to the contrary per-

spective. Keep in mind that when team mem-

bers agree with you, the first statements you

make tend to hold more weight and are

remembered the longest. When they disagree

with you, the last statements made tend to

carry the most weight.

6. Encourage and coach. Providing encourage-

ment to team members has been found to be

among the most powerful predictors of effective

BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER 9 509

team leadership. Encouragement means to help

others develop courage—to tackle uncertainty,

to achieve beyond their current performance,

to disrupt the status quo. Encouraging team

members not only involves compliments and

supportive statements, it also involves coaching

and assistance. Coaching, as pointed out in

Chapter 4, means helping to show the way,

providing information or advice, and assisting

team members with task requirements. It

doesn’t mean that the team leader becomes con-

trolling or takes over. It means that coaches help

others perform well while not being actively

involved themselves. Effective encouragement,

then, is more than cheerleading. It involves giv-

ing both positively reinforcing comments and

helpful advice or direction.

7. Share information. Credible team leaders are

knowledgeable, mainly about the preferences

and talents that reside in the team and about

the task facing the team. Building credibility

means coming to understand the perspectives

of team members as well as a sense of their tal-

ents and resources. Coming to know your

team members well is crucial for successful

leadership. One way to do this is to use the

principle of “frequent checking.” This merely

involves asking questions and checking with

team members regularly to determine levels of

agreement, obstacles, dissatisfactions, needs,

and interpersonal or team issues. Credibility is

also built by having knowledge about the tasks

and the external environment facing the team.

This kind of knowledge can be achieved by

playing the roles of “ambassador” and “scout”

for the team, representing the team to out-

siders, and obtaining information from exter-

nal sources. Importantly, however, credibility

grows as knowledge is shared. Being the

source from which others can acquire needed

information builds credibility and influence, so

sharing is crucial. Of course, no leader can be

an expert on all topics relevant to the team,

but effective leaders continually increase and

expand their storehouse of knowledge about

the team and its environment.

As stated by General Pagonis:

Keeping [team members] abreast of your

actions, as well as the rationale behind

those actions, puts everybody on an equal

information footing. I believe that information

is power, but only if it is shared. . . . Very early

on I had gotten in the habit of sneaking John

Carr into these briefing sessions with CINC

[General Schwarzkopf and others] by having

Carr flip my slides in and out of the overhead

projector. That way, he stayed as smart and as

current about the CINC’s plans as I did.

(Pagonis, 1993, p. 88, 131)

ESTABLISH SMART GOALS

AND EVEREST GOALS

Once team members have confidence in the leader, it is

then possible for that leader to identify goals that

the team can achieve and levels of performance to

which team members can aspire. Katzenbach and Smith

(1993), in an outstanding study of high-performing

teams, reinforced this point of view:

The best teams invest a tremendous amount

of time and effort exploring, shaping, and

agreeing on a goal that belongs to them col-

lectively and individually.... With enough

time and sincere attention, one or more

broad, meaningful aspirations invariably arise

that motivate teams to provide a fundamental

reason for their extra effort. (p. 50)

There are two kinds of goals that characterize

high-performing teams, and leaders must identify and

espouse both kinds. The first are called SMART goals

and the second are called Everest goals. The purpose

for establishing clear goals is so that every person on

the team can give a similar answer to the question:

What are we trying to achieve? Leaders who clearly

articulate the desired outcomes for and with the team

are more likely to experience high performance from

the team. Goal-directed performance, in fact, always

exceeds performance disassociated with goals (Locke,

1990). Figure 9.3 illustrates this point.

It shows that when people are given no goals

(“Here is your task. Go do it.”), their performance

tends to be low, even though most people will perform

at a minimum level even when they are not certain of

the standard that they should achieve. However, being

provided with an easy goal (“The average is 10 per day,

but you can shoot for 4.”) leads to even lower perfor-

mance. People tend to work toward the standard that

has been established, and when it is easy, they slack off.

