Answers to Questions on Managing and Developing Teams Essay

1 – Measure the effectivity of the administration and of ego in pull offing persons to accomplish organizational ends and aims

Measure the effectivity of pull offing persons in your ain administration to accomplish organizational ends and aims by making the followers:

Measuring the effectivity of the administration in pull offing persons to accomplish its declared ends and aims

The chief method used by my administration to pull off persons is assessments. These can take the signifier of regular monthly reappraisals or quarterly / six-monthly assessments, depending on the person ‘s section. For illustration, Gross saless agents receive monthly reappraisals while the Contract Administrator is reviewed every six months ( the IT Technician is merely reviewed yearly ) .The three chief intents of our assessments are to reexamine past public presentation, to assist better current public presentation, and to put future public presentation aims. A 4th aim besides exists, to measure development demands, but this is non considered to be every bit of import as the first three so is given really small attending during assessments.In reexamining the effectivity of my administration in its usage of assessments, I ‘ve considered Bernardin ‘s [ 1 ] premises about the general assessment system, and related them to my administration as follows:1 – The line director is non merely the best beginning of information on an employee ‘s public presentation, but is a sufficient beginning of information as good.

The manner my administration conducts assessments tends to hold with this statement. The line director reexamining the public presentation will frequently garner other beginnings of informations ( such as statistics on calls and gross revenues ) , but does n’t really confer with with anyone else before fixing the assessment.In some ways I agree with this statement, as other than the line director, who else would be a better beginning of information? There will of class be other beginnings, such as co-workers or other directors who may hold observed some behavior, or even the single themselves for accounts or elucidation, but of all these people certainly the line director should still be the best beginning. However, to state that the line director is a sufficient beginning is non needfully true, as the other persons mentioned supra may hold valuable information to be considered.2 – Appraisals must be kept every bit simple as possible so that they do non interfere with the most of import responsibilities of the line director.This statement is non true of my administration as the assessments tend to be rather elaborate and cover as many facets of public presentation as possible ( particularly for those persons in the Gross saless squad who have a big figure of KPI marks ) .

I besides disagree with the statement and think that my administration has the right position, as certainly measuring staff is one of the most of import responsibilities of a line director.3 – Appraisals should be done every six months or one time a twelvemonth.My administration ‘s position of assessments wholly agrees with this statement. Merely the Gross saless squad presently have monthly reappraisals, and the Contract Manager is petitioning the remainder of the direction ream to cut down these to quarterly. Other sections are already on six-monthly reappraisals, with several persons ( Paul, Dave and Mel ) on one-year reappraisals. However, this may in fact be due to my director ‘s ain personal disfavor of carry oning public presentation reappraisals instead than it being a echt concern consideration.I wholly disagree with the premiss and with my administration ‘s attack. It wholly contradicts the rules of identifying and covering with jobs early, and on a regular basis reenforcing good public presentation.

Besides, acquiring feedback on something done 11 months before has perfectly no significance for the single involved.4 – The rater can accurately remember each employee ‘s public presentation over a long period of clip.As with the old statement, my administration ( or possibly more specifically the Contract Manager ) advocates this premiss, and believes that every bit long as some kind of regular journal is kept, there should be no job in remembering events up to a twelvemonth subsequently.Again I wholly disagree.

There ‘s a monolithic difference between merely copying an old diary entry into a reappraisal and really being able to to the full retrieve the exact inside informations so that a proper treatment can take topographic point.5 – Appraisals should be done on single public presentation instead than on work units or groups.This is a assorted statement for my administration as being a sales-focussed call Centre means that most public presentation is so down to the person.

In the past certain standards of Gross saless agent reappraisals ( such as the figure of calls and gross revenues ) were reviewed against those of other squad members ( taking the call-centre or squad norm as a benchmark ) , but this is no longer the instance. However, where other ( non-Sales ) persons are involved in squads, the overall public presentation of the squad is usually considered when carry oning assessments ( such as in the squads involved in the Relocation undertaking or the ISDN-Reconfiguration undertaking ) .I believe that my administration is utilizing the right attack, as wherever squads are involved, the overall squad public presentation has to be a consideration.

