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Team Closure

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About this lesson

Sometimes teams are disbanded. This happens with all project teams and some functional business teams. During the time of team closure the team leader must manage both the technical aspects of closure and the emotional aspects.

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Quick reference

Team Closure

Sometimes teams are disbanded.  This happens with all project teams and some functional business teams.  During the time of team closure the team leader must manage both the technical aspects of closure and the emotional aspects.

When to use

When a team is being disbanded, these principles for team closure should be applied.

Instructions

The team leader should manage the process of team closure.

Project Team Closure

Project team closure is predictable based upon the project schedule.  Team members are likely to have mixed emotions.  They are ready to celebrate the completion of the project and (hopefully) the achievement of the project goals.  However, they may feel sorrow at the breaking up of the project team.  The leader should ensure that the success is celebrated.  Also, that appropriate recognition makes it into performance appraisals.  The team leader must also make sure that the project closure activities – which are generally administrative in nature –are completed.

Business Team Closure

Unlike project team closure, functional business team closure is often unexpected.  It normally is based upon a reorganization where a function is eliminated or absorbed into another function.  A major issue for team leader in this case is dealing with the uncertainty.  Team members often wonder if they have a job, what the job is, and who they report to.  The team leader often does not have answers for these questions.  The best the team leader can do is to personally acknowledge the contribution of each team member and help them to find a new position - in or out of the company.  The team leader also needs to ensure that all documentation is up-to-date and that all resources and assets are properly accounted for.

Team Leader Change

In many ways, changing a team leader can be similar to disbanding a team and creating a new one.   The new leader assimilation process speeds us this transition.  In this process, a facilitator meets with the team to collect their perspectives on their team strengths and weaknesses and their expectations with respect to the new leader.  The facilitator then facilitates a meeting between the new leader and the team.  In this meeting, the facilitator speaks for the team, providing the team’s perspective and the facilitator helps the new leader articulate there leadership style and team expectations.  This quickly accelerates the acceptance by the team of the new leader and the ability of the leader to know and understand the team members.