Establishing general goals (“Do your best.”) result in

improved performance over easy goals, but identifying

difficult goals (“The average is 10 per day, but you

510 CHAPTER 9 BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK

should shoot for 12.”) produces far higher levels of

performance. The kinds of goals that produce the high-

est levels of performance, however are difficult goals

that possess five characteristics. The acronym SMART

identifies these attributes. SMART goals are:

❏ Specific—The goal is clear, and precise targets

and standards are identified.

❏ Measurable—The goal can be assessed and

quantified. The extent to which the goal has

been achieved is obvious.

❏ Aligned—The goal is supportive of and consis-

tent with the goals of the broader organization.

People are not pursuing their own objectives

independent of their team.

❏ Realistic—While being difficult and causing per-

formance to stretch, the goal is not foolhardy or

a fantasy.

❏ Time-bound—An end point is identified or a

completion date established so that goal

achievement is not open-ended.

Consider the difference between goal statements

such as “We will be the best in our industry,” com-

pared to a goal statement that is SMART: “We will

achieve a 5 percent improvement in the on-time deliv-

ery of our products by the end of the quarter.” The lat-

ter provides a more motivating goal in that it is spe-

cific, measurable, aligned with key outcomes, realistic,

and time-bound. It gives people something they can

easily understand and shoot for. It is important to keep

in mind, however, that articulating motivating goals

and identifying the methods to achieve them are dif-

ferent. The former specifies the target. The latter spec-

ifies the means for achieving the target. The former is

Figure 9.3 The Effect of Goals on Performance

crucial to successful team leadership. The latter is

often lethal. Pagonis’ team illustrates this well:

I never tell a subordinate how to carry out a

specific goal. Dictating terms to a subordinate

undermines innovation, decreases the subordi-

nate’s willingness to take responsibility for his

or her actions, increases the potential for sub-

optimization of resources, and increases the

chances that the command will be dysfunc-

tional if circumstances change dramatically.

Our first month in the theater only under-

scored my sense that our [team] would have to

be incredibly elastic. (Pagonis, 1993, p. 119)

The second type of goal that effective team leaders

articulate is called an Everest goal. An Everest goal

goes beyond normal goal setting. It represents an ulti-

mate achievement, an extraordinary accomplishment,

or a beyond-the-norm outcome. Achieving it requires

everything one can give. Like setting your sights on

getting to the summit of Mount Everest, an Everest

goal is clear and compelling: serves as a unifying focal

point; builds team spirit; engages people; and creates

positive energy and excitement. An Everest goal is

stimulating because it connects to a profound passion.

People get it right away, with little explanation. An

Everest goal is visionary, not just tactical or strategic,

and it leaves people better for having engaged in its

pursuit. It requires extraordinary effort to achieve, and

maybe a little luck.

Examples of Everest goals include Henry Ford’s

goal of democratizing the automobile industry so that

his workers could afford to purchase cars in the 1920s;

Masaru Ibuka’s goal of helping Sony to become the

company that overcame the image of poor Japanese

SOURCE: University of Michigan, Positive Organizational Scholarship: Kim Cameron.

No Goals

Performance

Easy Goals

General Goals

Difficult Goals

Low High

Type of Goal

Difficult SMART Goals

BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER 9 511

quality in the 1960s and 1970s; Steven Jobs’ goal of

one person, one computer throughout the world in the

1980s; or Sam Walton’s goal in the 1990s of having

Wal-Mart become the first trillion-dollar company.

Team leaders can identify stretch targets, of

course, such as: “We will be #1 or #2 in our industry,”

or “We will be the world’s best software team,” or

“We will achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction.”

These are very difficult goals to achieve and certainly

extend beyond the norm. However, Everest goals have

a very important attribute that supplements these

goal statements. This attribute is illustrated by the fol-

lowing quotation from a climber who finally made it to

the top of Mount Everest after three failed attempts:

I realized something on that night in the dark

on Everest. What I realized was that real win-

ning had nothing to do with beating someone

else, or crossing the finish line first, or stand-

ing on top. Winning wasn’t anything external

at all. It was an internal satisfaction, a deep

inner sense of pride and joy. Success can only

be measured within ourselves, by ourselves. It

has nothing to do with other people’s percep-

tion of our achievements. It has everything to

do with our own perceptions of our efforts . . .

