TEAMWORK

    Increasingly, if not exclusively, our work achievements and contributions are made as team members.  Being a competent team member consists of two competencies, one technical and the other interpersonal--the ability to work effectively with others.  Our interpersonal skills depend upon our motivation to contribute, our knowledge of interpersonal skills, and finally our ability to put this knowledge and skill into practice.  This page focuses on gaining knowledge of  handling conflict, giving criticism, office politics and identifying our self-serving biases.  Understanding ourselves and using these interpersonal skills will make us more effective team players.  Additionally, these skills may enhance all our interpersonal relationships, reduce stress and improve our mental well-being.

   According to Carl E. Larson and Frank M. J. LaFasto in their book TEAMWORK: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong, there are identifiable characteristics of high performing teams--A Clear, Elevating Goal, Results Driven Structure, Competent Team Members, Unified Commitment, Collaborative Climate, Standards of Excellence, External Support and Recognition, and Principled Leadership.  One may have little control over all these work environment characteristics, but we can increase our interpersonal skill competencies.

   Handling Conflict. There are three basic interpersonal responses to conflict--avoidance, aggression or integration.  Avoidance can be aggressive or passive, where in its aggressive form it is used to as a means of furthering one's own ends at the expense of others.  Aggressiveness is a confrontational approach where one thinks in term of "winning" and has little regard for others in the conflict.  Integration is the goal of effective teamwork.

    Some interpersonal behaviors that more appropriately handle conflict:

• recognize the signs of conflict that people slip into, don't fear it, and approach appropriately more...
• begin communications with the positive intent behind the conflict 
• center discussion on the specific topic - discuss content and avoid if possible value systems and avoid ego content and involvement
• Try and keep an open mind about different viewpoints, and look for common ground: evaluate issues related to belief systems and render judgments on merit
• Attempt to understand different cultural responses to conflict, for example individualistic responses favor content and outcomes, whereas collectivist responses emphasize social relationships and process more...
• try to cooperate rather than compete and avoid statements that would escalate or cause defensive behavior
• Watch your tone of voice and avoid sending mixed messages, and if a you catch yourself sending a mixed message, clarify at once, since people will hear the emotion over the words
• consider blending and redirect by mirroring other's body language
• finally, consider prearranging a conflict management procedure (i.e. list advantages and disadvantages before the conflict heats up) such as negotiation, arbitration and/or facilitation

   Criticizing. Giving criticism may sometimes be necessary, but be forewarned that people do not like criticism and even if they say they want criticism, they may not hear the message.  First, give them the benefit of the doubt, assume the best, don't criticize, but if you must:

• carefully ask if they want criticism
• begin with praise if possible
• describe behavior accurately and articulate: be specific
• it must be a recent incident or behavior
• a behavior of something they have control over
• provide what can be done to improve
• and consider using Pygmalion Power, for example by learning to say "That's not like you, you're capable of - describe how you want them to be, as if they are truly capable of living up to it."

  Also, learn, identify and use group maintenance roles such as supporter, tension reliever, harmonizer and gate keeper; and avoid negative roles such as aggressor, joker, withdrawer, and monopolizer.

   Office Politics.  Messrs. Larson and Fatso also identified the two most common reasons for team failure--politics and personal agendas.  Where Mr. Andrew DuBrin in his book, Winning Office Politics, argued that office politics are inevitable because of:: scarcity of resources, competitive environment, subjective performance standards, unclear job definitions, [...], cravings for power, Machiavellian tendencies and emotional insecurity of people,  hunger for acceptance, self-interest, and a desire to goof-off.  It may be that politics are a large part of our work environment.  The interpersonal skills necessary for effective teamwork and flourishing in a political environment are different.  Thus, one may need to asses the office environment and choose the most appropriate and effective interpersonal strategy.

   Trust is an essential ingredient of any relationship and it involves risk, where once breached it may be impossible to recover.  This is particularly true for teamwork, where compliance is totally internal and voluntary.  Messrs. Larson and Fatso wrote:  

    "Our content analysis of the data indicates that trust is produced in a climate that includes four elements: (1) honesty-integrity, no lies, no exaggerations; (2) openness-and willingness to share, and a receptivity to information, perceptions, ideas; (3) consistency-predictable behavior and responses; and (4) respect--treating people with dignity and fairness.

   "The problem, according to our sample of interviewees, is that trust is so fragile that if any one of the elements listed above is breached--even once--a relationship is apt to be severely compromised, even lost.  In fact, our research shows a predictable pattern of diminishing confidence once a trusting relationship is violated...

   "For example, If someone with whom you have a relationship (at work or socially) lies to you, your trust in that person collapses to zero.  Instantly.  It is in effect, a catastrophic event.  What's more, a suspicion is born--prompting you to review and reevaluate events from the past--that perhaps the relationship had never been honest.  People may try to rebuild a relationship after an initial breach, but they can rarely restore it to its original luster.  And if the same person lies to you a second time, the relationship stands little chance of surviving.  At best, it becomes clouded by hesitancy and doubts, becoming barely functional." 

   No one likes being taken advantage of, and we may be innately adept at identifying political behavior. more...

    Perceptual Biases:  Social psychologists have identified numerous biases--the actor-observer effect, Lake Woebegone effect, unrealistic optimism, illusion of control, and reconstructing history--that color how we view ourselves and others.  The strong actor-observer bias "is a social psychology term that refers to the tendency of an individual to regard situations in which he or she is involved as caused by external factors, and to regard situations he or she observes as caused by the actions of those involved. Think of a time when someone was rude to you. Did you say to yourself, 'wow, that person must be having a bad day. I understand why they were rude to me' ? Or did you say something to the effect of, 'what a jerk'? If your response was similar to the latter, then you attributed the persons behavior to internal factors (the person is a jerk) rather than external factors (bad day). The likelihood is that if the situation were reversed and you were rude to someone else, you would say it was because of something external and not some internal factor (like you think you are a jerk)."

    There are other self-serving bias that effect how we may view the same situation as others and have an entirely different experience or explanation.  The Lake Woebegone or "above average effect" is where we consistently rate ourselves in every activity as above average and that is a statistical impossibility.  We are also very prone to reconstructing history, since we tend to remember good things, forget bad ones and overwhelmingly remember things about the past that are consistent with our present views.  Interestingly, having these biases is a sign of mental health, since research shows that depressed people generally hold more accurate views of themselves.

    So, these perceptual biases help us maintain a positive self image and be happier, but we need to be aware of them when working on teams.  How many times have we argued over what was actually said, why they said it or did it and by whom?  The important point for team work is that we all have vastly different perceptions and opinions about all situations.  All relationships and communications are part of a system, where there are very few absolute rights and wrongs.

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Last Update:  13 October 2006