WELCOME

MODULE – 3
TEAM FORMATION AND
DEVELOPMENT
TEAM FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Team formation and development refer to the process of bringing together a group of
individuals to work collaboratively towards a common goal and helping them
evolve into a high-performing and cohesive team. This process typically involves
several stages and requires attention to various factors to ensure effective teamwork.
A team is a group of individuals who work together toward a common goal. Each
member of a team is valuable to the common goal in their own way, using a unique
set of skills to fulfill a team role. And yet, everyone on the team shares the same
orientation and attitude. Though this may sound easy on paper, balancing individual
and common goals within a team is quite difficult, especially during periods of
stress, failure, or discord.

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Considerations for Team Formation and Development
a. Diversity:
 Skills and Backgrounds:
Complementary skills for a well-rounded team.
Diverse perspectives for creative problem-solving.
b. Clear Goals and Roles:
 Defined Objectives:
Clearly communicated team goals.
Well-defined roles and responsibilities for each team member.
c. Effective Communication:
 Open Lines:
Encouraging transparent communication.
Regular team meetings for updates and feedback.
d. Leadership:
 Supportive Leadership:
A leader who facilitates, motivates, and guides. 3
Shared leadership responsibilities when appropriate.
Considerations for Team Formation and Development
e. Conflict Resolution:
 Proactive Approach:
Addressing conflicts promptly.
Encouraging constructive feedback.
f. Training and Development:
 Skill Enhancement:
Ongoing training opportunities.
Skill development aligned with team goals.
g. Recognition and Reward:
 Acknowledgment:
Recognizing individual and team achievements.
Providing positive reinforcement.
h. Feedback Mechanisms:
 Continuous Improvement:
Regular feedback loops. 4
Learning from successes and failures.
Considerations for Team Formation and Development
i. Adaptability:
 Flexibility:
Embracing change and adapting to evolving circumstances.
Being open to new ideas and approaches.
j. Cohesion and Trust:
 Building Trust:
Fostering a sense of trust among team members.
Creating a supportive team culture.

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 Introduction to team Norms
 NORM is an authoritative standard, Team norms are guidelines or rules
that govern how a team interacts with each other and with external
individuals. These norms are often established with the formation of the
team and become more specific as the team evolves. They influence how
employees treat each other and allow the team leaders to assess individual
productivity.
 Team norms are a set of expectations and guidelines that team members
agree upon to govern their behavior and interactions within the group.
Establishing clear norms is essential for promoting collaboration,
communication, and a positive team culture.
 By enforcing norms, team leaders make it possible for the team members to
recognize and report behavior that’s disruptive or negatively affects
relationships within the team.

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 Importance of team Norms
 Ditch Office Politics: Team norms can address office politics, which
often disrupt teamwork. Clarifying those expectations removes
wiggle room for employees trying to make up their own rules.
 Boost Productivity: Team norms become automatic and streamline
how your employees work together. They eliminate disagreements
that would normally slow work down. That makes your employees
more productive, which helps you achieve more as a company.
 Improve Morale: Having norms in place can keep workplace
morale higher overall. Everyone knows what to expect, and friction
and confusion are decreased, which boosts the mood at the office.
 Unify the Team: Teams with norms often have a unified feel. Even
with diverse team members, there are unifying norms that tell
everyone how to act to keep things civil. The norms can help
everyone feel like they belong.
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 Prevent Conflict: Without team norms, issues can sneak into your
team. Workplace conflict trust issues and lack of accountability are
some examples. Norms can address those issues before they happen.
 Easier Transition For New Hires: Established team norms are easy
to teach new members of the team. They can easily acclimate to the
group setting when there are clear expectations for everyone.
 Encourage Accountability: With clear norms in place, teams can
police themselves and take accountability for their actions. They can
also help keep their teammates accountable when they don’t live up
to the norms. This can reduce how often managers have to get
involved with difficult situations.
 Prepare For New Situations: Team norms can serve as a framework
for new situations. You have the behavior expectations in place, and
your team can apply them to the new situation. It can lend structure
to the unknown.

