WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEAM?
Teamwork is the foundation of all successful management. Managing teams well is a major and stimulating challenge to any manager, from novice to exceptional hand. A true team is a living, constantly changing, dynamic force in which a number of people come together to work. Team members discuss their objectives, assess ideas, make decisions, and work towards their targets together.
Working Together
All successful teams demonstrate the same fundamental features: strong and effective leadership; the establishment of precise objectives; making informed decisions; communicating freely; mastering the requisite skills and techniques to fulfill the project in hand; providing clear targets for the team to work towards; and – above all – finding the right balance of people prepared to work together for the common good of the team.
Analyzing Team Tasks
Successful teams can be formed by 2 to 25 or more people, but much more important than the size is shape – the patterns of working into which team members settle to perform their given tasks. There are three basic methods of performing tasks:
- Repetitive tasks and familiar work require each other team member to have a fixed role, which is fulfilled independently, as on assembly lines:
- Projects that require some creative input require team members to have fixed roles and working procedures, but also to work in unison, as when generating new products;
- Work that demands constant creative input and personal contributions requires people to work very closely as partners. This style of working is prevalent among senior management.
Achieving Potential
There is no limit to the potential of a good team. Given an “impossible” task, team members will reinforce each other’s confidence as they seek to turn the “impossible’ into reality. The collective ability to innovate is stronger than that of the individual because the combined brainpower of a team, however small in number, exceeds that of any one person. By harnessing this power, a team can go beyond simple, useful improvements to achieve real breakthroughs. For example, in one company, an engineering team was asked to double machine reliability. They thought it impossible, but went on to produce a plan that trebled performance.
Working Collectively
To harness and take full advantage of team-power, the individual brains and personalities involved must be encouraged to collaborate. This process is vital in generating results. Giving stretching goals to a team will encourage it to work collectively and introduce a sense of urgency – potentially eliminating bureaucracy as it concentrates on getting positive results in the shortest possible time. The impact of a single team breakthrough can, by its example, galvanize an entire company.
Knowing Team Goals
Once a team has been formed, the next major step is to establish its goals. There is a little point in having a team that is raring to go if its members are all pursuing disparate aims. Goals may well change over the course of a team’s existence; for example, if a new product is being launched on to the market, the first priority will be for the team to concentrate on research into its competition. If the aim is to improve customer satisfaction, the first goal will be to find ways of providing a higher standard of service. According to the circumstance, team working goals might include:
- Increasing the rate of productivity in a manufacturing company;
- Improving the quality of production;
- Involving all employees in the decision-making process to increase job satisfaction;
- Looking at working systems and practices to reduce time wastage;
- Working together with customers to build closer relationships so that the needs of the market can be better understood.
TIPS
- Remember that each member has something to add to your team.
- Formulate team objectives carefully and always take them seriously.
- Remember that team members must support each other.
- Break long-term aims into short-term projects.
- Allocate a clear deadline for each of your projects.
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