BSBWOR502

Lead and manage team

effectiveness
Learner Guide
 BSBWOR502
Lead and manage team effectiveness

2
 Table of Contents
Table of Contents ...............................................................................................................................3
Unit of Competency .............................................................................................................................. 6
Performance Criteria............................................................................................................................. 7
Foundation Skills ................................................................................................................................... 8
Assessment Requirements .................................................................................................................... 9
Housekeeping Items ............................................................................................................................... 10
Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 10
1. Establish team performance plan.................................................................................................. 11
1.1 - Consult team members to establish a common understanding of team purpose, roles,
responsibilities and accountabilities in accordance with organisational goals, plans and objectives ... 12
Team purpose: What is a Team? ........................................................................................................ 12
How to determine what the team wants to achieve? ........................................................................ 12
Team purpose, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities ................................................................ 13
Activity 1a............................................................................................................................................ 14
Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities ........................................................................................ 15
Activity 1a continued... ....................................................................................................................... 16
1.2 - Develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes, outputs, key performance
indicators (KPIs) and goals for work team .............................................................................................. 17
Performing .......................................................................................................................................... 17
W.I.S.H Team Review .......................................................................................................................... 18
Adequate levels of complementary skills ........................................................................................... 18
Key performance indicators (KPIs) ...................................................................................................... 19
Activity 1b ........................................................................................................................................... 20
1.3 - Support team members in meeting expected performance outcomes ......................................... 21
Support team members ...................................................................................................................... 21
Meeting expected performance outcomes ........................................................................................ 21
Activity 1c ............................................................................................................................................ 23
2. Develop and facilitate team cohesion ........................................................................................... 24
2.1 - Develop strategies to ensure team members have input into planning, decision making and
operational aspects of work team .......................................................................................................... 25

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 Team cohesion .................................................................................................................................... 25
Strategies ............................................................................................................................................ 27
2.2 - Develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take responsibility for own work and
assist others to undertake required roles and responsibilities .............................................................. 28
Policy ................................................................................................................................................... 28
Procedure ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Activity 2a............................................................................................................................................ 30
2.3 - Provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and reward individual and team efforts
and contributions .................................................................................................................................... 31
Create a simple feedback mechanism or template approach ............................................................ 32
Champion the success of team members ........................................................................................... 33
Activity 2b ........................................................................................................................................... 34
2.4 - Develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and problems identified by team members are
recognised and addressed ...................................................................................................................... 35
Develop a process ............................................................................................................................... 35
Problem analysis sequence ................................................................................................................. 37
Activity 2c ............................................................................................................................................ 38
3. Facilitate teamwork ..................................................................................................................... 39
3.1 - Encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take responsibility for team
activities, including communication processes ...................................................................................... 40
Teams .................................................................................................................................................. 40
Encourage team members .................................................................................................................. 40
A sense of mutual accountability ........................................................................................................ 42
Communication ................................................................................................................................... 42
3.2 - Support the team in identifying and resolving work performance problems ................................ 43
Support the team ................................................................................................................................ 43
Identifying and resolving..................................................................................................................... 43
Activity 3a............................................................................................................................................ 44
3.3 - Ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role model for others and enhances the
organisation's image for all stakeholders ............................................................................................... 45
Stakeholders ....................................................................................................................................... 45
Activity 3b ........................................................................................................................................... 46
4. Liaise with stakeholders ............................................................................................................... 47

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4.1 - Establish and maintain open communication processes with all stakeholders ............................. 48
Maintain open communication processes .......................................................................................... 48
Establish open communication processes .......................................................................................... 49
Reluctance to communicate or share information ............................................................................. 50
Activity 4a............................................................................................................................................ 51
4.2 - Communicate information from line manager/management to the team .................................... 52
Activity 4b ........................................................................................................................................... 53
Communicate information from line manager/management to the team ........................................ 54
Team communication plan ................................................................................................................. 55
Activity 4b continued .......................................................................................................................... 56
4.3 - Communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by team members and follow-up
with line manager/management and other relevant stakeholders ....................................................... 57
4.4 - Evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues, concerns and
problems raised by internal or external stakeholders ............................................................................ 57
Communicate unresolved issues - Issue management ....................................................................... 57
Assignment/ownership ....................................................................................................................... 58
Target resolution date ........................................................................................................................ 58
Activity 4c ............................................................................................................................................ 59
Skills and Knowledge Activity .............................................................................................................. 60
Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit ................................................................................. 61
References .............................................................................................................................................. 63

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Unit of Competency
Application

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to lead teams in the workplace and to actively
engage with the management of the organisation.

It applies to individuals working at a managerial level who facilitate work teams and build a positive
culture within their work teams. At this level, work will normally be carried out using complex and
diverse methods and procedures requiring the exercise of considerable discretion and judgement, using
a range of problem solving and decision making strategies.

No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of
publication.

Unit Sector

Industry Capability – Workplace Effectiveness

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Performance Criteria
Element Performance Criteria
Elements describe the Performance criteria describe the performance needed to
essential outcomes. demonstrate achievement of the element.

