Team Training – 1,2,3

August 15, 2012

 

“When building a team, I always search first for people who love to win. If I can’t find any of those, I look for people who hate to lose.”-Ross Perot

Who has not been a member of a team before? If you are not on an official team at work, chances are that you function in sports-teams or other teams in one way or another. How many hours have you been practicing with your team to coordinate individual performances to achieve a common goal?

About 10,000 hours of highly structured practice is required to reach elite performance levels. Certainly, we do not have the 10,000 hours available for team practice at work, but what methods can we use to advance our teams to the elite performance level?

Before discussing the approaches of team training, we have to understand that team training should be provided to the entire team. The training itself should be aligned with the task complexity the team has to master on a daily basis. Throughout the training sessions, we have to provide effective feedback to the trainees while they are still learning the team skills. This will enhance the likelihood that your team members will work more effectively to achieve their goals. You can take three approaches to team training:

1. Cross-training
2. Team leader training
3. Team coordination training

1. Cross- training- occurs when each of your team members rotates through the different position on the team in order to acquire an understanding of the duties of his or her team members. Cross training provides your team members with an overview of the team tasks, and how each team member’s job contributes to the overall team effectiveness. Through cross-training your team members will develop a shared mental model of the team’s purpose. A shared mental model is vital for a team’s effectiveness, and helps to increase the team’s coordination and performance. It is of importance to know that the knowledge and skills developed through cross-training can be used across multiple jobs.

2. Team leader training – involves training the team leader in coordinating your team and to make conflict resolutions. Team leader training is effective in increasing the amount of feedback the leader seeks from your team, which improves the communication within the team. Team leaders who receive the training are able to support your team members and help them to interact more effectively, which in turn increases performance and effectiveness of your team.

3. Team coordination training – involves training your team members in sharing information, managing conflicts solving problems, clarifying roles, and making decisions. Team coordination training teaches your team members how to employ the resources of the entire team effectively and how to use these resources in stress full situations. Research found that team coordination training is the most effective team training intervention. It does not only help team members to learn about teamwork skills, but also to utilize time to participate efficiently by discussing potential problems the team will have to solve.

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Kristin Weger, a graduate student in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. To learn more about IncBlot’s unique team training solutions please visit our website or contact us here.

 

 

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