Teamwork Across Time and Space
Technology has made global teamwork an everyday reality for thousands of people. Can teams that don't spend time physically together be effective? The answer is yes - so long as they can find a way to build credibility and trust. Video conferences, voicemail, electronic live-boards, the Internet and corporate intranets, groupware, and virtual team rooms are just some of the technologies that enable people to work together no matter where they are based, giving them access to countless new business opportunities. :Richard Benson-Armer; Tsun-Yan Hseih :The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 4, pp. 18-27 :6/1/1997 :Article
Community of Practice (CoP) Overview
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups that form to share what they know and to learn from one another regarding some aspects of their work. Lays out some basic information about Communities of Practice (CoPs) that is relevant to two audiences: Those with a general interest in CoPs, or those who think they might be interested in sponsoring or starting up a CoP. Although the term "Community of Practice" is new, CoPs are not. Such groups have been around ever since people in organizations realized they could benefit from sharing their knowledge, insights, and experiences with others who have similar interests or goals. :Fred Nickols :The Distance Consulting Company :Article
The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization
In this book, two senior McKinsey & Co. partners argue that we cannot meet the challenges ahead, from total quality to customer service to innovation, without teams. Among their findings: formal hierarchy is actually good for teams; successful team leaders fit no ideal profile; commitment to performance goals is more important than commitment to team-building goals; top management teams are often smaller and more difficult to sustain; and team endings can be as important to manage as team beginnings. The wisdom of teams lies in recognizing their unique potential to deliver results and in understanding their many benefits. :Jon R. Katzenbach ; Douglas K. Smith :Harperbusiness :1/1/1997 :Book
Overcoming the Problems of Cultural Differences to Establish Success for International Management Teams
In developing effective international management teams it appears that the following areas should be considered: Identifying the nature and implications of national cultural differences within the team; Establishing a basis for building understanding and awareness of cultural differences and how they may be managed; Formulating a framework for developing a high performing team which takes account of cultural differences and leverages the diversity present is an international team. This article sets out to explore each of these areas and propose an overall framework for building in international management teams. :Malcolm Higgs :Team Performance Management: An International Journal. V 2 N. 1 Page: 36 -- 43 :6/1/1996 :Article
The Seven Deadly Sins of Team Building
Identifies seven major errors found frequently in teambuilding programmes. Each of the errors, all management failures, are illustrated by real life episodes. Guidelines are presented for overcoming each of these deadly sins: malselection, impatience, deception, aimlessness, powerlessness, inhibited communications, and competitive mania. :J. Michael McDonald; J. Bernard Keys :Team Performance Management: An International Journal V (2) 2 Page: 19/26 :6/1/1996 :Article
Using team - individual reward and recognition strategies to drive organizational success
A review of team effectiveness and models of teamwork are first discussed so that team rewards are understood as important motivators to accomplishing organisational objectives. Four factors need to be considered in establishing team-based rewards: the stages of a team life cycle, reward and recognition categories, the type of teams and the culture of the team and organisation. Forty-four specific reward tools are described which can be used for individual or team incentives. :Ron Cacioppe :Leadership and Organization Development Journal V(20) :6/1/1999 :Article
Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail.
First published in 1981, a classic in management research, identifying team roles, outlining characteristics of successful and unsuccessful teams and offering advice on team leadership, dealing with similar personalities within teams, ideal team size, and teams in public affairs. One of the most widely read, imaginative and influential books on this vital area of management research. Includes a self-perception inventory so you can match your personality to particular team roles. :Meredith Belbin :Butterworth-Heinemann :6/1/1996 :Book
Wharton Centre for Organizational Structure and Design
Tools for Design and Change, Organizational Effectiveness, Building the office of the executive, Creating performance cultures, Designing and leading management teams, Designing human resource systems, Incentivizing compensation and appraising performance, Organizational Structures, Aligning strategy and design, Organizing for productivity and quality, Identifying, applying and leveraging core competence. :Archive
The Self-directed Team: A Conflict Resolution Analysis
One way of answering the demands that face today's management is to increase employees' implication in the organization by empowering them. The shift from top to bottom authority to a team-oriented organization is a key element in making this work. In this paper, after a brief definition and description of this kind of team, we will focus on conflict management as an important factor for their success :Steven H Appelbaum; Chahrazad Abdallah; Barbara T Shapiro :Team Performance Management. Volume: 5 Number: 2 Page: 60 -- 77 :6/1/1999 :Article
Team Roles at Work
Belbin has become one of the world experts on teams and written a number of books on team work. A follow up to Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, explores how people must fulfill not only their functional roles, but also their roles as team members. Explains how to find the right structure for the personalities and function, and ways in which people can be fit in. :Meredith Belbin :Butterworth-Heinemann :6/1/1996 :Book
Improving the creativity of organizational work groups.
In the rapidly changing, more competitive new economy, teams need to engage in divergent thinking in which they put aside typical assumptions. However, teams excel at convergent thinking, but it is individuals who excel at divergent thinking. In this article, the four key obstacles to creative teamwork are identified and described. Then, ten techniques for enhancing creative teamwork are outlined that most teams or workgroups can put into place. These techniques have all been proven effective in enhancing creativity and are extremely cost-effective. :Leigh Thompson :Academy of Management Executive :2/1/2003 :Article
Community of Practice (CoP) Start-up Kit
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of people in organizations that form to share what they know, to learn from one another regarding some aspects of their work and to provide a social context for that work. Although the term "Community of Practice" is new, CoPs are not. Such groups have been around ever since people in organizations realized they could benefit from sharing their knowledge, insights, and experiences with others who have similar interests or goals. This CoP Start- Up Kit provides a variety of resources useful to people who are interested in sponsoring or starting up a Community of Practice (CoP). :Fred Nickols :The Distance Consulting Company :6/1/2000 :Article
Awake at the wheel: A study on executive team development
Senior executive teams are often a microcosm of the culture in which they exist, while also responsible for creating that very culture. Thus, developing the senior executive team as an effective coalition is crucial to creating sustainable organization change. However, the unique composition and dynamics of senior teams (i.e. members who lead their own divisions, high stakes around succession, etc.) contribute to the difficulty of their development. :Robert A Goldberg :Leadership and Organization Development Journal V(21) :6/1/2000 :Article
The importance of conflict in work team effectiveness
Focusses on the dynamic of conflict - particularly A-type and C-type - and its effects on the decision-making process of work teams. Notes that C-type conflict can have positive effects, e.g. fostering creativity, and that conflict can be managed into and through C-type conflict by an eight-step technique. Suggests that, as the use of work teams increases, the ability to understand conflict and to manage it successfully will be an advantage. :Michael A Esquivel; Brian H Kleiner :Journal of Team Performance Management V(2) :6/1/1996 :Article
Being a better team player
Being a good team player is a highly sought-after skill. How to determine the team to play on and how to be a team player are skills needed by many of us. This article will show you how to improve these skills: (1) Determine the specific expectations of the team.(2) Discover the role of the team in the bigger scheme of things.(3) Discover specific expectations of you as a team member.(4) Determine how your role contributes to the team effort.(5) Clarify role relationships.(6) Be supportive.(7) Help team members.(8) Accept help (from your leader and fellow members).(9) Seek help. :Jay T Knippen; Thad B Green :The Journal of Workplace Learning V(11) :6/1/1999 :Article