1. Establish team 1.1 Consult team members to establish a common

performance plan understanding of team purpose, roles, responsibilities and
accountabilities in accordance with organisational goals,
plans and objectives
1.2 Develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes,
outputs, key performance indicators (KPIs) (KPIs) and goals
for work team
1.3 Support team members in meeting expected performance
outcomes

2. Develop and facilitate 2.1 Develop strategies to ensure team members have input into
team cohesion planning, decision making and operational aspects of work
team
2.2 Develop policies and procedures to ensure team members
take responsibility for own work and assist others to
undertake required roles and responsibilities
2.3 Provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and
reward individual and team efforts and contributions
2.4 Develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and
problems identified by team members are recognised and
addressed

3. Facilitate teamwork 3.1 Encourage team members and individuals to participate in

and to take responsibility for team activities, including
communication processes
3.2 Support the team in identifying and resolving work
performance problems
3.3 Ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role
model for others and enhances the organisation’s image for
all stakeholders

4. Liaise with 3.1 Establish and maintain open communication processes with
stakeholders all stakeholders
3.2 Communicate information from line manager/management
to the team
3.3 Communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems
raised by team members and follow-up with line
manager/management and other relevant stakeholders
3.4 Evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding
unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by internal
or external stakeholders

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Foundation Skills
This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills incorporated in the
performance criteria that are required for competent performance.

Reading 1.1, 4.4 ➢ Analyses and interprets textual information from the
organisation’s policies, goals and objectives to establish
team goals or to determine corrective action

Writing 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 4.2, ➢ Prepares written reports and workplace documentation
4.3, 4.4 that communicate complex information clearly and
effectively

Oral 1.1, 2.3, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, ➢ Engages in discussions or provides information using
Communication 4.3 appropriate vocabulary and non-verbal features
➢ Uses listening and questioning techniques to confirm
understanding and to engage the audience

Navigate the 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3 ➢ Understands how own role contributes to broader
world of work organisational goals
➢ Modifies or develops policies and procedures to achieve
organisational goals

Interact with 1.1, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, ➢ Selects and uses appropriate conventions and protocols
others 3.2, 4.2, 4.3 when communicating with diverse stakeholders
➢ Uses interpersonal skills to gain trust and confidence of
team and provides feedback to others in forms that they
can understand and use
➢ Adapts personal communication style to build positive
working relationships and to show respect for the opinions,
values and particular needs of others
➢ Plays a lead role in situations requiring effective
collaboration, demonstrating high level conflict resolution
skills and ability to engage and motivate others

Get the work 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 3.2, ➢ Develops, implements and monitors plans and processes to
done 4.1, 4.3, 4.4 ensure team effectiveness
➢ Monitors and actively supports processes and
development activities to ensure the team is focused on
work outcomes
➢ Plans for unexpected outcomes and implements creative
responses to overcome challenges

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Assessment Requirements
Performance Evidence

Evidence of the ability to:

➢ Use leadership techniques and strategies to facilitate team cohesion and work outcomes
including:
o encouraging and fostering shared understanding of purpose, roles and responsibilities
o identifying and resolving problems
o providing feedback to encourage, value and reward others
o modelling desired behaviour and practices
➢ Develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take responsibility for own work and
assist others to undertake required roles and responsibilities
➢ Establish processes to address issues and resolve performance issues
➢ Support team to meet expected performance outcomes including providing formal and informal
learning opportunities as needed
➢ Develop performance plans with key performance indicators (KPIs) (KPIs), outputs and goals for
individuals or the team which incorporate input from stakeholders
➢ Communicate effectively with a range of stakeholders about team performance plans and team
performance
➢ Facilitate two-way flow of information between team and management relevant to team
performance
➢ Evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues, concerns and
problems raised by internal or external stakeholders.

Knowledge Evidence

To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:
➢ Explain how group dynamics can support or hinder team performance
➢ Outline strategies that can support team cohesion, participation and performance
➢ Explain strategies for gaining consensus
➢ Explain issue resolution strategies.

Assessment Conditions

Assessment must be conducted in a safe environment where evidence gathered demonstrates

consistent performance of typical activities experienced in the industry capability - workplace
effectiveness field of work and include access to:
➢ Workplace documents
➢ Case studies and, where possible, real situations
➢ Office equipment and resources
➢ Interaction with others.
Assessors must satisfy NVR/AQTF assessor requirements.

Links

Companion volumes are available from the IBSA website: http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes -

http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes

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Housekeeping Items
Your trainer will inform you of the following:

➢ Where the toilets and fire exits are located, what the emergency procedures are and
where the breakout and refreshment areas are.

➢ Any rules, for example asking that all mobile phones are set to silent and of any security
issues they need to be aware of.

➢ What times the breaks will be held and what the smoking policy is.

➢ That this is an interactive course and you should ask questions.

➢ That to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work together, listen to each
other, explore new ideas, and make mistakes. After all, that’s how we learn.

➢ Ground rules for participation:

o Smile

o Support and encourage other participants

o When someone is contributing everyone else is quiet

o Be patient with others who may not be grasping the ideas

o Be on time

o Focus discussion on the topic

o Speak to the trainer if you have any concerns

Objectives
➢ Discover how to establish team performance plan

➢ Know how to develop and facilitate team cohesion

➢ Learn how to facilitate teamwork

➢ Understand how to liaise with stakeholders

➢ Gain the skills and knowledge required for this unit

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1. Establish team performance plan
1.1 Consult team members to establish a common understanding of team purpose, roles,
responsibilities and accountabilities in accordance with organisational goals, plans and
objectives

1.2 Develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes, outputs, key performance
indicators (KPIs) and goals for work team

1.3 Support team members in meeting expected performance outcomes

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1.1 - Consult team members to establish a common understanding of team
purpose, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities in accordance with
organisational goals, plans and objectives
Consultation may refer to: Accountabilities may refer to:

➢ Conducting meetings, interviews, ➢ Responsibilities as defined in position

brainstorming sessions, email/intranet
communications, newsletters or other
processes and devices which ensure that
all employees have the opportunity to
contribute to team and individual
performance plans
descriptions, codes of conduct/behaviour,
duty statements or similar
➢ Statement of conduct outlining
responsibilities/actions/performance

➢ Mechanisms used to provide feedback to

the work team in relation to outcomes of
consultation

Team purpose: What is a Team?

