INDIVIDUAL NEEDS PROCESSES

Team Product 4

	THEORY INPUT

W
ork Teams That Work are able to satisfy a wide range of interests and needs of their individual members.  High performing teams help their members achieve their individual needs through meaningful and purposeful work.  Work teams that want to become high-performing need to understand what the most important needs of their members are, then develop a process and plan for ensuring their satisfaction.  The creation of balance between organizational and individual needs is critical for purpose fulfillment.

	OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this task is to help you learn from experience how to identify your individual needs and those of the members of your team and develop processes for satisfying those needs, while at the same time fulfilling your team’s primary purpose.

	DESIRED OUTCOMES

!	A better understanding of your own individual needs, as well as the key needs of your teammates.

!	Conclusions about how well your individual needs and those of the team are currently being satisfied.

!	Guidelines or processes for functioning as a team that will increase the level of member satisfaction.

!	A means of helping members of the other teams, based on what your team learned from performing this task.
(Each team will be allotted up to 10 minutes for this purpose at the beginning of the next general session.)

	SUGGESTIONS

Before you begin working, reach agreement as to the task’s objective and the desired outcomes that are expected.  Once this is done, design a process for accomplishing the objective and producing the desired outcomes.  The following are suggestions you and your team may wish to consider:

!	Take a few minutes to glance over the material in this section.

!	Individually develop a list of conditions that contribute to your personal effectiveness and well being.  These should be based on real experiences.  The page “Conditions  for Satisfying Individual Needs” can be used to facilitate this process.

!	Working alone, list four or five recent experiences or projects which made you feel highly energized and effective.  Reflect on each experience, trying to identify what generated these feelings—which important individual needs were being satisfied?  Below is a list of some common needs which you might find helpful.

COMMON POSITIVE NEEDS

	having power	feeling supported
	feeling appreciated	being competent
	being active	being involved
	feeling accepted	feeling secure
	being certain	being fairly treated
	being free to choose	being in control
	being valued	being respected
	being understood	being liked
	being included	achieving things

!	On the basis of your conclusions about your individual needs and their relative priorities, write a short paragraph on the form entitled “IDENTIFYING KEY INDIVIDUAL NEEDS,” that begins with “If I am to be energized, effective, and high-performing when working with others, I need to feel...”

!	Repeat the process, this time identifying and analyzing three or four experiences which caused you to feel frustrated and/or experience low energy and negative feelings.  The  following is a list of some common “negative” feelings and needs which you may find useful.

COMMON NEGATIVE NEEDS

	feeling powerless	feeling controlled
	feeling regimented	feeling helpless
	being manipulated	being ignored
	not being valued	feeling misunderstood
	being blamed	being negatively judged
	feeling excluded	feeling rejected
	feeling insecure	being treated unfairly
	feeling uncertain	feeling anxious

!	Once again on the form provided, write a short paragraph that begins with “If I am to be energized, effective and high-performing when working with others, I need to  avoid...”

!	Share your information with the entire team, then working together, interview each member to understand what they really want or need from the team in return for contributing their talents and energy toward the accomplishment of the team’s purpose and objectives.  Consider the following:

a)	What they believe their most important needs are.
b)	The reasons for their conclusions.
c)	Whether or not they feel their needs are being adequately satisfied by the way your team has been functioning and why.
d)	What changes should be made in the way your team is functioning to help them better satisfy their needs.

!	After all members have shared, develop a processor set of guidelines your team will follow to ensure the continued satisfaction of important individual member needs.

IDENTIFYING AND SATISFYING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

“Get to know your people.  What they do well, what they enjoy doing, what their weaknesses and strengths are, and what they want and need to get from their job.  And then try to create an organization around your people, not just your people into those organization-chart rectangles.  Organizations work when they maximize the chance that each one working with others, will get growth in his job.”

“And look at the rewards we’re offering our people today: higher wages, medical benefits, vacations, pensions, profit sharing, gymnasiums, swimming pools, bowling, and baseball teams.  Not one can be enjoyed on the job.  You’ve got to leave work, get sick, or retire first.  No wonder people aren’t having fun on the job.”

