Doers, thinkers and carers
Edition 4 - Managing risk as teams go back to work
We are continuing our theme of helping managers identify and deal with some of the people management challenges arising in disrupted workplaces as teams regroup in this new year.
We are focussing our articles on some common issues, with an opportunity to download a few short, practical guides or key steps from our well-established Management Development Program (MDP) which may be of value to you or your teams. Click here for recent articles and supporting downloads. Our clients tell us the material is giving their managers knowledge and confidence to manage their teams well as we head into the uncertainties of 2021 and teams return to work in some way, shape or form.
In this edition we are again drawing on the Teams Module of our MDP.
As we all regroup and refocus on what we are planning to achieve in the year ahead, there is a temptation to focus exclusively on the “functional role” that each of our team members must perform. Whilst achieving clarity here is vital, it can be equally important to focus on the “team role” of each one.
What do we mean by this?
We can think about each of our team members bringing two, often complementary, roles to our team. Their functional role is perhaps the one most easily described: essentially it is the job they have been hired to do based on ability, experience, qualification and skill. Their team role is sometimes harder to articulate, though often easy to see: their tendency to behave, contribute and inter-relate in different ways.
As leaders we have a responsibility to best identify, utilise and develop the resources within our team – part of the Organising element of the Role of the Manager we examined a few weeks ago. If we only focus on the functional role each person can contribute, and not their team role, we’re missing half the potential contribution: not a responsible use of resources!
There are many models to explain how effective teams work and how important team roles are. At Horizon we often work with clients using the Belbin Team Roles Model.
Here we refer to a less complex model which busy managers can use themselves with their teams: Doers, Thinkers and Carers.
Like the Belbin Model, Doers, Thinkers and Carers suggests that each of us has some particular behavioural strengths which we can contribute to a team. It also identifies that there tends to be flip sides of such strengths: allowable and non-allowable weaknesses. The challenge for leaders is to recognise such strengths and weaknesses and then harness them effectively. As Dr Meredith Belbin has said: “No one is perfect but a team can be” and we can achieve this by having a team with balanced contributions from different team roles.
Doers
This is the action oriented type. You can often spot them easily; perhaps when they are urging the team to “get on with it” or “I need to finish this” or “let’s just stick with the plan” They are often primarily focussed on the task – the “what” that the team has to achieve, rather than (or sometimes at the expense of) the “how” the team goes about it.
On the flip side, they have some “allowable weaknesses” to be aware of: they are impatient with waffle; they may be inflexible “do it my way” folk; or have a tendency to swing into action without thinking things through carefully enough or considering alternative courses of action. There may also be some “non-allowable weaknesses” to be alert to: they can be down-right rude or “take their bat and ball home” if they don’t have their way!
Our Doers helped us through C-19. They ensured that things got done even when it was tough.
TIP: As we move to the next few months, leaders need to ensure their Doers are working on the things that are important now – and that might have changed from pre C-19.
Thinkers
Sometimes harder to spot, members with this team role are often good at producing ideas and solving problems; they may be good at weighing up ideas from other people or can see obstacles and opportunities ahead and plan well.
Their allowable weaknesses may mean they sometimes appear to lack drive or are slow to take action. They may be the quietest people in the room and their good ideas may not be listened to. Of more danger, are some possible non-allowable weaknesses which may lead them off on tangents with new ideas and neglect to deliver what they said they’d do.
TIP: Now is a good time to harness the Thinkers’ contributions to work out what needs to be done differently in this next few months: what does our new “business as usual” look like and what options do we have to deal with it?
Carers
The people oriented type. They tend to be the ones who notice things – they can be very perceptive and alert to relationship issues both within and beyond the team. They are good at cheering people up, easing tensions, instigating new contacts and promoting harmony.
But beware, don’t expect them to make decisions under pressure and they may need to be reminded of specific targets. Of more concern, their non-allowable weaknesses include a reluctance to challenge others or ideas because they try to avoid friction.
Our Carers may have proved their worth during C-19 disruption by holding teams together and maintaining critical contacts with suppliers and customers.
TIP: They may well be needed again as teams and business regroup and refocus and they need to be recognised for this contribution.
So, what does this mean?
First, it is critical to recognise it is the leader’s responsibility to best harness the strengths: not to develop any individual’s team role weakness.
By trying to eliminate allowable weaknesses, leaders run the risk of neutralising the very strengths they underpin. The trick is to set up the team to enable them to play off each others’ strengths and cover each others’ weaknesses. A balanced team.
Please note, however, that approach does not condone any “bad behaviour” and leaders must ensure that any non-allowable weaknesses are managed and not excused. Team Ground Rules are very handy for this.
And as for harnessing the strengths, there are some practical steps managers can take to make the most effective use of the team roles in their teams.
Do the Doers know what needs to be done and do they have the resources available to get on and do it? Can they be encouraged to challenge appropriately in the Storming stage of team development we considered in our last Newsletter; and can that energy be harnessed to move the team through to the Norming stage and then keep everyone focussed on delivery in the Performing stage?
Are the Thinkers being challenged so that they can come up with innovative ideas and plans? Can their analytical ability be engaged to develop and test group processes so that others can be freed up to focus on their own contribution? Are the Thinkers being well briefed to help them identify new approaches needed to deal with changes in operating environments which this past year may have wrought? Does the leader remember to check when some Thinker may have disappeared down a rabbit hole?
Are the Carers being tasked with taking care of individual and team relationships? Do others in the team know this? Can their people skills be utilised in developing relationships with other teams, customers, suppliers which may have been disrupted by C19? Astute team leaders will ensure their Carers are recognised during the Storming stage to stop it being too brutal and the promise of the expected harmony on other side as they move to Norming and Performing can be great motivation for them. But do remind them there is a business goal to be delivered.
As you read this you may already start to identify different team roles within your own team – and some people may well be a mix – and have some ideas of how to best engage them. To help with this, you can use our Team Roles Questionnaire and Team Roles Grid. Team leaders can have fun with their teams collecting the information and they can then use this to consider how balanced their teams are and plan how best to use the team roles to complement the functional roles and maybe better inform any pending recruitment to the team to help maintain or build balance.
In our next update we’ll explore some other ways of supporting managers to deal with challenges they are likely to face as business rebuilds in 2021 and they carry the responsibility of managing their team, delivering the task and developing the individuals and creating an environment in which their team members are motivated to engage and deliver.
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