➢ The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization by J. R.
Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith

➢ In their book “The Wisdom of Teams” Katzenbach and Smith make the point that the
word team conveys different things to different people. Some people think of a
sporting situation where personal bests and winning no matter what are important.

➢ Others consider teamwork values such as sharing, co-operating and helping one
another as essential to a team effort. Teams could be formed by as few as two people
and often marriage is referred to as a partnership or a team.

➢ Because of these different perspectives it is useful to consider in the context of what

you may be addressing just what is the best definition of a team?

How to determine what the team wants to achieve?

Consult team members
There are many reasons why teams are bought together to address issues. The first stage is to
determine why?

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Examples may include:
➢ Addressing particular customer feedback
➢ Conceiving and implementing a particular project
➢ Developing new services or products
➢ Generating ongoing ideas within the work unit
➢ Improving budgetary performance
➢ Improving or changing work conditions
➢ New ideas that impact beyond the workplace (e.g. That have a broader social or
community impact)

Establish why Your views

Team purpose, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities

Specific Goal or Goals
➢ Are they team goals versus the broader organisational goals or just one individual’s
goals (e.g. The leaders)

➢ Are they simple, clear and measurable if not measurable, can their achievement be
determined

➢ Are they realistic as well as ambitious

➢ Do they allow small wins along the way

➢ Do they call for a concrete set of team work-products

➢ Is their relative importance and priority clear to all members

➢ Do all members agree with the goals, their relative importance and the way in which
their achievement will be measured

➢ Do all members articulate the goals in the same way

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Activity 1a

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Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities
Roles
➢ Sometimes roles evolve over time to meet the needs of the team as necessary.

➢ Develop initial roles

➢ One method is to ‘democratically’ brainstorm’ a list that covers the A-Z and then select
each item to ensure each team member has a clear understanding and feels
comfortable with the suggested role

➢ There is a significant expectation in today’s business environment to be extremely

conscious of team members’ cultural differences and the respect all individuals deserve
when they are part of the team. People with language difficulties, disabilities and other
cultural or personal differences should not rule out participation and involvement to
the levels of which they feel comfortable.

Responsibilities

Communicate responsibilities
Most of us are familiar with what teams are however we are imprecise in our thinking about them.

➢ For that reason it is useful to get a clear understanding of what a team is and is not.
This can provide useful insights into how to strengthen the performance and innovation
of your team.

Examples
➢ What are we supposed to do?

➢ Where are the goals?

➢ Where do I fit in?

➢ Where do I go for the answers/help?

➢ What information needs to be

gathered?

Accountabilities
A sense of mutual accountability
➢ Mutual accountability creates a team; until this is present the group will remain simply
that, a group.

➢ This accountability underpins two critical aspects of teams, commitment and trust.

➢ By holding yourselves accountable to the team goals you earn the right to have a say in
the team activities or functional performance and receive a fair hearing when doing so.

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 ➢ This in turn creates trust between participating team members.

Activity 1a continued...

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1.2 - Develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes, outputs, key
performance indicators (KPIs) and goals for work team
Performance plans may refer to:

➢ Individual performance plans linked to team goals

➢ Team plans based on work assignments and responsibilities

Outcomes, outputs, key performance indicators (KPIs) may refer to agreed:

➢ Changes in work roles and responsibilities

➢ Improved individual and team, performance and participation

➢ Improvements to systems, operations

➢ Measures for monitoring and evaluating the efficiency or effectiveness of systems or

services

➢ Quality standards and expectations

➢ Targets for productivity improvements such as reduced downtime, higher production

levels, decreases in absenteeism

➢ Targets for training and development

Performing
The team is functioning well and producing measurable outcomes.

➢ Individual performance plans linked to team goals

➢ Team plans based on work assignments and responsibilities

Feelings: ➢ Better understanding of each other, satisfaction with team progress,

pride with team progress.

Behaviours: ➢ Modelling of team behaviours, work through problems, close

attachment to the team. Tries to find group norms, may complain
about the company, may find it difficult to define problems,
impatience with discussion.

Raising the questions? ➢ What improvements can be made?

➢ How can we go about making these changes?

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W.I.S.H Team Review
➢ The W.I.S.H Team Review process is a way to analyse your team that gives you a
realistic view of where your team work is situated, at this point in time.

➢ This process is an invaluable planning tool when it comes to growing and developing
your team to the next level.

This review involves examining.

➢ WELL – Looking at what you do WELL as a Team

➢ IMPROVE – Looking at what needs to be IMPROVED in your team

➢ STRATEGY – What strategy do you need to develop to improve

your teamwork

➢ HOW - Now that you have a strategy – HOW are you going to
implement it into your team environment?

Identify strengths and weaknesses of team against current and expected work
requirements

The Team Challenge…strengths and weaknesses

➢ Small enough in number?

➢ Can you convene easily and frequently?

➢ Can you communicate with all members easily and frequently?

➢ Are your discussions open and interactive for all members?

➢ Does each member understand the others’ role and skills?

➢ Do you need more people to achieve your ends?

➢ Are sub teams possible or necessary?

Adequate levels of complementary skills

➢ Are all three categories of skills either actually or potentially represented across the
membership (functional/technical, problem solving/decision making and
interpersonal)?

➢ Does each member have the potential in all three categories to advance his or her skills
to the level required by the team’s purpose and goals?

➢ Are the skill areas that are critical to team performance missing or underrepresented?

➢ Are the members, individually and collectively, willing to spend time to help themselves
and others learn and develop skills?

