As we wrap up the first semester, there is finally time to take a breather and reflect on the outcome of all our hard work- both within our teams and individually. The team projects definitely came with their own challenges, but I have learned more on group dynamics and teamwork than I ever would have expected. In the aftermath of our final project, our pitch for a new-and-improved Royal Canin website, I’ve formulated a short list of advice for future group projects.

Know Yourself- This seems obvious, but with every new experience there is an opportunity to surprise oneself. Get to know how you tick, because it will make everything so much easier when planning a timeline for a project. Know what you like, and know what you can’t stand. Sometimes doing things you can’t stand is unavoidable, but learn how to manage it effectively. For example, some people may feel they need extra time to practice presenting so they can feel confident once the real presentation takes place. Other people may feel that presenting is one of their natural talents and don’t need to put aside as much time rehearsing. Either way, get to know how you work best and plan accordingly.

Get to know others- This was obviously a bit hard at the beginning, since my teammates were essentially strangers. You don’t want to be unfair by judging on first impressions, but I have to say, I wasn’t actually too far off. Knowing someone else allows for proper anticipation of how they might react to something or what role they are best suited to. Basically, having a good idea of someone’s personality and what makes them tick allows for better planning around group tasks and timelines. Not all personalities are going to mesh beautifully, but that doesn’t mean the project can’t succeed. At the end of the day, you really can’t control other people, but you can do the best with what you’re given.

Create clear and defined roles- When you are past the brainstorming and idea-formulating phase, the actual execution of the plan will work best when everyone has a specific job to do. Ideally, these specific roles will complement each team member’s interests and personality so they have the confidence to make it happen smoothly and effectively. For example, every team needs a leader for each project. Most of the time, there will be an unofficial, assumed leader who takes on these tasks. It is important, however, for these roles to be official so that there is no confusion.

Always allow for extra time- Do not think of the actual deadline as the deadline you want. Imagine the deadline is a day before, or however much time you think you’ll need, so that you’ll leave room for extra buffer time. This is basically how I’ve always worked, but this final project confirmed that this tactic is very important. Always leave room for the unexpected.

Well, I am happy to say that my first semester at Centennial College went pretty smoothly. Coming straight out of university I knew there was going to be an adjustment period. I was going to have a lot more classes, more class hours and I was commuting over an hour each way to and from school. As well, my classes were going to be a lot smaller with the same 11 people in all of them. This is compared to Laurier where my smallest classes were about 30 people and each class had a different group.

What this all meant was that I really had to focus on group dynamics and time management. I was also going to see the people in my group almost everyday. As well, because we were all coming from different ends of the city, we had to work efficiently when we were together so our projects could be cohesive and finished by the due date.

One of the first steps that helped our group succeed was assigning each team member a general position early in the process. This allowed us too really focus on our section of the assignment without stepping on each other’s toes. As the impromptu project manager for my group, I was often checking in with group members to see how far along they were in their current section of the assignment. While it can be difficult to take on this role, especially if you’re working with friends, it is necessary to make sure that all project components get done. If someone was falling behind on one section, due to other commitments or priorities, we were able to identity what still had to be done and reassign it if necessary.

Additionally through this role I often acted as a second eye for group members and their work. While working on individual components of a larger assignment it is very important to always double check and make sure that everyone’s work is up to the expected standard. By periodically checking in with group members, I was able to tell them that yes, this is great or no we need to go back and rethink this idea. By having a point person in this role, it prevented us from having to backtrack right at the end of the project to redo an entire section due to the miscommunication of an idea.

Finally, instant communication was very important for our group members. We were often bouncing ideas off each other and by not solely relying on email or a project management tool we were able to get instant feedback about our ideas. We did have one hiccup near the end of the assignment but overall we were able to effectively communicate using Facebook messenger. By determining our communication needs before picking a tool, we were able to effectively utilize a well-known platform that everyone was accustomed too. This meant we didn’t need to go out and learn a new tool just for the sake of using it. I learned that sometimes the most basic and everyday tool could be the necessary ingredient to the group’s success.

