SUBJECT: Developing teams
APPLICATION: Enhancing team outpute

By Thomas P. Sattler, Ed.D., and Julie E. Mullen, M.S.

While a staff is a group of people assisting a manager, a team is a group of people working in a coordinated effort. Staff members are independent and individual; teams are interdependent and united. Most managers recognize the value of developing teams over staffs. But how can you enhance the output of your teams? Too often, we simple resort to the status quo in terms of contractual organization patterns in fitness facilities. This can lead to complacency and stagnation short of optimal performance. The astute manager will maximize the effectiveness and creativity of his team through covenantal relationships fostered by different group methods.

Total Quality Management. TQM, also known as Total Quality Leadership (TQL), has been used effectively in Japan to enhance efficiency, productivity and quality. Implementing this method in your facility just may ignite the spark; you need to surpass competitors this year According to P.J. Montana and Bill Charnov in Management, a quality circle (QC) is a formal group of eight to 10 workers and managers who are trained to identify problems, gather and analyze information, and generate solutions. They meet once weekly on company time to identify critical issues, develop plans of attack; and make recommendations to management. Because the group combines several minds instead of just one, it has the potential to make better decisions.

Using brainstorming in a group to improve creativity. Brainstorming is a commonly used technique in which six to 12 participants generate several ideas to solve a problem defined by management. All potential solutions are recorded, and no criticism is voiced during this time (the alternatives-generation phase). After participants have exhausted their imaginations, the evaluation phase takes; place, and each potential solution is discussed in detail. Brainstorming has proven effective at stimulating innovation without fear of ridicule or rejection. An additional benefit is the combination of several employees stimulating each other and building off one another's ideas.

Normal group technique can help develop managerial contingencies and future projections. Like brainstorming, a managerially defined problem is presented to a group of six to 12 participants. But unlike brainstorming, the participants individually write down as many potential solutions as possible. After about half an hour, the group members present their ideas and they are recorded. No criticism is voice Once all group members have completed their presentations, the recorded ideas are criticized and evaluated.

Then, each participant anonymously ranks the ideas in writing. The final group ranking of the proposed solution is given to management for consideration.

The Delphi Technique. The Delphi Technique is used to identify future trends. Management sends questions in writing about a problem to individual group members who, in turn, answer the questions anonymously and return them to the coordinator. The coordinator summarizes these answers and returns them to the group members, asking them to examine criticisms and modify their answers if necessary. The summaries are then returned a second time so group members may justify their ideas if they differ from the majority.

A final summary of the responses is prepared, and the group members are asked a third time to justify every idea. Finally, the coordinator collects the justifications and prepares a final summary and forecast for management.

Although the Delphi Technique can be a timeconsuming process, it is beneficial to gather different, individual opinions regarding future events, particularly in an industry whose future is unpredictable and always in flux.

Teams are effective tools to enhance creativity at your facility. If you haven't used any of these methods with your staff, give them a try. You may be surprised by the results.

Thomas P Sattler, Ed.D., is professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Julie E. Mullen, M.S., is a fitness/wellness specialist for the Chicago Federal Fitness centers, which are sponsored by the Division of Federal Occupational Health of the Public Health Service.

REFERENCE

Montana, P. J. and B. Chamov. Management Baron's Educational Series, 1993.

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