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Building a successful work team isn’t rocket science

14 Jul 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

eams have become an essential feature in most organisations. The language of management now comfortably includes teams, teamwork and team building. However, this does not mean that we are yet much clearer about the process of bringing a group of people together and creating a level of cooperation that produces result over and above what the members of the team could have created individually. And we are even less clear about what it takes to build a team.

What really is a team? There is an often-quoted definition, which continues to inform much of the discussion about teams and provides a useful description for recognising a team, made by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith: A small group of people with complementary skills, who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves accountable.

The definition provides a simple formula for turning a group into a team. Each of the elements can be put in place by using a specific set of techniques developed by various specialists. Today, we find teams at many levels in an organisation – management teams, project teams, problem-solving teams, work teams and many other forms. Although each of these instances of the team concept involves unique elements, there are also a few core characteristics that make them similar.

Micromanagement is both pointless and difficult when managing a team

Interventions

Team building interventions come in all shapes, from the intensive outdoor training exercises, where people hang off cliffs on ropes and go white-water rafting, to simply group meetings conducted by the higher management, with or without outside consultants. There is no acceptable research evidence that the ropes and rafts approach actually works in creating more effective teams. The better idea is that managers can setup their teams for success and then provide some indoor or outdoor activities to keep the team in track.

What can you, as a manager, do to build your team? The six areas identified in the definition are probably a good starting point. If you attend to the issues that relate to membership, purpose, skills, approach, performance goals and accountability, then at least you are giving your team a good start.

Over and above these issues, you can make it up as you go along. If you think the team needs to celebrate progress or success, organise something. If you think the team would benefit from some team games that explore issues about team dynamics, there is little risk in arranging some activity. Just make sure you cover the basics.

There are six steps in the team building process:

1.   Membership – Consider the nature of the team task and select team members on the basis of background (including relevant skills) and attitude; decide the minimum number of people required to complete the task. When considering the team’s membership, you must think about three things – size, background and attitude. Keep the numbers as small as possible. The actual number depends on the size and importance of the task the team will be working on.
   Next, decide the type of individuals you want to put on team. What outside expertise might the team need to achieve the goals of the group? Attempt to include sufficient diversity of values and perspectives to ensure robust ideas and discussion. And thirdly, remember teamwork requires volunteers, not conscripts. The point is that there is little point in putting someone on a team who doesn’t want to be there.

2.   Purpose – Write a purpose statement for the team. Check that this purpose can be achieved by the team. Check for clarity by getting second opinion from another manager and seeking feedback from the team. Ask the team to reflect back to you their understanding of the team purpose. The purpose might be, for example, (a) to produce a draft of a project report during the first four weeks of team activities and (b) achieve board-approval of the proposed performance management system during the next four weeks. As much as possible, include input from other members of the organisation when designing and wording these goals.

3.   Skills – Write a list of all skills (technical and team skills) that need to be represented in the team so that they can undertake the team tasks. If not all required skills are represented in the team, decide if training is required (which team members and which skills?). Arrange access to supplementary skills (for example, experts who can be consulted on technical issues or team facilitators who can assist with team process issues). The exact skills the team need will vary according to the tasks but some basic skills include: managing meetings, making decisions, managing participation, agreeing behaviour rules, managing disagreement.

4.   Performance goals – Discuss and agree with the team the success measures and the timeline (if required). Discuss reporting procedures with the team (for example, frequency and level of detail). Give the team feedback on their performance. Most teams consider themselves successful only if they achieved the required outcome and if they generate a high degree of satisfaction in achieving those outcomes. This combination is the key to high-performing teams. Work teams perform best with a scorecard system that reflects the various performance indicators that relate to the work of the team.

5.   Approach – Explain your expectations about the way the team will plan and execute its work. Observe team planning and execution and intervenes as required. Arrange for team facilitators to provide support if required. If the workload is shared around the team, it will develop team effectiveness. This, in turn, requires that there is a reasonable level of flexibility within the team. In addition to the sharing of work, if the team members have a high degree of backup, overlap and support, then teamwork will be more evident. All members should have a stake in the success of the team. For example, language used should be that of us and not me.

6.   Accountability – Discuss the issue of accountability, especially shared accountabilities and explain your expectations. Discuss and agree resource implication and explain sources of support. Encourage the team to agree on specific roles and accountabilities. Decide the follow-up schedule and inform the team of your expectations.

If the workload is shared around the team, it will develop team effectiveness

Micromanagement is both pointless and difficult when managing a team. What is important is that there is clarity about what the manager is accountable for and what the team is accountable for. The problems are caused by lack of understanding more than anything else. The manager needs to formalise who is accountable for what. Shared responsibility is rarely a problem within a team. If a particular area of team activities present problems, then the manager can always step in and help clarify matters.

(Next week – What managers must do)
(Lionel Wijesiri, a corporate director with over 25 years’ senior managerial experience, can be contacted at [email protected])

Features

Building a successful work team isn’t rocket science

Micromanagement is both pointless and difficult when managing a team

If the workload is shared around the team, it will develop team effectiveness

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