David says
>> The best I believe we can hope for, and one where my own learning
>> increased by a quantum leap is that of self-managed teams ....
>> ... In the end each member of the team
>> assumed multiple (and changing) roles, sometimes being facilitator,
>> sometimes advocate to the outside world, sometimes budget holder...
This mirrors the training method which I use myself -
I use two frameworks as follows:
The first framework for the understanding of teams is provided by
examining the various roles within a team such as: Chair, Shaper,
Resource Investigator, etc. The students are asked to decide which
role they would best fill, and which three are the most important to a
team's success. Generally, they record their answers before and after
a large team task, and changes are used to motivate discussion. The
aim here is to raise their awareness of the different functions needed
to maintain a team. The point emerges that all of these roles are vital
to a team's success - the key message is then delivered: that each
person is responsible for filling absent roles in any team activity they
perform.
The second framework for the understanding of teams is provided
by examining a model of team evolution and by suggesting that
the evolution can be accelerated by using simple, common-sense
strategies. The comment is made that, in industry, teams are
often trained by appointing an expert "facilitator" whose job is to
continually draw the team's attention to the team process and to
suggest structures and practices to support and enhance the team
skills. The key message is then delivered: that each person is
responsible for acting as a facilitator in any team activity they
perform.
More Info on this can be found in an article at:
http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Teaching/art0.html
Gerard M Blair, Senior Lecturer, The Department of Electrical Engineering,
The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Management articles home page: http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management
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