Building the Course Teamapi.ning.com/.../Building_the_Course_Team.pdf · Building the Course Team...

Building the Course Team

Table of Contents

Note................................................................................................................................2

Introduction.....................................................................................................................2

Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................................2

Module Topics ................................................................................................................2

The Five Stage Group Development Model ...................................................................2

Group Cohesiveness and Performance Association......................................................3

Groupshift and Groupthink .............................................................................................3

Personality Types and Team Performance ....................................................................4

Belbin’s Team Roles ......................................................................................................7

Team Roles Identified by Belbin.....................................................................................9

Required Reading ........................................................................................................11

Additional Resources ...................................................................................................11

References ...................................................................................................................11

2 Academic Leadership for Course Coordinators Program


Note This document is derived from the Academic Leadership for Course Coordinators Program (ALCCP), the outcome of a previous ALTC Competitive Grant. The ALCCP is best conducted face to face and drawing on the resources (including pre- and post program materials) available at Learning Leaders. This version of the module notes is adapted for generic self-directed learning purposes. It can be downloaded at the Assuring Graduate Capabilities website. Many of the examples in this document are drawn from the tools and processes developed and used within the Office of Assessment Teaching and learning at Curtin University, Australia.

Introduction In this module you will be exploring teams and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This can give you valuable insight into why others behave and act the way they do. With this information you can better understand the dynamics of relationships and how to manage your actions so you can build effective relationships.

Learning Outcomes On successful completion participants will:

Know about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and if they have the opportunity to use the MBTI,

Recognise how their own personality type supports and limits their leadership style using the MBTI.

Apply personality theory to manage individuals and teams.

Module Topics This module looks at Understanding and Working with Teams—Personality and Team Differences. There is a substantial amount of information on groups and teams and how they perform. A detailed examination of these concepts is beyond the scope of this program. However, there are several useful concepts that can be of great benefit to Course Coordinators to help them understand why groups perform in a certain way. These concepts are:

The Five Stage Group Development Model The Cohesiveness and Performance Association Groupshift and Groupthink Personality Types and Team Performance Belbin's Team Roles

The Five Stage Group Development Model Tuckman (1965) described groups as going through 5 distinct stages as they work through their projects.

The first stage is called forming because the group is uncertain about the scope of the project, the structure and leadership of the group at this early point.



Once members start to conceptualise their membership within the group the second stage, storming, begins. In this stage there is some intragroup conflict because influence, power and ego may manifest in the group as each person attempts to establish their 'role' in the membership. A clear hierarchy of role and leadership (formal and informal) often is established by the end of this stage.

The third stage is norming and involves the group becoming more cohesive with relationships developing between the parties. Once a common set of expectations have been established and the group structure is established this stage is complete.

The fourth stage, performing, is about moving forward to get to know the other members of the group and to get on with the task at hand. This is the last stage of the group's developmental process if it is an ongoing group.

If it is a short term project, then the fifth stage, adjourning, takes place and relationships come to an end and work gets completed.

As a Course Coordinator it is important to understand this process particularly when you bring together a team of academic staff to work on a project such as a course review. Since many of these individuals work relatively independently, moving them too quickly into the performing role may interfere with the success of the group. Allow time for the group to work through the stages. Robbins et al. (2004) points out that it is also important to recognise that effectiveness doesn't necessarily increase as the group works toward performing. Some highly performing groups may not necessarily produce good results and other groups stuck at stage two may still produce some good outcomes. Progression through the stages is also not clear and concise and there may be overlap and regression to earlier stages in a group's history. Despite these considerations, the 5 Stage Group Development Model provides a relevant framework that Course Coordinators can use to support a group towards achieving good productivity. For example, by applying strategies such as team building during the forming and storming stages, the performing role of the group may increase when this stage is reached.

Group Cohesiveness and Performance Association Cohesiveness and Performance is outlined in detail by Robbins et al. (2004). Cohesiveness of the group is another important consideration for Course Coordinators. Groups will always differ in their cohesiveness with some members having stronger bonds with selected individuals. Cohesiveness is important because it is linked to productivity (Robbins et al., 2004). If performance norms are high for the group (e.g. high quality work, high output, cooperation) and group cohesion is high, then productivity will be excellent. Groups with low performance norms and low cohesion, understandably, have poor productivity. The Course Coordinator that can build cohesion within the group, and have clear processes in place to support their performance, is more likely to be successful in implementing the change process. Here is an extensive site that outlines a range of team building principles and activities. Businessballs (http://www.businessballs.com/). (You will need to scroll down the left hand menu to 'Team Building Games and Activities' or do a search for 'Team Building Games').