Success isn’t standing on the podium, or hear-

ing the cheers of others, or standing on the

summit at all. It’s giving it your all. ...Ithink

that in anything in life, if you give it everything

you possibly can, you really do succeed. . . .

Our business in life is not to get ahead of

others but to get ahead of ourselves, to break

our own records, to outstrip our yesterday

by our today, to do our work with more force

than ever before. We took comfort in the

words of Gandhi: ‘Full effort is full victory’. . .

I have come to understand that for me

this notion of success is upside down. In fact,

a traditional end—the summit, an Olympic

gold medal, or wealth—only serves as a navi-

gational tool, a marker to give the process

direction. The end for me is a greater depth

and breadth of character. I measure this in

terms of greater integrity, better business and

communication skills, and a higher personal

motivation to become stronger. More simply,

my aim is to become as internally knowledge-

able and as externally aware as possible. The

process, the experience, the struggle, the

hard-won lessons, these are ends in them-

selves. (Clarke & Hobson, 2005, pp. 168, 169)

Everest goals are not merely stretch targets, but

they possess the ability to elevate human performance

far beyond the norm. People achieve what they could

not previously have thought possible. They thrive

personally in ways that would not have been feasible

otherwise. Typical Everest goals:

❏ Capture deep inner commitment of people

because they are tied to something about

which they care deeply

❏ Require supreme effort and a passionate

commitment

❏ Depend on complete honesty and authenticity,

since achieving them cannot be accomplished

by trying to be something artificial or false

❏ Motivate learning and wisdom, allowing peo-

ple to learn new things about themselves and

their capabilities in the pursuit of the goal

❏ Enhance positive human relationships—it is

impossible to achieve an Everest goal alone, so

they require support and interdependence

with others

❏ Lead people beyond probabilities into the realm

of possibilities, so that previously unconsidered

levels of accomplishment become realistic

Identifying such a goal, of course, is neither auto-

matic nor easy. Such goals don’t just roll off the tips of

our tongues. Most people identify few of these in a life-

time. These goals are often connected to: (1) produc-

ing a human benefit for others, (2) a core personal

value, (3) producing an impact that extends beyond

the immediate, even over a lifetime, (4) virtues such as

love, faith, integrity, compassion, hope, or (5) produc-

ing a ripple effect, so that the achievement is repro-

duced over and over again. Establishing Everest goals

requires that you get in touch with your personal val-

ues, your core mission or purpose in life, and that

which provides you profound meaning. Everest goals

help you reach those ultimate aspirations.

In summary, being an effective leader of a team

requires two key skills: (1) developing credibility

among team members and (2) articulating SMART

goals and Everest goals for the team. Whereas these

are obviously not the only skills that effective team

leaders possess, without these two core capabilities, it

is unlikely that the teams you lead will be successful.

INTERNATIONAL CAVEATS

We have pointed out throughout the book that individ-

uals in different cultures exhibit differences in values

512 CHAPTER 9 BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK

and orientations (Trompenaars, 1996, 1998). Diagnos-

ing, understanding, and capitalizing on individual dif-

ferences, we repeat, is a crucial skill of competent

managers. The seven value orientations identified by

Trompenaars provide a useful tool for identifying those

individual differences. That is, you can understand dif-

ferences among people by assessing them on the extent

to which they emphasize one value orientation over its

opposite: universalism versus particularism, individu-

alism versus communitarianism, neutrality versus

affectivity, specificity versus diffuseness, achievement

versus ascription, internal versus external control, and

past, present, or future time orientation. The first chap-

ter in this book provides a more detailed explanation of

these value dimensions.

