AN IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK
Do You Really Need a Team?
IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOKS
Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook in this series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.
| LEAD CONTRIBUTORS | Michael E. Kossler |
| Kim Kanaga | |
| GUIDEBOOK ADVISORY GROUP | Victoria A. Guthrie |
| Cynthia D. McCauley | |
| Russ S. Moxley | |
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS | Martin Wilcox |
| EDITOR | Peter Scisco |
| WRITER | Janet Fox |
| DESIGN AND LAYOUT | Joanne Ferguson |
| CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS | Laura J. Gibson |
| Chris Wilson, 29 & Company |
Copyright © 2001 Center for Creative Leadership.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
CCL No. 412
ISBN-13: 978-1-882197-66-8
ISBN-10: 1-882197-66-6
CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP
AN IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK
Do You Really Need a Team?
Michael E. Kossler and Kim Kanaga
THE IDEAS INTO ACTION GUIDEBOOK SERIES
This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) has generated in the course of more than thirty years of research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared—in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today’s leadership and organizational challenges.
The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. We think you will find the Ideas Into Action Guidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.
Table of Contents
Teams—Fast Track or Trendy Trap?
Teams Are Good for Complex Tasks
If You Need a Team, You Need Support
Assessing Your Organization’s Support for Teams
EXECUTIVE BRIEF
Despite all of the attention and accolades that organizations place on teams, they are not always the most efficient way to meet a business challenge. It’s expensive and time consuming to launch a team, and it’s a full-time job to lead a team toward achieving organizational objectives. This guidebook was written to help managers determine if a team is the right tool for meeting a business goal, and explains potential obstacles and challenges to forming a team that can operate at its full potential.
Teams — Fast Track or Trendy Trap?
Many organizations take great pride in describing themselves as “team-based.” Scores of business books and magazine articles glorify and exalt teamwork over just about every other kind of organizational initiative. It’s easy to see why. Information technology and the competition of global markets have created flatter organizations, which have turned to teams to replace a top-down approach to addressing business challenges and to supplant individual effort with group strength. Teams have enabled some companies to take giant leaps forward in such areas as time to market, innovation, customer service, and quality of goods and services.
But teams are not always the best way to accomplish a job. In their enthusiasm for teams, especially “high performance” teams, organizations often ignore the difficulties and costs of forming and launching teams. Teams typically need more time and more training to achieve results than do other kinds of work units. Teams may run counter to a company’s established culture and reward systems. These challenges can block a team from operating at peak performance.
When assigned to the right task, comprised of the right people, and supported in the right environment, teams can achieve breakthrough performance. Determining if those three measures are met is a critical first step that many managers pass by in their zeal to build a team that can benefit their organization. This guidebook will help you determine if a team is the right way to accomplish the job your organization has assigned to you.
How Teams Work
Teams are often temporary groups, yet they can help an organization build its long-term competitive strength by discovering new products and services, by developing new ways of serving customers and clients, and by creating new systems that enhance