Recently I read the classic business book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni about team collaboration. The book is insightful and rich with ideas about why teams often struggle and is a must-read for every project manager. I would like to share its powerful core ideas on how to build and manage a successful team.

The book uses a fable to get its messages across – it takes us through the efforts of a new CEO brought in to fix a highly dysfunctional executive team in an emergency situation. The protagonist, Kathryn, is an expert at team-building and recognizes that the company’s executive are not failing to produce results because of lack of talent or good products, but because they are not united around common goals and consequently cannot collaborate to effectively get things done.

  Kathryn – through intense offsite sessions – reveals the five dysfunctions that must be addressed and which build on each other:

1. Absence of trust. “Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” What are your strengths that will have impact on the team success and weaknesses you need to overcome in order for the team to accomplish its goals.

2. Fear of Conflict. “If people don’t trust one another it will lead to open, constructive, ideological conflict. And they will just continue to preserve a sense of artificial harmony.”  The key insight is that constructive conflict is actually positive – it allows team members to put their ideas on the table and for the team to work through various problems.  If this kind of conflict isn’t enabled, team members will have difficulty buying in to the direction the company ultimately takes.

3. The next dysfunction of a team is the Lack of Commitment (to a plan or a decision) and failure of getting everyone to clearly buy in to it. “If everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally - that’s terrific. But that isn’t how it usually works, and so consensus becomes an attempt to please everyone.“ And here it comes to that most people don’t have to get their way in a discussion. They just need to be heard, and to know that their input was considered and responded to.

4. Avoidance of Accountability. The fourth dysfunction – brought about by absence of constructive conflict and lack of commitment, is that team members do not hold each other accountable for what they sign up to do.  “The peer-to-peer thing is certainly one of the issues that makes team accountability hard.”  Teams that trust each other and openly work through their problems also call each other out when they haven’t performed as per their commitments;  indeed, this is a normal and accepted characteristic of high-performing teams.

5. Inattention to Results.  The successful components of team functionality build and are ultimately manifested in strong results. Results are what demonstrate that the team is working well.  Collective results should be the goals of entire team but not individual recognition (which often is at the expense of team results).

  Lencioni outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team.

Suggestions for overcoming dysfunctions:

1. Developing trust among team members. Members of trusting team should:

Admit weaknesses and mistakes;

Ask for help;

Accept questions and input about their areas of responsibility;

Take risks in offering feedback and assistance;

Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.

It is also very important to know each other as people, not just as professionals.

2. Teams that engage in conflict:

Have lively, interesting meetings;

Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members;

Solve real problems quickly;

Minimize politics;

Put critical topics on the table for discussion.

The key things to overcome the second dysfunction (Fear of Conflict) are respect and clear communication. We all different people with different backgrounds, but our diverse skills, experiences and viewpoints are what make us strong!  Another important point for avoiding conflict is to provide useful feedback to one's colleagues.

3. "Great teams make clear and timely decisions and move forward with complete buy-in from every member of the team, even those who voted against the decision.  They leave meetings confident that no one on the team is quietly harbouring doubts about whether to support the actions agreed on."

It is important that everyone on a team will have a chance to say their thoughts while making decisions, because if people were not heard they won't be passioned about the process.

 4. "A good way to make it easier for team members to hold one another accountable is to clarify publicly exactly what the team needs to achieve, who needs to deliver what, and how everyone must behave in order to succeed."

I would add to Lencioni ‘s suggestion for overcoming fourth dysfunction (Avoidance of Accountability) that I found it is often Canadians just can’t say “no”.  They will take on another task or do a favor that someone asks for even if it’s too much. But sometimes you just can’t do everything and it is not selfish and ok to say “no”.

 5. An effective way to ensure that team members focus their attention on results is to "tie their rewards, especially compensation, to the achievement of specific outcomes. "A team that focuses on collective results:

Retains achievement-oriented employees;

Minimizes individualistic behaviour;

Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals for the good of the team.