—Robert Townsend,  Further Up the Organization

I
ndividuals are the focal center of our working systems.  They provide the vitality and creativity to take technology and make it do more, do better, and go beyond its design.  Understanding how to unlock this potential, knowing what inspires them to greatness, to innovate, to dedicate and commit is an essential element of high performance.

To recap—in building a unique process for individual needs, we need to identify and clarify the needs of our team members, understand what it takes to satisfy those needs in the work setting, and commit to team actions which will promote individual and team growth.

	IDENTIFYING KEY INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

One way to identify your Key Individual Needs is to recall and describe your own experiences in a variety of situations and identify key need satisfactions related to them.  On the next page is a worksheet that you can use to help you do this.

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS

If I am to be energized and effective when working with others, I need to feel...

If I am to be energized, effective, and high performing when working with others, I need to avoid...

SATISFYING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
WHAT WE WANT OR AVOID

Most individuals want and need to:

	-feel influential
	-have freedom to decide and act
	-have some control over what happens
	-feel valued, respected
	-be understood
	-be well informed
	-be praised, credited
	-be competent
	-be active, involved
	-be accepted
	-feel secure, safe
	-receive just treatment, fairness
	-feel stimulated

Most individuals want to avoid feelings of being:

	-powerless
	-controlled, regimented
	-helpless, manipulated
	-ignored, not valued
	-misunderstood
	-ignorant
	-blamed, criticized
	-incompetent
	-left out
	-rejected
	-insecure
	-unfairly treated
	-bored

	SATISFYING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

The following are some organizational conditions that contribute to the satisfaction of interests and needs of the individual members of an organization:

Adequate and fair compensation
-meets personal standards of sufficiency
			-perceived as fair when compared with what others receive

Safe and comfortable working conditions
			-reasonable hours
			-minimum risk of injury or illness
			-reasonably comfortable physical surroundings

	Immediate opportunities to develop and use personal capacities
			-exercise of wide range of skills
			-adequate, timely information
			-opportunities to learn new skills, to gain new knowledge
-opportunities to choose courses of action, to make decisions
-opportunities to develop and execute plans
			-opportunities to do meaningful work

	Future opportunities for growth, advancement
			-current activities can lead to more desirable activities
			 (and rewards) in the future

	Social acceptance and support
			-relative freedom from prejudice
			-considered equal, not inferior to others
			-cooperative relationships
			-work role that is meaningful

	Recognition of individual rights
			-freedom to state views without fear of punishment or reprisal
			-fair treatment with regard to pay, privileges, job security, rules, policies
			-recognition of right to personal privacy in non-work related matters

	Balance between work and non-work demands on personal time
-work schedule allows adequate leisure and family time
-work schedules consistent with preferred life style

Social prestige of job and Company
-“society” values the Company and its procedures			
			-“society” approves the work role

“GROW UP!”

Eight Stages of Individual And Team Growth

T
he eight stages of individual development (Elkind, 1970; Erickson, 1963) continue throughout our entire life cycle and reappear whenever an individual is thrown into new situations that are both challenging and threatening, i.e., promotions, transfers, or joining a new team.  These stages of development are relevant to the work situation when one considers that the team, as well as the organization, has an influence over how a working adult comes to terms with self and others.  Assessing maturity begins with team members themselves understanding their own personal growth and development needs within the team.  How well they have made the following shifts will greatly impact their performance as a team member, as well as the team’s overall performance.

Trust - from Mistrust to Trust.  Building mutual trust is essential.  The degree to which team members trust one another depends largely on the care and support they receive from their fellow team members.  However, when care and support are non-existent or sporadic, an attitude of fear and suspicion prevails and leads to basic mistrust.  This can occur within a team or between teams and the organization, and can arise at any stage of development.

