Edition 10 - March 2008Word from an Editor: On the work front – everything is all systems go! With the permanent, temporary and HRM divisions of Access HR working on over drive, the Access HR team are enjoying every moment of assisting our clients and candidates to solve their recruitment needs. This edition highlights the importance of having “high powered teams” working towards a common organizational goal, ensuring employees or yourself have the right skills and attitude to be involved in a well running team. Access HR’s HRM division are getting themselves organized to offer clients and candidates the opportunity to bring coaching into their professional life, and in the next edition we will delve into the importance and the benefits of having a professional coach. We hope you enjoy this edition and remember “the door is always open”. Happy Reading The Access HR Team | |
Temp Star
Access HR believes all our temporary employees contribute and perform extraordinarily and should be recognized for their efforts. It is with great pleasure we announce March 2008 Access HR Tempstar. This award is determined by general work performance, feedback received from clients and the Access HR team. And the winner is Asha Prakash Access HR Tempstar (March 2008)
Asha has been working as a temporary employee with Access HR since September 2006, and with every assignment prides herself on the professional integrity that Access HR and their clients value. Asha makes herself available for assignments, ensuring that she is not letting down either party, and will re-schedule her diary to cater for the requirements of Access HR. Asha has always proven to be a happy, friendly temporary employee, who fits into her environment at the first instant. She is courteous of others, a quick learner and will go out of her way to assist. As a very worthy recipient of this award, it is with great pleasure that on behalf of Access HR Asha has been announced as our March 2008 Tempstar. |
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Guidelines on Becoming an Effective Team Member
Working on teams can be rewarding, but at the same time can be just as frustrating. It is important as a member of a team that you are aware of what makes you an effective or ineffective team member. 1. Take your responsibility as a team member seriously. Remind yourself of the potential negative implications if your team fails. It is important that as a team member you understand the team’s objectives, know your role in the team, what is expected from you and have an understanding of the rules and boundaries of the team. 2. If you are unsure of any of the above, you need to clarify these and question others until you do. Ensure that you understand in exact terms what your responsibilities are and ensure that everyone knows what you are doing so others can achieve and work with you and you with them, resulting in the whole team being on the same wavelength. Never assume that everyone is on the same wavelength, discuss and document specific examples of teamwork activities that team members expect of each other. 3. There is no use talking about teamwork unless people actually do it! This is where teamwork needs to be defined as a “condition of work”, remembering everyone is accountable for each other. Key points to remember - always share information and communicate openly, encourage others to do the same by not allowing hidden agendas or personality conflicts to interfere with teamwork, consider the points of view of other team members, and most of all build trust and display behaviour which warrants you being a valued member of the team resulting in shared goals. Source: Mansis TM R.Kent/Access HR |
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HPT = High Performance Teams
“High Performance Teams are the supercharged way to lead organizational change” Utilising high performance teams to lead a change in an organization greatly increases the chances of success. Coming in many forms HPTs share a series of qualities and characteristics that set them apart from the average team.
Trina Lewis developed the HPT Four Fundamentals Framework for working with teams to help them be the best they can be. The basis of the framework is four groupings of characteristics typical to HPTs: · Goal alignment · Structural clarity · Constructive behaviour · Change agility Goal alignment exists when all team members are openly committed to a set of ambitious goals and objectives. Once a team is aligned they can ensure a robust operating structure which includes clear processes, roles, accountabilities and measures of success. Constructive behaviours refer to being committed to an effective way of behaving as a team. This enables extraordinary results. Team members collectively commit to behaviours such as straight talk, mutual support, fluid coaching and acknowledgement. HPTs are especially agile in dynamic and demanding environments because they have very intentional approaches to leading and managing change, dealing with issues and problems, decision-making, and growth and learning. Accountability underlines the four fundamentals of a HPT. They use accountability as a tool to drive action and ultimately measure success. Accountability is at the core of four interrelated, underlying drivers of success in HPTs. Accountability refers to people being responsible to themselves and others for what they say and do. It’s moving from “I will try” to “I will” (“or I won’t”). Members accept accountability for specific tasks and the quality of their teamwork. They ensure they have the right resources to meet their accountabilities, so they are empowered. The team trusts their members to deliver on their accountabilities and depends on them doing so. The success is managed in a transparent fashion, and enables formal and informal feedback and measurement of performance against accountabilities. This also enables formal and informal feedback and measurement of performance against accountabilities. A commitment to regularly reflect on performance as a team is critical to sustaining HPT behaviours. To become a HPT depends on a team’s context. A good starting point is to consider the current state of the team, without getting it stuck in the past. Focus on the question, “How will we reach our desired future state from where we are now?”, rather than “How do we fix things we have done wrong in the past?” Both questions are valid, but by keeping the question future focused this generates much more energy and engagement. HPT matters need to be given adequate time on an agenda, they cannot be competing with too many other priorities. If the team is ‘change fatigued’ and cynical about change, consider engaging smaller, more specific HPT interventions to the points of most pain or benefit, without the fanfare of a branded program. The team leader needs to have a personal ambition that will influence the pace and scope of the plan. If you require immediate transformation of the way teams work in your business to support a major change agenda, then your program will be more intense. Design a series of carefully constructed change interventions. Depending on your needs, you may focus on a couple or even one of the four HPT fundamentals at a time. Starting with goal alignment and structural clarity to build a solid basis for the others is a good start. Achieving HPT status is a journey – not an event – that requires sustained focus. It remains an elusive state for many teams. Teams are diverse and dynamic. They change people, organizations and their environments change, so any team requires refinement and regeneration. High-performance teaming is a significant investment, as new highs are reached and change is accepted easier the pay offs show. Source: HR Monthly : - February 2006 – Peak Performance by Trina Lewis |
