TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Part III

Handling CONFLICTS

In his exuberant book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, Dale Carnegie pointed out a few principles to win people to your way of thinking. The first principle he pointed out was - in his own words - “ The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it”. I refer to this book here only because it might change your perspective on how to deal with the interpersonal differences between you and other people.
However, conflicts and arguing within the team is inevitable. It can be a healthy sign, or it can be a detrimental one. It depends on what has caused the conflict in the first place and how it is managed. Although some issues might remain unsolved, but here are some guidelines to help you efficiently resolve the conflict.

1. Acknowledge that the conflict exists. A conflict is like an elephant in the room, so don’t try to ignore it. And remember that you can’t change what you can’t acknowledge.
2. Identify what causes the conflict. Be honest, open and receptive.
3. Display what effects does this conflict have on accomplishing your team goals. Focus on behaviors and actions not on persons.
4. Listen, listen and listen. Take turns at talking helps team members to express their point of view equally. Only talk when it’s your turn.
5. Focus on common grounds. Always remember that we have the same areas of interest within the team more than we have differences. Discuss the options available to you as a team.
6. Create a plan and monitor your team progress. This should be done in a specific time frame.

TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Part II

The four main stages of building a team
Forming
And that is the beginning of exploration between team members and one another. Exploring their communication style, their professional skills and what they consider as an acceptable behavior among the team.
Storming
The most challenging phase where conflicts and arguments come to the surface. However, it's the most essential stage of forming a team from my point of view, specially when conflicts are about the job at hand not the person. I consider it healthy for it enriches the team experience and give more quality to the outcome.
Norming
This is the stage where everyone starts to put aside the differences and develop a sense of support towards each other, and a sense of focus towards the common goals of the team. The beginning of actual team progress is achieved in this particular stage.
Conforming
Now the team is ONE. More importance is place on accomplishing goals and the team begins to take pride in the progress it makes.

Being familiar with these four stages can relief most of the anxiety caused by your feelings towards working within a team. Understanding these stages will keep you from overreacting towards common problems and prevent you and your teammates from setting unrealistic expectations.

TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Part I

The Concept of Team Building

Teams are an important part of the workplace. They help achieve great goals and projects through collective collaboration towards common objectives. They are most needed in the sort of work that a person can't do alone, however, they can be hard to manage sometimes.

Five myths (lies) about team work:

1. I always choose my team members.

2. My friends have to be my team members.

3. My team members should have the same technical skill level I possess.

4. My team members should adapt to my way of thinking.

5. An effective team should have no conflicts.

There are many factors contribute to the process of forming a team and choosing its team members. The degree of allowed free choice vary, because not everyone you want to work with share you the same desire. Besides, teams might have a preset number of members, which might force you to work with more or less people than you initially wanted. Sometimes team members are obliged to work with one another by a higher authority.

There's a big difference between your "team mates" and your "friends". These two groups can intersect sometimes, but this should not be the norm in forming your team. A team is a way to achieve more professionally, not a way for personal companionship. Not that your personal comfort is not a necessity, but the professional outcome should be given a higher priority.

Believe it or not, we are all differently the same :-) How come??? We all have good things and bad things. We just have different good things and different bad things. The trick is to bring to light the good things in yourself and your team members, and minimizing the effects of the bad things on yourself and others.

One of the things we all do is "Thinking", but we just think differently. Adapting to other people's way of thinking helps you have a better understanding of their nature, let alone minimizing the chance of escalating conflicts. Do this by listening to what every one has to say, instead of developing an instant reaction towards what is being said.

However, conflicts remain inevitable. Personally and Professionally. It requires great skills and honesty to deal with conflicts. Moreover, acknowledging that conflicts are "Normal" and "Essential", helps you to manage it more efficiently. And if you look at it from the bright side, you will find that conflicts help you develop your problem- solving skills.