Rating merely the public presentation of the persons involved detracts from the group as a whole, and may take to inter-competition development, ensuing in a less cohesive squad.6 – A appreciation of an employee ‘s overall or mean degree of public presentation is sufficient.This statement is non true in relation to my administration, as reappraisals and assessments are rather elaborate, as already stated. Even the longer-term ( one-year ) assessments have detailed ends and aims.Again I think that my administration has this correct and the above premiss is flawed, every bit certainly as many facets of an person ‘s public presentation as possible are necessary to accurately measure them.7 – All raters are motivated to rate accurately.

This statement is decidedly non true in relation to my administration. An obvious illustration involves supervisors who are themselves reviewed on their ain squad ‘s overall public presentation. I ‘ve seen Simon and Mandi give their squad members really favorable tonss during call-monitoring, when clearly some of the cardinal countries of the call have non been met.

They have besides been lenient in other countries ( that are n’t taken straight from statistical studies ) , such as promptness. This pattern is non merely limited to supervisors, as directors have a contractual involvement in sections making good, so may be inclined to underscore good public presentation while maneuvering off from hapless public presentation. An illustration of this is Lynne describing to our client on sales-errors and deliberately excluding any that fall into a certain standards ( such as ‘in-dispute ‘ ) so that figures hit KPI ‘s.I may non hold with the moralss of this pattern, but I do hold that the manner in which my administration operates is likely duplicated in many other administrations. The initial premiss that ‘all raters are motivated to rate accurately ‘ is far excessively confining and so is merely non true.8 – Raters can accurately judge the potency of employees.This statement implies that an person ‘s line director should be responsible for make up one’s minding what future undertakings or undertakings the person may be suited for. On the whole I do n’t believe my administration supports this premiss, as responsibilities are assigned on the footing of past public presentation, non future speculation.

However, I besides think that certain section caputs ( in specific the Contract Manager and Customer Services Manager ) may hold been guilty of making precisely this, and have overlooked persons based on their ain intestine feelings.Personally I do n’t hold with the statement, as even though raters may be able to surmise what an person may or may non be suited for, that would merely be their sentiment, and could non perchance be accurate.It has already been stated that my administration ‘s assessments have multiple intents, but do they all get met? There is a danger that holding excessively many aims in one individual reexamining method means that none of them end up being served good. In my administration ‘s instance, I believe that the three chief aims are all met as they are all based on the same thing ( reexamining past public presentation, bettering current public presentation and puting public presentation aims ) . However, the 4th aim to measure development demands is really low on the referee ‘s precedences, so is rather frequently non met at all.Randell, Packard and Slater [ 2 ] suggest that holding multiple intents in an assessment may take to a struggle of involvements by those set abouting the procedure, and propose dividing the assessment into three separate reappraisals for public presentation, possible and wages. I think this could work in my administration, as the jobs associated with the reappraisal being excessively biased on public presentation would be eliminated by holding a separate reappraisal that has nil at all to make with public presentation. The chief disadvantage of this method is the monolithic clip deductions it would hold for the referee.

Another suggested betterment would be to present other procedures that are ongoing instead than merely taking topographic point every six months. An illustration would be uninterrupted support of good behavior ( detailed in the following subdivision of this assignment ) .Finally, the effectual direction of persons to accomplish organizational ends is wholly dependent on the administration ‘s committedness to the assessment procedure, and on how earnestly the directors take its execution. If I consider the common jobs highlighted by Williams [ 3 ] in his assessment of pull offing employee public presentation, I would pick the undermentioned points from his list and suggest that my administration is frequently guilty of them:Emphasis on the past clangs with managerial penchant for current public presentationNo organizational committedness to appraisal procedure ( ‘paper exercising ‘ )Conducting of assessment non reinforced ( e.g. no wagess for directors that carry out assessments scrupulously )Appraisals non declared an of import managerial mapLack of equal cognition of appraisee ‘s occupationFailure to recognize first-class public presentationFailure to recognize possibleFailure to construct accomplishments through preparationNote, this may look to be rather a big figure of weaknesss, but Williams ‘s existent list is far more comprehensive than this.

Analyzing ain ability to pull off persons to accomplish organizational ends and aims

As a member of the direction squad I use the administration ‘s assessment system on a regular footing. I try to supply as much counsel as possible and do a peculiar attempt sing farther development and preparation demands, as I ‘m cognizant that the reviewing procedure is missing in this country.

