Facilitating a Dysfunctional
Team
Blue Group
Blue Group
Blue Group’s Initial Action...
1. General analysis of the case study and
identification of the apparent issues to
include:
 An awareness of the resources that all group
members bring to the case study from own
experiences and study
 Initial offering of solutions based on these
resources
The nature of ‘teamworking’
High performing teams show the following
characteristics: (ref: Katzenbach and Smith,1993)
Interdependence:
A shared commitment to a goal that cannot be
achieved without contribution from all team members.
Development Time:
To achieve high performance as a team takes at least
several months and a significant amount of contact
between members.
Size:
It is rare to find a high performing team with more
than 6 to 12 members.
Current state:
This team shows the following
characteristics:
Interdependence:
The majority appear to value independent personal
performance in the classroom over any group
performance measurement.
Development Time:
The group appears not to have met once as a whole
group and no team process discussions have taken
place.
Size:
There are 20 people in the group.
Summary of Issues Identified...
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Lack of visible team leadership / management
Lack of shared values / goals
Lack of cross team communication
No real team / set of dysfunctional sub teams
Failure to incorporate new team members fully into the
team
 Manager – too much focus on administration
 Little or no intention to improve the situation
 Action points at meetings are not followed through
Action Plan for Completion of task!
Task
Research – What is Ofsted
looking for in its inspection?
Contributors
Time Frame
Output
Wednesday PM
Word doc – key features
stated as bullet points
Thursday PM
Word doc – key features
stated as bullet points
R*****
Friday PM
Word doc – states
problems, highlights
solutions agreed
Presentation
A**** & T****
Saturday teatime
Short Powerpoint
presentation
Presentation Review
ALL
Sunday PM & Monday AM
Review presentation – final
copy delivered Monday AM
G****
L******
Identify what success will
look like and include
consideration of the Ofsted
research information
Gap analysis
Ofsted research to be
taken into account
Action Plan
The ingredients for success:
 A clear goal to which everyone is committed and
none can achieve without working with their
colleagues
Propose ‘a good OFSTED’ as a goal to unite with clear
‘whole group’ performance measures reviewed regularly
 Effective communications process for whole
group
Propose Leader engages in one-to-one conversations,
site meetings and occasional whole group briefings.
 Sub groups that can become effective teams
Develop site teams who then collaborate as the larger
team
Step one
Defining the shared goal
We researched the OFSTED requirements and
used them as the basis for establishing a set of
whole group performance measures which
could only be achieved through effective
collaboration
Summary of Ofsted Research...
 It is very important to obtain a ‘good’ grade in an inspection if the
institution wishes to keep Ofsted inspection activities to a minimum
 It is crucial that everyone works together to maintain effectiveness
due to the length of time that inspectors are present
 Self-Assessment Report (SAR) needs to reflect or be better than the
live situation or the overall outcome suffers
 Inspectors collect evidence from a whole range of sources including
lesson observation, learner testimonials, learners work, minutes of
meetings at senior management and team level
 Inspectors look for standardisation, interaction of teams teaching the
same subject across different groups, differentiation, attendance and
punctuality.
G******’s Final Thought...
‘So we can see it is important for
everybody to be working together to the
same goal and stay focused. It is better
as a team, for if for any reason one person
is missing it can be much more easily
covered from within the team, than if all
are individuals. It is about ownership of
the whole learning process and not just
the delivery’
Step Two
Developing Communications
There is currently competition (for resources
and for results) and resentment (it’s other
people letting the department down/I’m being
undermined) within the department.
The individuals need to be able to express (and
let go of) their current feelings. First one to one
with the leader, then in site groups.
Once site groups are at stage three of
Tuckman’s (1965) team development model then
the whole team meeting can take place.
T****’s Words of Wisdom...
‘If we are going to try and manage this group of 20 as a
single team then some ground work will need to be done
with individuals before the meeting that creates a new
beginning...I would therefore suggest a prior action for
the leader to spend time with each team member, on
their patch, listening (empathetically) to their concerns
and issues (draining down any metaphorical poison) and
coaching them appropriately. The goal will be to ensure
each individual arrives at the meeting with an open mind,
a willingness to hear other people’s views and an
understanding that everyone in the team shares a
commitment to the students and acts with the best
possible motives.’
Step Three
Defining the shared goal
OFSTED requirements do create a shared goal
The leader has worked with individuals and site
groups laying the foundations for whole team
performance.
A whole team meeting (including
administrators) is now required to involve the
team in agreeing the goal and the measures of
performance that would unite them.
Lynn’s Agenda for Change...
Action
Call a general meeting compulsory for
all staff
REASON for being on
Agenda
Expected Outcome
To look at Self Assessment Report.
Stress how learner focused it is and
to give details of other inspection
reports
Agree on a need for change
Need to include all departments
(otherwise it is classed as a
weakness)
Develop SAR
Ensure SAR is realistic (otherwise it
is classed as a weakness)
WITHIN MEETING
Section A
Overall Effectiveness
Need to show steps taken to promote
improvement
Need to show capacity for further
improvement
Section B
Outcome for Children and Young
People
Not needed for case study? But could
show how much good practice is
being done!
Sub Team Meetings for development
work
This could encourage ownership
and development work related to
strengths
No changes necessary
Ofsted Questions...
1. How well do learners achieve
across the whole department?
Reason for being on
Agenda
To show how well learning is planned
To show work is to a quality standard
across sites
2. How effective are teaching, training
and learning across the whole
department?
Do resources promote learning?
How is progress monitored and
evaluated
3. How well do programmes and
activities meet the needs of the
learners?
Are training plans individual
4. How well are learners guided and
supported?
May not be needed – not mentioned
in case study
5. How effective are leadership and
management in raising achievement
and supporting learners?
Ensure quality throughout provision
Expected Outcome
Standardisation meetings by sub
groups
This should encourage all to take
part as inspectors will talk to
learners
Sharing of team resources and good
practice ideas
May encourage the trying of
something new and will encourage
looking at wider issues
Not in case study so may become a
positive if done well
Manager to take a more active role in
monitoring and evaluating.
Site C to have support for new staff
member who is on her own
Evaluation of current practice
G*****’s direction
The basis of the first meeting would be an
open session where any body can say what
they want with no recrimination, this helps
get some of the tensions out in the open that
seem to exist between certain parties. Then
the team should be steered to come to the
conclusion on the focus of the remaining
development session, this could be the
preparation for Ofsted.
Step Four
Team Size
The whole team of 20 will remain unwieldy and
unlikely to gel effectively as a team.
From the whole team meeting, with the
agreement of that whole team, we propose
three sub teams based on the client groups:
Primary
Secondary
Graduate
G****’s sub groups
Once they have found the focus, they will have
ownership of it. From here it is about breaking the
group of 18 teachers and technologist into smaller
groups, possibly primary education, secondary
education and graduate education. The large
group can then break up in too the smaller groups.
These groups set themselves tasks that need to
be completed prior to the next meeting. One
purpose of the smaller groups is to look at their
own strengths and weakness and look at support
each other.
Leadership
 Part of the original diagnosis was that the leader
of the team was too engaged with administration
 Developing this team will require significant,
people focused, leadership work
 The leader will have to commit to spending time
with staff, both in meetings and (more often)
informally sharing time with them to intercept
issues before they grow
 The leader will need support in doing this from
their line management
In summary
Leader to work with individuals and site
groups prior to a whole group meeting
Whole group meet to establish shared
goals centering on the OFSTED
requirements for measures of whole group
performance
Sub groups established to work together
as effective teams
Appropriate support provided through
people focused leadership