29 Role of Human Values in Team Building

1. Learning Outcome

2. Introduction

3. Team building and values

4. Team

5. Types of Team

6. Manners of Team Building

7. Essentials of Team Building

8. Summary

1. Learning Outcome:

After completing this module, the students will be able to:

Team building and values Team
Types of team
Manners of team building Essentials of team building

2. Introduction

Great teams are required in achieving the organisational goals. These great teams are built on the strength of the great values. Thus, it becomes a priority to infuse fine values in teams and this also contributes to the organisational growth and development. The team building process is very necessary for the corporate world also. The team building process helps in achieving the objectives of strengthening of organisation. Team building process needs constant evaluation also. For this the teams should be trained and guided properly so that their performance can be measured. The only way to successfully evaluate the team building activities is to directly survey those who have participated in it. Each team building activity should fit into bigger picture of developing a vision of your business and ask the staff members to contribute to that. Each employee must feel that he or she is valid and an important part of the organisation as a whole. Then, they will be more willing to invest the time in various team building activities. Workplace culture can be hard to change so you may have to try a few different approaches to allow small changes in the culture. But these things built on each other and each step adds up to developing the kinds of bonds that will help the company to grow.

3. Team building and values

4. Team

Team is a group that is organised to work together in accomplishing the set objectives which cannot be achieved effectively by individuals. Thus, team being a group of people work together for accomplishing a common goal. When we talk about the actual practices, team structures are often complicated and people can be members of several teams at the same time. Teams are different from groups, as in case of teams, there is interdependence among the organisational principles. A team can also be called as members that comprise of the work which is carried out in the execution of the set tasks.

Following are the main characteristics of the teams:

Participative Leadership: In teams there is participative leadership needed. It must have envisioning leadership and organising leadership. A clearly defined leadership role enables people to make choices. The members are bought together in the teams through shared values and shared norms.

Aligned on Purpose and Vision: Teams need shared purpose and a clearly shared vision among them so that they have self-directing and high morale teams. This would help in aligning with the personal goals of its members.

Teams should be Task Focused: The teams must be focused on the values and norms for which they have been built.

Shared responsibility: The teams must have shared responsibility only then they can become an effective team. When the members of the teams share responsibility then they do not go against each other.

Problem solving: The teams must confront with the issues and look for solutions to the problems instead of creating more problems for the teams. The teams should be built in such a manner that they are problem solving in nature.

Innovativeness: The teams should be created in such a manner that they are creative and innovative. This would help in staying ahead of the competitors.

Communication: In teams, communication plays a very significant role. There is need of proper communication among the team members so that there should not be conflicts and misunderstandings among the members of the team.

Responsive: The team members should be responsive not only among the team members but also among the other groups of individuals who come in direct contact with the teams.

Team building process is very important for any organisation. The teams help in achieving the organisational goals in proper manner. Various opportunities can be taken advantage of through great teams. In order to built a great team, there is need to apply the team building process. This could be done by infusing the values and norms in the teams. The team building activities ranges from having few co-workers to an office get together. Each team has its own diverse group of people, so the way one team works differ from the other one. The effectiveness of the teams differs substantially from one organisation to another. The most effective efforts occur when team members are interdependent, knowledgeable and experienced. Effective teams help sin achieving the awareness of team objectives.

5. Types of team

In any organisation,, there are different teams and their constitution differ from its objectives, strengths, purposes, tasks and durations. Some of the types of teams are explained as below:

Lead teams: This kind of team is the most usual type of team and these types of teams are found in every organisation. It consists of managers and their direct subordinates. There is a strong hierarchy in this type. The goal of the lead team is to plan and execute the business plan in the specified area of responsibility.

Cross-functional teams: These types of teams are put together by taking personnel from different functional areas and then the team works for achieving the objectives. Here, the functional areas of personnel are inter-dependent.

Problem-solving teams: these teams are constituted to solve a specific problem which an organisation can confront. Members can be taken from different departments.

Self-managing teams: these teams are also known as empowered teams and those teams are a group of voluntary members who meet frequently on solving any organisational problems.