➢ Can you introduce new or supplemental skills as needed?

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Truly meaningful purpose

➢ Does it constitute a broader, deeper aspiration than just near term goals?

➢ Is it a team purpose as opposed to a broader organisational purpose or just one

individual’s purpose (e.g. the leaders)?

➢ Do all members understand and articulate it the same way? And do they do so without
relying on ambiguous abstractions?

➢ Do members define it vigorously in discussions with outsiders?

➢ Do members frequently refer to it and explore its implications?

➢ Does it contain themes that are particularly meaningful and memorable?

➢ Do members feel it is important, if not exciting?

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Areas to consider
➢ Your Attitude

➢ Your skills

➢ Your communication

➢ Your abilities

➢ Your level of co-operation

➢ Your compatibility

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Activity 1b

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1.3 - Support team members in meeting expected performance outcomes
Support may include:
➢ Coaching

➢ Mentoring

➢ Training and development opportunities

➢ Clarification of roles and expectations

➢ Long term or short term plans

➢ Meetings

Support team members

Recognise innovation as a process which can be systematically pursued
using a range of key elements.

➢ Involve the team in the design and development of the objectives

➢ Generate results through involvement utilising partnerships and collaboration

o Collaborative

o Fair

o Fun

o Hardworking

External stimuli can also mean using and seeking advice from subgroups within a team.
➢ Team empowerment

➢ Encouraging new ideas

➢ Permitting interaction – between the team, the sub-groups or external networks or

technical experts

➢ Interaction between different work groups and colleagues outside of the team

Meeting expected performance outcomes

➢ Technical and Functional Expertise: Teams must contain the skills necessary to
complete the task at hand. For example, a product development group with only
marketing experts is less likely to succeed than a group comprised of marketing
experts and engineers. The complementary skills of both groups will enable the
team to function.

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 ➢ Problem solving and decision-making skills: Teams must be able to make decisions
and identify the onset of a problem or opportunity, evaluate the opportunity and
decide on an appropriate course of action. Team members usually possess some
level of these skills and develop them more on the job.

➢ Interpersonal Skills: Skills which enable effective communication and management

of any conflict arising will enable the team to develop common understandings of
purpose and function. This could include risk taking, helpful criticism, objectivity,
active listening, giving the benefit of the doubt, support and or recognising the
needs of others.

Most team members will react positively to communicating responsibilities within a team if you:
➢ Are specific with enough detail to be clear

➢ Provide a responsibility that is measurable using quantitative goals when available such
as milestones

➢ Ensure they are attainable and realistic in terms of their own control, timeframe, and
resources available

➢ Communicate responsibilities that are both reasonable and realistic in terms of what
can really be achieved

➢ Give time-based goals that set dates for achieving milestones, results, completion

Most importantly, provide encouragement for team members to stretch beyond the norm and have
challenging responsibilities to achieve beyond the current levels, raise the bar.

Areas that can reinforce team-based support

➢ Accessing training and learning opportunities

➢ Enough but not too much guidance and

structure

➢ Equitable sharing of workload

➢ Follow-through with ideas

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Activity 1c

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2. Develop and facilitate team cohesion
2.1 Develop strategies to ensure team members have input into planning, decision making and
operational aspects of work team

2.2 Develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take responsibility for own work
and assist others to undertake required roles and responsibilities

2.3 Provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and reward individual and team
efforts and contributions

2.4 Develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and problems identified by team
members are recognised and addressed

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2.1 - Develop strategies to ensure team members have input into planning,
decision making and operational aspects of work team

Team cohesion
➢ Team cohesion goes hand in hand with team building

➢ The collective cohesion is what keeps any group or team together

➢ The challenge is maintaining the cohesion or the reason the team has come together

➢ Preventing group fragmentation is a key element of managing a team

Such activities would include setting out clear common goals and strategies to achieve and maintain
this.

Strategies may refer to:

➢ Clarification of roles and expectations

➢ Electronic communication devices and processes, such as intranet and email

communication systems, to facilitate input

➢ Long-term or short-term plans factoring in opportunities for team input

➢ Mentoring and buddy systems to support team members in providing input

➢ Newsletters and briefings

➢ Training and development activities

Develop strategies Discuss Comments

Clarification of roles and expectations
➢ Teams range in size from two to twenty five people
however the majority of effective teams have
averaged about ten people.
➢ Some organisations have teams numbering fifty or
more however, these are usually broken into smaller
units or sub teams

➢ The reason for this is that larger numbers of people

have trouble communicating effectively, often
disagreeing on specific actions and outcomes.

➢ Ten people are far more likely to work through their

differences, agree to a common approach or plan and
implement that plan. The simple logistics of a team
larger than ten meeting is a complication

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Long-term or short-term plans Is your team willing to get involved with new ideas and to be
factoring in opportunities for team part of a team environment to maybe question what has
input been in place for some time?

➢ Some staff may approach all new ideas and

innovative strategies in a totally negative manner
that may not be in your power to resolve, so they
need to be removed from the group

The cynics

➢ Distinguish between team cynicism and unwillingness

➢ Cynics will point out the weakness and risks of a new

idea which is helpful to measure how the group is
doing in the overall assessment process

Mentoring and 'buddy' systems to Mentoring - Get involved

support team members in providing
input ➢ Share suggestions, ideas, solutions and proposals
with your team members.

➢ Take time to interact with other team members and

accept their requests for more information or
assistance.

➢ You can establish trust and maybe there will be a

time in the future when you will need some help or
advice from them.