Autonomy - from Suspicion to Autonomy and Self-Control.  Team members want to have a sense of autonomy—to do things for themselves when they have the capability and skills to do them.  The degree to which fellow team members and their leaders allow them to act independently develops the sense of self-control and autonomy.  However, if fellow team members and superiors continue to act for them, members will retain a sense of doubt.  It should be noted; however, that too much autonomy can be just as harmful as too little.  Giving individuals or teams a task which they are not equipped to handle (due to lack of knowledge or skills) can be just as detrimental as doing it for them.  Doing it with them, on the other hand, will develop their skills to allow independent action in the future.

Initiative - from Doubt to Initiative.  The manner in which team members’ initiatives are viewed by others either encourages them to freely contribute or makes them feel hesitant and uncommitted.  This lack of mutual support can develop a sense of doubt and guilt concerning self-initiated activities or suggestions.  Differences will not be shared and resolved; team product acceptance and support will be hindered.  The extent to which team members take on new tasks and activities can be greatly influenced and enhanced by how others respond to their inquiring questions.  If ignored, cut short, or ridiculed, new initiatives will become fewer and fewer.

Accomplishment - from Inferiority to Accomplishment.  If team members are encouraged to take on and complete projects and are rewarded for results, then the sense of accomplishment and industry will grow and develop.  But if the efforts are overly criticized, the result can be an increased sense of inferiority.  The core of self-esteem is accomplishment through difficult, sustained effort.  Each defeat or the taking of the easy path deteriorates the individual’s self-concept.

Identity - from Role Confusion to Identity.  New team members need to bring together their past experiences and learning and integrate them with the needs of the team and fellow members.  The extent of the integration of individuals with fellow team members’ strengths and weaknesses builds a sense of identity, a sense of who they are, where they have been, and where they are going.  The varied background and experiences create a diversity of opinion.  These differences can create conflict between members if not resolved openly as a team and viewed as helpful and essential to synergism.  The degree to which the previous four stages have developed greatly influences the team and its individual members’ sense of identity.

Intimacy - from Isolation to Intimacy.  The ability of individual team members to care about one another without the fear of losing their own identities develops intimacy.  If individuals fail to establish sharing and caring relationships, the result is a sense of distance and isolation from fellow team members.  Intimacy is essential to real support and encouragement.  Team members that have worked with each other under difficult and stressful circumstances develop a strong commitment to each other that embodies this sense of intimacy.

Wholeness - from Self-Centeredness to Wholeness.  When team members are preoccupied by their own needs and comforts, as opposed to being concerned about the larger system and its members, survival and growth are threatened.  Team members who fail to establish a sense of wholeness fall into a state of stagnation where personal needs and wants are more important than the needs of the team.  The team must be viewed as an integrated system whose very survival and success is dependent on the integration of its parts.  Team synergy can only be realized through involvement of each team member.  Team members need to grow together through the team’s goal attainment processes, doing whatever needs to get done for the team and the larger whole.

Integrity - from Despair to Integrity.  A sense of integrity develops over time when individual team members can look back with satisfaction and know that he or she has cared for others while doing the things needed for the team and the organization.  Growth comes in learning to adapt to the tough trials and victories of the team.  The other extreme is looking back upon the time with the team and organization as a number of missed opportunities; feeling that it’s too late.  Such feelings lead to disgust and disgust hides despair.  To reach a satisfactory level of maturity and wisdom, an individual needs to develop through the previous seven growth stages, gaining the ability to respect and recognize the quality and uniqueness of others.  Members of a successful team truly integrate their strengths and weaknesses and are willing to actively participate in doing whatever needs to get done for the whole, as well as accepting leadership responsibility when it’s required.
The level of integrity versus despair within a team and an organization can really manifest itself in how individuals are treated and treat each other during highly emotionally-charged situations (i.e., discipline, reductions, demotions, promotions, deselection, etc.).  During these times, an individual’s sense of worth and previous work contributions can either build integrity or result in a feeling of injustice and despair.