However, I ‘m besides cognizant that I have my ain restrictions as good. Many of the employees I have limited contact with due to our geographical locations within the administration, and even those people within my locality ca n’t be observed all of the clip, so the assessments I give may in fact be based on merely a partial position of their overall public presentation. Furthermore, as I ‘m non responsible for reexamining the Gross saless squad ( where public presentation can be measured against really specific statistical factors ) I tend to rate attempt and general behavior, seting an accent on how the consequences are achieved instead than the existent consequences.One facet of pull offing persons that I am good at is the construct of pull offing daily public presentation. This is an country in which the administration is missing, as its accent is on formal assessments, but I find that continually supervising public presentation ( and giving instant feedback ) means that there are no surprises during the existent formal assessments.

The basic construct is that, by steering staff in a less formal capacity, undertakings are non merely completed but are done good. By continuously making this I find that the scheduled formal reappraisals are a batch more straightforward as all of the subjects will hold already been discussed at an earlier clip.In pull offing daily public presentation, the one method I find most utile is the construct of reenforcing good public presentation.Persons work hard to make their aims, so it ‘s reassuring if they can see that I ‘ve noticed the attempt. Peoples like to hear congratulations for a occupation done good and they want to cognize that I recognise their good work, so as I ‘m in a place to make this ( being a director ) , I can recognize the people who, for illustration, manage a peculiarly hard state of affairs good, take the enterprise to happen a better manner of making their occupation, or make anything that warrants peculiar positive attending.

Support is a calculated attempt by me to praise specific actions or consequences, and is really easy to present, as while fillips ( or pay rises etc ) may be out of my control, congratulations costs nil. Admiting good work can assist to find future public presentation, as it ‘s a manner to guarantee effectual public presentation is n’t a one-time-only event. Furthermore, recognizing merely hapless public presentation can be corrupting, while recognizing both good and bad can be seen as just ( doing it easier to cover with hapless public presentation should it originate ) .I find that the most of import thing when giving congratulations is to make so every bit shortly as possible after the event, doing it far more effectual. Below is a recent illustration of how I ‘ve done this with an person on my squad, split into the five critical stairss of reenforcing good public presentation:1 – Introduce the subject of good public presentation.I took Peter aside and informed him that I was cognizant of his work sing the administration ‘s staff programming issues.

Peter had used a originative attack utilizing Excel and Access, and had come up with a far more efficient solution, which he so explained to the person responsible for staff programming.2 – Praise the employee and highlight positive points.I praised Peter ‘s method and solution, every bit good as his aptitude for believing outside the box. I recognised that the new system put the demands of the concern above those of any one person, and I besides acknowledged his altruism, as non merely had he put out to happen his solution without being asked, but he had besides expected no acknowledgment for the consequences, being content to merely go through his work on to the individual responsible.3 – Explain how the good public presentation benefits the person, section or administration as a whole.

I pointed out to Peter that he should experience an tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment, and went on to foreground that our whole squad had been thanked for its ‘creativity ‘ , doing us all look good within the administration. I besides pointed out that everyone would now profit from the more efficient programming system.4 – Ask the employee to notice and listen to their account.Peter modestly explained that he ‘d merely had an thought that he ‘d decided to run with, and truly did n’t believe it would be such a large trade. But he was highly happy with the result and really thankful for the recognition.5 – Thank the employee and promote repeat of the good public presentation.I finished the treatment by once more thanking Peter for his part, and I assured him that any future good work of this sort would non be overlooked.

2 – Develop and lead squads

Explain how you could develop, lead and measure your squad by making the followers:

Explaining the importance of way and values in making effectual squads

The chief difference between a group and a squad is the construct of shared common ends.

Any group of persons given the undertaking of working together toward a individual result could be considered a squad. However, in order for the members of the squad to successfully accomplish their end ( s ) , there needs to be consensus as to what those ends really are and what methods are appropriate in order to accomplish them.When making a squad it ‘s critical to clear up from the beginning exactly what that squad ‘s ultimate end is, i.e. set up its intent. This intent can so be further drilled-down by set uping several major maps and aims, such as:Distribution and direction of workProblem work outingDecision devisingCoordination and affairInformation processingConflict declarationThe usage of the administration ‘s mission statement or company vision is frequently critical at this phase as they communicate both the intent and values of the administration, and supply way about how persons are expected to act. By set uping unequivocal aims and boundaries from the start, the squad will hold a really clear way. This means that each member of the squad will be clear about the overall vision, mission and scheme, and the squad will work far more efficaciously by holding everyone focusing in the same way.

