The last article introduced the concept of Organizational DNA and its four building blocks. This article focuses on two of the four blocks: Structure and Decision Rights, with specific attention to the design and power of teams in executing your mission and improving performance. Teams can be effective in any size organization as well as the source for innovations and solutions to vexing problems.
Peter Drucker once noted that 95% of solutions already exist within a company; these solutions reside within the human, knowledge, and intellectual capital within a company; in short, your existing talent has the potential for the answers you need. The question is, “How are you using your human capital to effectively address the challenges your company faces?”
Smart leaders recognize that they do not and cannot have all the answers to address the VUCA world we face. As noted in a previous article, your job in leading others is to “coach and guide them to do the right things and to develop their capabilities to do more.” The growth and innovations you seek to take your company forward depends in large part on structuring human capital within teams to get better results.
Too often, leaders refer to “Teams” when they are actually using “Groups.” Understanding differences is critically important for long-term success. The structure of teams directly affects decision rights since teams engage in active problem-solving that leads to solutions and action within the organization for better results. The following chart from Katzenbach and Smith (1993, p. 4) shows key differences between groups and teams (emphasis added on kay attributes):
| Working Group | Team |
| · Strong, clearly focused leader | · Shared leadership roles |
| · Individual accountability | · Individual AND mutual accountability |
| · The group’s purpose is the same as the broader organizational mission | · Specific team purpose that the team itself delivers |
| · Individual work products | · Collective work products |
| · Runs efficient meetings | · Encourages open discussion and active problem-solving meetings |
| · Measures effectiveness indirectly by its influence on others (such as financial performance of the business) | · Measures performance directly by assessing collective work products |
| · Discusses, decides, and delegates | · Discusses, decides, and does real work together |
Building stronger teams to achieve desired performance requires deliberate action on the part of senior leaders to (a) Define the context within which the team operates and (b) The objectives it is expected to achieve. Katzenbach and Smith (1993, p. 5) provide eight key approaches used by successful teams, of which we’ll examine the first four in this article:
- “Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction from the outset.” Success doesn’t happen by chance; it’s the result of good design, which applies equally to teams as it does the broader organization. “The more urgent and meaningful the rationale (for the team), the more likely it is that the team will live up to its performance potential…Teams work best in a compelling context (and)…companies with strong performance ethics usually form teams readily.”
- 2. “Select members for skill and skill potential, not personality…Most teams figure out the skills they need AFTER they are formed” such that wise managers “choose people for their existing skills and their potential to improve” those skills as well as “learn new ones.” Remember that each team will have its own unique sub-culture that the team will create to meet its purpose and performance goals. Teams are “works in progress” that draw from the strengths of all members versus a group that relies on individual strengths.
- 3. “Pay particular attention to first meetings and actions. Initial impressions always mean a great deal…Team members will pay particular attention to those in authority, i.e., team leaders and executives who set up, oversee, or otherwise influence the team…what leaders do is more important than what they say.” Leaving a meeting to take a phone call 10 minutes after a session has begun and not returning sends a very strong negative message. Ensure you are fully committed and present when getting the team started.
- 4. “Set some clear rules for behavior…All effective teams develop rules of conduct at the outset to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals.” The most critical initial rules pertain to attendance, discussion, confidentiality, analytic approach, end-product orientation, constructive confrontation, and contributions, (especially how) everyone does real work.” This is where team charters play a critical role.
Chartering a team is a critical foundation because the core elements of successful team performance are communication, cooperation, collaboration, organization, preparation, continuous improvement, and execution, all of which should be addressed within the charter. The team charter is the core guidance for behaviors to which ALL team members mutually to achieve success. Teams that create and use charters invariably share the load better, avoid internal conflicts and mental tensions, maximize efforts, and get the highest gain for their work. Please contact me via email if you would like an example of a team charter you can apply to your work setting.
Additional Suggested Reading:
Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The discipline of teams. Harvard Business Review, 71(2), 111-120. Reprint R0507P
Questions for the Week: How have I guided teams in the past? Did I give projects to groups that would have had more effective results if they formed and acted as teams? Which of the four steps above were present or missing when I established teams? How could charters help my teams perform better?
| About the Author: Dr. Ray Benedetto is co-founder of GuideStar, Inc.® a practice in organizational leadership for performance excellence (www.guidestarinc.com). He is a retired Air Force colonel with a distinguished active-duty military career. He is board certified in Healthcare Management and a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Dr. Ray taught leadership for 12 years for the University of Phoenix Chicago campus. He holds degrees from Penn State (BS), the University of Southern California (MSSM), and the University of Phoenix (DM). He is co-author of “It’s My Company TOO! How Entangled Companies Move Beyond Engagement for Remarkable Results” (Greenleaf Book Press Group, 2012) and numerous ezine articles available online. You can reach him at ray@guidestarinc.com. |