Theme2 Ice Breaking

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Advanced Training Course on Moderati on/Facilit ation Skil ls2-6 December 2002,Lal i tpur, Nepal

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Them e 2 : ICE BREAKING AND BUILDING

A LEARNING COMMUNITY

Team

Building

TORI and

Group Change DiscoveringSelf and Others

Goal and Norm

Sett ing

Stages ofGroup

Development


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Advanced Training Course on Moderati on/Facilit ation Skil ls2-6 December 2002, Lal i t pur, Nepal

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Team Building

Groups are part and parcel of our everyday l i f e. We l ive in a communit y,interact as a family, work with people in organizations and undertake socialact ivi t ies in groups. But groups need to develop qual i t ies t hat w i l l enable t hemt o funct ion as t eams.

What di st inguishes a group of individuals fr om a team and what cri t eria wouldwe use to describe an effect ive team? These are important questions toconsider before embarking on ` t eambuilding .

A t eam is dist inct f rom a group when i t has t he fol low ing at t r ibut es:

-A common pur pose.

- Recognit ion by each individual as belonging to the same unit ( i .e. teamident i ty) .

- Interdependent functions.- Agreed norms or values which regulate behaviour.

A common purpose, team identi ty, interdependence and agreed norms formt he foundat ion of an ef fect ive t eam. Agreed and accepted by al l , t hey formt he ` cont ract which binds indiv iduals t o t he team as wi l l ing part ic ipants.When teambuilding with a group you are consciously helping the group toexamine these issues; helping them to clari fy their primary purpose, establ ish

t eam identi t y and agree acceptable ways of working.

Team bui ld ing can be def ined as a st ructured at t empt t o improve/ develop theeffect iveness of a group of people who work (temporari ly or permanently)t oget her. Nei l Clark has summ arized what various t eambuilding approachesseek t o develop in behavioural t erms, as i l lustrat ed in Figure 1.

Reticent CommunicativeSecret ive and reserved OpenConfl ict Cooperation

Apprehensive TrustingImper sonal Mut ual concernAvoidance of responsibil i t y Self -responsibil i t ySteri l i ty Creativi tyAl ienation CommitmentRole confusion Role clari t yIndividual-centred Team-centred


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Figure 1. Behavioural aims of team building

Team bui lding is an effect ive strategy to inculcate the spir i t of cooperation

among empl oyees or bet ween sect ions wi t hin t he organisat ion. It has alsobeen extensively used in the t raining set t ing to bui ld a learning communit y. Anapproach that ut i l izes the experiences and knowledge of the group of learnersby developing an environment of cooperation and trust, demonstrated by awil l ingness of t he part icipants to share and care f or each member of t he group,and where there is both personal and group commitment to achieving thecourse obj ecti ves, is more desirable. The concept of t eam bui lding is gearedt owards ful f i l l ing this obj ecti ve. So, t eam bui lding programmes are useful bot hin encouraging cooperation in the organization as wel l as faci l i tat ing theachievement of learning goals in a t raining programm e.

Stages of Group Development(Adapted fr om B.W. Tuckman (1957))

1. Forming

Init ial aw areness why ar e we here ?

This st age represents t he group coming t oget her ini t ial ly. This wouldapply when the team is f i rs t formed or when new members come intot he group. During t his st age people tend to be pol i t e wit h true feel ingsof ten wi thheld f rom fear of upset t ing others or g iv ing the wrong

impr ession. Each individual in his or her own way wi l l be t rying t oanswer the quest ion ` Wil l I be accept ed ? Behaviour wi l l becharact erized by r ules such as:

- keep i deas sim ple;- say accept able t hings;- avoid controversy;- avoid serious t opics;- i f sharing feel ings keep feedback t o a minim um;- avoid disclosure.

During this f i rst stage there is l imited group identi ty and a strongdependence on the leader, as individuals each handle their ownconfusion, ambiguit ies and anxiet ies. They look to t he leader t o provideposit ive direct ion and remove uncert ainty. According t o t he t olerancefor ambiguity and t he st yle and needs of i t s mem bers, t he form ing st ageof a group can be either smoot h and pleasant or int ense and fr ust rat ing.


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2. Storming

Sort ing-out process bidd ing for cont rol and p ower

This second stage represents the toughest stage for a group to work

t hrough and is marked by compet i t ion and confl ict . Whilst pot enti al lythe most painful phase of the groups development, i t is probably themost impor t ant . Durin g t his st age t he decision-making processes andmechanisms for control and inf luence are formulated mechanismscr i t ical t o the ef fect ive funct i oning of t he team.