Individual differences may require that some

modification be made in these team leadership behav-

iors. For example, if you are leading a team with mem-

bers from cultures that tend to have a collectivist (e.g.,

Mexico, Japan, France, Philippines) as opposed to an

individualist orientation, team members will expect to

be involved in the creation and articulation of the

goals. They will be less comfortable with the goals

coming from a single leader, regardless of his or her

credibility and influence. Consequently, the Everest

goal and its accompanying SMART goals should be

designed with active participation of team members.

Similarly, team members from countries where a

neutral (e.g., Korea, China, Japan, New Zealand) as

opposed to an affective culture predominates, may be

less energized by language filled with superlatives and

passion. Their orientation toward task accomplish-

ment and factual data may mute their responses to

emotional language. Consequently, being sensitive

to the wording of your Everest goal statement will help

make it more motivating.

On the other hand, the differences in cultural val-

ues among different nationalities are not so great as to

negate the overall effectiveness of the two key skills

mentioned above—building credibility and articulat-

ing two types of goals. The data from thousands

of managers worldwide supports the effectiveness of

these two key skills for team leaders, regardless

of national differences (see Trompenaars & Hampden-

Turner, 1998). You may need to be sensitive to the

potential need to modify your behaviors based on

the composition of your team, but team composition

will not have as strong an influence on team effective-

ness as the leadership skills you display. (For one

review of team composition influences, see Guzzo &

Dickson, 1996.)

Team Membership

Most of the time, most of us will not serve as the

leader of the teams in which we participate. Whereas

you will want to prepare for the leadership roles you

will play in the future, the vast majority of the time

you will be an active member of a team, working for

the common good of the group, rather than the person

in charge. You will be valuable to your team because of

the contributions you make in nonleadership roles.

Fortunately, you can be at least as effective as a mem-

ber of a team as you can be as the team’s leader in hav-

ing an effect on its performance. One of the most

amazing statements made by General Pagonis as he

reviewed the outcomes of Desert Storm related to the

performance of his team, even when he was not

the active leader:

I meet with skepticism, even disbelief, when

I tell people that I didn’t issue a single order

during the ground war. This is only slightly a

stretch of the truth. Yes, people sought and

got guidance. But the people in my command

knew exactly what they were supposed to do

in almost every conceivable circumstance.

They had been trained and encouraged to

think on their feet. I felt they could even

deal with the inconceivable. (Pagonis, 1993,

p. 148)

Team members were not only guided by an over-

arching goal and a clear understanding of what they

were to accomplish, but they had become an extraor-

dinarily high-performing team because of the roles

played by team members. Pagonis described it this

way: “Truth be told, we spent less of our time as logis-

ticians, and more of our time as managers, fixers, fire-

fighters, father confessors, and cheerleaders. There

was simply nobody else around to play those roles”

(p. 87). In this section, we point out two main skills

associated with team membership—playing advanta-

geous roles, and providing helpful feedback to others.

Once again, these skills are not complicated, but they

have been found to be highly effective in helping team

members foster team success (see Parker, 1996).

ADVANTAGEOUS ROLES

Work teams face two main challenges: accomplishing

the task that has been assigned and building unity and

collaboration among the team members. As a member

BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER 9 513

of a team you can enhance or inhibit those two

challenges at least as much as you can as the team

leader. All of us have experienced teams that just

seemed to click, that were able to get results quickly

and effectively, and were fun to be in. Those dynamics

don’t happen by chance but depend on certain key

roles played by team members.

A great deal of research has been done on the

power of group pressure and the influence of team

members on one another. The classic Solomon Asch

experiments (1951) were among the first to highlight

the influence of team members on one another. The

Asch experiments showed, for example, that when

other team members verbalized agreement with a state-

ment that was obviously false—say, “The federal gov-

ernment controls the stock market”—the person being

observed also tended to verbalize agreement with the

Table 9.5 Task-Facilitating Roles

ROLE EXAMPLES

Direction giving “This is the way we were instructed to approach our task.”