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Here are some team norms examples:

 Speak respectfully in workplace conversations

 Be honest and transparent when discussing work-related topics
 Listen actively and be mindful of others’ opinions
 Never conduct a meeting with more than 16 people
 Always be prepared when attending meetings or giving presentations
 Only call meetings that are necessary
 Arrive at work no more than two minutes late every workday
 Give your manager three days’ notice when requesting time off
 Keep an open mind when negotiating deals or confronting conflict
 If you’re unsure of how to complete a task, always ask a supervisor for help
 Keep physical contact in the workplace to a minimum
 Be accountable for your actions

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Team Norms Process
1. Identify the team’s needs
 The first step in establishing team norms is determining your team’s needs,
which will vary depending on its purpose. For example, if your team’s
purpose is to produce large amounts of content in a relatively short amount
of time, the team needs order, efficiency and drive.
2. Get team input
 You’ll get better buy-in from your team if you involve them in creating the
norms. Have employees think back to past positive team experiences and
figure out what helped it work so well. They might also identify past
negative experiences and hone in on what made them bad. These
experiences can help you come up with group norms examples that might
work for your group.

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3. Develop norms to address the needs
 Once you know your team’s needs, choose norms that address those needs.
Think of it as what behaviors your team can exhibit to get those results. For
example, if your team’s workspace has limited resources, you might implement
norms that regulate how the employees share certain tools or equipment.
4. Create an implementation plan
 Decide how you plan to implement norms. It’s easy to create team norms that
sound each norm. For example, if the norm is to only hold meetings that are
necessary, you might establish guidelines that help you determine what
qualifies good while failing to put them into practice. Establish timelines and
steps for developing as necessary.
5. Introduce norms gradually
 You might have a long list of norms that you want to implement, but expecting
your team to make all of those changes at once is unrealistic. Identify the top
three to five norms where you want to focus your attention, and prioritize those
top norms. You might start with the top one or two norms and gradually add
more.

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6. Communicate the norms
 After you choose the team’s norms, it’s the responsibility of the team’s
leadership to communicate the norms to the team and enforce them consistently.
To accomplish this, many teams create a physical list of norms and post it
publicly in the office or create a shared document that everyone can access
electronically. Others write the norms in a contract that new members of the
team must sign when joining.
7. Add accountability
 If every team member is aware of the norms, they’re more likely to enforce them
with a built-in accountability system. For example, if an employee notices that
another team member is neglecting to answer an email or otherwise violating a
norm related to communication, they’ll likely either approach them to discuss
the issue or report the problem to a supervisor.
8. Reevaluate the norms regularly
 A key aspect of team norms is that they evolve and develop as the team changes
and grows. For example, the norms that governed a team of 12 might no longer
be sufficient if the team grows to 24. Team leaders should periodically assess the
team’s norms to determine whether they’re having the desired effect .
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Team Boundaries
 Physical Boundaries
 Physical boundaries are some of the most basic and important
to establish. Physical boundaries have to do with your
body and space, and what you need or are comfortable with
physically. Hopefully, you’ll find that your physical boundaries
are respected at work, but you may still need to assert them
sometimes.
 Not every violation of these boundaries is dramatic or scary,
like physical aggression—and it’s totally possible for
colleagues to push up against physical boundaries
unintentionally, without meaning any harm.

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 Emotional And Intellectual Boundaries
 When you have healthy intellectual and emotional boundaries,
you’re prioritizing your feelings, thoughts, and ideas, and
giving other people that same respect, too. Strong emotional
boundaries also mean maintaining a strong sense of self, and
not taking on other people’s thoughts, opinions, or struggles
any more than you are comfortable with. At work, this could
manifest as keeping a healthy separation between your
professional and personal life.

