Soft Skills III: Teamwork PA017 SW Engineering II → Aspects of SW Development Management Jaroslav Ráček Josef Spurný Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University December 15, 2022 Healthy Organizational Culture Good workplace relationships = critical company success factor good work effectiveness low rate of human error good employees’ satisfaction and quality of life low level of employees’ sickness rate low level of employment fluctuation (retention of experienced team-members, lower costs for training) Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 2 / 16 Building-up and maintaining a team Team spirit Positive cooperation based on good interpersonal relationships, transparent and fair rewarding, open communication Positive motivation – by reward: creating stimulating environment: focus on achievements, appraisal, growth possibilities, positive self-perception, maintaining narcissistic equilibrium Negative motivation – by punishment: fearful atmosphere, lack of trust, restricted communication, frustration, aggression – cycles of attack and defense Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 3 / 16 Building-up and maintaining a team Appreciation for achievement Material – money is limited, often cannot be changed due to legal aspects Non-material – appreciation does not cost money (!) shall be done publicly, as often as possible highly motivating, improving perceived self-value (priceless) Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 4 / 16 Narcissistic Equilibrium Perception of own value, capabilities, qualities is supported (by appreciation, positive emotions) or damaged (by critique, negative emotions) is recharged by enjoyable activities ("wants") is discharged by fulfilling duties ("musts") long-term negative disbalance leads to burnout syndrome Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 5 / 16 Rules of criticism Suitable place in privacy (not public) Specific description course of events, be considerate, acknowledge good intentions Understanding core reason of undesired outcome or behavior Hear out opinion of the criticised person When explaining potential sanctions, use realistic and commensurate sanctions; sanctions must be executed once explicitly mentioned "Feedback sandwich" model – appreciation / criticism / appreciation Transform error into learning moment, not into harm Looking for solution or remedy together with criticized team-member Appreciate improvement Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 6 / 16 Symmetry & Asymmetry Symmetry equal position, balanced partnership potential problem: lack of leadership or revocation of responsibility Asymmetry – Complementarity Unequal position, hierarchy, dominant and submissive roles Competence of person in dominant role should be evaluated and eventually questioned, if leading to undesired outcome On the other hand, even clear and formal definition of asymmetry does not give an adult person in submissive role a right to revoke responsibility for own behavior In case of disfunctional communication, the remedy is to introduce complementarity into symmetry, or vice versa Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 7 / 16 Conflict The initial trigger might be something trivial If unsolved or overlooked, the situation will escalate Tension leads to frustration, frustration leads to aggression Looking for a victim is an easy solution However, interpersonal conflicts are rarely caused by a single party Human communication is cyclic by nature, driven by mutual feedback Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 8 / 16 Solving Conflict 1 Passive indirect strategy Ignoring conflict, waiting for it to dissolve Downplaying problem, pretending it is not serious Tolerating problem as "necessary evil" Joking around, indirect comments, nonverbal responses (faces, gestures...) but remaining silent Showing explicit weakness – submissiveness, malleability (despite disagreement) Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 9 / 16 Solving Conflict 2 Strategy focused on individual Rejecting own responsibility, attributing fault to one party (victim) Requesting change of behavior with various intensity from assertive to aggressive persuasion enforcement threats, application of sanctions Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 10 / 16 Solving Conflict 3 Integrative strategy Discussing the conflict, "non-zero sum" solution Understanding the nature of conflict, showing interest into opinions, motivation and feeling of the other party Looking for alternative solutions that would work for both (all) parties Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 11 / 16 Pathological Phenomena Discrimination restricting or creating unfavourable condition for certain group of people (race, gender, religion, age...) affecting: career growth, types of tasks, salary Harassment Creating hostile environment Retaliatory harassment Sexual harassment Bullying Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 12 / 16 Pathology in a team Mobbing Hostile group pressure on an individual Compared to bullying, it is more sophisticated, lacks apparent signs of aggressive behavior: Spiteful behavior Sabotaging cooperation Ostracizing from team Withholding information, "disappearing" documents or materials Gossiping, mocking Assigning victim with unappreciative or challenging tasks, waiting for failure False attribution of responsibility Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 13 / 16 Pathology in a team Who is mobbing? Aggressive individual compensation of inferiority complex motivation: envy, desire for power, vision of profit, fear of competition Aggressive Group a few aggressive individuals, or group of people supporting an aggressive individual, yet they will not be aggressive on their own motivation is similar to that of aggressive individual Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 14 / 16 Pathology in a team Bossing Aggression performed by a boss on a team-member Assigning inferior tasks, or very challenging tasks Frequent non-constructive criticism Task overloading, threats of being fired Denying right for breaks (lunch, toilet...); careful countdown of remaining time left... Manipulating others for own profit Manipulating others on victim’s account Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 15 / 16 Pathology in a team Staffing Aggression performed by a team on a boss Mass disobeying of rules of intentional exceeding of deadlines Belittling or making boss insecure Intentional non-reporting of problems or errors found during work processes Jaroslav Ráček, Josef Spurný ·Soft Skills III: Teamwork ·December 15, 2022 16 / 16