“Everyone write down your ideas, then share them.”

Information seeking “What did you mean by that?”

“Does anyone else have more information about this?”

Information giving “Here are some relevant data.”

“I want to share some information that may be helpful.”

Elaborating “Building on your idea, here is an additional alternative.”

“An example of what you just said is . . . ”

Urging “We have only 10 minutes left, so we need to move more quickly.”

“We can’t quit now. We’re close to finalizing our proposal.”

Monitoring “You maintain accountability for the first recommendation, and I’ll handle the second.”

“Here are some criteria we can use to judge our success.”

Process analyzing “It seems as if the energy level in the team is beginning to decline.”

“I’ve noticed that the females are participating less than the males in our team.”

Reality testing “Let’s see if this is really practical.”

“Do you think this is workable given our resources?”

Enforcing “We’re beginning to wander in our comments; let’s stay on task.”

“Since we agreed not to interrupt one another, I suggest we stick to our pact.”

Summarizing “It seems to me that these are the conclusions we have reached.”

“In summary, you have made three points . . . ”

obviously false statement. Team members’ behavior dra-

matically influenced the behaviors of one another. Most

teams don’t operate on the basis of blatant pressure tac-

tics, of course, but team performance can be markedly

enhanced by having team members play certain roles

that facilitate task accomplishment and group cohesion.

Two main types of roles exist that enhance

team performance: task-facilitating roles and

relationship-building roles (Schein, 1976). It is dif-

ficult for team members to emphasize both types of

roles equally, and most people tend to contribute in

one area more than the other. That is, some team

members tend to be more task-focused whereas others

tend to be more relationship-focused. Task-facilitating

roles are those that help the team accomplish its out-

comes or objectives. Table 9.5 identifies the most com-

mon task-facilitating roles. They include:

514 CHAPTER 9 BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK

❏

Direction giving. Identifying ways to proceed or

alternatives to pursue and clarifying goals and

objectives.

❏ Information seeking. Asking questions, analyz-

ing knowledge gaps, requesting opinions,

beliefs, and perspectives.

❏ Information giving. Providing data, offer-

ing facts and judgments, and highlighting

conclusions.

❏ Elaborating. Building on the ideas expressed by

others; providing examples and illustrations.

❏ Urging. Imploring team members to stay on

task and to achieve team goals.

❏ Monitoring. Checking on progress, developing

measures of success and helping to maintain

accountability for results.

❏ Process analyzing. Analyzing processes and

procedures used by the team in order to

improve efficiency and timeliness.

❏ Reality testing. Exploring whether ideas pre-

sented are practical or workable; grounding

comments in reality.

❏ Enforcing. Helping to reinforce team rules,

reinforcing standards, and maintaining agreed-

upon procedures.

❏ Summarizing. Combining ideas and summing

up points made in the team; helping members

understand the conclusions that have been

reached.

Performing task-facilitating roles helps the team

work more efficiently and effectively in achieving its

objectives. Without having at least one team member

displaying task-facilitating behaviors, teams tend to

take longer to achieve their objectives and have diffi-

culty staying focused. In your role as a team member,

you will find it useful to sometimes play the role of

task facilitator. Sometimes keeping the team “on task”

is the most important thing you can do. These roles are

especially important when: progress toward goal

accomplishment is slow, when the team is being

deflected from its task, when time pressures exist,

when the assignment is complex or ambiguous and it

is not clear how to proceed, or when no one else is

helping the team move toward task accomplishment.

One doesn’t have to be a task master to be an effective

facilitator of outcomes. In fact, just recognizing that

the team is in need of task facilitation is a big part of

being an effective team member. In most effective

teams, you will find several members performing these

task-facilitation roles.

In addition to task accomplishment, high-performing

teams also have a certain amount of interpersonal

cohesion and collaboration. An overwhelming amount of

evidence exists to suggest that high-performing teams are

cohesive, interdependent, and have positive affect among

team members (Cohen & Bailey, 1997; Druskat & Wolff,

1999; Gully, Divine, & Whitney, 1995; Mullen & Copper,

1994; Parker, 1996). Relationship-building roles are those

that emphasize the interpersonal aspects of the team.

