Group Development Month: A Council is a Team
by Family Councils Ontario
Happy New Year!
During ‘Back to Basics’ month in January 2016, we covered basic topics related to starting and maintaining a Family Council, including Turning Goals into Action, Dividing the Work to Meet Your Goals, and Evaluating for Success. To kick off 2017, we’re going to focus on group development. Without a strong, cohesive group, a Council cannot achieve its goals!
A Family Council is, in many ways, a special group. Councils exist in a particular setting (a Long-Term Care Home) and they are recognized in and given powers by legislation (The Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007). However, in many other ways they are exactly like any other group or team. Meaning, we can learn from general group development principles, ideas, theories, and leading practices and apply them to Family Councils. One of the key principles to understand is the definition of a team; in order to work effectively to achieve your goals, your Council needs to come together as a group and work together as a team. According to BusinessDictionary.com, a team is:
“A group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project.
Team members (1) operate with a high degree of interdependence, (2) share authority and responsibility for self-management, (3) are accountable for the collective performance, and (4) work toward a common goal and shared rewards(s). A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a strong sense of mutual commitment creates synergy, thus generating performance greater than the sum of the performance of its individual members.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/team.html”
How does this business definition apply to Family Councils? The answer lies in the details of how a team operates.
- Family Council members are largely interdependent on one another to complete the work needed to achieve Council goals; that’s why Councils divide work amongst members and assign roles i.e. Chair, Secretary, meeting facilitator, record keeper. One Council member’s work often depends on another’s input, support, or efforts i.e. the Council Chair or meeting facilitator cannot put forth the previous month’s meeting minutes for approval if the Secretary/record keeper has not prepared the meeting minutes.
- Councils are self-directed and self-governed; Councils members determine group structure, organization, goals, activities, operating procedures and success indicators. All Council members should have a say in what the Council does and how. Your Terms of Reference and decision making procedures should be agreed-upon by Council members.
- Members share the responsibility for the success or failure of Council initiatives and activities. All Council members are involved in and responsible for the performance of the Council. While not all members will take on a leadership role, all have a role to play in supporting the success of the Council. No one person or few people should carry the load.
- While Councils across the province vary in the structure, goals, activities and more, all share a common goal: to improve the quality of life of people living in Long-Term Care. Family Council members share this common goal and share in the rewards of achieving this goal.
A team is more than just a collection of people; a true team shares in the work and success. A Family Council brings together people with a shared experience and common desire. By working together as a team, families and friends of residents can do great things and develop a Council team that is more than the sum of its parts.
Next week we’ll discuss tips to ensure a high-performing team. Later this month, we’ll discuss leadership styles through the stages of group development, succession planning, and more. Stay tuned!