Working on a team is very beneficial in several ways. Teamwork creates higher quality outcomes that are more efficient, thoughtful, and effective. When working in a team, goals are often accomplished much faster than if a person is working alone. Also, the support of team members helps many individuals increase productivity and become more motivated. Unfortunately, a lot of people have had bad experiences with working on a team. Our group has come up with the six most important concepts that will create a highly effective team. Our concepts are: commitment, communication, roles, engagement, diversity, and goal interdependence.
Commitment
In order for a team to be effective, there must be commitment to achieving an objective. According to the article “Building High Performance Teams” ”Building a high-performing team is not about people’s skills, abilities or knowledge. It’s about their commitment.” (Dubin, Harvey. 2005) Commitment is the starting point for all teams. Teams need several forms of commitment to be most successful. First they must be committed to each other. Teams that are made of individuals that actively support, and care about the success of one another are more prosperous. Committed team members become open to new perspectives, skills, and work practices. (Dubin, Harvey. 2005) Team members that are committed to their goals trust and take other’s ideas into consideration no matter how different those ideas may be. Next, members must be committed to their team and the team’s success. With this type of commitment teams quickly work together to get through tough situations that may arise. They are able to overcome obstacles quickly and easily because they see the effort as beneficial for the good of the team. The last aspect of commitment that is necessary when working on a team is commitment to organizational goals. When teams see their work as important to the organization, this type of commitment is strengthened. The stronger and more balanced these commitments are, the more successful and productive any team will be. (Eikenberry, Kevin. 2012).
Communication
Another important aspect of an effective team is communication. The effectiveness of communication plays an important role in determining whether there is process gain or process loss. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) The article “The New Science of Building Great Teams” states that there are three aspects of communication that affect team performance. The first is energy which is the nature of exchanges among team members. The second aspect is engagement which is how team members communicate with one another. The most valuable form of communication is face to face. The next most valuable is by phone or videoconference, and the least valuable forms of communication are e-mail and texting. Working with your team in person increases energy because all of the team members can interact with each other. The third aspect is engagement, which is how teams communicate with other teams. (Gilmore, Andy. 2010) High performing teams balance all of these aspects well. The article “The New Science of Building Great Teams” also states “the best predictors of productivity were a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings.” (Gilmore, Andy, 2010) This means that when team members socialize outside of work they become more comfortable with one another. When people are comfortable with each other it makes communicating a lot easier.
Roles
Roles according to the OB textbook is described as a certain behavior that a person is supposed have in a certain context. On page 80 of, Managing collaboration: improving team effectiveness through a network perspective, it says that a role is one of the traditional team advice that focuses on building commitment in a team. (Cross, Ehrlich, Dawson, Helferich. 2008) In team roles communication still has to be there even though every person has their own role to fulfill. The most key thing in roles for a team is making sure that your roles are done properly and that people are doing and saying the right things to help contribute. For example, you can’t have someone who is just going to sit there and not contribute at all, you want everyone contributing in some way and helps your team be as successful as possible. So the leader of the team has to establish each team member’s roles. This is done by asking questions to the members that will help determine the strengths of the different team members. That was talked about in the article on page 43 of, “What makes high performance teams excel?” Establishing and validating a team member’s contributions and skills is fundamental to building a successful team. (Davis, R. 2009) Also making sure that team members are effective to the task at hand and giving a 100 percent effort and providing factual information will help the team succeed because if you are not successful in completing your roll it will hurt the outcome of what the team is trying to fulfill, whether it is a good grade or a presentation that you have to do together at your place of employment. Another key importance about team roles is to not have an individualistic role in your team. In chapter 11 of the OB textbook on page 366, individualistic roles are defined as behaviors that an individual has that only benefit the individual’s expense of the team. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015)
Engagement
Engagement is defined according to, BusinessDictionary.com, as an emotional connection that an employee feels towards his or her place of employment or organization. Engagement starts with good communication among each other, as mentioned in the OB text book on page 401, when information gets sent from one individual to another. A good example of good engagement is brainstorming with other group members. As described in the OB textbook on page 399, that brainstorming helps face to face interaction in meetings that helps broaden ideas. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) Good engagement must start from the leader of the group because if the leader does not know how to engage with the other members then whatever you are working on will turn into a mess. Also, proper engagement is needed when trying to have a successful team. You cannot have someone who is going to be yelling and screaming to try and get there point across. As described on page 76 of the article “Managing collaboration: improving team effectiveness through a network perspective” leaders are supposed be the direction setter for the group, and you cannot set a good example if you’re yelling and shouting orders because the group will tune you out. (Cross, Ehrlich, Dawson, Helferich. 2008) Proper engagement starts with having proper business morals and driving a team forward, not backwards. Also, being a good communicator and a good leader will help you with the different clients that you might have because they will be able to understand better and they trust you more. This example also goes with your team members. If you show these qualities to them then they will trust you more and will be willing to listen to you.
