Chapter 3: Team Building Exercises

The oil to prevent friction typically generated during a project.

Responses for coating inspectors when they must break bad news to someone.

Occurs when people feel they have to defend themselves or, by extension, the people working for them, rather than objectively address the issues at hand.

“If you weren’t so careless, this mistake would not have happened.”

Playing politics and trying to maneuver people to suit a personal goal.

“I’m the inspector here and you’d better look sharp or I’ll shut the job down”

Appearing not to care about problems on the job that are beyond the control of the worker

“Look, I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and there isn’t anything I don’t know about this subject”

The Person Might/In which case the coating inspector might

Help with the solution to the extent of their stated responsibility and authority

Restate the problem and work to get the other person’s commitment to follow through on the solution

Advise his or her supervisor

As a last resort, shut the job down, if the have been granted the authority to do so

Objective and descriptive; rather than say, “that’s the worst excuse for surface preparation I’ve ever seen” state the problem in objective terms like: “that wall still has loose mill scale and rust; remember the specification calls for a near-white blast”. Be open and honest. Be oriented toward solving the problem. Be interested in the other person’s problem. Be open to suggestions. Concentrate on solving the problem.

Differences of opinion can, and frequently do, lead to conflict. One person’s opinion plus another person’s opinion equals conflict.

Avoid it: Simply look the other way and ignore substandard surface preparations, or avoid the situation entirely by quitting the job. Smooth things over: Try to smooth the issue over by delaying dealing with it; resolve minor points while ignoring the major issue. Resolve it: Two resolution options are power and negotiation.

Power and negotiation

Power strategies can be based on physical or authority. Can sometimes be appropriate but should be used sparingly

Working to arrive at a decision that is accepted by everyone involved. Requires the ability to: determine the real problem, initiate a situation in which everyone wins or at least nobody feels defeated. Listen to the other person’s side. Show you are listening; respond by summarizing what the other person says.

Diagnose the real problem, state the problem objectively, let every person involved have a say, discuss various solutions, decide together on the best solution, determine who is going to do what to ensure that the solution is achieved, follow up to be sure that the solution is carried out

Be prepared to listen, listen for main and supportive ideas, remain objective, be prepared, concentrate, take notes, don’t argue, read between the lines, put yourself in the speakers place, restate what you think you heard; make sure what you heard is what the person actually stated

When people work together as a team to solve a problem, the solution can turn out to be better than any one individual could have developed alone. Team work is key to successful project completion

A team is an energetic group of individuals committed to achieving common objectives and to produce quality results

As an inspector, working with a team is the most effective approach to completing a project on time, according to specifications and within the budget. As follows: Share a common vision/overall view of the project, understand the clear objectives and outcomes, use open communication to facilitate effective listening and discussion about issues, know the specific roles of each team member for the specific tasks at hand, approach the task with energy and enthusiasm, participation and demonstrate leadership as the work together, use appropriate and effective decision making methods, trust and support team members, feel significant, which is highly motivating, know that cohesion is valued by their leaders, feel comfortable on the team

Team building is molding many diverse individuals into a cohesive group that shares or agrees on common objectives to complete the assigned task. Team building techniques include: A common vision or goal, stated objectives to achieve the vision or goal, defined roles for each team member, open information flow, shared commitment among team members

Each team member has a responsibility to share information with each other. The purpose of team building is to listen and discuss things to grow together into a team. Related questions. Why are you interested? What do you expect to learn? What is your biggest asset? What is your biggest fear? How do you see yourself? What do you want to accomplish?