The values of a squad provide common land for its overall civilization, and enable squad members to work together more cohesively. Valuess are the rules that the squad adheres to ( and may once more stem from company value statements ) . Having shared values provides a footing for effectual teamwork. Having persons that do n’t hold with the overall values could do the squad less cohesive and hence affect overall public presentation ( although holding a squad of persons with different values could bring forth treatment around those values, and may in fact lead to new ways of nearing jobs ) .

Explaining the application of one recognized theory of motive to teams in ain country of operation

In looking at the assorted motivational techniques available, I decided to see Maslow ‘s Hierarchy of Needs [ 4 ] in more item.The theory provinces that all persons have basic demands and desires, and that some of these are more of import than others. Maslow ‘s hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to carry through their most basic demands first earlier traveling on to other demands.

Obviously we all have a really basic demand to eat, kip, etc, but one time those demands have been catered for, what do we see our following demand to be?Psychologicalself-pride, assurance,accomplishment, regard of others,regard by othersmorality,creativeness,spontaneousness,job resolution,deficiency of bias,credence of factsfriendly relationship, household, sexual familiaritysecurity of organic structure, of employment, of resources,of morality, of the household, of wellness, of belongingsexternal respiration, nutrient, H2O, sex, slumber, homeostasis, eliminationSelf-actualisationEsteemLove / BelongingSafetyMaslow set out a list of demands in the signifier of a pyramid, with the most cardinal at the underside and more aspirational demands at the top. The pyramid itself is so broken down into classs. The basic premiss is that an person should get down at the underside and seek to accomplish those demands set out in the first class, i.e. acquire the foundations right foremost.

Once these demands have been met, the person can so work up to the following degree and reference those demands.The theory should work as a motivational tool for most people, as one time a demand is satisfied, the following degree emerges as a incentive.But how would this method work in relation to my ain administration? The key would be in easing a move to the following degree, i.e. supplying a manner for persons to accomplish realization of a current demand and a method to near the following demand. To carry through this I would propose the undermentioned tools:Fix a questionnaire based on the demands highlighted in Maslow ‘s theoretical account to estimate where members of the squad presently sit in the pyramid ( or more accurately, where they think they sit ) .By manner of a similar method ( such as another questionnaire ) , effort to happen out where the squad members would wish to be, i.

e. what are their aspirations, ends.Conduct a full and blunt treatment with single squad members about their ends. Do they hold any long term ultimate ends, what are their short term ends?Fix a personal development program with really specific short term ends and more general long term ends. Where possible the PDP should be in line with concern ends, but marks that have nil to make with the concern ( such as on a personal degree ) could besides be appropriate.Suggest assorted exercisings or workshops for bettering ego assurance, every bit good as assisting with any other ‘esteem ‘ based demands.

Promoting out of work activities would besides assist with many of the above demands. For illustration, possibly we could happen a manner to supplement gym rank.The 2nd point is quite an of import 1, as assisting to carry through demands and actuating people to work towards farther demands is non appropriate to everyone. Many people may be content where they are and may non appreciate the added ‘pressure ‘ of traveling onwards and upwards. The point about puting short term ends is besides of import, as tonss of short term ‘achievements ‘ are themselves motivational, and will assist with long term ends.However, there are many defects with utilizing this theory as a method to actuate my squad:As already mentioned, it may non be appropriate to everyone. Does the theoretical account reflect how the bulk of workers are motivated or merely ambitious 1s?We can merely truly concentrate on assisting to accomplish work-related demands, but certainly a batch of demands fall outside of work.

Some people may gain self-actualisation by merely passing more clip with their household.Once a demand has been satisfied, how long will it last? Are we merely carry throughing demands on a impermanent footing? If this is the instance, certainly the application of the theoretical account will hold to go on indefinitely.Based on the replies given in their questionnaires, do the members of my squad sit at a peculiar degree of the pyramid, or will they be seeking to carry through demands from multiple degrees at the same clip?Even though there are obvious drawbacks to utilizing this theoretical account, I still think it could work as a motivational technique. It ‘s really simplistic and easy to place with, as everyone has a certain sum of basic demand to carry through.

Explaining the techniques used to measure the squad ‘s public presentation

We ‘ve already examined some of the techniques used to measure single public presentation, but what about measuring the squad as a whole?Any squad appraisal requires certain standards to be set against which the squad can be evaluated.