In t his phase, m embe rs are st art ing t o assert t hemselves t o regaintheir individual i ty, power and inf luence and to satisfy their need forrespect fr om other. Examples of behavioural charact erist ics wi l l be:

- st rongly expressed view s;

- challenging the ideas of others;- poor l ist ening;- chal lenging leadership, authori t y and posit ion;- withdrawal by some team members;- ful l expression of emot ions;- lack of col laboration and compet ing for cont rol ;- a high level of reacti ng or def ending.

It would be easy for the group to give up at this stage and blamepersonal i ty di f fer ences. Indeed, some groups never mature past t hisst age. However, unti l t he group can break out of t he fr ust rat ing maze

of destructive behaviours that are typical of the storming phase andestablish acceptable processes for decision making and control, theycannot m ove on t o the t hird st age.

3. Norming

Self-organisation

The t ransit ion to this t hird st age is indicated by a dist inct shif t in theatt i t udes of the group members fr om one of competi t ion t o one ofcol laboration. I t is during this phase that a sense of team ident i t y st art s

t o emer ge and t he cliq ues st art t o dissolve. Exampl es of behaviouralcharact erist ics wi l l be:

- active l ist ening;- shared leader ship;- met hodical, syst emat ic ways of w orking;- prep aredness t o change pre conceived view s;


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- receptiveness to others ideas;- act ive part ic ipat ion by al l ;- conflicts seen as mutual problems to be resolved as opposed to

win-l ose batt les;- open exchange of ideas;-

self-disclosure.

The leader s role is one of guiding and faci l i t at i ng. His or herrelat ionship with the group moves from that of counterdependence int he st orming st age to healt hy int erdependence. Also, creativi t y can behigh. Group members become receptive to each others ideas, result ingin improvement i n the qual i t y and speed of decision making. In t henorming stage, roles become more f luid and the group is more preparedto use each persons unique talents in ways that best achieve the task.Individuals wi l l frequently take on tasks which l ie outside their normally-defined roles. A great er degree of tolerance for t he st rengths and

weaknesses of each member exist s. Group mem bers wi l l more r eadi lycompensate for another s weakness by off ering support and help.

It is at this stage that the group starts to real ize the qual i tat ive andquanti t at i ve benefi t s of working col laboratively as a t eam. High levelsof trust start to develop as the group moves into i ts f inal stage ofdevelopment.

4. Performing

Matur i t y and mut ual acceptance

In this fourth stage, the members experience an intense level of loyaltyt o t he group. From t he outside i t i s seen as ` closed and i t can bedi f f icul t f or a new member t o be introduced int o the group-more so i f heor she has strongly opposing values to those already developed by thegroup. In t his case, t he group wi l l need t o return t o the earl ier st agesand work back through them together.

Behavioural patt erns wi l l include, f or example:

- high f lex ib i l i t y of contr ibut ion;

- high creativi ty;- openness and t rust;- shared leader ship;- strong relationship;- feel i ngs of warmt h t owards ot her mem bers;- easy acceptance of differences of views.


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The group is less dependent on structure; team resources are trulypooled; and i t is comfortable wi th indiv idual i ty , which no longerrepresents a threat but a unique talent or contr i but ion that can be used.

Feel ings of achievement are high, with the group readi ly reviewing i ts

successes and failur es and seeking to impr ove. Usually t he groupachieves more t han is expected w hich can be explained by t he apparentt alents of t he individual group memb ers.

Values and Norms in Team Building

Team building programmes seek to inculcate specific norms and values amongmembers of a group that wi l l be toget her for a t ime. Whi le each group wi l lhave specif ic needs, i t is useful to specify some expectations that teambuil ding programm es seek to achieve. Reil l y and Jones (1974) def ined t he fourelements t hat d i f f erent iate a t eam f rom a group:

1. The group mem bers must have shared goals or a reason for worki ngtogether;

2. The group memb ers must be int erdependent (t hat is, t hey perceive t hatt hey need one another s exper ience, abi l i ty and commit ment in order t oarrive at mut ual goals);

3. The group members must be commit t ed t o t he idea t hat work ingt oget her leads t o more ef fect ive decisions t han working in isolat i on; and

