Like a Well Oiled Machine... Highly Performing Teams

Have you ever worked with a group of people and everything just goes right.  You solve problems and have ideas that create an enjoyable yet productive day.  These teams just get it and understand how to get things done.   Highly effective teams are something that every organization strives to achieve. When a team works together the team members are happy just to be a part of it.  
The team gels and gets things done.  This is what is known as a highly effective team. But what is it that makes a team a high performance team?  

     In looking at a high performance teams the dynamic of the team structure is important to the success of the team. 

- The team creates project goals and objectives that are well defined and achievable. 

- The team leaders are proactive and create an environment to promote collaboration.  

- Team leaders need creates an environment that promotes a team and that is non-competitive is important to facilitate team participation. 

- The team and the leader are successful in coming to a consensus and can make decision important for the progress of the project. 

- The team has well organized and well maintained information that creates a productive environment.  

- The team is highly effective and high performing they tend to meet regularly to discuss the progress of the project and the directive or requirements. 

- The team is driven by timelines and meets the goals of the project in a timely manner.  

- Teams that are highly successful have access to the technology necessary to complete their tasks effectively and collaborate on the items of the project. 

- The teams have a positive attitude and work in conjunction with each other.

- The team leader was effective in resolving conflict and gives the team the goals and directives that are clear and concise.

- The team members are highly skilled and are able to interchange their roles.

- The team should be diverse yet still are like minded and working towards the same goals.

- The team leadership within the team is not vested in a single individual. Instead the leadership role is taken up by various team members, according to the need at that moment in time.

- The team has robust methods of resolving conflict efficiently, so that conflict does not become a roadblock to achieving the team's goals.(Shared Leadership)

- The team has a sense of clear focus and intense energy within a high-performance team.

- The team has its own consciousness, indicating shared norms and values within the team.

- The team feels a strong sense of accountability for achieving their goals.

- The team members display high levels of mutual trust towards each other.

     Highly effective teams have the ability to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization or project.  The environment that they create is pleasant yet challenging and creates a sense of unity.  If a team can obtain this objective the sustainability of the team is increased.  Highly effective teams create a sense of loyalty and are imperative to the success of an organization.  When we look at getting the job done we should look at the most effective way to do this.  The key is to create a productive environment that is interactive and supports all members of the team.  Teams that are diverse yet still have like mindedness are an essential part of the success or failure of a team, a project and an organization.

Is There Anybody Out There?? ... Technology And The Dysfunctional Team

      
     Have you ever gone through the ping pong game of emailing someone back and forth until you can’t figure out where it started?  Death by email we have all seen it.  After several pings and a couple more pongs it loses translation.  Something we forget that there is another human being on the other end of the email.  Connecting just by picking up the phone and talking to someone is so important to solve the issue or just connect in a personal sense. 

      When working with a team just seeing a face once in a while or hearing a voice can do so much.  Inflection and non-verbal cures are a part of communication that the written word just can't replace. There are great ways to do this now that we have technology that puts a face on the screen. Sometimes I wonder if everyone looks like a powerpoint presentation that works remote or in another location. I have even seen team members that are two desks down write an email instead of taking the time to connect by talking.  Technology is great but we need to remember that humans bond through direct interaction.  We are connected to our family, our community, our organization through the emotional bonds we feel for them.  A team is not a thing but is made up of people and people need to bond to feel a part of something.

        Creating a productive team dynamic can be an issue in today’s world of technology.  More and more teams are relying on email, task initiators, shared data files and web chats as their primary communication.  The days of picking up the phone and asking the other person how they are and what’s been going on in their life has been replaced by task and a couple of quick sentences or words on a computer  We are taking the human out of human contact and with this can bring an impersonal disconnection of the team. 

       “New technologies help companies extend participation on a project to an ever greater number of people, allowing firms to tap into a wide body of knowledge and expertise. A decade or so ago, the common view was that true teams rarely had more than 20 members. Today, according to our research, many complex tasks involve teams of 100 or more. However, as the size of a team increases beyond 20 members, the tendency to collaborate naturally decreases, we have found.”  Research has shown that teams that are above 13 members tend to be more dissatisfied with the team.  This is due, to the most part, to lack of human connection.  The human factor is crucial to the success of the team.“

      Loyalty is built through the feeling of being a part of a group or team.  When leaders are managing teams it is important to remember that the team's interaction is as important as completing the tasks.  If  leaders create an environment that encourages human connection many of the issues and time drains can be eliminated.  Team connection creates motivation and breaks down the communication barriers.    

     Virtual teams can create more of this disconnection, that is why we need to remember that the human factor is critical in bonding a team.  “Working together virtually has a similar impact on teams. The majority of those we studied had members spread among multiple locations—in several cases, in as many as 13 sites around the globe. But as teams became more virtual, we saw, cooperation also declined, unless the company had taken measures to establish a collaborative culture.” With the technology today we should be connecting face to face with our virtual team members regularly and create a bond. 

     While I would agree that technology has taken business into an entirely different dimension, the need to connect is still a significant part of creating strong bonds.  Creating a collaborative culture is critical to the success of a team and individuals within the team.  If we remember to disconnect sometimes from technology and create human bonds we can move past many of the misunderstanding and become more productive. So get up from your desk and ask a question or pick up the phone and connect.  It is surprising what a little human interaction can do for productivity and teamwork.

Gratton, L., & Erickson, T. (2007). Eight ways to build collaborative teams. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 100-109. (Business Source Complete Accession Number:
         AN 27040494)

 

15 Steps For Effective Team Leadership

     Leading a team to become an effective and efficient group is an important part of any organizations framework.  Leadership in a team environment is essential for the team’s success.  Effective team leadership requires a leader to perform certain actions to be effective.  Team leadership is an essential part of creating an environment for success.  In order for a leader to move a team into effectiveness the leader must be effective in these fifteen areas of management.

Compose team - The leader must be a facilitator in composing the team so that they are effective in assigning the respective responsibilities within the team. 

Define mission - Defining a mission is crucial to the team understanding their directive and moving in the same direction to achieve the goals

Establish expectations and goals - A leader must be sure that the goals and expectations of the team and the individual team members are understood is iatrical to the success of the team. 

Structure and plan - With the team’s mission and overall purpose established, setting challenging but realistic goals for the team and outlining clear performance expectations based on those goals aids in accomplishing the team’s task

Train and develop team - Leadership actions directed at coaching, developing, and mentoring the team have been shown to enhance team processes and effectiveness across a wide range of formal and informal leadership sources

Sense making - Given the impact that disruptive events can have on team functioning, sense making is a particularly important team leadership function that satisfies important team needs.

Provide feedback - From a functional leadership perspective, feedback processes are an integral part of the team leadership process that allow teams to assess their performance, adapt as necessary, and develop over time

Monitor team - To ensure that the team performs up to its potential and is aware of external contingencies that may impact its functioning; the team must be monitored as it actively engages in task performance

Manage team boundaries - The leader must be involved in creating team boundaries and work as the peace keeper and manager of the team’s interaction

Challenge team - The team leader needs to challenging teams with regard to their task performance and confronting the team’s assumptions, methods, and processes in an effort to find the best ways of accomplishing the team’s work

Perform team task – Sometimes a leader needs to roll up their sleeves and help. A team leader may need to  perform the team’s task involves taking a more active role in the team’s work by participating, intervening, or otherwise performing some of the team’s task work.

Solve problems - As a leader it is necessary to solve problems that surface in the team’s directive.  There are times that problems suffice that must have the assistance of the leader to solve in these instances a strong leader is required to solve the issues so that the team can progress in the team’s directive

Provide resources – As a Leader it is important to provide resources for the team. This includes obtaining and providing informational, financial, material and personnel resources for the team.

Encourage team self-management – A Leader needs to encourage team members to resolve task and teamwork related problems themselves, and by relying on their own resources rather than seeking expertise from outside the team, the team becomes more adaptable and resilient.

Support social climate – A Leader must help to solve conflicts, building cohesion, setting the team climate, demonstrating consideration, and empowering team members. They found a positive relationship between supportive team leaders and team performance.

     As a Leader it is essential to be proactive in the formation and facilitation of the team that they lead.  A leader is the facilitator and with this monitoring, solving issues and moving the team forward are essential parts of their responsibility.  Without all of the elements of effective leadership a group could falter.  Effective leadership in a team can create success for the organization overall and produce a highly effective team.  They must have an open communication with the members of the group to assure that the directives are being met. When all of these directives are met the leader can create an effective team.

Morgeson, F., DeRue, D., & Karam, E. (2010). Leadership in teams: A functional approach to understanding leadership structures and processes. Journal of  Management, 36(1), 5-39. (Business Source Complete Accession Number: AN 47241619).

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