Training and development activities ➢ Put staff training into context and understand its role
clearly

➢ Assess the improvement effectiveness of any

proposed training programs planned

➢ Assess the training needs within a team

➢ Evaluate the training model and assessment

approach with participants

Barriers to training include:

➢ Money, time, relevance, ability

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Strategies
As discussed earlier in this session, it has been found that using a “process” such as a planning tool will
focus attention when it comes to growing and developing your team to the next level.

You can include several areas such as decision making and operational aspects of the work team on
which to base your ‘strategic’ planning.

This strategy review mentioned earlier, involves examining.

Well - Looking at what you do well as a team

Improve - Looking at what needs to be improved in your team.

Strategy - What strategy do you need to develop to improve your teamwork

How - Now that you have a strategy – how are you going to implement it
into your team environment?

Example

Well Improve Strategy How

Decision making

Operational aspects

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2.2 - Develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take
responsibility for own work and assist others to undertake required roles and
responsibilities

Policies and procedures allow the organisation to systematically review and improve the quality of
workgroups and teams.

The development of policies and procedures are generally handled the same way as the initial team
establishment strategy.

Policy
➢ A policy is a guiding organisational principle used to set some form of direction

➢ Policies are used to guide and influence decisions

Procedure
➢ A procedure is a particular way of accomplishing something, e.g., that which is
contained within a ‘policy’
➢ To be effective, it should be designed as a series of logical steps to be followed and
reviewed
➢ A procedure would likely have an approach or cycle to accomplish an end result
Procedures are also promoted during evaluations or assessments and should be reiterated and
discussed regularly to ensure they remain relevant.

Copies of policies should be easily accessible to the workforce via your website or other electronic
sources such as intranet accessible data bases

Examples
➢ Company websites
➢ By email
➢ Blogs
➢ Formal meetings
➢ During induction
➢ Conferences
Policies and procedures may refer to:
➢ Organisational guidelines and systems that govern operational functions

➢ Procedures that detail the activities that must be carried out for the completion of
actions and tasks

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 ➢ Standard operating procedures

As a living document procedures, created from a policy, will need on-going review and updating.

➢ Identify any gaps in policies and procedures or changes to internal or external factors,
by encouraging a regular review of the current policies and procedures.

➢ Undertake workgroup research to ensure best practice ideals are being met and consult
with the organisations stakeholders to gain agreement on policies and procedures.

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Activity 2a

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2.3 - Provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and reward
individual and team efforts and contributions
Constructive feedback usually consists of comments from others who are familiar with the work and
efforts of the teams in question

➢ Feedback is encouraged and should be made with the intention of assisting team
members to improve or make informed changes

➢ Remember, both positive and negative feedback is to be expected, however, human

nature as it is will likely produce much more positive feedback than negative

➢ Consider the following as well as your own experiences or workplace actions by others

Suggestions Discuss your views

Talk about the current status

Provide team members with feedback from other

sources

Slowly open positives and negatives

Careful wording. Words should make team

members think and not to react negatively.

Relate to experience and examples

Feedback on areas such as time management is

always a positive approach to a variety of issues

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Use qualitative or quantitative measurement of feedback

➢ Provide any data from systems or measurable software

➢ Include feedback from peers, customers or clients

➢ Address key performance indicators (KPIs)

➢ State facts or observations not assumptions

➢ Do not include personal perspectives of the manager and the person being reviewed

Create a simple feedback mechanism or template approach

Action Your views on feedback

Do not get defensive

Provide advice and support

Recognise and celebrate individual and

team accomplishments at all levels

Calculate a new strategy to overcome any

areas of ‘negative’ feedback

Explain fully the evaluation measurement

or results

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Value constructive feedback

What is the final outcome?

Encourage, value and reward individual and team efforts

➢ Agree on performance for such areas as shared tasks

➢ Reward areas such as planning and scheduling

➢ Establish personal reward programs but only if appropriate and complies with
organisational policies and standards

Team members not only cooperate in all aspects of their tasks and goals, they share in what are
traditionally thought of as management functions, such as planning, organising, setting performance
goals, assessing the team's performance, developing their own strategies to manage change, and
securing their own resources.

➢ Reflect on team activities

➢ Gather and use feedback

➢ Discuss the challenges

➢ Take ideas for improvement

➢ Celebrate successes

Champion the success of team members

➢ It is important to take time to privately and publicly recognise and congratulate small
wins and achievements along the way.

➢ Emphasise success rather than failures.

➢ Give rewards of a practical nature, gifts or other forms of recognition (only if

appropriate and complies with organisational policies and standards).

33
Activity 2b

34
2.4 - Develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and problems identified
by team members are recognised and addressed
Processes may refer to:
➢ Brainstorming options with the team for addressing concerns

➢ Creating a matrix of issues and concerns and distributing for comment

➢ Discussions with individuals regarding their concerns

➢ Distributing drafts for comment with a range of options for resolution of concerns

➢ Training and development sessions

Develop a process
➢ The purpose of problem analysis and subsequent process development is to find the
main cause of a problem or a concern before that escalates to a more serious or holistic
effect on the team or the organisation.

➢ The process in identifying issues, concerns and problems identified by team members
can be used as a form of mediation or it may be used as feedback in a review.

