Page 127 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Organization Change and Development

Notes 3. Team relationship
4. Team and organisation processes

8.3.1 Varieties of Team Building Interventions in a Formal Group

 Formal Group Diagnostic Meeting: The purpose of the formal group diagnostic meetings
is to conduct a general critique of the performance of the group, that is to take stock of
“where we are going” and how we are doing, its strengths and the problems to be identified
and then planning for a future course of action the secret of its success lies on the fact that
the meetings are for the purpose of identifying problems and not solving the problem.
 Formal Group Team Building: The group thus works on agenda items and the items that
emerge from the interaction of the participants.
The formal group teambuilding meetings have the goal of improving the team’s
effectiveness through the better management of task demands, relationship demands and
group processes. These meetings are usually initiated by the mangers in consultation with
the third party. The idea is then tested for reactions within the group, time taken may
range from one to three days and the session should be held away from the work place.
 Process Consultation Interventions: The process consultation model is similar to the
team building interventions except that the process consultation places greater emphasis
on diagnosing and understanding process events. The consultant’s role is non-directive
and questioning as he or she gets the groups to solve their problems.
Schien describes the kinds of interventions taken by the process consultant as:

 Agenda setting
 Feedback of observations or other data
 Coaching or counseling of individuals
 Structural suggestions pertaining to group membership, communication or interaction
patterns, allocation of responsibility.
8.4 A Gestalt Approach to Team Building

A team building that focuses more on the individuals than the groups is the gestalt approach to
OD. The major advocate of this orientation is Stanley M. Herman, a management and OD
Consultant. He applies a Gestalt orientation to organisation development, especially in working
with leader subordinate relations and team building to make the individual stronger, more
authentic and more in touch with the individual’s own feelings.
Techniques and Exercises used in Team Building:
 Role Analysis Technique (RAT): It is designed to clarify role expectation and obligations
of team members to improve team effectiveness.
 Interdependency Exercise: It is a useful intervention if the team members have a desire to
improve cooperation among themselves and among their units.
 A Role Negotiation Technique: Role negotiation intervenes directly in the relationship of
power, authority and influence within the group. The change effort is directed at the work
relationships among members for one another and their personal feelings about one
another.

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