They focus on assisting team members to feel good about

one another, enjoy the team’s work, and maintain a

tension-free climate. These roles are especially important

when disagreement is prevalent, tension is high, or team

members are not contributing to the team’s performance.

Table 9.6 identifies the most common relationship-

building roles:

❏ Supporting. Praising the ideas of others, show-

ing friendliness, and pointing out others’

contributions.

❏ Harmonizing. Mediating differences between

others, and finding a common ground in dis-

putes and conflicting points of view.

❏ Tension relieving. Using jokes and humor to

reduce tension and put others at ease.

❏ Confronting. Challenging unproductive or dis-

ruptive behaviors; helping to ensure proper

behavior in the team.

❏ Energizing. Motivating others toward greater

effort; exuding enthusiasm.

❏ Developing. Assisting others to learn, grow,

and achieve; orienting and coaching members

of the team.

❏ Consensus building. Helping build solidarity

among team members, encouraging agree-

ment, and helping interactions to be smooth.

❏ Empathizing. Reflecting group feelings and

expressing empathy and support for team

members.

All of us have been on a team, or in a class, when a

fellow participant was funny, actively engaging with oth-

ers, or especially supportive of others on the team or in

the class. The chemistry of the group just seems to

improve under such conditions. It becomes easier

to work and more enjoyable to be a team member. A

certain amount of magnetism and positive energy exists.

People tend to take more responsibility, collaborate

more readily, and try harder to find consensual

outcomes. These are the results that are intended by

performing relationship-building roles. They are not

designed to deflect attention away from the task,

BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER 9 515

Table 9.6 Relationship-Building Roles

ROLE EXAMPLES

Supporting “Your ideas are terrific!”

“I really appreciate your honesty and openness. It’s refreshing.”

Harmonizing “I hear the two of you saying essentially the same thing.”

“The disagreements being expressed don’t seem to be all that crucial.”

Tension relieving “Hey folks, let’s lighten up!”

“This reminds me of the new conference table we bought. It sleeps 12.”

Confronting “How does your comment address the topic we are discussing?”

“You are not taking as much responsibility as the other team members.”

Energizing “Your insights are terrific!”

“This team is the most enjoyable group I’ve been in for a long time.”

Developing “How can I help you?”

“Let me give you some assistance with that.”

Consensus building “It seems like we’re all saying pretty much the same thing.”

“Can we all at least agree on point number 1, even if we disagree on the rest?”

Empathizing “I know how you feel.”

“This must be a very sensitive topic for you given your personal experience.”

but they assist the team in working more effectively

together.

Without both task-facilitating and relationship-

building roles, teams struggle to perform effectively.

Some members must ensure that the team accom-

plishes its tasks, while others must ensure that mem-

bers remain bonded together interpersonally. These

are usually not the same individuals, and at certain

points in time, different roles may become more domi-

nant than others. The key is to have a balance between

task-oriented roles and relationship-building roles dis-

played in the team. The downfall of many teams is that

they become unidimensional—for example, they

emphasize task accomplishment exclusively—and do

not give equal attention to both types of roles.

Of course, each role can also have a downside if

performed ineffectively or in inappropriate circum-

stances. For example, elaborating may be disruptive if

the team is trying to reach a quick decision; tension

relieving may be annoying if the team is trying to be

serious; enforcing may create resistance when the

team is already experiencing high levels of pressure;

consensus building may mask real differences of opin-

ion and tension among team members. However, it is

even more likely that team members will display other

unproductive roles rather than inappropriately play

task or relationship roles. Unproductive roles inhibit

the team or its members from achieving what they

could have achieved, and they destroy morale and

cohesion. They are called blocking roles. We point

out a few of them here because, as you analyze the

teams to which you belong, you may recognize these

roles being performed and be able to confront them.