In most cases, the process to ensure issues are recognised and then addressed is because something
should (correctly) be occurring or happening and not what actually (incorrectly) is currently occurring.
➢ Usually, the process is used when this deviation from the norm is significant or the
cause is not immediately obvious or known

➢ It is simply a systematic approach to answering the question "Why?" with confidence

➢ If concerns and problems are immediately known or identified by team members then
this process is not necessary

35
Example - Recognition

Identify the problem What is currently happening What should be happening

E.g., a concern or problem

Consider interim action

E.g., buy time by dealing with the effects of the problem if corrective action is not immediately
possible

Example – Addressing

Find the cause of the problem Decide on corrective action

Search for the true cause Review the alternatives

Implement the chosen corrective action

36
Problem analysis sequence
➢ A brief statement of the problem, identify the object and the deviation in the problem

➢ Specify the problem giving a clear and accurate picture of the deviation

➢ Develop possible causes, look for the unique features of the problem and look for
changes

➢ Test possible cause, check against the picture of the deviation and reject those causes
which fail to explain the problem completely

➢ Verify the most probable cause through physical testing.

37
Activity 2c

38
3. Facilitate teamwork
3.1 Encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take responsibility for team
activities, including communication processes

3.2 Support the team in identifying and resolving work performance problems

3.3 Ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role model for others and enhances the
organisation's image for all stakeholders

39
3.1 - Encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take
responsibility for team activities, including communication processes

Teams
“A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose,
performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”

Encourage team members

Small number Teams range in size from two to twenty five people however the majority of
effective teams have averaged about ten people. Some organisations have teams
numbering fifty or more however, these are usually broken into smaller units or
sub teams. The reason for this is that larger numbers of people have trouble
communicating effectively, often disagreeing on specific actions and outcomes.

Ten people are far more likely to work through their differences, agree to a
common approach or plan and implement that plan. The simple logistics of a
team larger than ten meeting is a complication.

Complementary Teams must develop the appropriate mix of skills to complete the tasks assigned
skills to that group. These skill requirements fall into three categories:

Technical and Functional Expertise:

Teams must contain the skills necessary to complete the task at hand. For
example, a product development group with only marketing experts is less likely
to succeed than a group comprised of marketing experts and engineers. The
complementary skills of both groups will enable the team to function.

Problem solving and decision making skills:

Teams must be able to make decisions and identify the onset of a problem or
opportunity, evaluate the opportunity and decide on an appropriate course of
action. Team members usually possess some level of these skills and develop
them more on the job.

Interpersonal Skills:
Skills which enable effective communication and management of any conflict
arising will enable the team to develop common understandings of purpose and
function. This could include risk taking, helpful criticism, objectivity, active
listening, giving the benefit of the doubt, support and or recognising the needs of
others.

A team simply won’t work without these basic skill components. The challenge for
any team though is to strike the right balance between selection based on existing
skills and those, which might be developed as a result of team membership.

40
Committed to a A team’s purpose and its performance are closely related.
common
purpose and Without a common purpose a team will quickly break apart and operate as a
performance collective of individuals or smaller teams.
goals
A common, meaningful purpose sets the tone and aspiration.

Most teams shape their direction and purpose based on an external demand or
opportunity. For example, management assigns a task, which must be completed
by the assembled group.

Once a meaningful purpose is in place the team creates ownership and

commitment to that purpose. Some teams are capable of creating their own
direction by creating a meaningful purpose independent of management.

Usually though some form of direction from management creates the momentum
for the team to begin operating. Groups that fail to operate effectively as teams
have usually failed to develop a common purpose that is owned by the team.

This usually means that no measurable goals and outcomes have been formulated
by the team.

Encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take responsibility for team
activities:
➢ Teams need to develop a clear working approach to ensure they work together to
accomplish their purpose. It is almost as important to develop their preferred working
style as it is to formulate team goals.

➢ In formulating an approach the team must take into account the social as well as
economic and administrative details.

➢ The next step is for team members to agree on who in the team will perform specific
jobs, how schedules will be adhered to, what skills will need to be developed, how the
group will make and modify decisions and how continuing membership will be earned.

The social role is often overlooked in teams however it is an important role.

➢ The social role helps promote mutual trust and constructive conflict, which is necessary
for the team to succeed. In the best teams different members assume the social roles
at different times and contribute their own unique method for energising and
supporting the team.

➢ These roles evolve over time to meet the needs of the team as necessary.

41
A sense of mutual accountability
Mutual accountability creates a team; until this is present the group will remain simply that, a group.
This accountability underpins two critical aspects of teams, commitment and trust. By holding ourselves
accountable to the team goals we earn the right to have a say in the team activities or functional
performance and we receive a fair hearing when doing so. This in turn creates trust between
participating team members.

Communication
Improve
➢ The quality of communication you have within your team.

Strategy
➢ Implement a regular communication process.

How?
1. Each Tuesday morning have a meeting to cover key issues relating to your team direction and
team goals

2. Then, as of next month, conduct a personality analysis, so that people can get a better
understanding of their peers

3. Organise a document folder of information that relates to your team to be placed in a central
location or online through the office intranet or on each computer

42
3.2 - Support the team in identifying and resolving work performance problems
➢ Identify the performance problem

➢ Determine if there are too many jobs

➢ Address the performance problems ASAP

➢ Determine if there are too few resources

➢ Use the time to discuss this in a positive way

➢ Ask the team to resolve and participate

➢ Are they: personal, performance, behaviour?

➢ Express concern for perfomance, not threats

Support the team

➢ Discuss with the team members who will know the reasons behind any performance
problems as they are the people actually doing the work or tasks.

➢ Discuss the problems with the team members and support them in identifying what
they think about the issues.

➢ Ask them for suggestions on possible solutions and if possible give them the
responsibility of implementing the agreed solutions.

Identifying and resolving

➢ Try to understand why the team members could not perform as expected.

➢ Do not assume that any one person on the team is at fault until you and the team have
had sufficient time in discussion.

➢ Focus on the issue and the reasons behind it.

➢ Identify the reasons that may have caused this lack in performance and find solutions
to it.

➢ After identifying the problem and discussing a suitable solution, it is time to take action
in solving the problem.