Regardless of how an organization or team approaches these issues of individual growth and maturity, one must recognize that they are individual.  Each team member is unique and brings his or her own history of preferences, strengths, and weaknesses.  These differences in experience help define and build the team culture.  They provide the diversity essential to creativity.  In building a team, each member needs to be provided the opportunity to be his or her own person, contributing to the larger whole.  This can take on as many different forms as the team has different individuals with different backgrounds.  Some team members may prefer to be specifically directed and guided in their activities, while others may wish to receive only general direction.  Some members enjoy subgroup or team problem solving activities, while other members may enjoy working alone on certain types of tasks.  Team members can learn to accommodate these differences within their group by providing work assignments that match individual preferences.  The organizational design needs to handle this diversity by allowing the teams to organize how they wish to accomplish what gets done.  This approach will lead to consistency in purpose and product (what gets done), while allowing the teams and their members to select the norms and patterns of work life they prefer.

Individuals who have learned to grow and mature by integrating these differences will be better team members and people.  Their lives will be more effectively disciplined through principles and values, not situations.  Members come to realize that while the team provided support and strength, it only enabled them to use what each already had.  Individuals now can continue to empower themselves and others.  The Individual Maturity Index can assist individuals in evaluating themselves.  Sharing their results with fellow team members can help them validate and confirm their results.  Discussing personal needs and wants in this way provides team members with a vehicle for integrating differences, while building new norms, understandings, and expectations of each other.

INDIVIDUAL MATURITY INDEX

INSTRUCTIONS:  Circle the number on each of the eight scales that best reflects your own level of development within your team environment.  Then list any actual examples of instances that aided or inhibited your growth.

1)	Trust				0     1     2     3     4     5

2)	Autonomy			0     1     2     3     4     5

3)	Initiative			0     1     2     3     4     5

4)	Accomplishment			0     1     2     3     4     5

5)	Identity				0     1     2     3     4     5

6)	Intimacy			0     1     2     3     4     5

7)	Wholeness			0     1     2     3     4     5

8)	Integrity			0     1     2     3     4     5

INDIVIDUAL/TEAM GROWTH
QUESTIONNAIRE

INSTRUCTIONS:  Decide first the degree or extent to which each characteristic applies to you.  Then, based on your first answer, decide what result or impact your behavior has for the team.

Team Characteristics

Degree/Extent
Lo_________Hi
Result/Impact
Neg_______Pos
Mutual Trust.  I can state my views and differences without fear of ridicule or retaliation.  I encourage others to do the same.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Mutual Support.  I can obtain help from others on the team and give help to them.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Openness.  I can say what I feel and how I am reacting, knowing the team is listening.  I listen and try to understand other team members.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Team Objectives.  No objective will be assumed by the team until it is clearly understood by all members.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Conflict Resolution.  I accept conflicts as necessary and desirable.  I don’t suppress them or pretend they don’t exist.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Utilization of Member Resources.  My individual abilities, knowledge, and experience are fully utilized by the team, and I use those of other members.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Control Methods.  I accept the responsibility for keeping discussions relevant and for the integrity of the team operation.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Individual Diversity.  I respect individual differences.  I don’t push others to conform to central ideas or ways of thinking.
     1-2-3-4-5
     1-2-3-4-5

Feedback.  I accept and give advice, counsel, and support to others while recognizing individual accountability and specialization.	
     1-2-3-4-5 
     1-2-3-4-5 

LEARNING JOURNAL
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

Teaming Skills and Learning Checklist

(Check the areas in which you excelled)
(Circle the areas you wish to improve in next session)
	Growth Values

Empathy

Authenticity

Spontaneity

Courage

Open-Mindedness

Intuition

Teaming Skills

Meeting Effectiveness

Brainstorming

Problem Solving

Planning/Organizing

Decision Making

Assessing Results

Conflict Resolution

Giving Feedback

Receiving Feedback

Decisiveness

1.	What did I learn most around Growth Values and Teaming Skills:

2.	What I experienced about my team’s interest and involvement in helping me meet my needs was:

3.	What I felt about my role in helping other team members fulfill their needs was:

4.	The most important linkages between individual needs and team performance are...

5.	The things I learned that I most want to be able to use back home are: