Work Matters: Teamwork part 2 - Know staff strengths

Establishing a team culture where members work fairly and honestly for their team, rather than for themselves, leads to high-quality provision. The theme of Positive Relationships, a key strand in the Early Years Foundation Stage, not only applies to relationships between children and adults, but also to relationships among all the adults involved in promoting children's learning and development and safeguarding their welfare. Positive attitudes towards each other and caring constructive interactions are the key to developing a collaborative team culture where all members feel valued and respected.

Learning from each other

In order to work as an effective team, you need to be prepared to learn as a team. This can happen as you learn from your experiences and share knowledge through discussion and practice.

It is important for each team member to be given the opportunity for professional development, both from attending training and from shared learning within the team. Reflecting on your experiences and learning together on the job is an invaluable tool in developing an effective team.

If professional support and advice systems are available to team members within the setting, the team is more likely to be effective. You could think about an aspect of practice, such as the outdoor area, for example, and identify the strengths and areas that could be developed or improved. A group action plan could be devised allocating who is to do what, and when.

Working with services from beyond the setting, such as advisory teachers or consultants, can also enrich the shared knowledge and understandings in the team. In this way a team not only shares knowledge, but can be empowered to create knowledge.

Motivating teams

Although the designated leader plays an important part in keeping the team motivated, everyone has a part to play. Rather than having a 'leader' and 'followers', roles and responsibilities can be shared or distributed so everyone feels able to actively contribute to the provision.

All team members are encouraged to praise the performance of each other, not just the designated leader. Positive feedback, as well as supportive or critical feedback, is essential in order to improve performance. Another aspect of motivation is where roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, rather than just muddling through.

Clear roles and responsibilities

In effective teams each person knows what they are supposed to be doing on a day-to-day basis. Having said this, it is also important to be able to respond flexibly to the needs of the children and not to be narrowly confined to one's own role. In less well established teams, rotas or explicit direction may help at first. Eventually, from working together on a regular basis, the work of the team will flow naturally, members will automatically assume responsibilities and the rota will not be necessary.

Each team member should take an active role, rather than simply passively following instructions. Team members also need to be aware that they are accountable to each other as well as to line managers. This can also be achieved by being given an opportunity to contribute to the setting's planning. One indicator of a high performing team is that it continues to perform effectively without the presence or supervision of the team leader.

It is important to use the skills and knowledge of each team member to their full potential. As pointed out in last month's article, teams consist of a variety of practitioners. It is a balance of this mix of skills and personalities that gives the early years team its strength and coherence.

Balanced membership

A team is more effective where there is a balance of personalities, skills, knowledge, experience, talents and capabilities. Take Emma, Sam, Ellie and Paula - a pre-school group team. Emma is talented at doing displays, which she loves, so this is her area of responsibility. Sam is good with the parents, but is not a natural organiser. Ellie is a very organised person; she takes responsibility for organising the paperwork, and ensuring routine activities such as putting the padlock on the gate are carried out, in case Sam forgets.

Paula is a quiet person who is not particularly confident in managing large groups. She does not really enjoy taking large group sessions, such as storytime. Rather than feel criticised for not 'doing' story time, she can be valued for her calm, quiet manner and relationships with small groups and individual children. In this climate Paula can be encouraged through professional development to gain confidence in managing larger groups.

Emma, on the other hand, is really strong in relating to large groups. Logically, Emma will take responsibility for large group activities and Paula for smaller groups. Knowing your own strengths and capitalising on each other's strengths is key to effective teamwork.

Evaluating your team

It is crucial to spend time reflecting on the effectiveness of the team performance as a whole. Specific time needs to be set aside for planning and evaluating the effectiveness of the team and on how it can be made more coherent. You can then draw up a plan as to how you can improve working relationships, identifying the steps that can be taken over the next few months.

One starting point could be to ask yourself and other members of the team to complete an anonymous questionnaire using relevant statements to identify how the team is feeling (see box).

A positive team culture is based on trust and shared understandings. This takes time to develop. Positive communication is probably the most crucial element in the building up of a positive team culture.

Communication

Positive communication is an essential feature of effective team work. Communication is the way we link to others, the way we share our thoughts and feelings and knowledge, and solve problems. It is through communication that we build relationships based on everyday interactions.

Every day in early years settings, practitioners communicate constantly, on a whole range of subjects, with literally hundreds of interactions, verbal and non-verbal. However, it is important to consider the quality of these interactions and ensure that the communication between colleagues and other professionals is meaningful and of high quality.

Successful teams are characterised by finding time for professional dialogue or discussion. As well as being able to express ideas, you need to listen actively rather than just superficially to what others are saying or suggesting. In effective teams each member values the contribution of the others and there are clear instructions and established routines. There are systems for exploring different views and opinions and establishing clear lines of accountability. This creates an ethos where if something is not clear, then questions can be asked for clarification. Precious time is not wasted on clearing up misunderstandings. Another aspect of positive communication is developing a creative approach to problem solving.

Establishing a collaborative approach brings several rewards:
- More knowledgeable practitioners
- Higher quality provision
- Positive working atmosphere
- Low staff turnover
- Less time wasted in clarifying misunderstanding.

As we all know, in spite of best intentions, things may not always go smoothly. Inevitably there will be challenges, problems, disagreements and conflict arising from different points of view, from time to time.

Caroline Jones is course leader for the Early Years Foundation Degree at the Institute of Education, University of Warwick, and is a director of a group of early childhood settings based on school sites in the Midlands.

- Part 3 looking at managing conflict and change will appear in the 17 December issue of Nursery World

EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

Staff can be asked whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with the following:

- All staff are active members of our team

- All staff are given clear opportunities to express views

- All staff understand what is expected of them

- All staff feel valued for the work they do

- There are good professional support networks

- Team meetings are used to decide priorities and who is doing what

- Team meetings are usually positive and productive for all staff

- All team members have confidence and the opportunity to question the decisions or judgements of others