Groupshift and Groupthink The Course Coordinator should also be aware of two group phenomena that often occur during decision-making processes. These are called groupshift and groupthink (Robbins et al. 2004). In groupshift the group may decide to take on board a riskier or more exaggerated approach to a problem. This stems from the shared risk that takes place in a group. A riskier approach may be taken



because, if unsuccessful, the penalty is shared by the group. One person doesn't suffer the blame and, as a result, people and groups may be more daring in their decisions. Groupshift can also shift in the other direction with decisions being overly cautious and minimal because members happen to be very risk averse, which increases as a result of this commonality among members. A Course Coordinator who is savvy needs to be aware of these sorts of shifts in the decision-making of the group. The other phenomenon is groupthink which can hamper a group's productivity. Groupthink is associated with the norms and formal/informal leadership of the group. Pressure to conform or to align with leadership may cause the group to adopt a decision which is clearly not in the best interests of the group or issue under consideration. Robbins et al. (2004) discusses the groupthink phenomenon and suggests things that are relevant to the Course Coordinator and which you might monitor within your group.

Group members rationalise resistance to the assumptions they have made despite what the evidence might suggest.

Members apply direct pressure on those who express doubt to force them into the normative group.

Members who may have alternative points of view actively avoid moving away from the group consensus that is building.

The 'illusion of unanimity' is created and if someone doesn't speak, alliance to the group's growing normative decision is assumed.

Course Coordinators can manage groupthink through several means (Robbins et al. 2004), and consideration of a group’s size is an important factor when forming a group to work on a change initiative. For example, larger groups tend to intimidate people especially those that are more introverted and reflective. Similarly, due to the groupshift phenomenon, a person's sense of responsibility to a larger group may diminish and therefore they may not work against the growing normative consensus even if they strongly disagree. The leadership of a group is also an important consideration as their informal/formal power may influence the group to align with the leader's perspective. The influence of the leader on the group's decision should be monitored. Some of the problem solving tools discussed in this Academic Leadership for Course Coordinators Program can be used to increase the objectivity in the decision-making process.

Personality Types and Team Performance

The Big Five Model

Digman (1990) describes 5 factors which robustly underlie the dimensions of personality. These 5 factors seem to encompass most of the variation in human personality that is described in the literature. These 5 factors are:

1. Extroversion - one's comfort level with relationships. Extroverts typically are gregarious, assertive and sociable.

2. Agreeableness - this is characterised by cooperativeness, warmth and ability to build trust.

3. Conscientiousness - this refers to reliability and how responsible, organised, and dependability

4. Emotional stability - this refers to a person's ability to withstand stress and usually appear calm, stable and confident.

5. Openness to experience - this refers to a person's range of interests and usually relates to features such as creativity and curiosity.

While these big 5 characteristics relate to individuals, teams can also have these characteristics. Robbins et al. (2004) note that teams high in extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability tend to get better rankings on performance. The variation within these attributes is also more important than the mean levels. For example, one social loafer who is low in



conscientiousness can radically alter a team's productivity because the remaining members must cover for them. This social loafing also creates conflict. Course Coordinators can use this information when organising a work group to assist with a change initiative. By actively seeking individuals who possess these big 5 factors, the possibility of a high performing team is more likely.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

The MBTI is one of the most popular personality frameworks used in the world. It is based on Carl Jung's Theory of Personality Types (1922). Individuals self score themselves and are categorised into one of 16 different personality types, which are based on four different categories. There is some controversy about the reliability and validity of the indicator and how valid it is as a taxonomy. However, it provides useful typologies for understanding the complex interplay between people and groups. The table below illustrates the 4 categories (and the two dimensions within each category) in more detail.

Type Characteristic Type Characteristic

Extrovert (E) gregarious, energised by others, outward focus

Introvert (I) reserved, energised by own ideas and thoughts, inward focus

Sensing (S) detail oriented iNtuition (N) creative, imaginative

Thinking (T) logical, rational, fair Feeling (F) value based, seek harmony, tactful

Judging (J) orderly, systematic, like closure, Perceiving (P)

leave options open, delay decisions, often have numerous projects on the go.

Combinations of these characteristics form certain personality characteristics. For example:

ESTJ types are seen as highly organised, logical, rational, and systematic. They easily interact with people. People with this characteristic often find themselves in management positions.

INTP types are often associated with the world of academia as people with this profile often work quietly and independently, generating original ideas and frameworks and have many concepts in development.

Having a good understanding of your own type and those of others in your team can help you in a myriad of ways. Understanding type can help to explain why conflict is occurring, how to coach another person more successfully, how to manage a team and how to communicate more effectively with other types.



The table below provides a more expanded description of the 16 characteristics. ENFJ Minister Imaginative, HARMONIZER, and worker with people; sociable, orderly,

opinionated; conscientious, realistic, and well tuned to the here and now

INFJ Author People oriented, INNOVATOR of ideas; serious; quietly forceful and persevering; concerned with the common good, with helping others develop

ENFP Journalist Warmly enthusiastic, PLANNER OF CHANGE; imaginative, individualistic; pursues inspiration with impulsive energy; seeks to understand and inspire others

INFP Questor Imaginative, independent, HELPER; inquisitive, empathic, loyal to ideals; more interested in possibilities than people's feelings

ENTJ Fieldmarshal Intuitive, innovative ORGANIZER; aggressive, analytic, systematic, more attuned to new ideas and possibilities than to people's feelings.

INTJ Scientist Logical, critical, decisive INNOVATOR of ideas; serious, intent, highly independent

ENTP Inventor Inventive, analytical PLANNER OF CHANGE, enthusiastic and independent; pursues inspiration with impulsive energy; seeks to understand and inspire others.

INTP Architect Inquisitive, ANALYSER; reflective, independent, curious, more interested in organizing ideas than situations or people

ESFP Entertainer REALISTIC ADAPTER IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS; friendly and easy with people, highly observant of their feelings and needs, oriented to practical, first hand experience

ISFP Craftsman Observant, loyal HELPER; reflective, realistic, empathic; patient with details, gentle, retiring; shuns disagreements; enjoys the moment

ESTP Promoter REALISTIC ADAPTOR in the world of material things; good natured, tolerant, easy going; oriented to practical, first hand experience; highly observant of details of things.

ISTP Artisan Practical, ANALYZER; values exactness; more interested in organizing data than situations or people, reflective, a cool and curious observer of life

ESFJ Vendor Practical, HARMONIZER and worker with people, sociable, orderly, opinioned, conscientious and realistic in the here and now

ISFJ Conservator Sympathetic, MANAGER OF FACTS AND DETAILS concerned with people's welfare, dependable, painstaking and systematic, stable and conservative

ESTJ Administrator Fact oriented, practical ORGANIZER, aggressive, analytical, systematic, more interest in getting job done than people's feelings.

ISTJ Trustee Analytical, MANAGER OF FACTS AND DETAILS, DEPENDABLE, DECISIVE, PAINSTAKING and systematic, concerned with systems and organizations, stable and conservative

Understanding your own personality type, and the types of others, is very useful for improving your effectiveness as Course Coordinator. It will help you to understand how you react to pressures in your



work and home environment and why other individuals in your life react to similar situations in different ways. It is an essential part of understanding how and why teams are successful and unsuccessful, and for increasing your understanding of the staff you lead and manage. The following sites provide further background information on the MBTI. The Myer & Briggs Foundation (http://www.myersbriggs.org/). Click on My MBTI®

Personality Type, and then click on MBTI® Basics. Personality Pathways (http://www.personalitypathways.com/). Click on What's Your Type?

Belbin’s Team Roles Another tool that is often used to assist team leaders to understand the roles people take in a group is Belbin's Team Roles. Belbin and his team of associates at Henley Management College identified 9 clusters of behaviour that individuals commonly take on board when involved in a team. Each role understandably has strengths and weaknesses and most of us will have strong preferences for a couple of the roles. By understanding your own role you can develop an awareness of how you may need to shift or strengthen that role in a given team situation. It can also help you understand the various roles others are playing in the team, AND, where there are gaps. The roles are clustered in to three over arching categories:

Action oriented roles: Shaper, Implementor and Completor-Finisher People oriented role: Coordinator, Teamworker and Resource-Investigator Cerebral roles: Plant, Monitor-evaluator, and specialist

Each Role is described in more detail in the following table which is taken from the Changing Minds website (http://changingminds.org). Click on Explanations and then Preferences. Alternatively, do a search for Preferences.



