Leadership

P7- Leadership Team Building Recruitment When a team leader wants new employees they go through a progress called recruitment, what they do in this is advertise the position the employer is wanting filled by putting it on the internet, in the newspaper ETC. When the employer gets all the CV’s and they pick the neat ones, they then pick which ones are better. After all of that they interview them then they decide whether to hire them or not through a selection test. Induction In the induction the employee is told everything about the company they are working for but it also helps to research the company before the interview, they also go through the health and safety on the induction for that company, they also learn about the company policy and procedures and where to go if they ever need help with their job role. The induction when starting a new job is very important in the public services as they often have a probationary period where they are told everything about what they have to do in their job role. Motivation Motivating is a key skill in public services as the team leader must be able to have a clear aim and able to help them in how to complete the task given. The leader can also set up a challenge for their team as a group but can give them different jobs to do in that task; this can fail as the task could be too simple or too difficult. The team leader can use rewards as motivation making the team work hard as a group to get the reward the team leader promised but this can fail because this can make some team members feel like they can’t achieve the task therefore give up on it. Training and coaching Training and coaching are also very important in the public services. Many employees are expected to do highly specialised and extensive training so they are able to perform and do well in their job role e.g. Army, before troops are sent off they are sent to a training camp where they learn how to live in all different types of climaxes and learn how to run with all their equipment on their back if they ever came under attack. In most of the public services training is constant therefore they employee is never fully trained in their job and coaching is ongoing for a full career when you are in the public services. There are two types of training off the job, is where you train away from work and on the job, where you train at work. Mentoring Some public services offer mentoring where an experience employee is there for any other employee what has less experience in the job role and helps them when they need it. The mentor offers advice on how to deal with difficult work-based interpersonal situations or how to achieve an objective in the best way possible, some public services don’t have mentors at all. Team Knowledge Team knowledge is about understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your team and using this knowledge to get the best performance out of them. If you know what your team members can do then you know what task you can give them to do. In the public services it takes time and training to have a good team. When getting a group together, if you just give them a task to do will not make them an effective team; they must go through a team development process that provides them with the team knowledge they need to work effectively. Weaknesses There are many barriers in any public services for a team’s successful performance of a given task. Some of these problems are relatively easy while some can cause long term problems and having poor performance. When building a team in the public services it is important to take into account the sensitivities of the people involved and consider what might offend them or upset them and role for the team leader when building a team they have to support all members. Tuckman Stage one forming- People come together for the first time they are often nervous and anxious. Members explore the boundaries of behaviour and determine their role. The task will be discussed and the resources and skills will be identified based on member’s strengths and weaknesses. It is important to encourage team members to perform and share ideas at this stage. Stage two storming- This is where things start to go wrong, people will start to ‘jockey’ for position of control. Communication may break down and conflict may occur. It is a challenging phase due to unclear objectives in the team. This may break teams down, but good teams will overcome the problem, ultimately making them a stronger team. Stage three norming- Rules are finalised here and people start to follow them. Co-operation begins to happen and a sense of team spirit begins to form. Members are now willing to confront issues and solve problems. This is the claim after the storm and the goal are focused. Members are now aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Stage four performing- The team becomes productive as they are now efficient and effective. Conflict can be avoided as they are how aware of how to solve problems, not all teams reach this stage as they lack motivation and momentum. Stage five adjourning- This is where the team break down. May be for a number of reasons such as task completion, resources exhaustion or when team members become bored with the task. It is inevitable that as time passes by, fatigue boredom and tension will develop. Awareness of team member’s strengths It is important to know your teams strengths as you don’t want any of your team members to give up on the task given, and also keep in mind what other team members can do and see if anyone can do the same but do not forces them. Team development Every employee who works in teams in the public services needs to know what the various stages of developing teams are. They should know what the best moves are to get the team through these stages. The teams should also know that it won’t be easy to achieve their goals but hopefully this will help you understand and anticipate the team building process, and take action to be more productive when working in groups in the future. Supporting all team members To have a successful team you must be able to support all your team if they have a problem or if it’s just one of your team members. If you can’t do this then your team will most likely to fail in tasks and jobs given them to do as they will not be a strong team. Team cohesion Definition of team goals The team must have SMART targets which means Specific, clear goals and everyone knows exactly what the team is going to achieve. Measureable, this is when the team knows what they have achieved. Achievable, this is where the team reaches their goal in a realistic timescale. Realistic, this is where they are in the teams control and can take action on them. Time, there are clear times for when to complete the task. The team does have targets to get to as a team but they also have individual targets. This makes all the team come together and contribute to the team’s performance. Group conflict Conflict can’t be avoided in any teams in the public services as there will be conflict about the team’s goals or other work issues what can occur. The important thing to remember when having a team in the public services is that it is not always a bad thing to have conflict in your team. Resolving conflict in a team in a positive way can do a lot of thing for your team like it can increase the understanding of their fellow team members, it can improve team cohesion and increase self awareness. Group turnover People in the public services do move in and out of teams. Small group turnovers can be good for teams cohesion in the services as members have time to get to know each other’s ways how to do a task and do certain jobs that they are given, however new members in the public services can bring new ideas to the team what other member what have been there longer have not thought about. Opportunities for career progression and recognition of contributions Team cohesion is good for public services for if there is a chance of promotion. People often work very well together knowing that there is a good chance of promotion. However team cohesion can also be aided by something as simple as the team leader recognising how well his or hers team works but no one likes to think their hard work goes to waste and by using praise and appreciation a team leader can often motivate and improve his or hers team’s performance in the public services.