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Team Processes: Get Acquainted
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Developing Team Cohesion A sense of team identity and cohesiveness among team members is a key factor in group satisfaction and productivity.  Any team will be more productive when it spends at least a short period of time getting acquainted before jumping into its task.  In a large, formal team situation, a well-run kick off meeting is an excellent forum to meet each other and begin to develop a sense of common goals and team identity (Schwalbe, 2000).  Even if your team is a short-term, informal group, spend some time communicating with each other in a “social” way to get acquainted with each others’ goals, talents, and personalities.  Step One: Get Acquainted as People No work can be done until individuals know enough about each other to coordinate their efforts. Members should know each other well enough to predict each other's behavior with some accuracy. They need to be aware of each other's strengths, weaknesses and preferences with respect to the work.know your individual strengths, resources and prefernces, which will save you enormous amount of time. Tool: Party!  No better way of getting acquainted has ever been devised. Your team members should get together for a strictly social event before trying to do any task work.  Food is good. (Click here for party report that you can submit to your instructor.) Step Two: Get Acquainted as Workers Since this is a work team, not a play team, you can't just communicate about what movies or music you all like. Getting acquainted in a work situation also includes finding out about work goals, expections of team members, and decision-making methods.   Tool: Work and Communication Styles Every individual has preferences for ways of communicating, processing information, and making decisions.  There is no "right" way, but people do tend to work most comfortably with those who think like they do.  On the other hand, groups are less effective when everyone thinks alike!  Spend some times during the "getting acquainted" period to talk about how key items "ought" to be handled by the group.  (Click here for a Work and Communication Styles survey; both individual and team summary sheets can be turned into your instructor.) Tool: Values Discussion Most teams experience conflict when members find they disagree on goals or priorities, which are based on fundamental assumptions about what is "valuable" in a situation.  Talking about each others' values can allow the team to find a foundation for compromise and conflict resolution before the situation arises. (Click here for Discussing Values worksheet that can be submitted to your instructor.) Tool: Readiness Check See whether your team knows itself well enough to work productively together.  Each team member should take this "quiz" separately.  Score 1 point for each answer that two group members agree on, 2 points for each one that three agree on and so on.  If you don't score at least 30 points in a group of five, go back to the Work and Communication Styles Tool! Everyone acquainted?  Return to the Team Instructions and go on to Step Three