The most appropriate clip for puting such criterions is when the squad is foremost assembled and the initial ends and aims are set. Equally long as we ‘ve set the squad ‘s intent and way, we should be able to rate existent public presentation against these steps. Specific standards will depend on these specific ends, but we could mensurate such things as clip taken to accomplish marks, sum of work backlog, client satisfaction evaluation, quality of meetings ( from proceedingss ) , assignments completed, advancement against overall end, etc. Good squad public presentation could be viewed as being in line with the overall squad end and way.

One job in measuring a squad is that non all marks are immediately accomplishable, and there are other elements of good teamwork that are far more subjective, such as ‘the effectivity of team meetings ‘ or ‘open and honest communicating ‘ . But even these elements can be decently evaluated if a suited system is set up from the beginning, such as the following tabular array which I use on my ain squad:

The Effectiveness of Team Meetings

Rate the squad out of four. Give one point for each component where you ‘re satisfied that…meetings are exhaustively planned in progress and all meetings have a decently prepared docketmeetings are conducted by a president who keeps the meeting traveling at an acceptable gait, and proceedingss are decently recorded by an appointed note-takermembers of the squad give meetings their full attending and are willing to pick up any action points as neededmeetings go some manner to accomplishing their aims ( where possible ) and are concluded with a reappraisal of action points and a bill of exchange docket for any needed follow-up meeting

Open and Honest Communication.

Rate the squad out of four. Give one point for each component where you ‘re satisfied that all squad members…are comfy showing their positions and are willing to hear the positions of all other squad memberscommunicate openly and candidly with each other, and promote all other squad members to be unfastened and honestare comfy supplying feedback on each other ‘s public presentationacknowledge any possible struggle that may originate and work together to work out it instead than disregard itWhen sing the public presentation of the squad as a whole, one other factor for deliberation is the squad ‘s effectivity. An appropriate method for making this is to see the traits of effectual and uneffective squads as characterised by McGregor [ 5 ] .The method involves transporting out an ‘intuitive ‘ audit ( i.e.

based on nil more than the hearer ‘s feelings and sentiments ) , and evaluation the squad against each trait in McGregor ‘s list, merely saying whether or non the trait is a strength of the squad, happens on occasion, or is wholly absent.If the squad is executing peculiarly good so the bulk of the effectual traits should be rated as strengths, while most of the uneffective traits should be absent. Given that the bulk of squads will likely expose a broad mix of traits, a list of the most major strengths and failings could be compiled to foreground the countries in which the squad is executing good and those countries that are of concern. An overall squad action program can so be prepared to turn to any issues.For illustration, if I use McGregor ‘s list to look at a squad of which I ‘m a member ( the direction squad ) , I would pull the undermentioned decisions:Biggest strengthsAbsent traitsEffective Team TraitsInformal, relaxed, engagement and involvementLeadership function taken by most appropriate individualTonss of discourse, high partConstructive unfavorable judgmentFrequent reappraisal of group operationsIneffective Team TraitsFeelingss suppressedNot much concern about group lacksLack of consciousness of determinations, ill-defined assignmentsDomination by few, parts frequently lack relevancy( Items in italics are the countries of concern )

Reviewing ain ability to develop and take squads

As portion of my attempts to develop the squads that I manage, one technique I adopt is to admit that squads tend to go through through four recognizable phases as they develop into a smooth-running unit. These phases were identified in 1965 by Bruce Tuckman as forming, ramping, norming and executing. As portion of developing a squad, I try to maintain these phases in head and effort to take appropriate action to steer the squad from one phase to the following.The followers is a really brief sum-up of each phase and what I usually do to promote my squad to travel through it:FormingIn the freshly established squad, members tend to be really polite and guarded in what they say, as if they ‘re proving each other out.

This phase is all about the squad members seeking to set up appropriate behaviors, and will see people concentrating on the undertaking at manus and how to make it. Leadership roles wo n’t hold been established.In order to guarantee that my squad is at this initial phase for as short a clip as possible I try to acquire an thought of their single behaviors really early on, frequently by speaking to them before the work begins to discourse their ideas on the squad, on what we ‘re seeking to make, and on how they prefer to work.

Once the squad is together I use simple ‘ice-breakers ‘ and squad edifice exercisings to acquire everyone pass oning. I besides try to instil the importance of squad values and way ( as discussed earlier ) , so that everyone is traveling in the right way from the really start.RampingIt ‘s at this phase that team members tend to expose the most opposition ( to command, to group influence, emotional opposition ) .

