Ground Rules- Catalysts for Team Success or Sources of Dysfunction

Ground Rules- Catalysts for Team Success or Sources of Dysfunction

The value of setting ground rules is learned by many people at a young age. As children, most people are subjected to ground rules by their parents. Ground rules also determine behaviour and interactions in the school setting. This value is also important in the organizational setting (Colquitt & Jackson, 2006). Ground rules play an important role in successful team development. In my experience in several teams, I have been a member of teams that are governed by ground rules and those that do not have ground rules. What I have learned is that ground rules make teams more productive. The following is a narrative of my experience with ground rules and the lack of ground rules in different teams to determine the value of setting rules in team development.

Experience with Ground Rules

I was a part of an employee committee at a previous workplace. The committee was formed to develop solutions for issues that affected employee satisfaction in the workplace. I was one of the representatives for the employees of the organization. This committee was formal. It was guided by a set of rules that each of the members had to follow. The rules made the coordination of the committee’s processes easier. The rules also improved the management of the team’s conflicts. Due to the good organization of the team, we were able to achieve the objectives of the committee in the set time frame. The behavioural expectations that were set for the team through the rules made the team effective.

One of the rules of this team was a restriction for more than one person to speak. The team was guided by a coordinator who would choose the person to speak at a time. When a member had a contribution to make, they would raise their hands to be selected to speak. This rule enabled the team process to be in order. Although a lot of people had differing opinions, there was never a point where they were talking over each other. This rule enabled all members to be heard by allowing the committee to listen to what every person had to say.

Another rule for the committee was for each member to be respectful. The coordinator made it clear that all opinions, regardless of their relevance, must be respected. The people who contributed to the team were also to be respected. This rule gave all members the confidence they needed to make contributions. Therefore, the rule contributed to the effectiveness of the team. It allowed people to collaborate, regardless of their differences, to find solutions for the issues at hand.

There was also a rule to keep the team discussions confidential until the final recommendations of the committee were shared with the rest of the organization. This rule was created to maintain trust within the team. Team members could trust that the information they shared within the committee was not to be shared with others in the organization. This rule helped to prevent any conflicts with people outside the committee or the spreading of rumours that could affect the team’s effectiveness.

Experience in a Team without Ground Rules

I was part of an unofficial team that we created as colleagues to collaborate and improve our department’s performance. Since this was an unofficial group, there were no established positions in the team. There was no coordinator and no rules for the team to follow. We were certain that the group would be effective because we had positive interpersonal relationships that would supposedly make the team effective. We were all wrong. This team was a great learning opportunity on the value of setting ground rules. There was a lot of conflict in the team. One of the main sources of conflict was differences in the ideas of the team members. Every person had a different approach that they believed was great for the team. There was difficulty in getting to a consensus because almost all conversations were debates. Every person was hell-bent to make their ideas to seem like the best. There was no order when holding team sessions. At some point, the conflicts between team members became personal. Some of the members started conflicting in areas outside the team. Eventually, the team had to be broken without achieving its purpose. From this experience, I learned that ground rules create order. They enable all members of a team to understand the procedures they must follow for a team to be effective. The lack of ground rules creates issues that eventually affect the team’s ability to achieve its objectives (Butchibabu,  Sparano-Huiban, Sonenberg, & Shah, 2016). What can be learned from this experience is to always set rules regardless of how small the team is or the relationships that the team members have in other settings.

References

Butchibabu, A., Sparano-Huiban, C., Sonenberg, L., & Shah, J. (2016). Implicit coordination strategies for effective team communication. Human factors, 58(4), 595-610.

Colquitt, J. A., & Jackson, C. L. (2006). Justice in Teams: The Context Sensitivity of Justice Rules Across Individual and Team Contexts 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), 868-899.

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Analysis of Ground Rules
Overview
This assignment aims to consider the role of ground rules in promoting team effectiveness or, in their absence, team dysfunction. You will consider an example of a team in which you have participated that was effective and one that was ineffective. You will describe both teams and analyze the role of ground rules in their performances, concerning how ground rules helped your effective team perform and work well together and how the absence of ground rules and differing expectations contributed to the failure of your ineffective team. Ground rules are an essential foundation for dialogue, and the usefulness of promoting team learning was discussed previously and in this unit.

Ground Rules- Catalysts for Team Success or Sources of Dysfunction

Instructions
Think of a time that you were on a team that was not only effective but also a pleasure to participate in. Write a description of this team and its tasks, paying particular attention to the behavioural expectations for which the team members held each other accountable–these might be spoken or unspoken. List these ground rules and describe how the rules helped the team perform and work well together.
Next, think of a time you were on a team that was not effective and was a frustrating experience. Write a description of this team and its tasks, including the spoken or unspoken ground rules that describe the expectations for behaviour on this team. Examine the possibility that some members held ground rules that others did not. How was this a source of tension? Analyze how this difference in what is expected of team members caused conflict and damaged performance. What effect could the discussion of ground rules as a method of team learning have had on this group?