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 Priority And Workload Boundaries
 To perform at your best, you need to protect your workload with
strong, healthy boundaries. Every day or week, many team
members will ask you for help. This is a great thing—they think
you’re skilled and they value your contributions! But if you
accommodate every single request, you’re going to end up
frazzled and unproductive. Remember, you only get so many
hours in a week. It’s simply not possible to take on everything.
 Here are some ways to set strong boundaries that protect your
priorities.
 “I’m sorry to hear you need this handled so urgently, that sounds
stressful! But I have a full plate right now too, so I won’t be able
to take care of it on the timeline you need. I’m happy to help out
next month once I have more bandwidth!”
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 Time Boundaries
 It’s very common to struggle with setting boundaries around
your time at work. Time management is challenging for the best
of us, so even well-intentioned co-workers might push up
against your time boundaries now and then. Without strong
boundaries, you’ll find that whatever time you do have gets
away from you—both at work, and even on your personal time.
 Here are some good ways to set boundaries around your time.

 “I’m sorry, but I can’t attend meetings before 1pm. I need

uninterrupted morning work time in order to be productive.”

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 Communication Boundaries
 Set clear boundaries

 around when and how you communicate about work matters. If

everyone can reach you however they want, it will be even more
challenging to make sure your other boundaries, such as around
time and priorities, are respected.

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 Team Cohesiveness
Team cohesiveness refers to a team's ability to effectively work as a whole
towards a common goal. It also means that the team's members want to
contribute to the team's ability to work well together. Team cohesiveness
does not come naturally to most people and must be fostered out of trust
and interpersonal relations among team members

Team cohesion is the

extent of oneness
between members in
achieving a common
goal. It involves
individuals having an
ability to flow together
amidst differences. It is
about the members
knowing how to work as
a unit.
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 Characteristics of Team Cohesiveness

There are several characteristics of group cohesiveness:

 Cohesive Teams consist of a smaller number of members.
 Members in cohesive teams share common interests or backgrounds.
 These groups hold a significant status within organizations.
 Members maintain accessibility to each other, facilitating seamless
communication.
 Each cohesive team is geographically separated from other groups in the
organization.
 Regular recognition is given to cooperative behavior within cohesive
groups.
 Cohesive teams boast a track record of past achievements.

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 Significance of Team Cohesiveness
Team cohesion is important for several reasons, including:
 Better communication among team members
 A heightened ability to achieve company objectives and goals
 A decreased need to micromanage a team, freeing up time for
managers
 A positive work environment
 A decreased use of resources due to a team's effectiveness and
efficiency
 Increased job satisfaction among employees who are part of a
cohesive team

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How to improve Team Cohesiveness at work
 Encourage communication
 Practice team building process
 Structure goals
 Provide training and development
 Celebrate successes as a team
 Focus on building trust
 Empower members of the team
 Resolve conflicts as a team
 Choose team members with care

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The 9 Belbin team roles / The Work of Belbin

The 9 Belbin Team Roles

An effective team utilizes the various personality types of its members in order
to best fulfill different roles. For instance, some individuals are better in
thought-oriented or action-oriented positions, while others may excel in
people-oriented roles. Understanding the different roles in the Belbin Team
Inventory test can help you assign team roles by identifying each individual's
motivations and objectives.
Belbin Team Inventory test
Meredith Belbin devised the Belbin Team Inventory test through a study at
Henley Management College to establish the ideal roles for individuals to
assume within a team. To measure personality traits with the Belbin test,
participants evaluate their own behaviors, receive feedback from observers
and compare the resulting answers.
The results show which of the nine roles best fit each participant. Participants
may exhibit traits that enable them to assume more than one role. This means
that you can build a well-balanced team from any number of people, as long 22

as you include all the roles.

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 The 9 Belbin team roles

The nine Belbin team roles are descriptions of job duties that fall into three broad categories:
 Thought-oriented Roles,
 Action-oriented Roles And
 People-oriented Roles.

1. The Monitor Evaluator (thought-oriented)

2. The Specialist (thought-oriented)
3. The Plant (thought-oriented)
4. The Shaper (action-oriented)
5. The Implementer (action-oriented)
6. The Completer/Finisher (action-oriented)
7. The Coordinator (people-oriented)
8. The Team Worker (people-oriented)
9. The Resource Investigator (people-oriented) 24
3 thought-oriented team roles

The Monitor Evaluator (Analytical, Dispassionate, Evaluative, Critical

Thinker)
 Monitor Evaluators make decisions based on facts and rational thinking as
opposed to emotions and instincts.
 They're normally serious individuals who excel at critical thinking and
strategic planning and have a strong inclination to remain objective.
 If there's a challenge in a project, Monitor Evaluators carefully consider all
angles and possibilities and then devise insightful solutions.
 Monitor Evaluators work best when challenges arise that require advanced
analytical ability and astute problem-solving. Because of their ability to
consistently make effective decisions, these individuals often hold
managerial positions.
 Stephen Hawking

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2. The Specialist
(single-minded expert in a particular field, professionally
dedicated to their area)
 The Specialist is a team member who's an expert in a specific field.
Since they have in-depth knowledge of a narrow subject, they offer
valuable insight when a task requires their area of expertise.
 Specialists are invaluable assets to an organization, as they can
provide expert technical knowledge that not many others in their
industry can.
 It's common for senior management to create proposals and
projects based on the knowledge of these Specialists. Specialists
may serve as advisors during this process.
 Although Specialists may not prefer to work in a team setting,
they're enthusiastic when it comes to their field of expertise and
are eager to share their knowledge with junior members who want 26
to learn.
3. The Plant (creative, unorthodox, independent thinkers,
visionary, inventive, dreamers)
 Plants are free-thinkers and creative people who produce
original ideas and suggest innovative ways of completing tasks.
As is the case with the other two thought-oriented roles, Plants
prefer to work alone.
 Most teams and companies accept and encourage this
preference, as the Plant's creative thinking typically leads to
innovative solutions and groundbreaking concepts.
 As their name suggests, Plants are the team members who bring
about growth and progress.
 Steve jobs, Albert Einstein

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 3 action-oriented team role
1. The Shaper (dynamic, driven, competitive, challenging, bold, blunt,
volatile)
 Shapers are extroverts who tend to motivate themselves and others to
achieve results. They're dynamic and driven individuals who can inspire
passion in team members. Despite any challenges that they may
experience, Shapers remain positive and seem to thrive under pressure.
 They enjoy challenging norms to create unique goals and strategies. It's
beneficial to have at least one Shaper to help the team progress in its
mission. Because Shapers are natural leaders who tend to get results, they
quickly move upward in organizations. They are ideal individuals to hold
managerial roles, as they act decisively in crises and drive progress.
 Steve Jobs, Billagates

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2. The Implementer
(well-organised, disciplined, methodical, systematic, dependable, loyal )
 Implementers are organizers who like to structure their
environments and maintain order. Because they're practical
people, implementers like to make concrete plans from abstract
ideas.
 Implementers are highly disciplined and self-controlled
individuals who can disregard their self-interest to focus on the
needs of a team or an organization.
 Although Implementers normally prefer established ways of
doing things, you can likely persuade them to change if you can
prove that an adjustment would yield positive results.
 These practical and diligent team members are the ones who
ensure that goals become tangible successes.
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3 people-oriented team roles
1. The Coordinator(calm, mature, natural chairperson, managers of
talent in others) Coordinators are mature individuals who have excellent
interpersonal and communication skills. They're normally in management
positions, but their management styles are very different from those of
Shapers. Where Shapers manage through directives, Coordinators prefer a
more democratic approach that fosters open communication.
 Instead of focusing on the achievement of the organization's goals,
Coordinators tend to concentrate on helping team members accomplish
their individual objectives. They're normally good at identifying talent in a
team and utilizing it to achieve the group's objectives.
 Coordinators are normally calm and trusting individuals who are adept at
delegating work. Coordinators are necessary to ensure that the team utilizes
each member's strengths appropriately. As they tend to have broad
perspectives, Coordinators can direct teams with diverse personalities and
skills.
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 Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Terasa, Barack Obama
[Link] Completer/Finisher
(perfectionist, conscientious, sets high standards, anxious about
detail)
 Completers, also called Finishers, are introverted individuals
who perform quality assurance during key stages of a project.
 They're often perfectionists who notice fine details, which helps
them inspect finished tasks or products for errors.
 Since these individuals strive for perfection, they tend to expect
the same from those around them. Organizations need these
individuals to ensure that teams produce high-quality work.
 Completers are especially valuable in work environments where
precision and adherence to deadlines are essential.