4. The group must be account able as a funct ioning unit wit hin a largerorganization context.

Apart f rom those elements ident i f ied for a team, to be an ef fect ive team, agroup wi l l have t o demonst rat e more team behaviour charact erist ics. Thespecif ic group behaviours that a team should demonstrate include thefol lowing:

- effect ive communication among members;- cooperat ion among mem bers;- high commitment to team goals;- innovat ion and creat ivi t y ( is encouraged and recognized);- confl ict is managed eff ect i vely;- mem bers enj oy support and recognit ion;

- members demonstrate mutual respect;- t eam at mosphere encourages each to give his/ her best ;- ident if icat ion and cohesiveness as a t eam;- pr ide to be part of t he team;- decisions are made t hrough part icipati on;- f ear is mini mal and openness is encouraged;- mem bers t rust one another;


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- t he t eam is able t o evaluat e i t self , and i t s eff ect i veness;- leadership is effect ive; and- feedback is consistent and frank

It can be summ arized that an effect ive team is one that is able to:

achieve its goals;

maint ain i t s int ernal cohesion; and

be adaptable; namely being responsive to changes and undergoingcontinuous improvement s.

TORI and Group Change

Jack and Lorraine Gibbs (1978) explain that the process of group changeinvolves maki ng a shif t t owar ds t he TORI character ist ics. TORI is an acronymfor :

a. Trusting - accept ing self and ot hers as uniqueindividuals.

b. Opening - t uning in t o al low other s t o share your` space .

c. Real izing - discovering self -ful f i l lm ent .d. Int erdepending - cooperat ing t o l ive and work wit h ot hers.

The Gibbs and Gibbs model is based on the assumption that a natural productof int eracti on betw een individuals in a group is an inherent pressure amovement toward t rust ing and being t rusted, int imate communicat ion, sel f -

real izat ion and self -actual isation, and genuine int erdependence.

This model discusses changes that take place in four different aspects of agroup as i t develops, namely in terms of cl imate, dataf low, goal formation andcont rol . The changes t hat t ake place in these four aspect s are as f ollow s:

(i) Cl im ate: In new groups, mem bers usual ly display l i t t le t rust and t end t obe defensive. Members t end t o be evaluat ive and form saferelat ionships. But as t he group develops, great er int imacy isdemonst rat ed and less for mali t y is imposed.

(i i ) Data f l ow: The ini t ial wit hdrawal of mem bers in a new group also result s

in communication that is less authentic and distorted by personalst rat egies. Increased trust however leads t o more open and fr ankconfrontation of issues.

( i i i ) Goal for mat ion: A new group t ends t o approach goal form ation in apersuasive compet i t ive mode. Members tend t o be less t olerant andare eager t o impose t heir ideas on others. As t he group develops, t here


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is more l istening and sharing and members see problems as part of thelearning process.

( iv) Contr ol : In new groups mem bers t end t o reveal modes of leader-shipbehaviour t hey are used to. As t rust and int im acy incr eases, leader shipwi l l tend to be f lu id and the members wi l l re late interdependent ly wi th

one another .

GROUP GROWTH

Movement MovementFrom: To:

Climate Distrust TrustDefense Intimacy

Data Flow Formality OpennessDistance Directness

Goal Formation Persuasion RealizationCompetition Self-determination

Control Dependence InterdependanceDominance Fluid

TORI model for group growth

The TORI model is useful in that i t gives the trainer a clear idea on the taskt hat is before him in team bui lding. I t also provides a concept ual framew orkfor under st anding t he grow t h processes of groups. Team buildi ng is a st rat egyt hat serves as a cat alyst t o the grow t h process of a group. The st andards ofbehavior a group adopt s is import ant f or i t s eff ect i veness. The norms of t hegroup refers to the necessity or obl igation, that is, the behavioral andint el lect ual st andards t hat have developed in t he group.

The norm s can include those t hat are expl i ci t as wel l as t hose t hat are im pl ici t ,

and i t draws i ts strength from the values that the members of the group hold.Values has been defined as basic belief or assumption about what is good, rightor proper.

Team bui lding programmes thus provides an opportunity for members whowould be working together, to develop and agree on their values and normswhich w i l l t hen serve as a basis for t heir int eraction and wor k perf ormance.


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Compiled by:Ms. Lee Meng FoonINTAN, Malaysia

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Theme2 Ice Breaking