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  • 00:04 Hello, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 Sometimes teams come to an end.
  • 00:08 When they do, the team leader plays an important role for ending the team well.
  • 00:14 Let's start by considering project teams.
  • 00:17 These teams will definitely have an end point because the project has
  • 00:21 an end point.
  • 00:22 Now it's interesting to note that as a project winds down, some of the team
  • 00:26 members may start to leave before the project is totally complete.
  • 00:30 The team leader needs to be applying these principles as soon as the team starts to
  • 00:34 disband.
  • 00:36 Project teams often disband with mixed emotions.
  • 00:39 On the one hand there are the project results that can be celebrated,
  • 00:42 the team achieved its goal.
  • 00:44 But on the other hand, there are relationships that may be severed.
  • 00:48 People who've been close working associates and friends for months or
  • 00:50 even years are likely be going in different directions.
  • 00:54 The team leader needs to make sure that the two types of activates are being
  • 00:58 accomplished.
  • 00:59 One of those is project closer activities.
  • 01:02 This includes completing the project archives, disposing of project resources,
  • 01:06 closing project contracts or charge numbers in the finance system.
  • 01:10 Just a lot of administrative work that is not hard but is necessary.
  • 01:15 The other type of activity is team closure activity.
  • 01:18 This is dealing with the individuals rather than the project deliverables.
  • 01:22 Recognition of contribution by team members and
  • 01:24 celebration of team success are two vital elements in this activity.
  • 01:28 The recognition should be more than just a t-shirt or a pizza lunch.
  • 01:32 For those core team members, there needs to be input for
  • 01:35 their performance appraisal or
  • 01:36 reference if they're leaving the organization when the project completes.
  • 01:41 We contrast the closing of a project team with the closing
  • 01:44 of a functional business team.
  • 01:46 This is often much more upsetting to team members,
  • 01:48 because it is not scheduled like a project end date.
  • 01:51 This usually happens as part of an organizational change or
  • 01:55 when a functional team is disbanded or absorbed into another team.
  • 01:59 These often come as a surprise to the organization, so
  • 02:02 the team members are not prepared for the upcoming change.
  • 02:05 That means that there's often a great deal of uncertainty accompanying
  • 02:08 the team change.
  • 02:09 Team members don't know if they still have a job,
  • 02:11 what that job might entail, who they'll report to or who they'll be working with.
  • 02:16 This sudden uncertainty often leads to fear.
  • 02:19 A team leader must strive during this time to be supportive and encouraging for
  • 02:23 team members, and to watch out for the team members' best interests.
  • 02:27 Of course, there are functional closure activities.
  • 02:30 Documents and systems need to be brought up to date, and there may be resources or
  • 02:34 assets that must be properly reallocated.
  • 02:37 But normally, the more difficult task for
  • 02:39 the team leader is to look after the future of the team members.
  • 02:42 I strongly recommend that the team leader meet with each individual and
  • 02:45 thank them for their contribution for the team, find out their plans and
  • 02:49 facilitate those plans.
  • 02:51 This may mean helping them find a position in a new organization or
  • 02:54 it may mean ensuring that they get access to job placement resources.
  • 02:58 What can make this work doubly challenging is that the team leader
  • 03:01 must also be thinking about their future.
  • 03:04 I'm reminded of a friend of mine who'd been leading a small unit for a company.
  • 03:08 Company decided to shut down the business unit.
  • 03:11 He shared with me that his last official document he signed
  • 03:14 was the one where he laid himself off from the company.
  • 03:18 He had helped all of his people find new jobs, and
  • 03:20 now he had to go looking for one.
  • 03:23 Another way of thinking about team closure is the change of a team leader.
  • 03:27 This is especially true with business teams.
  • 03:30 Often people will describe their job as, I'm on this person's team.
  • 03:34 With the change of leader, the whole complexion of the team will often change.
  • 03:39 Sometimes this change can be difficult,
  • 03:41 especially if the team had a great working relationship with the former leader and
  • 03:45 they resentful or suspicious of the new leader.
  • 03:49 A technique that I have participated with on several occasions,
  • 03:52 as a team member, new team leader, and a facilitator, is a new leader assimilation.
  • 03:57 This technique speeds the process and
  • 03:59 quickly clears the air about any unrealistic assumptions on anyone's part.
  • 04:05 A new leader assimilation is a facilitated meeting between the new leader
  • 04:09 and the team.
  • 04:10 In this session, the facilitator speaks for the team so
  • 04:14 that their concerns or fears can be articulated without them
  • 04:17 feeling that they have personally got off on the wrong foot with the new leader.
  • 04:21 The facilitator can also help the new leader explain their
  • 04:24 personal leadership philosophy to the team.
  • 04:26 They can assure that both sides really hear what the other's trying to say.
  • 04:31 The facilitator will normally meet with the team before the session with the new
  • 04:35 leader in order to understand their issues, concerns, and perspectives.
  • 04:39 The facilitator then shares with the new leader the team's strengths and
  • 04:43 weaknesses, and their views in the role of the leader.
  • 04:46 Essentially, they are letting the leader know who they are and
  • 04:50 what they think they need from the leader in order for the team to succeed.
  • 04:54 The new leader can also take this time to present their perspective on
  • 04:58 how the team should run and their leadership style.
  • 05:01 The facilitator can ask the leader questions on behalf of the team and
  • 05:05 the team can hear and understand the leader's point of view.
  • 05:08 When I've participated in these, I've also had the leaders share their strengths,
  • 05:12 their weaknesses, and their hot button issues.
  • 05:15 At the end of these sessions, both the existing team and the team leader
  • 05:19 have a much better understanding of each other and their expectations.
  • 05:23 Team closure is an important aspect in the life cycle of a team.
  • 05:29 Managing closure well will position the team leader and the team members for
  • 05:33 future success.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

Changing Team Members
05m:55s
Communication Processes
06m:03s
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