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2. The Team Worker
(caring, supportive, good listener, flexible, relationship
oriented)
 Team Workers are normally extroverts with mild and friendly
dispositions. They tend to be good listeners and are adept at getting a
team to function well together as a unit.
 If Team Workers notice that other team members aren't managing
their workload effectively, they're likely to offer their assistance.
 These individuals are highly adaptable and versatile, which helps
them interact effectively with diverse people and cope with sudden
changes.
 Team Workers are indispensable team members because they establish
harmony within a team. They're proficient at solving interpersonal
issues within a team and supporting members who may feel neglected.
 Because of their innate likeability, Team Workers tend to be popular
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with colleagues and often rise to senior positions.
 Dalai Lama
3. The Resource Investigator(explorers, negotiators, curious,
entrepreneurs, influential)
 Resource Investigators are extroverts who have a talent for
networking. They're positive and enthusiastic people who like to
explore new opportunities and investigate new developments.
 Although they may not necessarily come up with new ideas
themselves, they're skilled at gaining ideas from others and
introducing these concepts to their own teams. Due to
their outgoing personalities
 Resource Investigators are good at making new business
contacts and carrying out subsequent negotiations.
 Mark Zuckherbarg, Donald Trump

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 Stages of Team Development
Stage 1: FORMING:
This stage involves a period of orientation and getting acquainted.
Uncertainty is high during this stage and people are looking for
leadership and authority. Most interactions are social as members get
to know each other.

Feelings
During the Forming stage of team development, team members are
usually excited to be part of the team and eager about the work ahead.
Members often have high positive expectations for the team experience. At
The same time, they may also feel some anxiety, wondering how they will fit
in to the team and if their performance will measure up.
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Behaviors
Behaviors observed during the Forming stage may include lots of
questions from team members, reflecting both their excitement
about the new team and the uncertainty or anxiety they might be
feeling about their place on the team.

Team Tasks
The principal work for the team during the Forming stage is to
create a team with clear structure, goals, direction and roles so that
members begin to build trust. A good orientation/kick-off process
can help to ground the members in terms of the team's mission and
goals, and can establish team expectations about both the team's
product and, more importantly, the team's process. During the
Forming stage, much of the team's energy is focused on defining
the team so task accomplishment may be relatively low. 35
Stage 2: Storming
This is the most difficult and critical stage to pass through. It is a period
marked by conflict and competition as individual personalities emerge .
Team performance actually may decrease in this stage because energy
is put into unproductive activities

Feelings
As the team begins to move towards its goals, members discover that
the team can't live up to all of their early excitement and expectations.
Their focus may shift from the tasks at hand to feelings of frustration or
anger with the team's progress or process. Members may express
concerns about being unable to meet the team's goals. During the
Storming stage, members are trying to see how the team will respond
to differences and how it will handle conflict.

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Behaviors
Behaviors during the Storming stage may be less polite than during the
Forming stage, with frustration or disagreements about goals, expectations,
roles and responsibilities being openly expressed. Members may express
frustration about constraints that slow their individual or the team's progress;
this frustration might be directed towards other members of the team, the team
leadership or the team's sponsor. During the Storming stage, team members
may argue or become critical of the team's original mission or goals.