6. Manners of team building

Teams can be built over a period of time. Following are the main steps in promoting the team building process:

Provide job opportunities to employees in different departments: Employees should be placed in different sections and departments of the company. For fostering the team building among the departments, the cross departments job shadowing should be tried. The marketing department can host a few employees from the finance department and the product department can host some employees of public relations department. By adopting such methods, the various departments will help staff members and gain a better understanding of each part of the working of the company.

Hold Company sponsored lunches: The Japanese style of joint lunches can also help in promoting the harmony among the teams. Free lunches not only improve the workplace morale but it also provides the employees a chance to interact with other team members. There is something that can be said about the sharing of a meal that encourages the employees to talk and to know each other better.

Have employees volunteer together: Selfless service must be encouraged among the employees. It helps in raising the image of the company among community and also helps in building the team connections.

Get fit together and plan an employee health initiative: A companywide walking plan has important health benefits. Give everyone pedometers and let them track their waling each day for a month. Encourage employees fro group walks during the lunch breaks.

Building the ethical winning teams

Team building is the process of forming, growing and improving the knowledge, skills and attitude among the individuals so that the various needs and abilities are integrated into the high performance team. Every team leader has to learn about the team building through proper training. It is both science and art because there are scientific studies that have shown path for building effective teams. And the application of the knowledge remains with the skills of the team leader. Thus, the leaders have to use their own skills to keep their teams at high levels of performance and ethical conduct. Some of the guidelines for building teams are as follows:

Recruiting right people: For building a winning team there is need for recruiting and hiring of the talented person. It means hiring people who will work together and develop a shared vision and commitment. The leaders of the winning teams must encourage positive informal interactions among the group members. There is also need to study the reverse actions of the team building process like jealousy, and defensive behaviour. A leader needs to show people the :

Vision for future
Strategy for getting it
Reason for choosing that strategy
Every achievement that the team is winning

Physical meeting of team members: Physical meeting of the team members is also an important part of building up an effective team. The team leaders can provide formal and informal forums like parties and celebrations when the team members come together. It is also important to have the participation of everyone in smaller meetings where the opinions, suggestions and solutions are found out.

Getting people to work together: One of the most difficult parts in building a winning team is encouraging positive, informal interaction among the team members when the team leader is not present. The team members should try to arrange proximity of offices and should arrange formal and informal meetings of members of the team.

Checking negative influences: The negative focus creeps into team building exercises. It is the responsibility of the team leader to check the negative influences otherwise the entire effort of the team building shall be wasted. Some of the problems among the team members are jealousy, cynicism and lack of confidence.

Team building process needs constant evaluation also. For this the teams should be trained and guided properly so that their performance can be measured. The only way to successfully evaluate the team building activities is to directly survey those who have participated in it. Each team building activity should fit into bigger picture of developing a vision of your business and ask the staff members to contribute to that. Each employee must feel that he or she is valid and an important part of the organisation as a whole. Then, they will be more willing to invest the time in various team building activities. Workplace culture can be hard to change so you may have to try a few different approaches to allow small changes in the culture. But these things built on each other and each step adds up to developing the kinds of bonds that will help the company to grow.

7. Essentials of team building

In order to build great teams, we have to take certain essential steps which are discussed below:

Developing shared values for team building

Inspiring of great values in the team makes it more effective and efficient. For developing of a high performing team, a leader must collaboratively develop the set of shared values. Without shared values, the sustained high performance is impossible. In case of the high performance teams, each and every member of the team is aware about the shared values. Policies don’t tell you what to do. The boss often isn’t there to help you decide. But the values guide the behaviour. For a team, the shared values are their moral and operational compasses/ shared values are the core beliefs that guide the behavior of the group.

For developing the shared values in a team, following steps can be followed:

Examining the shared values of the organisation to which the team belongs. Assembling of the group of ten to twelve volunteers who are willing to help in drafting the team’s shared values.

Firstly, the volunteers shall be asked to share the first draft with other team members, customers and suppliers and other departments of the organisations. Then, meetings shall be held with other stakeholder groups and these steps are repeated till the redraft of the shared values is made.

Reconvene the original group of volunteers and redraft the shred values as appropriate as often as you must until a clear consensus is emerging around the team’s shared values.

Make the shared values a part of day to day actions of the team.