➢ Create a plan to implement the solution and regularly revisit the team to either check
milestones or make further changes if necessary.

➢ Give support to your team members to understand the issues and overcome them.

43
Activity 3a

44
3.3 - Ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role model for others
and enhances the organisation's image for all stakeholders
Stakeholders may include:
➢ Board members

➢ Business or government contacts

➢ Funding bodies

➢ Union/employee groups and

representatives

➢ Work team

Stakeholders
A stakeholder is any person or party with a vested interest in an organisation.
➢ Stakeholders can be both internal and external.

➢ Stakeholders are extremely important to achieving successful outcomes.

➢ A key stakeholder can greatly influence what you achieve or don't achieve.

➢ A stakeholder is not only an owner or shareholder or investor, it is everyone with a

vested interest in the organisation or entity that you may be gathering information
from.

➢ They can also be support services, product and service providers, sponsors, media,
transport authorities, police or other services.

➢ A stakeholder survey can provide useful feedback for an organisation or part of an

organisation that is involved in the process or activity of that organisation.

➢ A stakeholder therefore can be an individual or a group of people who have an

investment or stake in what you do.

➢ It is a broader definition than a customer who is someone who pays you to deliver a
service.

Much has been written on contributing to work teams.

Ensuring your contribution to a work team serving as a role model for others may not necessarily fit the
key description of a team:

A sense of mutual accountability.

45
Activity 3b

46
4. Liaise with stakeholders
4.1 Establish and maintain open communication processes with all stakeholders

4.2 Communicate information from line manager/management to the team

4.3 Communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by team members and follow-
up with line manager/management and other relevant stakeholders

4.4 Evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues, concerns and
problems raised by internal or external stakeholders

47
4.1 - Establish and maintain open communication processes with all
stakeholders

Maintain open communication processes

➢ Establishing open communication lines between stakeholders and you or the team is
very important.

➢ As with all open communication it is critical to be honest and constructive to reduce the
potential of rumours or misunderstandings.

As already mentioned, a stakeholder can be anyone connected with or having an interest in your
organisation, so, as such it is inevitable that stakeholders with a vested interest will have differing views
and outlooks, different priorities and certainly in the case of non-paid stakeholders a different levels of
interest.

➢ There will be different objectives existing between the team and the stakeholder that
may lead to conflict, ambiguities, and power struggles.

➢ Position your communication with stakeholders as such that they will value the
intended business result.

Consider these options and detail the advantages or disadvantages as you see them

Advantages Disadvantages

Monitor your key stakeholders

Update regularly with all external

stakeholders

Secure commitment of your

stakeholders and clients

The more your stakeholders are

committed to your objectives the
more likely you are to achieve your
specified outcomes

48
Establish open communication processes
Use a strategic approach when communicating with stakeholders:

➢ Distinguish between proactive and reactive communication. Whatever mode is selected

it should facilitate two-way communication

➢ Ensure the communication is two-way and offer stakeholders the opportunity to ask
questions and provide their opinions

Effective communication methods are strategically linked to the target audience:

➢ The purpose of being strategic in this approach is to be more proactive and to
anticipate stakeholder issues rather than react

➢ Create a cooperative framework between the team and the stakeholders minimising
any perceived gaps in communication intent such as addressing policies, management
decisions and organisation actions

➢ Establish the needs and wishes of stakeholders before selecting the best methods for
communication

➢ Establishing the right dialogue processes e.g., face to face, internet, phone, email or
other method with the stakeholders to ensure efficiency and accuracy

➢ Ensure the stakeholders are aware of relevant issues of importance and not caught off
guard

In developing your communication strategy consider the organisations policy that supports this
➢ When communicating information ensure that it is consistent, understandable and
delivered in timely manner.

➢ Anything that is in the organisation policy which prohibits this, would be seen as an
obstacle to good communication and may contain pitfalls.

Typical potential policy breaches may include:

➢ Poor use of, or inappropriate language

➢ Any inconsistencies in sharing and distributing the

information discussed and communicated between the team
and the stakeholders

➢ Unacceptable or confidential terminology

➢ A range of potential legal issues/obstacles when

communicating with a range of stakeholders

49
 ➢ Poor timeline or time management

➢ Breaches in confidentiality

➢ Breaches in commercial sensitivities such as intellectual property

Reluctance to communicate or share information

Although you may have the right strategy and intent to open communication, not all stakeholders would
be willing or able to offer such open communication in return?

You may encounter:

➢ The inability to obtain or deliver the necessary information

➢ An unwillingness to share communication

➢ Information overload

➢ Too much useless information in the view of the stakeholder

➢ Defensiveness or some form of distorted perception

➢ A bias or need to offer distortions from the past into your

current communications

➢ Cultural differences and language difficulties

➢ Inconsistency of approach with a result that you send different messages

➢ Poor standards or incomplete data that will not suit your required information quality

➢ Lack of empathy or understanding of the stakeholder

In order to ensure, as much as possible, your communication strategy is effective consider the following:

Your communication, as much as possible is:

➢ Clear

➢ Concise

➢ Has a clearly defined action plan

➢ Targets appropriate audience

➢ Allows constructive feedback

➢ Followed up to determine effectiveness

➢ Proactive rather than reactive

➢ Follows agreed timeline

50
Activity 4a

51
4.2 - Communicate information from line manager/management to the team
Line manager/management may refer to:
➢ Chief executive officer

➢ Direct superior

➢ Other management representatives

52
Activity 4b

53
Communicate information from line manager/management to the team
➢ The single most important observation is that the objective of communication is not the
transmission but the reception.

➢ The whole preparation, presentation and content of communication in any format must
therefore be geared not to the speaker but to the recipient.

➢ Communicating information from a line manager or other management person to the

team would be a failure if the team does not understand or are not persuaded of its
intent and its content.

The objective of communication is to make your message understood and remembered

How to keep communication channels open

Sender Message Method Recipient Meaning

FEEDBACK

➢ Make sure your team is aware of the objectives of the overall business and that the
team’s objectives help make the business objectives successful

➢ Each team member should understand how their role enables the business to meet
those objectives.

➢ Second, establish a regular communication channel with management.

Here are some suggestions:

➢ Communicate regular status reports.

➢ Invite management to one of your team meetings.

➢ Present ideas for regular communication in the future

➢ Link your communication to where the objectives commence not half way

➢ Ask your management how and how often they want communication from and to your
team

➢ Indicate your team’s desire to help the company be successful

54
Team communication plan
Example

Sender Message Method Recipient

Delivery
Deliverable Description Frequency Owner Audience
Method
Reports Status report Regular Meeting Monthly Manager Teams, A,B
update

Quality report quality E-mail Weekly Quality Teams A, B, C

performance Manager
<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>
> Method> >
<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>
> Method> >
<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>
> Method> >
Reviews Team meeting Meeting to Meeting Monthly Manager Teams A,B
and review status
Meetings

<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>

> Method> >
<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>
> Method> >
<Deliverable> <Description <Delivery <Frequency <Owner> <Audience>
> Method> >

55
Activity 4b continued

56
4.3 - Communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by team
members and follow-up with line manager/management and other relevant
stakeholders
4.4 - Evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues,
concerns and problems raised by internal or external stakeholders
➢ Taking a holistic view of communicating unresolved issues, concerns or problems raised
by team members is not too dissimilar to making assessments of risk.

➢ Although unresolved issues and risks are not quite the same thing, the nature of both is
largely unknown before you begin.

➢ With risks, you usually have a general idea in advance that there is a cause for concern,
whereas with an issue, especially those that are unresolved or emanating from other
already solved issues, tend to be less predictable

Communicate unresolved issues - Issue management

➢ Firstly, identify or define the issue

This is essential so you can track the concerns and problems raised by team members and to ensure you
have communicated with or assigned responsibility to the right people in order to resolve them.

You might like to classify or use organisational categories to identify the unresolved issues, concerns
or problems, for example:
➢ Technical – areas relating to functionality or performance

➢ Process issues – areas affecting the team project or

objective

➢ Change management – an area often in need of additional

resolution and generally raises concerns or problems
associated with misunderstanding, clarity of change or
reluctance to change.

➢ Customer or environmental changes

➢ Resource – issues affecting the provision or performance of

duties, actions that relate to equipment, material, or people
problems.

➢ Third party – issues or concerns that are raised with

suppliers or someone outside of the organisation

57
It is then helpful to identify where the issue was discovered
➢ Timing – discover when the issue was identified

➢ Provide full details and a description about what happened, what

caused the particular issue or concern and the potential impact if
unresolved or communicated correctly.

➢ List risks and what would happen if the particular issue or concern
was left uncommunicated or unresolved.

Priority – As with all forms of communication, it is necessary to prioritise this so

that it fits within the most advantageous opportunity to gather the team.
➢ It may be simply an email or other notation that is all that is
needed.

o High priority – A critical issue that will have a high impact on the team success
and has the potential to cause a major concern or other established risk impact.

o Medium priority – An issue, concern, or problem raised by team members that

will have a noticeable impact, but won't stop the objective proceeding.

o Low priority – An issue, concern, or problem raised by team members that

doesn't affect activities on a critical path schedule or timeline and probably won't
have much impact if it's resolved at some point later.

Assignment/ownership
➢ Determine who is responsible for communicating the issue, especially the phase of
follow-up with line manager/management and other relevant stakeholders.

➢ This person/s may or may not actually implement a solution (if a solution is in fact
needed) but would be responsible for tracking progress.

Target resolution date

➢ In all cases of communication based on unresolved issues, concerns or problems raised
by team members, it is essential to have a resolution time/date in place.

➢ As mentioned earlier, this communication may simply need an email or other form of
speedy resolution or maybe it is a longer process?

➢ Set in place a similar follow-up date with line manager/management and other relevant
stakeholders.

58
Activity 4c

59
Skills and Knowledge Activity

60
Nearly there...

Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit

At the end of your Learner Workbook, you will find an activity titled ‘Major Activity’. This is an
opportunity to revise the entire unit and allows your trainer to check your knowledge and
understanding of what you have covered. It should take between 1-2 hours to complete and your trainer
will let you know whether they wish for you to complete it in your own time or during session. Once this
is completed, you will have finished this unit and be ready to move onto the next, well done!

61
Congratulations!

You have now finished the unit ‘Lead and manage team effectiveness’

62
 References

These suggested references are for further reading and do not necessarily represent the
contents of this learners guide

➢ Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance [Hardcover],
Richard Lepsinger (Author), Darleen DeRosa (Author)

➢ The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, J. R. Katzenbach, Douglas K.

Smith (Authors)

➢ Team Effectiveness and Decision Making in Organizations (J-B SIOP Frontiers Series) [Hardcover],
Richard A. Guzzo (Author), Eduardo Salas (Author)

➢ Group Cohesion, Trust and Solidarity (Advances in Group Processes) [Hardcover], S.R. Thye
(Author), E.J. Lawler (Author)

➢ Stakeholder Theory and Organizational Ethics [Hardcover], Phillips (Author)

➢ Stakeholder Relationship Management: 1 [Hardcover], Lynda Bourne (Author)