Team Tasks
Team Tasks during the Storming stage of development call for the team to
refocus on its goals, perhaps breaking larger goals down into smaller,
achievable steps. The team may need to develop both task-related skills and
group process and conflict management skills. A redefinition of the team's
goals, roles and tasks can help team members past the frustration or confusion 37
they experience during the Storming stage.
Stage 3: Norming.
In this stage consensus and cooperation have been well established
and the team is mature , organized and well functioning. There is a
clear and stable structure and members are committed to team’s
mission. The team is now focused on problem solving and meeting
team goals

Feelings
During the Norming stage of team development, team members begin to
resolve the discrepancy they felt between their individual expectations and the
reality of the team's experience. If the team is successful in setting more
flexible and inclusive norms and expectations, members should experience an
increased sense of comfort in expressing their "real" ideas and feelings. Team
members feel an increasing acceptance of others on the team, recognizing that the
variety of opinions and experiences makes the team stronger and its product richer.
Constructive criticism is both possible and welcomed. Members start to feel part of
a team and can take pleasure from the increased group cohesion. 38
Behaviors
Behaviors during the Norming stage may include members making a
conscious effort to resolve problems and achieve group harmony. There might
be more frequent and more meaningful communication among team members,
and an increased willingness to share ideas or ask teammates for help. Team
members refocus on established team ground rules and practices and return
their focus to the team's tasks. Teams may begin to develop their own
language
or inside jokes.

Team Tasks
During the Norming stage, members shift their energy to the team's goals and
show an increase in productivity, in both individual and collective work. The
team may find that this is an appropriate time for an evaluation of team
processes and productivity 39
Stage 4: Performing
Feelings
In the Performing stage of team development, members feel satisfaction in
the
team's progress. They share insights into personal and group process and are
aware of their own (and each other's) strengths and weaknesses. Members feel
attached to the team as something "greater than the sum of its parts" and feel
satisfaction in the team's effectiveness. Members feel confident in their
individual abilities and those of their teammates.

Behaviors
Team members are able to prevent or solve problems in the team's process or
in the team's progress. A "can do" attitude is visible as are offers to assist
one
another. Roles on the team may have become more fluid, with members taking
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on various roles and responsibilities as needed. Differences among members
are appreciated and used to enhance the team's performance.
Team Tasks
In the Performing stage, the team makes significant progress towards
its goals. Commitment to the team's mission is high and the
competence of team members is also high. Team members should
continue to deepen their knowledge and skills, including working to
continuously improving team development. Accomplishments in team
process or progress are measured and celebrated.

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Stage 5: Adjourning
In this stage most of the teams goal have been accomplished. The emphasis is
on wrapping up final task and documenting the efforts and results. As the work
load diminished, individual members may b re assigned to other teams and the
team disbands. There may be a regret as the team ends so a ceremonial
acknowledgment of the work and success of the team can be helpful .

Feelings
Team members may feel a variety of concerns about the team’s impending
dissolution. They may be feeling some anxiety because of uncertainty about
Their individual role or future responsibilities. They may feel sadness or a sense
of loss about the changes coming to their team relationships. And at the same
time, team members may feel a sense of deep satisfaction at the
accomplishments of the team.

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Individual members might feel all of these things at the same time, or may
Cycle through feelings of loss followed by feelings of satisfaction. Given
these
conflicting feelings, individual and team morale may rise or fall throughout
the
ending stage.
It is highly likely that at any given moment individuals on the team will be
Experiencing different emotions about the team's ending.

Behaviors
During the Ending Stage, some team members may become less focused on
the team's tasks and their productivity may drop. Alternatively, some team
members may find focusing on the task at hand is an effective response to
their
sadness or sense of loss. Their task productivity may increase.
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