Diversity
Diversity is defined as a range of difference among a group of factors of individuals. Diversity is important to the development of a successful team. The different demographics divided across factors such as Age, Gender, nationalities, education levels, functions and tenures within an organization (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007). The diversity of a group allows the teams to gain different perspectives’ on the best course of action that will help the team to have the most process gain. However, the only way that diversity can be useful in the success of the group is if team members don’t create faultlines. The members need to feel that they are in a safe environment for members to express their personal thoughts and ideas. The development of fault lines among the surface level demographic characteristics can negatively influence a team. The development of fault lines within a group can cause some members to feel as though they are in an out-group within the team these may lead them not to share knowledge with the group because they fear how the other group members might react. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007)This disconnect from other team members can lead to motivational loss and process loss in a team because some members may begin to feel that they have nothing to contribute to the team. The loss of accountability can lead some members to become involved in social loafing which can ultimately lead to the team’s failure. Diversity is important to the success of a team. Diversity can only work effectively if there is a shared trust among the members that allows knowledge to be expressed across the group.
Goal Interdependence
Goal Interdependence is defined as “having a shared vision of the team’s goal and aligns their individual goals with that vision as a result.” (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) This alignment of goals is an important part of developing a successful team. The focus of achieving a shared goal requires team members to develop trust with other members. Trust allows them to effectively communicate and share information that may be vital to the success of the team. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007) The lack of shared knowledge can cause the group to lack cohesion because some of the members can lose belief in the group’s mental model. This lack of goal cohesion can cause the team to fail because not all of the members are contributing their fair share of effort into the project or task. The members who don’t pull their weight can become production blockers. The production blockers will stop other members from completing their share of the necessary tasks. These factors are good examples of why it is important to establish teams of different demographics and a protocol for communication to prevent the development of fault lines with in a group. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007)
Dubin, H. (2005). Building high-performance teams. Chief Learning Officer, 4(7), 46-49.
Pentland, A. (2012). The New Science of Building Great Teams. Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 60-70.
Eikenberry, K. (2012) The Three Types of Team Commitment. Perspectives RSS.
Cross, R. , Ehrlich, K. , Dawson, R. , & Helferich, J. (2008). Managing collaboration: Improving team effectiveness through a network perspective. California Management Review, 74.
Davis, R. (2009). What makes high-performance teams excel? Research-Technology Management, 52(4), 40-45.
Gratton, L. ,Voigt, A. , & Erickson, T. (2007). Bridging faultlines in diverse teams. MIT Sloan Management Review,48(4), 22.
In order for a team to be effective, there must be commitment to achieving an objective. According to the article “Building High Performance Teams” ”Building a high-performing team is not about people’s skills, abilities or knowledge. It’s about their commitment.” (Dubin, Harvey. 2005) Commitment is the starting point for all teams. Teams need several forms of commitment to be most successful. First they must be committed to each other. Teams that are made of individuals that actively support, and care about the success of one another are more prosperous. Committed team members become open to new perspectives, skills, and work practices. (Dubin, Harvey. 2005) Team members that are committed to their goals trust and take other’s ideas into consideration no matter how different those ideas may be. Next, members must be committed to their team and the team’s success. With this type of commitment teams quickly work together to get through tough situations that may arise. They are able to overcome obstacles quickly and easily because they see the effort as beneficial for the good of the team. The last aspect of commitment that is necessary when working on a team is commitment to organizational goals. When teams see their work as important to the organization, this type of commitment is strengthened. The stronger and more balanced these commitments are, the more successful and productive any team will be. (Eikenberry, Kevin. 2012).
Communication
Another important aspect of an effective team is communication. The effectiveness of communication plays an important role in determining whether there is process gain or process loss. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) The article “The New Science of Building Great Teams” states that there are three aspects of communication that affect team performance. The first is energy which is the nature of exchanges among team members. The second aspect is engagement which is how team members communicate with one another. The most valuable form of communication is face to face. The next most valuable is by phone or videoconference, and the least valuable forms of communication are e-mail and texting. Working with your team in person increases energy because all of the team members can interact with each other. The third aspect is engagement, which is how teams communicate with other teams. (Gilmore, Andy. 2010) High performing teams balance all of these aspects well. The article “The New Science of Building Great Teams” also states “the best predictors of productivity were a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings.” (Gilmore, Andy, 2010) This means that when team members socialize outside of work they become more comfortable with one another. When people are comfortable with each other it makes communicating a lot easier.
