What are the four steps that should be included in a systematic approach to team training?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A systematic approach to team training should include the following four steps:

1. Conduct a team-training needs analysis. Such an analysis has two objectives: (a) to identify interdependencies among team members and the skills required to master coordination of team tasks and (b) to identify the cognitive skills and knowledge needed to interact as a team (e.g., knowledge of team-member roles and responsibilities).
2. Develop training objectives that address both task-work and teamwork skills. In general, a core set of skills characterizes effective teamwork. These include adaptability, shared awareness of situations, performance monitoring and feedback, team management, interpersonal skills, coordination, communication, and decision-making skills. Attitudinal skills that characterize effective teamwork include beliefs about the importance of teamwork skills, belief in placing the team's goals above those of individual members, mutual trust, and shared vision. Sequence the training so that trainees can master task-work skills before learning teamwork skills.
3. Design exercises and training events based on the objectives from step 2. As with individual training, opportunities for guided practice and constructive feedback are particularly important for team training. This may include, for example, team-coordination training (focusing on teamwork skills that facilitate information exchange, cooperation, and coordination of job-related behaviors); cross-training (providing exposure to and practice with other teammates' tasks, roles, and responsibilities in an effort to increase shared understanding and knowledge among team members); and guided team self-correction (providing guidance to team members in reviewing team events, identifying errors and exchanging feedback, and developing plans for the future).
4. Design measures of team effectiveness based on the objectives from step 2, evaluate the effectiveness of the team training, and use this information to guide future team training.