Importance of communication in team building

The communication lines of the organisation are essential part of the organisation. Communication in the teams is also taken on the basis of all the values and information to all the members of the team. Communication is critical to team building and organisational effectiveness. Communication is the life blood of a complex and interconnected elements.

Communication breaks down are the major problem of the organisation and teams. It should be prevented. The conflicts among the team members can be due to any of the following:

The team isn’t united in the strategic priorities

Sending the conflicting messages
Wrong behaviour of the members
Little personal feedback on the leadership behaviours
Not to discuss the politically sensitive topics on the table.

Teams and value system

Great teams have great value system. Some of the prominent values that all teams should try to inculcate them among their members are as follows:

Respect for elders
Relationship orientation
Security
Hierarchy
Trust
Faithfulness
Self-restrain
Love
Truth
God fear
Fairness
Honesty
Cooperation
Obedience
Commitment
Dignity
Human worth
Peace loving
Tolerance
Steadiness

Basic rules of team members

Great and effective teams can be built through nurturing of the string values and by establishing the great norms. Specific rules are needed to be observed by the teams. Some of the rules that a team should follow are as follows:

Knowing the team members
Communication should be proper
Accepting and supporting others
Checking for understanding
Shared values and understanding
Resolving conflicts quickly and constructively

Pre-requisites of team building

Understanding the key principles can help in creating a stable and anchored team in specific organisational needs and standards.

Some of the pre-requisites are as follows:

Team building needs a purpose which is recognised by both its members and the organisation which it represents. The purpose should be in congruence with the mission and vision of the business.

Specific functions should be determined from starting. It is team that identifies the problems and then tries to seek it out.

It s crucial to pinpoint the individuals and the set of competencies need for building the team.

A set of guidelines should be formulated in order to ensure the team building to future team restructuring.

The level of authority and control should also be granted to the teams and that level of aithrotiy should be agreed by the business stakeholders. The category to which the team fits should also be ascertained.

The team structure should be made unambiguous.

8. Summary

Human beings are social people and they have lived since ancient times in groups. Gradually, this has started working in teams in hunting and in gathering food. In present times also, for the survival of mankind people live in groups, the team building helps in owing the man’s ability to work as a team which represents the evolution of the groups. Team is a group that is organised to work together in accomplishing the set objectives which cannot be achieved effectively by individuals. Thus, team being a group of people work together for accomplishing a common goal. When we talk about the actual practices, team structures are often complicated and people can be members of several teams at the same time. Teams are different from groups, as in case of teams, there is interdependence among the organisational principles. Team building process is very important for any organisation. The teams help in achieving the organisational goals in proper manner. Various opportunities can be taken advantage of through great teams. In order to built a great team, there is need to apply the team building process. This could be done by infusing the values and norms in the teams. The team building activities ranges from having few co-workers to an office get together. Each team has its own diverse group of people, so the way one team works differ from the other one. The effectiveness of the teams differs substantially from one organisation to another. Team building process needs constant evaluation also. For this the teams should be trained and guided properly so that their performance can be measured. The only way to successfully evaluate the team building activities is to directly survey those who have participated in it. Each team building activity should fit into bigger picture of developing a vision of your business and ask the staff members to contribute to that. Each employee must feel that he or she is valid and an important part of the organisation as a whole. Then, they will be more willing to invest the time in various team building activities. Workplace culture can be hard to change so you may have to try a few different approaches to allow small changes in the culture. But these things built on each other and each step adds up to developing the kinds of bonds that will help the company to grow. The communication lines of the organisation are essential part of the organisation. Communication in the teams is also taken on the basis of all the values and information to all the members of the team. Communication is critical to team building and organisational effectiveness. Communication is the life blood of a complex and interconnected elements. Communication breaks down are the major problem of the organisation and teams.

you can view video on Role of Human Values in Team Building

Suggested readings and references

Pramod Sharma, “Business Ethics and Corporate Values: An Indian Perspective”, Ravintanaya Publications, Shimla
S.K. Bhatia, “Business Ethics and Corporate Governance” Deep & Deep Publications,New Delhi
A.C. Fernando, “Business Ethics and Corporate Governance” Pearson Publications
SB Gogate, “Human Values & Professional Ethics”, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.
Harris & Hartman, “Organizational Behavior” Jaico Publication House, 2002