Check out our helpful FAQ's tips to help your organization improve its productivity by effectively working with teams to ...tame your CHAOS.

View our questions and answers below!

	What is a team? There are many different types of teams. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a team as “a number of persons associated together in work or activity.” I like to define a team as a group of individuals that are working toward a common agreed upon goal by utilizing all their various talents, skills, abilities and resources.
	What is a great team? A great team is one that is able to tackle complex (and usually chronic) problems and come up with effective solutions. These teams are support of each other. The conflicts that arise are settled effectively. A really great team never stops learning and developing. They analyze every activity to look for opportunities to improve on the next project.
	Why should we have a team? With the complex issues that face organizations, rarely does one person have the complete knowledge or experience to develop a comprehensive and effective solution. By pulling together a team, made up with individuals with various knowledge and experiences, the organization has a better chance of obtaining a comprehensive solution that will be accepted by all involved in the process.
	What do we do if a team member is not “pulling their weight” on the team? Every team should have a Team Champion. This is an individual that has a major stake in seeing that the team is successful. The Team Champion does not actually sit on the team, but rather receives updates on how the team is progressing and if help is needed to obtain any resources the team may need. The Team Champion should have the authority to make the changes to the process being studied or at a minimum have clout and influence in the organization. The Team Leader and Facilitator should bring up issues of members not “pulling their weigh” to the Team Champion to discuss why they are having a problem and what the Team Champion can do to help. The Team Champion can then discuss the priority of the team and project with the manager of the team member in question to try and gain their support. In many instances team members feel pulled between their normal duties and the activities of the team. The Team Champion can help the leadership in the organization to rearrange the duties so the team members can accomplish the work of the team.
	Why work on a team when I can do the project faster? Most individuals only have information regarding their part of a process. They do not fully understand what impacts the other parts of the process. By having a team working on a project, all parts of the process can be analyzed and included in the final product. Usually if only one person is involved, it may take less time to develop but more time and frustration during implementation. When a team is used, the time to develop is longer (because all the issues and conflicts are solved) but implementation is much smoother.
	What if I don’t like the working styles or personalities of others on my team? Dealing with the personalities of others can be a major issue to a team. I would recommend that before, and even during the team process, the team uses tools or profiles to identify each member’s personalities and how the personalities may conflict with each other. These session should be facilitated by a professional that understands how interact with each other and how individuals can adapt to the various personalities. There are several different profiles that can be used. The profiles I find the most helpful are: Myers Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC Personal Profile System®, Team Dimensions Profile, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Indicator, and DiSC Indra™.
	Do you have a question regarding your team? Send your question to Margie ...we may add it to our growing list of FAQ's. Click the Contact Request link below and once on the form page select the option "Submit questions to FAQ's"  Contact Request Form
	Return to top