Chapter 7: Teamwork, Teambuilding, and Coaching
• What Is a Team?
• Working Together
• Building Teams
• Leading a Kitchen Team
• Leading a Restaurant Shift
• Total Quality Management
• Empowerment
• Team Challenges
• Coaching
Group Versus Team• A group is a large number of
people working together because of similarities, yet remain neutral. – They interact only to achieve the
objective.• A team is a group of individuals
who share a common goal & the responsibility of achieving it.– The team attempts to achieve a
positive collaboration among its members.
The Formally Appointed Team
• Has a appointed team leader. • The team leader may have more
decision making authority than others.
• Power may be delegated to them.
• Delegation is when one gives a portion of their responsibility & authority to a subordinate.
The Informally Appointed Team • Evolves on its own.• Has a rotation of
leadership.• The group leader does not
have formal power over the group.
• The informally appointed team has some advantages over the formally appointed.
The Informally Appointed Team: Advantages
• One person probably does not possess every quality needed to be the perfect leader.
• Everyone has a chance.• Formally appointed team leaders may also lose
popularity among the group because of their connection with management.
• In a informal team, eventually everyone is linked with management.
Why do people join teams?• To accomplish tasks as
efficiently & swiftly as possible.• To feel like they are part of a
whole.• To feel like they contribute
something to the overall success of the team.
• To develop, enhance, and/or confirm some underlying identity needs.
Teamwork
• The actual action that a team performs.
• Cooperative effort by a group of persons acting together as a team.
• Team players are individuals that participate in a collective effort & cooperation to get the job done efficiently.
Norms
• Team norms are defined as implicit, in addition to explicit rules of behavior.
• Norms occur within every type of team interaction.• Norms work best when the team creates them.• Positive team norms are behaviors that are agreed upon
& accepted within the group.• One way a manager may increase positive team norms
in the hospitality industry is by giving rewards.• Negative team norms are behaviors that are against the
interest & are not accepted by the overall group.
A Cohesive Team• Communicates well with each other &
has well-defined norms, unity, respect, & trust among its members.
• Strengths & weaknesses; hopefully what one member lacks another will make up for.
• If a team lacks cohesion, the group will not have any sense of unity which will result in a hindered performance.
• To build a cohesive team goals & objectives need to be set.
Leading a Kitchen Team
• Starts with a “battle plan”.• Every station discusses
their action plan & then ‘preps’ to ‘par’.
• Then the chef/kitchen leader practices participative leadership, leading by example, working with the team.
Leading a Restaurant Shift
• Every shift is unique & presents different obstacles to overcome
• Nevertheless, leaders must be ready to lead their staff through a successful shift.
• This is where the following come in handy:– Opening Checklists
– Pre-shift Meetings
– Closing Checklists
3 Ways to Influence an Informal Team:
• Feed Back: The type (positive or negative) & amount should even itself off, or meet in the middle.
• Identification: Identify the key players within the group.
• Communication: Builds trust, & helps to confirm that you are addressing the right issues.
Before Building a Team• First consider what they want out
of the team they are about to build & clarify these goals to pre-existing members .
• Be very selective with who is hired, & always conduct a reference check!
• Remember that one team member’s problem affects the whole group in a downward spiral.
• Build a positive work environment.
Formal Versus Informal Groups
• Formal groups are work groups established by the company. – They include committees,
group meetings, work teams & task forces.
• Informal groups are more social & form naturally in the workplace.
Changing a Group into a Team
• Get the teams input toward establishing team goals.
• Allow some team decision-making.
• Stress communication within the team.
• Have collaboration among team members.
Creating a Successful Team
• Together, Everyone, Achieves, More!
• Team effectiveness is defined by 3 criteria:– 1st, the productive output of the team meets or
exceeds the standards of quantity & quality.– 2nd, team members realize satisfaction of their
personal needs. – 3rd, team members remain committed to working
together.
A Successful Team• Understands & is committed to the vision, mission, & goals of
the company.
• Is mature.
• Works to continually improve how it operates.
• Treat each other with respect.
• Differences are handled in a professional manner.
• Respect their supervisor.
• Members are consulted & their input is requested in decision-making.
• Members encourage & assist other team members to succeed.
• The team meets or exceeds its goals.
• Has synergy.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
• Goal is to ensure continuous quality improvement of services & products for guests.
• TQM is applied in all areas of business at every level.
• It consists of 10 steps:
10 Steps to TQM
1. Have excellent leaders as supervisors & managers.
2. Build & train teams of volunteer associates within each department & later cross departmentally in problem solving.
3. Teams decide on & write down the appropriate levels of guest service & relative weighting for ”their guests”.
4. Set mission, goals, & strategies based on guest expectations.
5. Empower & inspire associates to reach goals.
10 Steps to TQM
6. Identify deficiencies, which are areas where service falls below expectations.
7. Analyze & resolve identified deficiencies
8. Modify processes to incorporate corrections to improve service to expected levels.
9. Track results – improvements in service, guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction, cost reduction, & profit.
10. Evaluate & support the process.
Empowerment • Empowerment: ensuring that
employees have the skills, knowledge & authority to make decisions that would otherwise be made by management.
• Structured empowerment allows employees to make decisions within specified limits.
• Flexible empowerment gives employees more scope in making decisions.
Team Challenges
• Overcoming negativity.
• Learning how to delegate (appropriate) responsibilities.
• Overcoming high turnover.
• Gaining respect from & within the team.
Coaching
• Coaching is a process involving observation of employee performance & conversation focusing on job performance between the manager & the employee.
• Coaching focuses on enhancing skills of the employee, productivity of the employee & elevating employee motivation.– Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Coaching
• 8 Step Coaching Model:– 1. Be supportive– 2. Define the problem & expectations – 3. Establish impact– 4. Initiate a plan– 5. Get a commitment– 6. Confront excuses/resistance– 7. Clarify consequences– 8. Don’t give up
Coaching
• If the leader takes the coach approach, they will still be part of the team, involved in employee performance.
Coaching
• Why do supervisors avoid coaching?– Lack of time. – Fear of confrontation.– Assuming the employee knows they are doing a
good job.– Little experience coaching.– Assuming that the employee will ask questions
when appropriate & does not need feedback.
The Coach
• Is present.• Is a teacher. • Observes employees
doing their jobs. • Asks questions. • Gives feedback.
Counseling Sessions• 1. Speak in private with the employee. Be relaxed
& friendly.• 2. Express in a calm manner your concern about
the specific aspect of job performance you feel needs to be improved.
• 3. Ask the employee for his or her thoughts & opinions, including possible solutions.
• 4. Ask the employee to restate what has been agreed upon to check on understanding.
• 5. At a later time, you should follow up & make sure that the performance concern has been addressed.
Behaviors of a Coach• Do not think about employees as people that need to be
controlled.• Listen, listen, listen!• Develop the individual strengths of each employee.• Endorse effort & growth (instead of pointing out
mistakes).• Stop providing solutions. Give your employees an
opportunity to figure it out.• Stop making all the decisions. Delegate decisions where
appropriate & engage your employees. • Be unconditionally constructive. • Create an environment where people want to work with
you, feel valued, respected & part of a team © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.