Overall Belbin roles Description

Implementer Well-organized and predictable. Takes basic ideas and makes them work in practice. Can be slow.

Shaper Lots of energy and action, challenging others to move forwards. Can be insensitive.

Doing / acting

Completer/Finisher Reliably sees things through to the end, ironing out the wrinkles and ensuring everything works well. Can worry too much and not trust others.

Plant Solves difficult problems with original and creative ideas. Can be poor communicator and may ignore the details.

Monitor/Evaluator Sees the big picture. Thinks carefully and accurately about things. May lack energy or ability to inspire others.

Thinking / problem-solving

Specialist Has expert knowledge/skills in key areas and will solve many problems here. Can be disinterested in all other areas.

Coordinator Respected leader who helps everyone focus on their task. Can be seen as excessively controlling.

Team worker Cares for individuals and the team. Good listener and works to resolve social problems. Can have problems making difficult decisions.

People / feelings

Resource/investigator Explores new ideas and possibilities with energy and with others. Good networker. Can be too optimistic and lose energy after the initial flush.

Alternatively, a more detailed description of each role is shown in the following table.



Team Roles Identified by Belbin

Belbin Applied: Imagine you are trying to develop a new course. You bring together a network of colleagues to help design the course. Recognising that in academia one often finds a clustering of NT types (refer to MBTI) you may find when you analyse the team further that there is a preponderance of individuals with strengths in the cerebral roles. Your experience in managing the group is potentially frustrating

Role Contribution to team Allowable weakness

Plant Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems.

Ignores details. Too preoccupied to communicate effectively.

Resource Investigator

Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities and develops contacts.

Over optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has passed.

Co-ordinator Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals and promotes decision-making. Delegates well.

Can be seen as manipulative. Delegates personal work.

Shaper Challenging, dynamic and thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles.

Can provoke others. Hurts people’s feelings.

Monitor-Evaluator Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately.

Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Overly critical

Team Worker Co-operative, mild, perceptive and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions.

Indecisive in crunch situations. Can be easily influenced.

Implementer Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions.

Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new responsibilities.

Completer Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors and omissions. Delivers on time.

Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate. Can be a nitpicker.

Specialist Single minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply.

Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities. Overlooks the “big picture.”

Created by Colin Shearing



because there are lots of ideas, content suggestions and arguments about what is necessary to cover the field. However, there is little movement forward with respect to action and bedding down directions. Similarly there may be conflict if there is an absence of people oriented roles. Dysfunctional team performance can sometimes be analysed by using models such as the Belbin for diagnosis. Remedial action can be taken by adopting other roles or by bringing in people with strengths in much needed complementary but missing roles.



Required Reading Bringhurst, N. C. 2001. How assessing personality type can benefit you and your practice. Journal of Financial Planning 14 (1): 104-111. This article provides a detailed overview of the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory or MBTI and contextualises it to the finance/business area. The application of the tool is well described within a business context. Maccoby, Michael 2000. Narcissistic Leaders - The Incredible Pros, The Inevitable Cons. Harvard Business Review 78 (1): 69-77. This article can also be accessed from Michael Maccoby’s website http://www.maccoby.com/. Click on Articles and then scroll down to find the article. Alternatively, do an Internet search for the article title. This is the article on different leadership styles. However, it has a strong relationship to 'personality' theory from a Freudian perspective. It is a great article and gives you a look at leadership from a different personality paradigm.

Additional Resources

Websites Corporate Performance Training (http://www.tri-network.com/) provides information on personality assessment. Go to the popular links section at the bottom and look at some of the various articles on personality. For example, Temperament Theory and The 16 Personality Types and MBTI Instrument. Good background reading. Businessballs (http://www.businessballs.com/) provides a VERY comprehensive summary of a range of various personality tests and indicators. Click on Personality theories, models and types. For example, the MBTI, DISC and Brain Type Theory. It is easy reading and provides a snapshot of the range of methods used to determine personality characteristics. These following sites offer a more concise description of the Belbin Team model and details of the various team roles: Mind Tools (http://www.mindtools.com/). Do a search for Belbin Team Roles. Belbin (http://www.belbin.info/)

References Digman, J. 1990. Personality Structure: Emergence of the Five-Factor Model. Annual Review of Psychology 41:417-440. Robbins, R, B Millett, and T Waters-Marsh. 2004. Organisational Behaviour. 4th ed. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd. Tuckman, B. 1965. Developmental Sequences in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin June: 384-399.

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