A key to successful planning and implementation is the development of teams. The table below provides a description of three types of teams and their relative advantages and disadvantages:

Characteristics of a Team

• There must be an awareness of unity on the part of all its members.
• There must be interpersonal relationship. Members must have a chance to contribute, learn from and work with others.
• The member must have the ability to act together toward a common goal.

Ten characteristics of well-functioning teams:

• Purpose: Members proudly share a sense of why the team exists and are invested in accomplishing its mission and goals.
• Priorities: Members know what needs to be done next, by whom, and by when to achieve team goals.
• Roles: Members know their roles in getting tasks done and when to allow a more skillful member to do a certain task.
• Decisions: Authority and decision-making lines are clearly understood.
• Conflict: Conflict is dealt with openly and is considered important to decision-making and personal growth.
• Personal traits: members feel their unique personalities are appreciated and well utilized.
• Norms: Group norms for working together are set and seen as standards for every one in the groups.
• Effectiveness: Members find team meetings efficient and productive and look forward to this time together.
• Success: Members know clearly when the team has met with success and share in this equally and proudly.
• Training: Opportunities for feedback and updating skills are provided and taken advantage of by team members.

Guidelines for effective team membership:

• Contribute ideas and solutions
• Recognize and respect differences in others
• Value the ideas and contributions of others
• Listen and share information
• Ask questions and get clarification
• Participate fully and keep your commitments
• Be flexible and respect the partnership created by a team -- strive for the "win-win"
• Have fun and care about the team and the outcomes.

Characteristics of a high-performance team:

• Participative leadership - creating an interdependence by empowering, freeing up and serving others.
• Shared responsibility - establishing an environment in which all team members feel responsibility as the manager for the performance team.
• Aligned on purpose - having a sense of common purpose about why the team exists and the function it serves.
• High communication - creating a climate of trust and open, honest communication.
• Future focused - seeing change as an opportunity for growth.
• Focused on task - keeping meetings and interactions focused on results.
• Creative talents - applying individual talents and creativity.
• Rapid response - identifying and acting on opportunities.

Who is Part of Your Team and What Does The Team Do?

• Management Team (Superintendent and Administration) plus Governance Team (School Board)
• Vision (Planning)
  • School Board - creates, reviews and approves
  • Administration - recommends process, develop and plans (decides what), and implements plans (decides how)
• Structure (policy)
  • School Board - creates reviews and adopts
  • Administration - recommends and implements
• Advocacy (communication)
  • School Board - represents public interest, seeks public input
  • Administration - acts in public interest, seeks and provides public information
• Accountability (Evaluation)
  • School Board - monitors progress toward goals, evaluates the board standards and personnel in accordance
  • Administration - implements evaluation of programs

In this Module:

In the Toolkit: