Effective Team Activities - Essay Example

 Strategies for Effective Team Meetings Nothing frustrates a manager more than a having a planned team meeting yield unproductive results. When team members establish a pattern of unproductiveness, managers must investigate and correct the circumstances. Lack of participation, lack of interest, poor attitude, poorly planned agenda and work or personality conflicts are common problems which can disrupt the meetings of even the most experienced of team managers. (Gerst, 2002) (Baum, 2003) Lack of participation from team members can effectively quell any communication that the team manager expects them to remember. Common responses among team members when asked questions such as, “We have a problem, (whatever it is), how can it be solved?” are shrugged shoulders, nodding heads and a general mood of apathy. (Johnson, 1996, p, 18) There are some key points for team leaders to consider if he or she wants to encourage team participation. Managers should try to keep meetings brief, such as 10-20 minutes, and only cover one topic or subject at a time. (Gerst. 2004) The style of the meeting should not be lecture format, but should allow time for staff members to ask questions or make comments related to the meeting’s topic. (Gerst, 2004) (Thompson, 2004) The “KISS,” or Keep It Short and Simple,” would be the most effective format when planning a meeting. (Gerst, 2004) As the team manager asks pertinent questions, each team member must be directly addressed and “demanded” to take part in the discussion. This approach can help team members to feel as though they are contributors rather than observers and produce a less awkward meeting. (Thompson, 2004) Lack of interest among team members can definitely cause a meeting to fall flat. What good is it to the team members if the meetings are too long, the topic discussed is not related to their productivity or perhaps it is the consensus of opinion that they feel their comments does not matter? With smaller companies, these issues may not be as prevalent. However larger companies which have growing demands on their team leaders to increase and maintain quality production, often observe disinterest among their co-workers. (Gerst, 2004) (Johnson, 1996, p, 18) It takes careful thought and planning to make team meetings more interesting. Team managers should consider exactly what it is they want to cover in the meeting and start and begin each meeting on a positive note. (Gerst, 2004) Meetings should not just be about management telling employees what to do but should “also be about hearing the employees’ concerns.” (Gerst, 2004) Another way to encourage interest among co-workers would be try to have an occasional informal get-to-know-each-other type of meeting where some positive “bonding” might take place. It breaks up the monotony of routine and leads the team members to wonder, “What’s he got up his sleeve this time?” (Thompson, 2004) A poor attitude from any member of the team can seriously hamper the effectiveness of any team meeting. No one wants to hear comments such as “He’s covering that topic AGAIN?” or “You said we should do this, but instead we ended up doing that.” (Baum, 2003) Any negative feedback or comments either from meeting facilitator or participants should not be practiced unless it is presented in such as way as to be considered constructive. (Baum, 2003) To encourage more positive attitudes among team members, several tactics might be implemented. Team leaders should assign specific roles among the members on a rotating basis. These roles might include minutes secretary, project reviewer, or even topic selector. (Gerst, 2004) The key is variety and to make each team member feel as though he or she has something important to contribute. (Johnson, 1996) A poorly planned agenda can happen to a team manager who is not organized or efficient in his or her presentation of the meeting’s topic. (Johnson, 1996) If too many topics are discussed and they are not of a common thread, the reason for the meeting would not communicate itself effectively. (Gerst, 2004) The worst agenda, according to Gerst, is “no agenda at all.” (2004) A well planned agenda consists of a targeted problem that is identified before the start of a meeting. (Gerst, 2004) The agenda should have a paper available to each team member. It should clearly identify what the meeting is going to cover and who the facilitator is going to be (Thompson, 2004) The meetings should be short, about 10-20 minutes, and briefly review topics introduced earlier in the week. (Gerst, 2004) Team members often have conflicts that are work or personality related. This happens when members are assigned to a specific work group and care is not taken in considering the overall cultural diversity of each person. Often, productivity falls, projects are not completed on schedule or team member fall prey to blaming one another for a certain part of the project not being done. (Baum, 2003) Work and personality conflicts can be reduced to a minimum by considering the following factors. Conflict can not be avoided. Highly successful teams welcome conflict and use it to their advantage when trying to solve a problem with a positive manner. (Baum, 2003) The difference between the successful team and the team who lets negative conflict dictate results is the way that the successful team manager has established rules of behavior and conflict resolution policies that have been taught to their employees. The moderator should be trained in how to diffuse potentially sensitive situations with tact and to discern if a particular employee is truly a contributing part of the group. (Thompson, 2004) (Baum, 2003) If team leaders can take the initiative to have a well planned agenda for a meeting that encourages participation, is interesting, motivates team members to have a positive attitude and strategically assigns members project roles to reduce negative conflict, then staff meetings will be smooth, productive and satisfying. References Baum, Joel. (2003). Avoiding Common Team Problems. Retrieved on August 29, 2005 from http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~baum/mgt2003/avoid.html Gerst, Virginia. (2004). The Ten-Minute Manager's Guide To . . . Effective Staff Meetings, Restaurants & Institutions 114 no19 20-1 S 1. Johnson, Robal. (1996, April). Effective Team Building HR Focus v73 p18. Thompson, Carla. (2004, November). Running Effective Team Meetings, Black Enterprise 35, no. 4, 74.United States; Read More