From the author: published on A friendly and well-functioning team is the dream of any manager, since organizing teamwork takes up a large percentage of his time. However, this often does not save the company from tension, conflicts and, as a result, a decrease in the quality of work. The main criterion for organizing successful teamwork is, of course, a high-quality solution to work problems. The effectiveness of any activity is assessed using the following formula: productivity * quality * resource costs * reliability. It is believed that teamwork is more effective than working alone. However, at the same time it causes much more negativity and fear. This phenomenon is not associated with the shortcomings of teamwork as such, but with the inability to organize it. Therefore, in this article we tried to collect the most interesting and important information that reveals the principles of successful teamwork.[/url]What is a team? Organizing effective teamwork begins with organizing a good team. But not every group of people working together can be called a team. A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, connected by a common plan, striving for common goals and sharing responsibility for their achievements. In a team, everyone’s interests are secondary. Each team member must have a high professional level, be able to make decisions and interact effectively with other people. Team members depend on each other, or rather, the work of one depends on the work of the other. Therefore, there is equality and constant exchange of information in the team. Team members share responsibility for achieving the goal with each other. There is such a phenomenon as team accountability - these are certain promises that generate trust and guarantee the achievement of results. To the great regret of managers, it is impossible to immediately assemble a good team. To do this, a group of people working together must go through a number of important stages in their development. Here's how a team is organized: 1 Adaptation - mutual information and analysis of tasks occurs. People communicate with each other carefully, pairs and triplets are formed. They seem to test each other and develop norms and principles of mutually acceptable behavior, which results in some wariness in the team. The effectiveness of teamwork at this stage is low.2Grouping - small subgroups are created according to likes and interests. Discrepancies between personal motivation and teamwork goals are identified. Team members can resist task demands, thereby determining the level of emotional expression allowed. For example, a secretary throws papers and sees how they react to it.3 Cooperation - team members are aware of their desire to work on solving a problem. This open and constructive communication first appears together with the pronoun “we”. 4 Standardization of activities - norms and principles of interaction in the team are developed. There is a feeling of trust, interpersonal communication is at the highest level.5 Functioning is the decision-making stage for constructive problem solving. Everyone has their own role. The team openly expresses and resolves conflicts. Now we can talk about a true team that has common goals for all members of the team, joint activities to achieve these goals, the presence of a good and adequate organizational structure, and a good psychological climate. The organization of effective teamwork at this stage can be considered successfully completed. Psychologists describe a number of phenomena that arise in a group and are related to the effectiveness of teamwork: volume effect - the results of activity depend on the size of the group (the effectiveness of a very small or very large group will be the least). effect. qualitative composition of the group - the results of teamwork depend on the homogeneity and heterogeneity of the composition (a group whose members are of different genders andage, but almost identical in social characteristics).conformism - the behavior or beliefs of group members change as a result of real or imagined pressure from the group. The role of public opinion is very high for each team member, and everyone respects the principles developed by common efforts. Deindividuation - loss of self-awareness and fear of evaluation in situations of anonymity that do not focus on a specific person. Risk shift phenomenon - the group accepts either the most or the least risky decision than its members would make individually. “grouping” thinking - all members of the group are exclusively engaged in searching for a solution that suits everyone and discard fairly realistic options. social laziness - if responsibility is divided among group members, then everyone starts working “carelessly.” It is possible talk about some signs of organizing a good team. In it, participants consider themselves part of a working group. There is a balance between effective teamwork and collaboration. Group members feel competent, perform tasks independently, and are responsible for their completion. There is continuous discussion between them to improve cooperation and enhance teamwork efficiency. Each person freely offers his own ideas and criticizes others. Team members are aware of each other's tasks and have an understanding of each other's talents and abilities, which means interest and respect for each other. There is an atmosphere of open and constructive communication in the air, everyone is open to open dialogue. Information is constantly, quickly and purposefully transmitted to each other. There is openness to the outside world and the organization of constructive cooperation with other teams. [/url]Who are you - an inspirer or a critic? In a good team, each team member feels a correspondence between what he gave to the group and what he received from it. This is achieved due to the fact that each person takes his optimal place in the team. In fulfilling his function in this place, he feels a balance between what he can and what he wants. Research has proven that for the most effective teamwork to occur in a group, nine roles must be present. They do not necessarily have to be played by nine people - some team members can combine the performance of certain functions, playing not one role, but two or more. These roles are: 1 “Worker Bee” This is a disciplined and very reliable person. He is conscientious in interpersonal commitments due to constant internal control. He is practical, trusting and tolerant of his colleagues, conservative and internally conflict-free. Works for the team without focusing on his own goals. Acts on the principle: “work is a moral duty.” It is the “worker bees” who turn the decisions made and teamwork strategies into specific tasks - they sort the goals and build the logic for achieving them. But the principles of organizing effective teamwork are such that teams consisting entirely of “worker bees” (even if they have a very high level of intelligence) do not achieve above average results, because they do not have valuable ideas and are not flexible - they get stuck when changes are needed.2 “Leader” This is an emotionally stable, calm and self-confident person. It is characterized by organizing the development of a strategic vision, integrating and coordinating the team's efforts to achieve goals. Able to find an appropriate role for everyone in the team. He can listen, consider and evaluate the merits of all proposals without prejudice, resulting in the formation of the opinion of the entire group. Instead of creative thinking, he has a strong character. He is highly motivated to achieve results, has an average level of intelligence (116-132), because people who have too much intelligence become overly reflective. He sees well the strengths and weaknesses of others, is a good communicator, and knows how to listen. Its disadvantages include the fact that it tends to fallinfluenced by other people or may be inflexible in judgment. He does not know how to inspire enthusiasm and effectively leads only in stable conditions.3 “Motivator” This is a very energetic, “hopping” person. He doesn't get along well with managers, and when he gets bored, he gets eaten by his boss. He is restless, dominant, dynamic, has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles (they tone him up). For him, life is a challenge. If a manager is a social leader of teamwork, then a “motivator” is a target leader responsible for a separate project. He quickly absorbs information, lacks shyness and timidity, and is prone to disappointment. His shortcomings include his irritability, impatience, and tendency to dissatisfaction.4 “Idea generator” This is a creative person, gifted with a rich imagination, capable of solving complex problems. He is more concerned with the image as a whole than with its details. He is in charge of organizing the development of new projects, but others will develop the ways to implement these projects. Such people are gullible and unprotected from the attacks of society. They can make stupid mistakes because they devote a lot of time to creative energy and ideas, but do not take into account the needs of the group or do not contribute at all to achieving the team’s goals. He needs management support. If the “idea generator” is criticized, he may refuse to cooperate altogether. This is his drawback - the organization of effective cooperation does not concern him too much.5 “Supplier” This is a resource explorer, an extrovert, full of enthusiasm. He is sociable, develops contacts well and uses other people to his advantage, skillfully directing a business conversation to a conclusion that is useful for himself. He leaves the group and brings information, ideas, materials needed for the group. His disadvantages: he is ineffective in solo work, he needs the admiration of others. May waste time on things not related to the goal. He is not able to work in monotonous and monotonous situations. That is why he often quarrels with the “worker bees”. It keeps teamwork from stagnating and gives the group a sense of reality.6 “Critic” This is the person who monitors and analyzes what is happening. For him, the correct organization of work is more important, the task is more important than people. He is very reasonable and reasonable, predicts the situation well. His criticism does not offend people, since it is based on the principle of “nothing personal.” This is a strategically thinking and insightful person, he considers all options and draws unmistakable conclusions. Its main function is to evaluate ideas. He is able to justify his position and sees the strengths and weaknesses of any project.7 “Analyst” Takes into account all factors and leads the team to make the right decision. His shortcomings are that he pays little attention to people and is not able to motivate; he lacks warmth and cordiality. Due to increased attention to detail, he may lose strategic purpose. “Analysts” do not show themselves clearly, so they should not be collected together. They interact best with a “leader,” a “motivator,” and a “idea generator,” so the organization of their work should go in this direction.8 “Mastermind” This is the person who is the “soul of the company,” a team player. Responsive, calm, receptive, diplomatic, able to listen to others. It prevents friction, regulates conflicts, calms down - in general, ensures good morale of the team. He is able to exert a delicate influence on those in conflict, find common ground for those arguing, and give the team additional strength in times of crisis. It is easy for all team members to interact with him, because The “masterminds” themselves attribute any problems to the costs of their work. Disadvantages include the fact that masterminds are indecisive, have poor ability to act, and are susceptible to the influence of other people. For them, the task is nothing, the main thing is the team. Not capable of leading, they work best with a motivator.9 “Controller” This is a closer,“completer” of projects. He is organized, conscientious, disciplined, and cares about the result. He knows how to bring any task to completion. The “Controller” is capable of intense, effective work over a long period. It is bad if his work is accompanied by perfectionism - then completion may be delayed for a long time. The “controller” can be picky towards others. He is reluctant to delegate authority. Works well with “suppliers”, “idea generators” and “motivators” - they propose ideas, and controllers bring them to life. They are respected by the “worker bees”. The worst interactions are with “analysts.”10 “Specialist” This is a team member with rare knowledge and skills. An expert in a specific professional field. Needed by a team when solving a very specialized problem. Others perceive it critically, because seems boring. The organization of this person’s work is characterized by the fact that he can get carried away with small details to the detriment of the main goal. All this does not mean that all nine people must be represented in the team. But depending on the task being solved, a certain set of roles is needed that will allow you to avoid competition between similar roles and achieve results with minimal costs. [/url]How to make a team work effectively? Achieving high performance indicators is difficult even from one person. But what to do if you have a whole team under you and the effective organization of its work depends on you? There are a number of mistakes that reduce the effectiveness of a team: Inconsistency between the leader, the team and the type of problem being solved. Poor selection of workers for the team. Poor socio-psychological climate. Lack of a clear goal or criteria for its achievement. Low effectiveness of team work. These mistakes are the most common, but they can be avoided . The work motivation of almost any person consists of three components: payment, interest and social significance. And if everyone knows the first two elements, then the last one is often forgotten. But this is wrong - team members must be convinced that they are carrying out an important project, the implementation of which will bring significant benefits to the company. This should be repeatedly discussed and shown at meetings between management and the team. Still, the basis of any team is people. On the one hand, they must have quite extensive additional knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their goal. On the other hand, they must be easy to train, since teamwork itself is an educational process, during which the employee’s qualifications increase. The team leader plays a special role among employees. A competent leader, in addition to management, planning and control, must organize and motivate the workforce for joint activities, as well as develop self-government in it. Due to the nature of the human factor, this is often more difficult than performing other duties: a machine works as much as it is programmed to, but a person always works differently. The most important criterion when choosing a manager is his clear understanding of the organization of the team’s work. The main mechanism of influence is negative and positive feedback. In addition, he represents the team in interaction with others and removes external obstacles. A good leader can be considered one whose work as a team member is not obvious to other participants. As mentioned above, in the initial stages of team formation, the psychological climate within it is characterized by increased conflict potential. Top management needs to take this into account and be loyal to the team in such a crisis period. You can reduce the number of conflicts through training, brainstorming and working on interesting projects, during which the team will feel like a single whole. In order to reduce the number of conflicts, the team needs clear.