How To Build Teamwork that Wins Washington DC

Last month I discussed the benefits of establishing an in-house training program. The advantages include: growing your human resources to meet their maximum potential; helping define, communicate, and accomplish your company's corporate mission; a strong degree of flexibility in scheduling classes; cost savings over outside programs; and, the opportunity to form teams of individuals who could work together toward common goals for the company.

In this installment I focus on how such a team of participants should be formed and led in order to strongly motivate members and help them accomplish tasks well beyond their normal job responsibilities.

It Starts at the Top

The first step in establishing a successful team is for the team leader to secure the support of the top management of the company. This commitment should take the form of providing financial backing, time allowance, training needs, and a possible rewards/incentive program. Managerial decisions throughout the organization must also reflect the goals of the team.

Choose Wisely

The second step is to select appropriate team participants. Harvard Business Manager's Toolkit considers the selection of team members the most important part of team design. The goal is to look for participants "who represent the right blend of technical/functional expertise, problem-solving and decision-making talents, interpersonal skills, and team skills."

The team leader must then establish a clear and exciting goal for the team to accomplish. This vision should be communicated to every team member. It is important for the team leader to create a team charter that specifies a concise description of team goals, necessary timelines, leadership roles, measures of success, and the resources available to the team. An effective team leader creates a supportive atmosphere based on trust and understanding. He or she will assign responsibilities to team members based upon their strengths and competencies.

The evaluation of a team's performance should be based upon results that can include the "achievement of team goals, customer satisfaction, and quality of work completed." Evaluation should not be focused only on a team's performance as a whole, but should extend to individual members and can be based on peer ratings, customer satisfaction ratings, self-appraisal, and a team leader review.

Analyzing the Team

In his Harvard Management Update article entitled, "Managing a Team vs. Managing Individuals on a Team," author Loren Gary explains that the management of a team is more than simply managing the members who make up the team.

He suggests that team leaders should ask themselves four questions, particularly in the formation period of the team:

Is a team the best organizational structure for this effort?

Have I established collective goals that the team members can make their own?

What signals am I sending about how the team should interact?

Does my performance management system reward interdependence and mutual accountability?"

In their Harvard Business Review article titled, "The Discipline of Teams," Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith add that, "The essence of a team is common commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance. The best teams also translate their common purpose into specific performance goals…Indeed, if a team fails to establish specific performance goals or if those goals do not relate directly to the team's overall purpose, team members become confused, pull apart, and revert to mediocre performance. By contrast, when purposes and goals build on one another and are combined with team commitment, they become a powerful engine of performance."

Leading the Pack

Bill Parcells, one of the National Football League's most successful coaches, proposes three rules for team leaders to follow in his Harvard Business Review article titled, "The Tough Work of Turning Around a Team." The first rule is for leaders to make it clear from day one that they are in charge. "I try to appeal to the players' passion for achievement and winning, but I'm also very clear that if they don't give the team what it needs, then I'm going to find someone else who will," says Mr. Parcells.

His second rule is to view confrontation as healthy. "As a coach, I've always tried to turn up the heat under my people, to constantly push them to perform at a high level," he states.

Finally, Mr. Parcell's third rule is to identify small goals and hit them. He says, "When you set small, visible goals, and people achieve them, they start to get it into their heads that they can succeed. They break the habit of losing and begin to get into the habit of winning. It's extremely satisfying to see that kind of shift take place in the way a team thinks about itself."

Greg D'Amico is an associate professor and coordinator of the undergraduate program in graphic communications, at Kean University, Union, N.J., and the author of "Customer-Centered Production."