Each individual may show their sentiments on personalities and methods, and will emphasize their single demands as they test the boundaries of their functions.I find that cognizing this phase is coming is a great aid in traveling through it rapidly, as I can expect where the most opposition will come from and turn to it before it escalates. I encourage full and blunt treatment and invite squad members to dispute what ‘s proposed so that boundaries can so be tested and so acknowledged.NormingBy this phase the land regulations should hold been established and the squad should be a batch more cohesive. A group individuality should hold emerged and the squad will be given to hold a more unfastened exchange of positions.

This is the phase I find the most hard to travel through every bit squad members are a batch more comfy in their functions and may non be inclined to ‘rise to the challenge ‘ , which is basically the concluding phase. I usually try to use a spot more force per unit area to the squad and force them to accomplish undertakings ( as accomplishment is a signifier of motive ) . I ‘ll besides seek to advance more societal interaction as a manner of promoting them to back up each other. In the past I ‘ve so tested this by throwing in a new ‘unexpected challenge ‘ that requires the squad to come together to carry through something ‘urgent ‘ ( such as an of import piece of work with a really short deadline ) . Possibly surprisingly this has really worked for me, and it could about be considered the ‘final trial ‘ for the squad traveling into the last phase.PerformingThe concluding phase is where consequences tend to be achieved as the societal functions should be good established and the energy of the squad is channelled into the occupation. Team members tend to be tolerant, flexible and more supportive of each other.

Geting through all of the above phases to make this concluding 1 may look like a challenge, but it ‘s deserving retrieving that Tuckman identified that squads of course move through these phases anyhow. The lone challenge is in recognizing what phase the squad is at and seeking to travel rapidly the procedure along a spot faster.

satisfaction

public presentation

coherence

Another country of squad development to see is the thought of squad coherence. The basic premiss is that by doing the squad every bit cohesive as possible, the overall public presentation of the squad will be improved.

Good public presentation will so take to a higher sense of occupation satisfaction, which in bend will ensue in a more cohesive squad.Unfortunately my ain ability in this country has proved to be rather hapless. When seeking to do a squad every bit cohesive as possible there are five factors to see, as demonstrated by the undermentioned illustration of a squad that I ‘ve managed in the yesteryear:1 – Team sizeIn my ‘criteria re-evaluation squad ‘ I had eight persons, one to research and stand for each facet of the call Centre ‘s salary standards matrix. This squad was excessively big, as I found that persons split into smaller informal sub-groups, each with their ain societal coherence. A smaller squad would hold been more appropriate ( possibly four, five at the most ) , as each member would hold the chance to acquire to cognize and interact with every other member.2 – Equivalent position of squad membersMy squad was largely made up of Customer Services forces, with two of them being supervisors ( but non in relation to the squad ) . However, the supervisors automatically ‘assumed ‘ a leading function, which created an unofficial ‘hierarchy ‘ . Those at the underside of the hierarchy rapidly became resentful of those at the top.

This could hold been avoided had everyone been of equal or similar position.3 – Stability of squad rankAs coherence takes clip to develop, more stable squads tend to be more cohesive. An single departure could take something off from the squad ( such as a peculiar accomplishment ) while the add-on of person new could convey something unexpected, such as a new personality that does n’t incorporate every bit good with the remainder of the squad. In my squad this was n’t really a job as all eight members were present for the full continuance of the undertaking.4 – Individual ‘s personalitiesWithin my squad, those persons with similar involvements tended to lodge together and back each other up as informal ‘cliques ‘ developed ( as stated in ‘team size ‘ ) . A batch of their clip was spent chew the fating about common involvements and they became complacent in their work. Conversely, I besides had to cover with an statement caused by the clang of two wholly opposing personalities. This is really a hard country to acquire right.

Similar personalities are likely to be drawn together and should develop a better working relationship, but possibly you need the uneven ‘joker ‘ or ‘moaner ‘ to promote treatment with a spot more assortment.5 – External menaceA ‘threat ‘ from outside the squad is frequently a good thing as it encourages the squad to draw together to confront the external issue ( such as competition from another squad ) . Unfortunately I ‘m unable to estimate how my squad would hold responded to such a state of affairs as no external menace was encountered throughout the squad ‘s term of office.