Roles
Roles according to the OB textbook is described as a certain behavior that a person is supposed have in a certain context. On page 80 of, Managing collaboration: improving team effectiveness through a network perspective, it says that a role is one of the traditional team advice that focuses on building commitment in a team. (Cross, Ehrlich, Dawson, Helferich. 2008) In team roles communication still has to be there even though every person has their own role to fulfill. The most key thing in roles for a team is making sure that your roles are done properly and that people are doing and saying the right things to help contribute. For example, you can’t have someone who is just going to sit there and not contribute at all, you want everyone contributing in some way and helps your team be as successful as possible. So the leader of the team has to establish each team member’s roles. This is done by asking questions to the members that will help determine the strengths of the different team members. That was talked about in the article on page 43 of, “What makes high performance teams excel?” Establishing and validating a team member’s contributions and skills is fundamental to building a successful team. (Davis, R. 2009) Also making sure that team members are effective to the task at hand and giving a 100 percent effort and providing factual information will help the team succeed because if you are not successful in completing your roll it will hurt the outcome of what the team is trying to fulfill, whether it is a good grade or a presentation that you have to do together at your place of employment. Another key importance about team roles is to not have an individualistic role in your team. In chapter 11 of the OB textbook on page 366, individualistic roles are defined as behaviors that an individual has that only benefit the individual’s expense of the team. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015)
Engagement
Engagement is defined according to, BusinessDictionary.com, as an emotional connection that an employee feels towards his or her place of employment or organization. Engagement starts with good communication among each other, as mentioned in the OB text book on page 401, when information gets sent from one individual to another. A good example of good engagement is brainstorming with other group members. As described in the OB textbook on page 399, that brainstorming helps face to face interaction in meetings that helps broaden ideas. (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) Good engagement must start from the leader of the group because if the leader does not know how to engage with the other members then whatever you are working on will turn into a mess. Also, proper engagement is needed when trying to have a successful team. You cannot have someone who is going to be yelling and screaming to try and get there point across. As described on page 76 of the article “Managing collaboration: improving team effectiveness through a network perspective” leaders are supposed be the direction setter for the group, and you cannot set a good example if you’re yelling and shouting orders because the group will tune you out. (Cross, Ehrlich, Dawson, Helferich. 2008) Proper engagement starts with having proper business morals and driving a team forward, not backwards. Also, being a good communicator and a good leader will help you with the different clients that you might have because they will be able to understand better and they trust you more. This example also goes with your team members. If you show these qualities to them then they will trust you more and will be willing to listen to you.
Diversity
Diversity is defined as a range of difference among a group of factors of individuals. Diversity is important to the development of a successful team. The different demographics divided across factors such as Age, Gender, nationalities, education levels, functions and tenures within an organization (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007). The diversity of a group allows the teams to gain different perspectives’ on the best course of action that will help the team to have the most process gain. However, the only way that diversity can be useful in the success of the group is if team members don’t create faultlines. The members need to feel that they are in a safe environment for members to express their personal thoughts and ideas. The development of fault lines among the surface level demographic characteristics can negatively influence a team. The development of fault lines within a group can cause some members to feel as though they are in an out-group within the team these may lead them not to share knowledge with the group because they fear how the other group members might react. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007)This disconnect from other team members can lead to motivational loss and process loss in a team because some members may begin to feel that they have nothing to contribute to the team. The loss of accountability can lead some members to become involved in social loafing which can ultimately lead to the team’s failure. Diversity is important to the success of a team. Diversity can only work effectively if there is a shared trust among the members that allows knowledge to be expressed across the group.
Goal Interdependence
Goal Interdependence is defined as “having a shared vision of the team’s goal and aligns their individual goals with that vision as a result.” (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson. 2015) This alignment of goals is an important part of developing a successful team. The focus of achieving a shared goal requires team members to develop trust with other members. Trust allows them to effectively communicate and share information that may be vital to the success of the team. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007) The lack of shared knowledge can cause the group to lack cohesion because some of the members can lose belief in the group’s mental model. This lack of goal cohesion can cause the team to fail because not all of the members are contributing their fair share of effort into the project or task. The members who don’t pull their weight can become production blockers. The production blockers will stop other members from completing their share of the necessary tasks. These factors are good examples of why it is important to establish teams of different demographics and a protocol for communication to prevent the development of fault lines with in a group. (Gratton, Voigt, Ericson. 2007)
Dubin, H. (2005). Building high-performance teams. Chief Learning Officer, 4(7), 46-49.
Pentland, A. (2012). The New Science of Building Great Teams. Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 60-70.
Eikenberry, K. (2012) The Three Types of Team Commitment. Perspectives RSS.
Cross, R. , Ehrlich, K. , Dawson, R. , & Helferich, J. (2008). Managing collaboration: Improving team effectiveness through a network perspective. California Management Review, 74.
Davis, R. (2009). What makes high-performance teams excel? Research-Technology Management, 52(4), 40-45.
Gratton, L. ,Voigt, A. , & Erickson, T. (2007). Bridging faultlines in diverse teams. MIT Sloan Management Review,48(4), 22.