Among the common blocking roles are:

❏ Dominating. Excessive talking, interrupting, or

cutting others off.

❏ Overanalyzing. Splitting hairs and examining

every detail excessively.

❏ Stalling. Not allowing the group to reach a

decision or finalize a task by sidetracking the

discussion, being unwilling to agree, repeating

old arguments, and so on.

❏ Remaining passive. Not being willing to

engage in the team’s task. Staying on the fringe

or refusing to interact with other team

members. Expecting others to do the team’s

work.

❏ Overgeneralizing. Blowing something out of

proportion and drawing unfounded conclusions.

❏ Faultfinding. Being unwilling to see the merits

of others’ ideas or criticizing others excessively.

516 CHAPTER 9 BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS AND TEAMWORK

❏

Premature decision making. Making decisions

before goals are stated, information is shared,

alternatives are discussed, or problems are

defined.

❏ Presenting opinions as facts. Failing to exam-

ine the legitimacy of proposals and labeling

personal opinions as truth.

❏ Rejecting. Rejecting ideas based on the person

who stated them rather than on their merits.

❏ Pulling rank. Using status, expertise, or title to

get ideas accepted rather than discussing and

examining their value.

❏ Resisting. Blocking all attempts to change, to

improve, or to make progress. Being disagree-

able and negative about virtually all sugges-

tions from other team members.

❏ Deflecting. Not staying focused on the topic of

the team’s discussion. Changing the subject of

discussion or making comments that deflect

attention away from the main points.

Each of these blocking roles has the potential to

inhibit a team from efficiently and effectively accom-

plishing its task by crushing morale, destroying consen-

sus, creating conflict, hampering progress, and making

ill-informed decisions. Effective team members recognize

when blocking roles are displayed, confront and isolate

dysfunctional members, and provide feedback to those

who are inhibiting effective team performance. Knowing

the most effective ways in which that feedback can be

delivered is the second key skill of team members.

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

It is not easy to provide feedback to someone who is

behaving inappropriately or disruptively. Whereas it is

Table 9.7 Rules for Effective Team Feedback

EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK INEFFECTIVE FEEDBACK

Focus on behaviors Focus on the person

Focus on observations Focus on inferences

Focus on descriptions Focus on evaluations

Focus on a specific situation or incident Focus on abstract or general situations

Focus on the here-and-now Focus on the past

Focus on sharing ideas and information Focus on giving advice

Give feedback that is valuable to the receiver Give feedback that provides an emotional

release

Give feedback at an appropriate time and place Give feedback when it is convenient for you

much easier to provide positive feedback or give

compliments, helping others correct their negative

behavior or pointing out the dysfunctions of blocking

roles is difficult. Most of us are afraid of offending oth-

ers, of making the problem worse, or of creating con-

flict that may destroy team unity. (The chapter on

building positive relationships by supportively commu-

nicating addressed this issue in detail.) While no set

of behaviors are guaranteed to be effective in every

situation or with every individual, of course, certain

principles for providing feedback—usually negative

feedback—have been found to be especially effective

(Dew, 1998; Hayes, 1997; Yeatts & Hyten, 1998).

They are summarized in Table 9.7.

❏ Focus feedback on behavior rather than per-

sons. Individuals can control and change their

behavior. They cannot change their personali-

ties or physical characteristics. For example,

“Your comments are not on the topic” is more

effective than “You are completely naïve.”

❏ Focus feedback on observations rather than

inferences and on descriptions rather than judg-

ments. Facts and objective evidence are more

trustworthy and acceptable than opinions and

conjectures. For example, “The data don’t sup-

port your point” is more effective than “You just

don’t get it, do you?”

❏ Focus feedback on behavior related to a specific

situation, preferably to the “here-and-now,”

rather than on abstract or past behavior. It will

merely frustrate people if they cannot pinpoint a

specific incident or behavior to which you are

referring. Similarly, people cannot change some-

thing that has already happened and is “water

under the bridge.” For example, “You have yet